Star Girl // McFly

Nine

None of the others seemed to have paid attention (or cared) to what Neila had said during the movie a few days before. Dougie didn't blame them. If he didn't know any better, he'd think it was just some random babble as well. Sure, they all joked about Neila being an extra-terrestrial, but none of them actually believed it.

Did they?

It had been three days since then, and since Dougie had destroyed the microphone, he felt much safer. He hadn't seen any more of Barter, so he should feel safe, but still, he didn't want to say anything out loud, just in case, so he didn't speak to Neila about what she had said. But he understood, and he knew she knew this.

Neila still didn't speak much still, but Dougie noticed that something changed in her towards him after they spoke on the roof and after her confession during the movie.

She still retreated back to her well-worn habit of shredding Dougie's books every once in a while, but for the most part, Dougie noticed that it seemed as if Neila trusted him more and was more interested in actually living a life rather than just existing. This brought Dougie joy, even in these most worrisome of times.

They did little things together, but Dougie loved it. He showed her his McFly albums and played them all for her. Though she didn't say it, Dougie knew her favorite song was Only the Strong Survive because she made him repeat it five times every time it came on.

So Dougie and Neila would sit, watching episodes Dougie would tape of The Chase, and anytime they would get a question right, they would pause the show and dance around the living room to that song, jumping off the sofa and headbanging until they were dizzy and couldn't breathe.

That's what they'd been doing all morning thus far. It was their little routine and Dougie wished they didn't have to stop, but the world continued to spin outside and he knew things had to get done.

And now, Dougie was running out of take-away leftovers, and needed to go grocery shopping.

"Do you want to come?" Dougie asked Neila, sitting on the opposite side of the coffee table. She stopped ripping the book she was currently working on and looked up at him. "I mean, you could pick out some things you like. You've been eating all the things I like, but you can try something for yourself if you'd like." Neila smiled.

"Alright."

As they got in Dougie's car and headed to the supermarket, Dougie wondered if Neila had ever had normal food before she ended up at his house. He didn't know when she was sent to Mars- if she had lived part of her life on Earth- but he knew enough about space to know you can't make yourself anything as simple as a toastie up there.

When they arrived at Waitrose, Dougie went over to the fruit cartons stacked out front and grabbed a bunch of bananas, before looking over and realizing Neila was gone.

What is wrong with you? It's been three seconds! You can't even keep an eye on a girl for three-

But before he could internally beat himself up anymore, he spotted her. She was standing at one of the displays in the front in front of a perfectly constructed pyramid of colourful, sugary cereal boxes.

I sure hope she doesn't think those resemble books or I'm gonna be paying for a lot of unwanted cereal.

At that thought, Dougie quickly walked over and looked at her face, examining a box. She looked as if she was trying not to giggle, so Dougie observed the box as well.

Space Smacks! Delicious corn puff rocket ships with planet and star-shaped marshmallow treats!

Dougie couldn't help but laugh himself.