Will to Way, Wilt Away

Chapter 19

"Whose car are we taking?" Indi asked as we walked out into the parking lot.

"I can drive!" Aria enthusiastically offered.

"No!" Julius and Indi simultaneously objected, much to Aria's shock.

"I'll drive," Julius volunteered.

"Ew no, not the taxi!" Aria whined.

"You drive a taxi?" I asked, realizing that I had never seen his car because Julius was rarely designated driver and most places we went were within walking distance.

Julius immediately looked offended. "No, I do not drive a cab," he asserted. We walked around the building and entered the parking lot. Julius gestured to the far corner where a vintage marigold car was crookedly parked. "I drive a Volvo 1800ES!"

"No, you drive a cab," Aria quipped, a smug smile on her face. Indi also giggled, though she tried to hide her grin behind her long wavy hair.

"Hey, hey, don't disrespect the vehicle," Julius demanded. "My dad and I spent four months fixing up this car."

"Yet you couldn't change the paint job!" Aria jested yet again, to my surprise. I had never known her to be particularly humorous, but maybe that's because she was usually too busy being the butt of one of Shiloh's jokes. Since we were meeting Shiloh and Dakota at Target in ten minutes, Aria needed to get her witticism out of her system before she became the topic of mockery.

"Shotgun!" Aria shouted while scuttling to the front seat in her tan stilettos and flowy white dress.

"After you insulted Waldo? Absolutely not!"

"Uh, who's Waldo," I asked, thinking he was an old friend of theirs.

"My car," Julius said nonchalantly. I gave him an odd look. "What! People name boats, why can't I name my car!"

"So weird," I whispered under my breath while giggling.

"Well, I always forget where I park, so as I scavenge through parking lots, I can yell 'Where's Waldo?'"

"Mmm," I started, Julius eagerly waiting for me to either praise or insult him. "Yea, okay that's pretty clever," I conceded.

Julius celebrated with a subtle fist pump and then hopped into the driver's seat. I took the back seat next to Aria, while Indi sat up front. Indi had hardly spoken a word in this conversation, which I noticed was a common theme with her. Maybe her appearance made her seem as though she would be naturally confident and talkative, but she was undeniably introverted.

Inside Target, Julius and I grabbed some greasy egg and sausage breakfast sandwiches from Starbucks, while Aria opted for a hamster's serving of a berry parfait. Indi waited in line with us, but said she wasn't hungry.

As Julius licked the sandwich grease off of his fingers, Shiloh and Dakota walked through the Target entry doors. Well, 'walked' was an understatement; these two skipped hand-in-hand into the store and frolicked over to us with fluttery footsteps.

"Oooooh, someone's in love," Julius teased, nudging Shiloh in the arm.

"Shut up," Shiloh whispered in an embarrassed, high-pitched voice, pink roses blooming across his flushed cheeks.

Dakota shyly smiled, and I noticed his knuckles growing white as he grasped Shiloh's hand tighter. "Well, we're going to go to the makeup aisle to buy Shi some products," Kota said while lovingly gazing into Shiloh's eyes.

"Aww Shi! First a boyfriend and now makeup? All of your dreams are coming true!" I added, and the baby pink buds on his cheeks bloomed into vibrant fuschia petals.