𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐒𝐑𝐎𝐀𝐃𝐒, b.

[̲̅t][̲̅w][̲̅o] - who needs money?

"billie." i hear a deep voice, and someone shaking me. i open my eyes, but quickly close them because the sun is blazing in my face.

"billie, wake up girl." i hear the voice again. i prepare myself for the sun, and open my eyes once more looking beside me to see jahseh. my eyes widen at him, before the events of earlier this morning flood in my mind and i sigh in relief.

"yeah?" i rasp, looking at him. "we're at our first stop, come on, let's walk for a bit." i look at him in confusion, sitting up. "what do you mean, first stop?"

he scoffs, rolling his eyes with a smile. "we're not gonna get to arizona over night. the train has to make stops. we're at our first stop, and the train is gonna start moving again in about an hour. so let's get out for a bit, stretch our legs."

i look at my duffle bag. "is it safe to leave that here?"

"of course." he says. "but what if we don't make it back in time and the train leaves-"

"we won't. chill." he says, grabbing my hand and and leading me towards the entrance of the car. he lets go of my hand, jumping down and landing feet first onto the ground. "come on." he says, and i jump down as well, landing on my feet. i groan at the feeling of pain that shoots through my legs, as i've always had weak ankles.

"you okay?" he raises an eyebrow, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "yeah, i'm fine." i nod. jahseh turns around and begins to walk, and i scramble to catch up to him and walk beside him, stuffing my hands into my pockets as well, and pulling my hoodie over my head, even though it's a bit hot outside.

"where are we even gonna go?" i ask. jahseh shrugs. "i don't know, this is my first time in california. we'll go to a convenience store or something. stock up."

"you have money?" i question, and he looks at me, a big smirk on his face. "who needs money when you can just take?"

my eyes widen at his statement. "we can't, if we get caught-"

"relax, we won't get caught. you worry too much, i'm surprised you succeeded in running away." he rolls his eyes. i quickly shut my mouth in embarrassment, just walking beside him in silence.

eventually we reach a convenience store, and as we walk up to the entrance, jahseh looks at me. "just be chill, don't touch anything. just follow behind me, and we'll be okay. here's some money," he hands me a ten dollar bill. "when i get done taking whatever we need, you're gonna buy something, so they don't suspect us. it's better you do it, they'll never suspect a little white girl of stealing anything." he says. "now come on."

jahseh and i step into the convenience store, and i try my best not to let my face be known to the cashier. i follow behind jahseh as he instructed me to, as i watch him smoothly slide things into his sleeves and hoodie pockets, things like food and candy. he then begins to stuff little individual candies and foods into his cargo pants pockets, all without a sound, all without stall, as he moves fluidly throughout the aisles and picks out things he wants.

"grab something so you can buy it." he says lowly to me. i grab a big container of apple juice, holding it up in my arms and marching to the front, placing it down in front of the cashier.

"hi, how are you?" he asks as he scans the apple juice and rings me up. "fine." i say, in almost a whisper, trying to avoid his eyes.

"that'll be $3.61." the cashier says. i hand him the ten dollar bill and he gives me my change, bagging up the apple juice and handing it to me.

"you kids stay out of trouble." he says with a smile. i nod and smile back. "we'll try." i respond, walking out of the store with jahseh in tow. after we get a few steps away from the store, i breathe out a huge sigh of relief. "i can't believe we just did that." i say.