Enthralled

One Thing Led to Another

“We have to get lasagna, beans, bread, milk and cheese.” Hazel listed them out while ticking them off her fingers.

 She scanned the shelves and ran her fingers pass the items on them as she strolled by idly. Tinkling music was playing in the background, standing out in the bright albeit silent supermarket.

 Hazel pushed the cart whilst Rory and Mrs Lorely walked down the many aisles shopping for groceries. It was the only supermarket in Garland Hill, located in the only mall here as well. They frequented here because Mrs Lorely couldn’t bear to shop in the convenience store near their home. Finding it dirty and often filled with nasty companies.

 Rory chucked in a box of chocolates and a tin of chocolates cookies.

 “Stop throwing in stuff,” Hazel chided her dryly. She picked them out and placed them back on the shelves.

 “I need them. It’s my drug.” She took another two boxes of a different brand without even reading the labels.

 “I really don’t care. We need the money to buy food, not junk.” Hazel stopped and threw Rory a dirty look. They weren’t that poor but Hazel’s a little of a paranoid freak. She was a lot like Chicken Little, fretting about what if the sky was falling. And she knew Rory was exactly the opposite of her, always living in the now and ignoring the future.

 “It’s food for me.”

 “If that is where you get your nourishment, you’d be having a mushroom for a brain right now.”

 “Shut up.”

 “It’s true.”

 “It’s not!”

 “It is!”

 “I said it’s not!”

 “Will you girls just please stop squabbling for a minute?” Mrs Lorely said in a tired voice. And walked down another aisle claiming she was having a headache.

 Hazel stalked off in another direction with the cart in exasperation. Rory was always such a spend thrift. She should spend more of her money on clothes than on junk food that exited as soon as it entered. All Rory owned in a wardrobe was tons of graphic tees. faded jeans and a pair of sneakers. And she wore those everywhere, regardless of the occasion.

 Hmm, fruits. She should get some apples.

 She placed her cart at the side and started choosing the apples from the hill of juicy red.

 Hazel wasn’t a fashionista. She couldn’t afford to be one although she’d envy those who could. But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t scour the discount racks for some good – and some not so good (A few things that are a size too small or big…but oh well, beggars couldn’t be choosers) – bargains. She loved clothes and wished she could do something to expand her ever pitiful wardrobe.

 She groaned. She’d be going to Kay’s party tonight with Haydn and she had no bloody idea what to wear.

 Five minutes after she texted her reply to Kay, she started freaking out.

 And she freaked out in front of Haydn.

 “Oh my God, I’ve forgotten I have nothing to wear!” she squawked suddenly.

 And for the first time, she saw Haydn jumped in his seat at her sudden exclamation. She would’ve spared a minute to smirk at him if she wasn’t so preoccupied about her clothes. He must have thought her shallow but Hazel always wanted to be presentable. More so now that she was going with Haydn. He was glorious without even trying.