Transversals

XVIII. Sunday Morning Shopping Trip

I shook my head and started off towards the hair dye, syrup in hand. "What colors did you say again?"

Will stepped in my path and cut me off, hands on my shoulders. "Harley, you need to talk to me."

"I'm fine," I refused, glaring for a moment and then pushing past him, down the aisle.

"No!" he exclaimed, cutting me off again. I pursed my lips as he grabbed my shoulders, holding tight and eyes wide with concern. "Don't pull this independence stuff on me. I'm really worried about you."

"Why?" I asked, tilting my head.

"You spend hours out with a mysterious guy we've never met, you're up in your room every chance you get according to Hanna, and your dad falls asleep waiting for you last night," Will blurted out, like the words had been waiting to tumble out for a week. "He called me twice to get a hold of you."

I swallowed hard and attempted to keep the composed façade up, softly asking, "Why hasn't he yelled at me yet for coming home late then?"

"God Harley, you know your dad's a pushover," Will said, shaking me once or twice and leaning forward. "Can you just tell me what you've been feeling lately? Is it teenage rebellion? Is that literally it?"

I was about to open my mouth and call him out for being rude, but a loud crash and civilian yells interrupted our conversation. I looked behind us, finding people unsurely abandoning their carts. Above the aisles, a freezer was picked up and thrown into the deli by white, icy hands, barely missing a worker. A screech resounded throughout the store and Will took his hands off my shoulders to cover his ears.

Oh no.

An end cap was picked up and thrown, more screaming people running towards the exits and panic feeding the potential riot. "We have to get out of here!" Will yelled to me over the commotion, grabbing my arm and trying to drag me to the doors.

"Axelson!" I heard above me, Ben prepared to drop my swords. I caught them as he flew towards the monster and I took Will behind the pharmacy counter, where the pharmacist huddled with his hands above his head. Another crash and scream sounded as I fumbled with my belt buckle to my jeans, slipping my swords on.

"What the hell, are you crazy?!" Will shouted at me, grabbing my hands. "What are you even--"

"Get everyone out of here," I told him, standing and surveying the scene. The monster was still in the back left of the store, salt and pepper wings flapping about, waiting for the chance to strike. Ben stayed in the midst of it all, swords glinting as he swung. They needed three though. And preferably, someone with another set of wings. But Jeremy was out of the question now.

"Harley, I refuse to let you do whatever you're about to do," Will said, grabbing my arm.

"You have to let me go," I told him. Another crash interrupted us, and I took the chance to break free of Will's grip and run towards the chaos.

"Harley!" he yelled after me, fading as another crash sounded and screams filled the store. I skidded to a stop in the cereal aisle, unexpectedly finding a smaller monster similar to the first I had faced. It carelessly knocked boxes off as it realized me and stomped forward, height not rising above the aisle. The ones Ben and Lana were fighting at the moment were at least five feet taller. So another useful bit of information: two classes. A equates smaller, thicker, and slower. B equates to taller, thinner, and faster.

Will ran into my back as I unsheathed my swords, stumbling. I turned around to ridicule him, but Lana swooped in just above our heads, bounding off one shelf to another, confusing the monster, catapulting herself behind it and cutting an X. The snow fell away into a pile and into nothing as usual, Lana picking herself up and brushing off her maroon sweater like life was just dandy at the moment. "Aw, this thing's starting to pill."