Dawn was safe. She picked out good food. She grabbed what I needed when I wrote down things, like new socks. Or a toothbrush.
I wasn’t picky.
“To most teenagers, they’d just pick everything they saw in this aisle.”
Well, I wasn’t like others.
I folded my arms across my chest, shooting my next glare at the options in front of me. None of it was appealing anyways.
“What about something else then? You don’t have to get soda.”
My shoulders dropped. I knew that, of course. But it was the fact that I had to be the one to pick out something. Either to eat or drink. I thought drinks would be easier, but well…. they were just easy to grab without much thought.
I waved a hand at the shelf blindly.
“Okay. Options…soda? Tea maybe? Flavored water?”
I widened my eyes. Those were options? I lifted three fingers.
“Down there a bit,” Dawn pointed down towards where they were. She didn’t move until I did, slightly trailing after me with a cart partly full of food for a week.
Once I was in front of the flavored water, the options seemed a bit less daunting, thankfully. Still overwhelming, though. The colors were anywhere from clear, to dark. A few bright ones thrown in, too.
“Pick a flavor. Or two. Or three.”
I shot Anun impressive look Dawn's way. One was more than enough.
“If you like it, we can get more next week.”
Gritting my teeth, I reached out and randomly picked one. The label said it was pink raspberry. I wasn’t holding out hope that I’d be any good.
I’d rather just stick to water. Dawn made super good cold water with a slice of lemon on hot days.
I gently set the bottle in the cart, then wrapped my arms back around my torso. I was done with my stupid mission.
“Great choice. Anything else you want, or that we need, before we check out?”
At that, I shook my head. I was done being around people. I was done making a choice.
Two of which were things Dr. Shaw wanted me to work on.I understood her reasoning, but it didn’t mean I had to like it.
Dawn was as much of a pusher to get me out of my comfort zone. I needed to learn that not everyone in the world wanted to hurt me, and to be able to live a life without someone beside me every step of the way, I had to make choices. I had to figure out new things that I wanted to try. Hence, the drink and a store in one go.
I could live on my own, most likely. If I wanted to. It was just…Dawn was safe. She already bought things I liked, and even if she didn’t, I wouldn’t say anything against it. She could read me well enough to know if I didn’t like something.
I didn’t see the point in getting a drink, though. It had seemed to be one of the easier choices, but I had been wrong. Maybe pickingout a type of bread would be easier. That, I know what I like. The white package has super soft pieces inside of it.
Plus, this wasn’t the first time I’ve been to a store with Dawn. I’ve been in with her a few times now, learning the layout and where all the products were kept. I didn’t mind shopping with her, actually.
Once all the items were paid for and loaded back into the cart, Dawn easily led the way back to the car. It didn’t take long to put everything into the car, or head back home either. All the while, the drink sat in the cup holder, untouched.
Thankfully, Dawn didn’t comment on it. That would be another issue for another day.
When she pulled into the driveway, I gave out a silent thank you. After today’s adventure, I really wasn’t in the ideal mood to go to another store. Once a month since I had been living with her, Dawn had stopped at a few other places, a way to try to draw me out of my comfort zone in different ways.
It’s how I got a few other pieces of clothing, which I still didn’t think I needed. Two sets of everything were enough, so why did I need five?
Maybe someday I’ll appreciate the effort Dawn was forcing me into with getting out of the house more, but right now, I wasn’t thankful. I’d much rather stay at her place.Here, I was safe. There wasn’t a single person who had harmed me in any way since I entered her home.
