Maybe she doesn’t want to go and I’m forcing her but before I ask she murmurs. “Wait Clay, your shoe ties are loose.”
I look down at my sneakers, most of the time I just lose patience and tuck the ties in. She crouches down, tying them up in bunny ears.
“My mom always said that bunny ears make you hop faster.” she giggles.
“I’m not a bunny, i’m a wolf. Its cooler.” I buff out my shoulders and smirk proudly.
She pushes me and I step back a bit. “No, I’m cooler.”
I put my arm around her shoulder and led the both ofus away from the house. Covering her hair with the hood of her sweater, tucking in a strand of her hair.
I smirk. “let’s see about that, have you ever stolen?”
Her eyes widened.
Chapter Five
The past
Clayton
Nightfall fog paints the air around us as we hide behind a bush. The grocery store is almost closed as the worker is grabbing his things and heading towards the front door.
“What are we waiting for?” Elsie whispers.
I don't respond as I keep my eyes locked onto him. Just a minute.
Jackpot.
He puts his hand into his pocket, searching for his pack of cigarettes. He keeps looking around as I grab Elsie’s hand and urge her forward as we rung alongside the store and into the back. Before Elsie could speak, I placed a finger onto her lips and fought the urge to slide them along her bottom lips. They are the softest thing I have felt ever. Her eyes look up at me with hesitation and a hint of fear. I smile assuring her.
As if I would let the world corrupt her.
Focusing on the sounds around us, Keys clinging to each other echo in the store and satisfaction boosts my body as I reach to the handle of the back door. The worker opens the front door and closes it. I use the sound of the door shutting to open the back door and find it unlocked as usual. I push Elsie inside gently with a hand on her back and close the door behind us as we stand inside the storage room. Brooms, buckets, boxes of detergent spread into the dark room. I walk towards the inside of the store, peaking my head slowly as I search the area. Lines of shelves containing different foods and cleaning supplies scatter the store. A small hand grips my arm.
“Clay, I'm scared.”
“Weren’t you so cool?”
She hits my arm, smiling. I walk beside the cashier and turn on one light switch. Green led light flicker onto one of the fridges. It's a risk to turn the light on, someone might see us but the fear in Elsie’s eyes makes it worth it.
Her shoulders sag down in relief a bit as she looks around stepping forward in hesitation. I lean onto the counter, grabbing a screwdriver from my backpack and push it into the drawer as I hit the end of the screw a few times. The drawer springs open as dollar bills are arranged in orders of fives and tens. I grab all the cash that I can and stuff them into the backpack and my eyes cast to Elsie as she stands in front in the snacks aisle with wonder in her eyes as she stares at the colorful options of chips.
I watch her mesmerised by the way the green led light makes her hair the lightest shade of sage green. I wish I was a painter to sketch out every angle of her fascination. The brush would move fluently, speaking the feelings that I can't describe.
I stand beside her as the buzz of the fridge grazes my ear and I take in her innocent face.
“Have you tried any of these chips before?”
She shakes her head as she grabs one and moves forward and I take the chips back from her as she looks back at me in question and I smile “You can choose whatever you like and I will carry it.”
“But isn’t this wrong?”
I shrug. “It is but following the rules is boring and tonight we can do whatever we like.”
She grabs packs of gummies and her smile turns bigger the more candy she grabs and I don't mutter a breath of complaining.
“I need to get new glasses.” I remember as I pass by a mirror. Elsie stops and crosses her arms. “you wear glasses?”
