Catch My Fall | ✔

24. The Favor (2)

When we pulled into the mall's parking lot, I'd managed to salvage Bell's make-up job. My purse was full of the make-up she used on me and let me keep.

We were cutting it close, coming in only five minutes before the cut-off. There was a stage set up in the middle of the mall's lobby, where a man wearing a shirt covered in skulls, snakes, and rhinestones welcomed everyone and went over the rules.

The game was simple. We were in teams of two and had two hours to cross off as many items on the list as possible. The items on the list seemed pretty straightforward, minus a few that were riddles or names I'd have to google. After the man on stage made sure everyone had their lists and that we all signed in, the game began.

"Get tatted?" I read off the list. "How is that only worth one point?"

Romeo tapped the paper. "Temporarily."

"Oh," I chuckled. "Where do you even get a temporary tattoo?"

Romeo pulled up the mall's directory on his phone. I stood next to him, watching as he scrolled through a lost of the stores. "Wait," I said, pointing. "Here."

He groaned. "I hate that store."

I laughed, grabbing the sleeve of his oversized shirt, and dragged him to Claire's. There we found the tattoos, a jumbo lip balm, and candy bracelets. We paid for everything and left the store.

"We already have four points," I said, using water from the water fountain to apply a star tattoo to Romeo's wrist since he was too busy eating his bracelet. "Can we get everything from the mall?"

He pulled the list from his pocket. "Not everything. I got a pair of Heelys at my dad's house."

"Too far. Now hold still," I demanded. Taking his newly tatted wrist, I laid my arm next to his, my heart tattoo lined up with his star, and snapped a photo with my phone.

We continued around the mall, making our way through crowds of shoppers and others doing the scavenger hunt. We were up to twelve points after circling the entire mall. Most of those points were because of our new spray painted apparel. A shirt for me and a hat for Romeo. Both had our names on them. Both were expensive.

The thrift store was next. Most of the items on the list were old and that was our best bet. As we browsed the aisles of donated items, Romeo asked, "Did you mean what you said to Lamar?"

I froze looking through a bin of stuffed animals--we needed a Beanie Baby--and turned to him. "What?"

"Would you really be cool with him getting back together with your mom?"

Why was he bringing that up now? I picked up a small giraffe and checked the tag. "If he was serious about her, yeah. She still walks around in his sweatshirt. She's either harboring feelings for him or it's a really comfy sweatshirt."

Giving up on my Beanie Baby hunt, I faced him. "Why are you asking?"

He nervously scratched at his elbow, eyes trained on the glossy linoleum beneath our feet. "Because I meant what I said last night." He met my eye then. My breath caught in my throat.

When he hadn't brought it up, I thought we were going to pretend it never happened. Continue our relationship of being just friends. But there he was, ruining it. Confusing me because for years I thought he only viewed me one way. It hurt, unrequited love, but I learned to deal with it. Now he's changed the rules and I didn't recognize the game we were playing.

I didn't want to play. "No, you don't."

He blinked, stunned. Recovering with a slight smirk, he said, "You don't know my heart."