This is Not My Home

Chapter Twelve

Years After

"I'm hungry," Ollie complained, leaning back in her seat.

"I know," Tyler said, pulling into the store parking lot. "We'll get some food here."

She opened the door and hopped out of the car, then shut it behind her. She went over to where Tyler was and followed after him as they went into the parking lot.

He glanced down at her and took her hand as they crossed an intersection, then let go when they reached the store.

The store greeted them with a gush of cold air as the doors slid shut behind them. Tyler took the lead and started heading for the grocery section.

Ollie trailed behind, looking around at everything. There were so many colors, the lights were bright and almost blinding, and the people around them were always making noise. There were so many tiny imperfections that frustrated her little mind, and it took a lot of restraint not to fix them.

"Ollie?" Tyler asked, snapping her out of her daze.

She blinked and looked up at him. "Hmm?"

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"It's just... really loud," she said, wincing as someone nearby laughed. "And bright."

Tyler crouched down to her eye level. "Can I do anything to help?"

"I dunno," Ollie said, keeping her arms firmly planted at her sides instead of plugging her ears.

He took one of her little hands. "We'll make this quick, alright? We'll grab what we need and get out, and I'll go get you some ice cream. We can have a little fun afterward, too."

"Okay," she said.

"Just focus on me." Tyler stood up and carefully guided her along. She held tightly onto his hand and stayed close to him as he picked out certain things.

Eventually, they got to the girls' section, and he let go of her hand. "Go pick out an outfit or two, alright? I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?" Ollie asked, reluctant to be left in the barrage of sounds, sights, and smells.

"I'll be right back," Tyler repeated. "Just stay in this section, alright?"

"Okay," she mumbled, watching as he smiled and walked off.

Great, she thought. We've been left behind.

We haven't. He's just gone to get something while we're doing our own thing. It just saves time and makes this visit less painful, the other voice reasoned.

Ollie sighed and started to look through the clothing. Most of it was pink or purple or had prints of girly characters on it. In fact, almost the entire section was pink.

She glowered at the racks of clothing and started to sift through the clothes, immediately dismissing anything with bright colors or icky-feeling fabric.

Ollie eventually happened across a button-up shirt that was black in color. It had some elegant, rose-colored lilies with jade-colored leaves. It had a nice collar and shorter sleeves.

She took it off the rack and went over to the dressing rooms. Ollie snuck past the lady at the desk and went into one of the rooms, then shut the door and locked it.

She tried the shirt on, fumbling with the buttons but managing in the end. It was a teensy bit big, but she liked it. It was styled in the way a Hawaiian shirt might be and complimented her figure rather well.

Ollie pulled the shirt off and put her regular clothes back on, then snuck past the lady again and kept looking at clothes. Again, most of them were stupid and for stupid girly girls, which was stupid because she wasn't a stupid girly girl, that was stupid.