Just Breathe

Part Eight

"Are you sure you don't want to get some new things? I can take you to the mall you know. We can go to that store you used to spend hours in," my father tried to convince me which I thought was odd, considering he never liked when I went shopping. It took forever.

"No, Dad it's alright. All my clothes still fit me, remember, I used to wear them like two sizes bigger," I explained as I tried to convince him not to go. I would have loved to go shopping anytime, but to be honest, now that I was back I couldn't care less. It was like that part of me was gone, or at least for now.

We pulled into the parking lot of the grocery store, which was only about a two minute drive from our house. Five minutes to walk it. I remember when I used to have group sleepovers at my place with a bunch of my fake friends, we used to walk down to the store and grab snacks for that night. And those nights pretty much consisted of making fun of other people in our school as we searched up and down the rows in our yearbooks. Seriously, we had no life back then.

  It was rather busy today in the store. Even though we hadn't gone in yet, I could just tell by all the cars that were piled up and parked. It was a rather large parking lot too, which said a lot. As we drove up and down the aisles, we finally found a spot at the very end. Since there wasn't anything else closer too, we snatched that spot quickly.

  "You don't have to come in if you don't want. I can bet there will be a bunch of people staring," my father spoke up as he turned the car off and faced me. I shook my head gently.

  "No, it's alright. I'm going to have to get used to people wondering and staring. They're curious Dad, that's all," I answered him back as I grabbed for my door handle and opened it. He then followed me out as well.

As our doors slammed I heard the car alarm flicker on as it locked. We both stepped to the side of the road, our hands deep in our pockets. It was a gloomier day, like most days we had in our small town of Dalyville, which was in the lower part of Ontario. We had a lot of tiny towns around us as well, like Maryville, which was about two hours away. And of course there was Jackville, which was only an hour away. Although, when I had been wandering and roaming the woods, it took me much longer the first time to get there. But I think I had gotten lost along the way, walking in circles probably most of the way. Getting to Jackville was just a flook, and I took that.

As my dad and I entered the doors that were propped open, it was almost in a instant that everyone looked our way. Many people did double takes, as they turned their glance over to us once more. But I still didn't regret not staying in the car. I had realized a little while ago, that for people to stop staring and over come their curiosity, I would have to go out more often. If I did, they would then get used to seeing me, and I would no longer be a big deal. But if I hid and stayed away from everyone in my house or in the car, then the times that I did go out, everyone would always stare, considering I was not seen often. So I decided I had to get out as much as possible, even if I didn't want to.

"Jay, could you grab a basket?" my father brought me out of my thoughts as he asked me a question and pointed to the front.

"Huh?" I asked as I looked up at him.

"A basket. Could you grab one?" he repeated again, and pointed in the direction of the front doors.

  "Oh. Sure," I spoke back as I then turned in the direction of the way we came in. They were fairly close, considering we hadn't walked all that far yet. Right as you came in the doors the fruit and vegetable section was right there, waiting for people to come by and bag them. As I bent over to pick up one of the blue baskets that were stacked, I glanced over at the open doors, as it displayed the parking lot. And right there, standing in the far end of the lot, where our car was parked, stood a man wearing all black clothes. His head was tilted down as his face wasn't revealed, and his hood propped up. I stood up in a instant as I dropped the basket that was in my hand. My eyes shot open wide as my nerves came back, and feeling of recognition lit up in my head. It was him. It was him.