after awkwardly talking for a minute they decided to head to the mall. tord still wasn't enthusiastic about hanging out with sam, but he had already agreed. they didn't have to walk too far, because the school wasn't a long ways from the mall.
they walked into a gothic looking store. tord was the one that chose it out, and sam teased him for it.
"so, emo boy, what's caught your attention in hot topic?" she giggled. tord rolled his eyes. sam wasn't all that funny, he really didn't know what tom saw in her.
"this isn't even hot topic." he said walking further into the store. "it's just a store with merch for cool shows, and i want to see if there's any shows i like here." sam hit his arm lightly.
"what's got you all upset? was i being too mean to you?" she joked again. tord shook his head, and walked faster hoping to lose her. soon enough, sam got distracted by something when tord stopped at the anime section. he glanced at the many rows of t-shirts, key-chains, and figures. he kept walking. tord froze when he saw the pride flags. he never really thought about his sexuality. he knew that he liked tom, but did that really make him gay?
as he thought that, his eyes flicked to the gay flag. gay wasn't really the right word to describe him. he still liked girls,, maybe. well, anime girls. real girls were annoying to him. he looked at the bi flag. no, probably not. tord shook his head, and moved on. his sexuality was a problem for another time.
sam came running up, and shoved a scarf in his face. he yanked it off, and looked at it. it was alternating stripes of silver and green. sam had a red and gold scarf draped around her own neck. oh. she was one of those girls.
"you're definitely a slytherin." she said, laughing. tord didn't know what was so funny. sam just laughed a lot.
"what's that? slyherin? what does that mean?" he asked. sam looked at him as if he had grown another head.
"you haven't heard of harry potter?" she asked, exasperated. tord shook his head. sam gasped. "you definately have to read it, it's only one of the greatest books of all time!" sam was on thin ice right now. tord didn't like her. she was annoying and too energetic. maybe that's why tom liked her. she brought happiness and energy to his life. maybe she was better for him.
"tord? you there?" tord's head snapped up. he zoned out again.
"ah, sorry, sorry. i zone out a lot, sorry. what were you saying?" tord said quickly. sam raised an eyebrow at him, but continued anyways.
"it's alright.. i was saying that we should buy these. i can pay, but only if you promise to read harry potter. even if it's just the first one." tord sighed. guess he had to read the book, if she was offering to pay.
eventually, after tord arguing against her paying, sam gave in, and let tord chip in, for two dollars. she wouldn't let him pay any more than that. tord put on the scarf, and so did sam. they were matching.
they both walked out of the store and into the rest of the mall. after tord had told pat he was hanging out with a friend, he immediately got a curfew of eight o'clock, and a demand to have fun. pat wasn't his dad, but he sure acted like it. the time was six twenty-five, so they still had time to kill.
"let's go to this neat candy shop that i saw on the way here, i've been here before and i love it! it's my favorite store in this place." tord shrugged, and just let sam lead the way to the store.
"you don't talk much, do you?" sam asked, once she slowed down. it was true. tord didn't talk very much, unless he was in the right company. although tom was his best friend, he felt more open around edd. less awkard.
"i guess. it's just- i don't know, i guess im just awkward." tord shrugged again. they both entered the store, and saying it was 'neat' was an understatement. there was candy from all around the world, and you bet the first place tord went was the norwegian section. sam followed closely behind.
"aw, man, this stuff is awesome! i can't remember the last time i had this!" tord said excitedly. "they're called 'kvikk lunsj.' they're basically norwegian 'kitkats.'" sam smiled at him.
"don't you miss norway? I couldn't imagine living away from home, no matter how far." tord shrugged. truth is, he really did miss norway. he just didn't want to talk about it.
sam took him to the spot where her favorite candy was. she said that she liked jelly beans, so she picked up a big bag of them for herself. tord just got two kvikk lunsj, and he was ready to check out. he paid for his own chocolate, despite sam saying that she would pay.
"hey, hold up your candy, i wanna take a picture with you," sam said, smiling. it seemed that she never stopped smiling, or giggling. tord thought it was annoying. tord reluctantly held up the chocolate, and weakly smiled. sam snapped the picture, and looked at it with a big grin.
"i can tell that we're gonna be great friends." tord nodded. he had complicated feelings about her. she was annoying. she smiled to much, and talked to much. but she was easy to get along with, and she knew how to talk to people really well. way better than tord could. no wonder tom likes her more than he likes tord.
"yep. we're going to get along just well." she couldn't hear the trace amounts of sarcasm in his voice.
after a while, there was only thirty minutes until tord's curfew. despite him not liking sam very much, he had fun. they were walking home now. sam insisted that she must walk with tord.
"it's so you don't get hurt. you probably can't defend yourself with your scrawny arms" she teased, shoving him. tord smiled. she was probably right. but he could defend himself. he just couldn't win.
tord's house came up in the distance. he felt a huge wave of relief hit him like a truck. he wanted to go home so badly. his entire body ached with want to sleep.
"okay, this is my house. i'll see you tomorrow, sam." tord said. he gave her an actual, genuine smile, which surprised both him, and sam. she smiled back, equally as genuine.
"bye tord! i'll see you tomorrow! is it alright if i post this picture?" tord nodded, and he waved to her, as he went into the house.
"hey pat." tord waved, tiredly. pat looked up from the couch where he was doing his homework. he smiled, and pointed to the seat next to him.
"hi! mom emailed us!" he usually got straight to the point. tord sat down next to him as pat opened the email.
"hey boys, i hope you're doing okay. i know that soon we will have enough money for me to come to london with you boys soon. i've been working hard and picking up extra shifts. i miss you two both dearly, and i think about you every single day. i love you boys so much, and i hope to see you soon!"
tord's smile faltered. her emails were getting shorter. he hoped that his mom wasn't working herself to the bone. she had a tendency to do that, and now pat and tord weren't there to stop her when she got to tired. tord sighed.
"tell her that i love her as well, and i can't wait to see her. but make sure she isn't working too hard, will you?" pat nodded, and started typing a reply to their mother. tord stood up, and went to his room to get some well needed rest.
this is the picture that sam took: (art by me)
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