Day Dreaming (DreamNotFound)

2. Preparations

I woke up late Saturday morning with a few texts from Clay. Rubbing my eyes, I looked through them.

Clay: can we go supply shopping
Clay: i havent bought any of the shit we need and i really dont want to do it with my parents

While I had most of my stuff, there were a few more things I could do with, so I decide to accept.

George: ok
George: i need to grab some breakfast first tho
George: where r we going

I went downstairs to make myself some microwave pancakes while waiting for his response. My dad sat in the adjacent living room, watching the news. The lingering smell of coffee filled the air. "Morning," he smiled, petting the cat curled up in his lap.

"Morning!" I said, taking the pancakes out of the microwave. "I'm going out later. Where's Mom?"

My father sighed. "She got called in again. She'll be back at noon-ish."

I nodded understandingly, pouring some syrup on my plate. I dug in to the pancakes, still waiting for my phone to go off. However, it didn't. Only after rinsing off the plate and putting it away did Clay repsond.

Clay: i was thinking about going to lakeland
Clay: they have the sporting goods and macys
George: ok i can walk there
Clay: are u sure
Clay: i have my permit
George: i dont wanna make you
George: plus it's only like 10 min
Clay: but theres a ton of crosswalks and stuff
Clay: im already on my way to your house so you cant deny now😇
George: fine

Smiling goofily, I put my phone away. "Got a boyfriend?" my dad joked. 

My smile turns into a scowl before I say, "No, it's just Clay."

"I didn't say it wasn't him," he chuckled before going back to the news. Face burning red, I go back upstairs to put some clothes on. I don't wear anything fancy - just a blue shirt and some jeans. I tried flattening out my mess of brown hair, managing to smooth it to the side. After a couple of minutes of waiting outside, I saw Clay pull up in his crossover, rolling down the window.

"Hi," he called. "Get in. Nick's here too, so you're in the back."

"Alright," I sighed, climbing into the backseat. It's strange how foreign other people's cars smell - you just get so used to your own, I suppose. Nick was leaning his head on his arm, nearly drifting off. "How're things, Nick?" I asked.

"Tired. Clay dragged me out here," he yawned.

"Did not. You said you didn't have any stuff either," Clay giggled

"I did, but I didn't need you to take me shopping." He sat up, rolling his eyes.

Clay took a right out of my neighborhood. "You said you wanted to. What's the difference?"

"But why can't you let me procastinate in peace?" Nick protested.

"Just stop arguing. What do you guys even need to get?" I asked, annoyed.

Clay  considered for a while before listing. "Sleeping bags definitely. I'll be needing a flashlight. Most of the rest of the stuff is clothes."

"That's like nothing. Why are we even going out?" Nick groaned.

"I kinda just wanted to get out of my house," Clay sighed. Nick opened his mouth as if to speak, but closed it, as if he changed his mind. There was an awkward silence in the air as Clay drove us the rest of the way to the mall. This seemed to break, though, as we got out of the car and entered the mall.