(1) Talk Me Down: An All Time Low Fanfiction Romance

Chapter 6: Enemies

        Brenda got home after I'd taken a long shower and changed into shorts and a loose tank top. I was standing in our kitchen, staring into the empty fridge. I wasn't sure how it'd gotten to the point where all we had was an almost empty gallon of milk, bread, eggs, condiments and dressing. The pantry held only cereal, pasta, chips and canned food. My parents must not have gone shopping in a while.

        "We seriously need to get some food," I was muttering to myself when my sister entered the ktichen. I ddin't hear her come in, so when she said, "We could go now," from behind me, I jumped, slamming the fridge door shut.

        Brenda was shaking her head, chuckling lightly. I think I'd started her by yelling, but she found my reaction more amusing tha scary. I started laughing when I saw her giggling too, walking over to throw my arms around her neck.

        "Do you really want to spend your time home food shopping?" I asked, as I stepped back, watching my sister. She just shrugged, "Might as well."

        "Okay," I followed her out of the house and to her car. The radio turned on with the engine, and instead of turning it down to allow conversation, she turned it up, rolling all the windows down. I laughed as my hair whipped around my face and my sister drove and attempted to dance in her seat, singing loudly and off-key to the song playing.

        By the time we got to the grocery store, my stomach hurt and I was practically crying. Brenda pulled into the parking spot, shaking her head.

        "Calm down, we're in public. You look like you just had a temper tantrum," she said, turning off the car and watching me. I only started to laugh more, taking a few minutes to calm myself down.

        "You must be high or something," Brenda muttered, pushing her door open. I ran my fingers through my hair, wiping under my eyes before I got out of the car.

        "It's not my fault you look like an idiot," I said, walking next to her. She raised an eyebrow at me, smirking softly.

        "Or you just laugh too easily," she retorted. The grocery store was air conditioned and the cold air felt good as we passed through the sliding doors. I grabbed a basket and then handed one to Brenda. She took it slowly, giving me a weird look. "We could've just gotten a cart."

        "I thought we'd split up," I shrugged. "You take one side I'll take the other and we'll just get a few things we need for now."

        "Alright," Brenda nodded, and immediately headed to the far right side of the grocery store. I went to the left, heading down the frozen food/begerage aisle. I grabbed another gallon of milk and other frozen foods before leaving the refrigerated section.

        I walked to the end of the aisle and someone ran into me. Their cart smashed into my side, causing me to stumble at the end. I turned to the person, wanting tos ee who it was before I reacted.

        My anger was masked with surprise when I found myself staring at the boy with light brown hair form Jason's party -- Alex -- The one who'd thrown the first punch at Jason's snide comment. He looked up at me from his phone as he said, "Oh shit," but his worried expression faded when his eyes met mine.

        His head tilted slightly to the side and his eyebrows came together, studying my face before his expression became one of recognition. A smirk pulled at the corner of his lips as he looked amused as he slid his phone into his pocket and leaned forward against the handle of his cart. "How's your boyfriend? I hope his eye isn't too messed up," he sirked, and I glared at him. I noticed that the left part of his lip was cut, but it was small and looked like the only damage he'd received.

        "Oh, come on, you can't blame me for wanting to punch your dumbass friend. We weren't doing anything wrong and they started it," Alex sighed, annoyed. I crossed my arms over my chest, watching him carefully.

        "And you don't think that it was a bad idea for you and your friends to show up somehwere you clearly weren't wanted?" I argued, raising an eyebrow. Alex looked even more amused, watching me with interested brown eyes.

        "It's a free country, isn't it? We had as much a right to be there as you did," he responded like it was no big deal, like there was nothing wrong with getting into fights. Annoyed, I sighed, waiting for an older woman to pass before I replied, "At least I was actually friends with the people there, I didn't show up where I knew I had enemies."

        Alex chuckled lightly, standing up straight. His hands gripped the handles of the cart as he stared at me. "You're very naive if you think you don't have any enemies. Everybody has enemies. With the group of people you hang out with, you're bound to have a few rooting aginst you. It's how life works."

        He didn't give me a second to respond. He pushed his cart past me, pulling his phone back from his pocket. I turned to watch him disappear down an aisle a few rows away.

        "Who was that?" Brenda asked, suddenly coming up behind me. I jumped, startled by her for a second time today. I glanced in Alex's direction before muttering, "Nobody," and walking down the aisle.

        "Everybody has enemies." The sentence rang through my head over and over again. I'd never thought about anybody disliking me. I knew that my friends, Veronica especially, had enemies, but I couldn't honestly say she didn't deserve them. She wasn't always the nicest person, especially when you gave her a reason to dislike you.

        Despite my friends' attitudes, I tried to be as nice as I could. I never tried to give people a reason to dislike me and I avoided drama like it was the plague, considering Veronica almost thrived on it.

        As we were checking out, Alex was in the lane next to us, with an older woman I assumed was his mother. He caught my eye, smirking again. My reaction was to scowl and turn away, focusing on what my sister was saying. But even if I ignored Alex when I saw him, I wouldn't be able to ignore what he said to me.