Kara's chips

You lead Tom out to the back patio where Kyle greeted him almost as happily as You. "Hey!"

"Hey, big man!" Tom slapped him five, "Hi." Tom waved at Erin and your dad, Joe. "Thanks for letting me come over, Mr.Doe ."

He nodded, "Sorry I think I forgot to get chips."

"It's fine," Kara told him.

"It's just not the same without chips, you know that. Why don't you and Erin run to the store real quick? Take Kyle with you." He's not one for subtlety.

"You don't really need three-" You tried to say but Erin cut you off.

"It'll be fine. We'll go." She dragged you into the house whispering to you, "You knew this was coming."

Kyle pushed himself away from the table chasing after you and your sister shouting, "Can we get ice cream too?"

Erin insisted you use the normal grocer and not the gas station like you wanted so you could hurry up and get back. "You know it's what dad's gonna do. It's a rite of passage every girl's gotta go through."

"I know that. I've been on the receiving end myself," I heard Kyle snicker behind us as we walked through the aisles, "I just thought I could at least stick around to keep an eye on things." I worried about Mason, what if they said something and let it slip about who I was? What if he found it odd that my dad's doing dad stuff for what he believes is just Erin's friend?

"Dad's not an idiot, but thankfully Mason is. The two will balance each other out just fine. Just between us girls, I think he was checking you out."

"Ew no. He's like older than dad."

"Don't discount older men. They know some things."

"How would you know that?" She smiled back at you and you realized that maybe your sister had an entirely separate life that you knew nothing about.

Erin grabbed a bag of chips and searched the aisles for anything else she may need while Kyle ran in search of ice cream. You wandered around until you stopped in front of a row of makeup. The halligan bulbs hummed overhead as you tried to decide if you should get some bolder makeup than you had been wearing when you heard a woman laugh at the end of the aisle.

Something shined in her hand as she kept it pressed to her cheek while she spoke to whoever was on the other end of the line. You took up a tube of very bright red lipstick and compared it to your own made up lips. You caught sight of yourself in the tiny window that had been placed there along several points of the shelves to offer convenient reflection. He was there again, the boy you once were. The boy you never wanted to see again. The reason you tried to avoid mirrors as much as possible. 'If I can see him," you thought to yourself, "then so can everyone else."

Slowly you walked through the store, realizing for the first time just how exposed you were. It felt like with each step more and more eyes were upon you. 'Why is the music off?' You thought as you heard each thunderous step you made trying to will yourself to become lighter and smaller. The way you were supposed to be.

You stopped in another aisle when you noticed too many people at one end of the aisle who now were included in the thousands of eyes on you already. If you turned and walked back they would definitely know there's something strange about you. After all, no one goes down the wrong aisles in grocery stores.

Instead, you simply stopped and pretended to examine a bottle like it was something you meant to do. The plan was to look at the bottle for a minute and move on but Kyle found you. "Look they have swirl!" Kyle shouted throwing the quart in the basket.

"Are you gonna share?" You whispered to Kyle keeping a glancing eye on the people at the end of the aisle.

"We can get more."

"You can't have an entire bucket of ice cream."

"Who says?"

"It was a law. They passed it recently."

"Liar."

"No really. It was on the news. 'Anyone who doesn't share their ice cream goes to jail for fifty years.'" You heard one of the people chortle. Obviously, they were listening to you.

Kyle groaned, "Fine. You can have some too."

"Goo-I mean, I'm just trying to keep you out of jail dude."

Erin rounded the aisle her own basket in hand, "There you two are. Come on, I got some snacks." You walked away with her, thankful to have an excuse to leave. You could feel everyone's eyes on you as you walked to the register. "What's wrong?" Erin asked quietly.

"It's nothing." You shake your head and **** a half-hearted smile on your face, "Just worried about Tom."

Erin put her arm around you and rubbed your arm reassuringly. "You're gonna be okay." You simply nodded not wanting to ruin everyone's day with your issues. Standing in line you felt like you were on display for everyone to judge as they tried to figure out the complicated puzzle that was you.

"Hey, How you doin?" He asked not really caring as he scanned the ice cream and chips.

"Fi-" your voice caught in your throat as it cracked. The stressful months of voice training were still imperfect as from time to time your voice would falter.

"35.95." The cashier said finally looking up at you. You inserted the card and waited for the beep beep. "Gotta see an I.D."

"What?" The frog in your throat asked. You still hadn't saved enough to change your I.D. not that you had time too.

"New policy, any credit card purchases over twenty dollars require an I.D." He lied. You knew because he looked you directly in the eye.

"Here." Erin handed over her license. "She left her's at home." Somehow over the years, Erin had figured out the perfect smile to manipulate people. Men especially. It was part girl next door, part seductress and part damsel in distress. The exact ratio was key to getting whatever you wanted in life with minimal effort.

The cashier took the card and glanced at it before handing it back. You held your face firm. You couldn't show your anger or your fear. Both would have been a dead giveaway. He tore the receipt and handed it to you before wishing you a good day. "You too." You managed as you gathered up your bags.

In the car, Erin blasted pop music which Kyle hated and for the most part, you did too. Kyle mimed killing himself in various ways as Erin sang along to whatever song came on. Eventually, you heard a song you recognized and joined in. The music was too loud for you to hear your own voice or tell if you were singing well or not. By the time you reached your house, you felt better. Until you realized Tom, your dad, and Mason were pulling up in Mason's truck.

"Where did you go?" You demanded glared at your dad.

"For a ride." Your dad took his rifle case out of the truck and walked passed you, "You'll understand when you have kids."

Your jaw dropped, "When I what?" Joe was already inside and didn't hear you as Tom put his arm around you. "What did you talk about exactly?"