Campbell's (Chris Collins)

Clean Up on Aisle Five

Perhaps it was because fate was commending the two for their fighting spirits despite feeling under the weather that day that it allowed them an encounter with each other. Nevertheless it was on that fateful day that the two had met under the circumstances of the common cold and the last standing can of Campbell's soup.

"Are you sure you're not coming with me?"

"Nope. It's pretty cozy in here. I might even take a nap."

"Okay, suit yourself." shrugged Naomi as she left the car with Paige contentedly sitting inside, "But if you hear carbon monoxide poisoning knocking at the door, remember not to answer."

With a roll of her eyes, Paige only shooed her best friend off to quicken their pit stop at the convenience store before heading back to Naomi's to work on a project and a sleepover all in one. She only shook her head as she watched Naomi enter the shop, pitying any poor soul she would encounter — knowing it wasn't the best day to be around her.

And that poor, unfortunate soul happened to be Chris Collins.

Battling a cold of his own, Chris's plan of walking into the convenience store and getting out almost immediately with a can of soup was about to backfire the moment he caught sight of sniffling, light haired girl making her way to the same area he was going from the opposite side. He sniffed a little himself and decided he was a little thankful for the cold — because if he hadn't had it, there'd be no purpose to run to the convenience store and catch sight of this rather attractive looking person.

All that changed, however, when they grabbed the same can of soup.

In fact, the only can of soup there was.

In his perspective, the only thing more attractive than her was that one can of soup they had both held on to.

"Feeling under the weather, huh?" smiled Chris as he looked up from their conjoined hands on the can and at her.

Naomi did not reciprocate the smile however, replied, "Yup." she said bluntly, "Now will you please let go of my can of soup?"

There were two types of sick people; ones concerned for the welfare of the people around, cautious not to sneeze so as not to spread this cold further (i.e. Chris Collins) and ones fed up with being sick, that their grouchiness had spread through their bodies — these were definitely not the kind to argue with (i.e. Naomi Patridge today; normally, she'd give the can of soup to anyone who looked like they needed it more — even if it were the last.)

"Your can of soup?" scoffed Chris, "You're not the only one with the cold; you're not the only one who wants to get better; you're not the only one who wants this can of soup."

"And you're not the one who grabbed it first." she retorted, "Why do you think my hand's slowly losing circulation under your big, clammy one? Because I got it first."

"If you really got it first, which I doubt, why didn't you put it in your basket quick enough for someone else not to grab?"

"I was in the middle of doing that when I felt something strange attached to it...oh right, it was your hand!"

This meant war.

Luckily enough, their bickering had been overheard by the woman in the cashier's booth and had called their attention.

"Can I get a clean up on aisle five please?"

Chris and Naomi momentarily broke their burning stares towards each other to gaze at the sign indicating which aisle they'd been in — which in fact, was the same one the lady over the mic had pertained to.

Noticing the two look up at the sign, she continued to page their attention; "Hey, Jimmy Neutron in the grey jacket and girl Oscar the Grouch, over here." she said as Chris and Naomi looked at her in disbelief, "Yeah, you two messes get over here right now."

They glared at each other momentarily before walking towards her, both still holding onto the can as if it were the handcuffs that bound them to each other.

One thing was certain, however. There was no way they were getting out of this as quick as they'd planned.