Where the Skies are Blue

Chapter Four:

My mom picks a sweater off the rack and holds it up to her chest. "Isn't he just the nicest, baby? Gave us his credit card to go shopping for all new clothes."

I think she's forgetting I need new clothes too, as we've spent the past three hours solely shopping for her. Buying countless new fancy dresses and clothes we never would've been able to afford before. The price tags are through the roof, and each time she swipes his card, the tightness in my chest turns up a notch or two. She has no self-awareness. No thought process that maybe she shouldn't be spending hundreds of his money right now.

"I need some supplies for school." I grumble as she tosses more clothes in my arms to carry around.

She waves me off. "That's all a scam. The schools try to force you to buy all this shit you don't need that they should be providing you with. Isn't that their damn job?"

I roll my eyes. "Okay, well, I need a backpack or something."

"Use one of my purses."

"You're not listening to me." I snap at her, and she whirls around to face me, jabbing a freshly manicured nail at me.

            "And you're not listening to me, Auden. I'm not wasting his money on pointless things that you never needed before."

            "I've always needed that stuff before." I fire back. "You've already bought a dozen beige sweaters. I have no shoes, all my pants have holes in them, and I need supplies."

            She furrows her brows, lines crack across her forehead. An exasperated huff escapes her mouth as she plants her hand on her hip. "Thought this wasn't your life, baby? If you want the life we had in Arizona so badly, then this money is all mine, and you can work to get some new clothes, how about that?"

            I narrow my eyes at her and drop her clothes on the floor. "Fuck you." I seethe.

            "Go ahead and cry about it!" She yells after me as I storm out of the shop and outside into the shopping center.

            My jaw is tight. Hands balled into fists. The anger surging through me. The outdoor mall is busy with people.

I breathe in deeply through my nose. The smell of the ocean is everywhere here. The air is clean. I start walking towards the parking lot, gathering my wavy, dark brown hair off my neck. I want to get far away from Katherine.

Just then, my phone vibrates in my pocket, and I pull it out to see a text from an unknown number.

Hey, it's Hunter. How hungry are you right now? (;

As if he somehow knew how badly I need a distraction right now. Quickly, I type back to him.

Starving. I send back, anxiously awaiting his response, I take a seat on a nearby bench. A family walks past me and give me a stiff smile.

His text rings through a minute later, Great, can I come pick you up in a few minutes?

Yeah, I'll send you my address.

I quickly begin to walk back towards the house so I can freshen up a bit and find something that isn't entirely disgusting to put on.

***

Hunter has a grey Bronco with a mount on top to hold surfboards. At the sight of me, he rolls his window down, shooting me his sly grin.

Hopping into the passenger seat, I instantly get a whiff of his car. Ocean water mixed with a muskyer smell, like cologne.