Just a Teenage Dream

Chapter 39

We dried off in the sun before leaving. We decided to go to a small arts and crafts shop not far from where we were. Trent said that it had everything we needed and after that, we could get something to eat just two away. We got back onto his bike and did just that. A cute small shop that had everything any artist desired. He led me to a shelf of various brands and types of paints right at the back of the shop.

 "The best acrylic paint you would ever find," he said as he reached for a box on the highest shelf. He handed me the box of the most expensive paint I had ever found. My eyes almost rolled out of their sockets when I turned the box over to look at the price. "Are you crazy? I could buy a good set of paintbrushes for this amount." I put the box down on the wrong shelf because I couldn't reach the shelf that it was meant to be on. However, on the very same shelf, I found a cheaper alternative.

" We can get two of these that add up to the price of that other paint. It's better to spend more on something that you will get more out of than to spend more on quality and not get much out of it," I explained. 

I felt an argument coming on when he took the box out of my hand to place back on the shelf, I found it. "Quality over quantity," he said. In my opinion, that was a fairly good argument but at the time I believed that we could make the most out of what we had." Poor quality doesn't mean that we won't produce something worthy of a good grade," I argued.

He walked to the end of the aisle and pulled a small shopping cart towards me. "Why must you always be so difficult?" he asked. "I'm not difficult, I'm reasonable. You're always difficult. Always have to be the opposition, " I complained.

He dropped the box of expensive paint into the cart. "And you don't listen." I continued to complain as I took the box of paint out of the cart. Instead of taking the box back from me, he lifted me off the ground and put me into the cart along with the paint."Why?" I asked growing more and more tired of our small quarrel. "You won't stop whining," he answered.

I tried to get out on my own, but he rolled the cart forward causing me to almost lose balance."Ladies and gentlemen, may I ask that you keep your arms and legs inside the ride at all times, thank you!", he announced in a deep voice. I immediately knew to sit down and just roll with it.

Carpe diem.

He ran through all the different aisles like a child with a toy car and that's how we spent the rest of our shopping trip. We eventually got to the till where we were going to pay.Well, something like that. "Pass my wallet. I slipped it into your bag when we were on the beach," he said. I had his wallet in my bag, but I felt generous. " That's okay. I can pay for this," I said. He sighed heavily. I had no more energy left to argue. "Fine let's just spilt costs," I said. "We don't have to split anything." He was getting more and more annoyed, and I knew why. Left him to do what he wanted because I knew how and when I could get even.

They were out of canvases, so we had to place an order which was a good thing because we hadn't thought everything through. "Do you think we could fit all of this in your bag?" he asked.We didn't go with the car, so we didn't have a backseat to through everything onto. My backpack was the backseat. "Let me out of this and I'll try and stuff it in."

He helped me out the cart as requested. My bag was big and close to tearing, but I knew that it would last until got back home. After that, we were both hungry and what better way to end a date than with wood fire-cooked pizza? At the time it was the best wood-fired pizza I had but ultimately it was one of my favorite memories.

I have a few of those regarding Trent.

The smell of the wood burning was comforting. I remember us agreeing to sit outside because I didn't want to sit in a crowded room. We started talking again after the waiter brought our food. I learned to not get on his bad side when he's hungry, so before we got our food, I built up the courage to start a conversation about something personal.

"There seems to be some tension between you and Trent." I've been wanting to say that for a while, but I was waiting for the appropriate time. "Troy and I don't get along like we used to. We were as thick as thieves once upon a time. Then along the lines life hit me and I decided to stop being his sidekick. Now we don't see eye to eye," he explained.

"What was it like before?" I asked curiously."Drugs, other illegal shit, messing around with innocent girls. Well, easy girls. I suppose they weren't so innocent. Remember he mentioned something about twins coming over?"

Putting two and two together was disturbing but getting to know Trent on a personal level made me feel more comfortable with him, even though he has a merely unsettling past. "Telling something about your family," he says.

"Well..." I cleared my throat before I continued "...my mother wants to meet you," I responded.

The look on his face said it all.