The Year It All Changed

Chapter 8

MALLORY'S POV
I climbed out of my yellow truck and walked into GroceryGo. It was cold and smelled like plastic grocery bags. Heading towards the refrigerators at the back of the store, I began thinking about what happened with Spencer earlier in the evening.
I forgot he kissed me. I forgot that I invited him in. I forgot my hiking shoes. It was true that lately I had been a bit more forgetful than normal. I'd forgotten to pack a lunch a couple of times, a homework assignment here, a test there, nothing major, but today... surely I'm just tired. There's nothing wrong with me. Tomorrow my mind will be fresh and clear. I'm fine. I tried to convince myself, but somehow I wasn't so sure. I'd always had a very keen memory, I rarely forgot anything. Until this last month. I'm fine. Just fine. I persuaded, trying to turn my mind to something else.
What am I here for? I questioned as I approached the back of the store. I knew I had come to pick something up for my mom... but what was it? I groaned. Not again... Think Mal. Think. You came here for something. You've got to remember.
Frustrated, I pulled out my phone to call my mother. As it rang, I watched a woman walking nearby. She had a cart full of groceries, and was moving quickly. It was obvious she knew exactly what she was looking for. She stopped about 2 feet away from me, swung open the glass door of the refrigerator, grabbed a carton of eggs and hurried away, clearly in a rush.
Eggs! That's it! I hit the "end call" button and grabbed a couple of egg cartons. Oh bless you random shopper lady! I thought with a smile.
I made my way to the checkout aisle and found a spot in line behind a young mother, with three screaming children. She looked stressed as she frantically searched through her large purse for a credit card. The cashier stood watching, tapping his fingers impatiently. She apologized to him as she continued to dig through her bag, and he rolled his eyes in response. I smiled sympathetically at the woman, she clearly felt bad, and it was apparent that she was intimidated by the cashier. In fact, I was too. He was a tall boy with blue hair. His ears were nearly hidden by piercings and he had wristbands that went up to his forearms. I stared at him for a moment, absent-mindedly, before his eyes met mine. He glared at me, "You finished staring at me?"
I looked away.
The boy sighed, and turned back to the woman who had finally found her card. "That'll be 35.63 m'am."
I looked back up as she handed him her card, he swiped it and placed her bags in her cart for her.
"Thank you!" She chirped.
"Whatever." He grumbled as she walked away.
"Did you find everything okay?" He asked in a monotone voice, scanning my eggs.
No. I didn't even know what I was looking for! "Yeah." I nodded, avoiding eye contact.
I glanced at his name tag, Erikk. It was printed in a neat font, but the final 'k' was written in sharpie.
"$7.20." He said, leaning his elbows on the register in boredom.
I reached into my pocket to pull out the cash, there was a five dollar bill and several ones. I sorted it somewhat slowly, trying to remember the price he had just given me. How much was it? $6.70? I sighed, I had forgotten. Big surprise.
"Sorry what was that again?" I asked.
"$7.20." He replied, annoyed.
I nodded and gave him a handful of money.
"Um... this is only six dollars." He said awkwardly.
Focus Mallory. I hadn't forgotten it was $7.20, no, this time I just hadn't been paying attention. I had been too busy worrying about my sudden forgetfulness. I handed him two more dollars. "Sorry. It's been a long day."
Erikk's face softened, "Hey, no one's perfect, Mallory."
His use of my name caught me off guard. He knows me? I was suddenly feeling very anxious to get home. "You know my name?"
"Um, yeah. We're in the same English class.... and math and government too." His cheeks flushed red.
Had I forgotten him too? Surely not, he wasn't the type of person I would forget.
"Oh, uh, sorry.. I-" I stammered.
"Hey, don't worry about it." He chuckled, "Nobody knows me. I'm just the weird new kid who sits in the back of the classroom."
Okay, so I hadn't forgotten him. He was new here, and mostly kept to himself. Phew. "Oh, well... it was nice meeting you Erikk." I stammered.
He grinned, "How do you know my name?" He asked, in the same tone I had used only seconds earlier.
I pointed at the nametag on his chest.
"Oh, right. My nametag. Duh." He laughed and handed me the plastic grocery bag full of eggs.
"Thanks, I guess I'll see you around." I said, turning to walk away.
"Yeah, see you." He replied, "And hey don't stress. Remember what I said. No one is perfect."
"Um right. Yeah. Bye." I mumbled and walked away. Well, that was wierd.
*******************
I brushed out my freshly washed hair, and headed down to the kitchen. The sweet aroma of chocolate chip cookies filled my nose. I fixed up a plateful and poured myself a tall glass of milk.
"You're going to eat all of those?" A familiar voice asked.
I whirled around to see my 15 year old, self proclaimed health guru, sister Anna gaping at me. "Yup." I replied defiantly, "I'm going to eat them all."
She folded her arms across her chest, "Just remember... a moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips." She warned.
I laughed, "I'll remember." Truthfully, I knew it wasn't healthy to eat a whole plate of cookies, but I'm not quite 18 yet, and still have a young, fast metabolism. So, of course I'm going to eat what I want. Dieting is too much stress, and besides I burn off most of what I eat at dance anyways.
She jokingly huffed in disapproval, and I headed down to the basement to watch a movie.
I had just started one of my favorite romance movies, when I heard footsteps trudging down the stairs. I groaned hitting the 'pause' button, and looked up to see Josh making his way towards me, wrapped in a blanket. Like me, he too had a giant plate of cookies in one hand, and a glass of milk in the other.
"Hey sis," he greeted, plopping down next to me on the couch.
"Hey," I replied, leaning my head on his shoulder.
"You tired?" He asked softly.
"Yeah," I replied with a sigh.
"It's getting kind of late, and you've had a busy day. Maybe you should go to bed."
"Nah," I replied, "I'm not ready for bed yet. I'm physically tired, but my mind is still wide awake."
He laughed, "Alright. In that case, can I talk to you about something?"
I nodded, "Sure. What's up?"

Authors note:
Thanks for reading!!! Sorry it's such a choppy chapter! The next one will be much better I promise! Kisses :)