omegle • muke

[23]

[ michael's point of view ]

it seemed to me that as soon as ashton and i walked through the automatic doors of the store, he reverted from an almost-adult to a young and excitable child.

"hey mike, lets get a watermelon."

i glanced down at the hand-written list in my hand, not seeing watermelon on it.

"i don't know, ashton. it's not on the list and this is your mom's money that we're spending."

"she won't care, watermelon is healthy." he said, as he hoisted the large fruit out of the box and in to our cart.

we made our way through the produce section, all the while cringing at the vegetable smell, checking off items on our list, and slowly filling up the bottom of our cart.

all seemed to be going well until we entered the bakery section. the stale smell of vegetables was almost immediately replaced by the inviting smell of fresh bread.

my best friend had already dashed off to the service counter, and he was staring at the display cakes with wide eyes.

"wow, mike, look at these cakes! do you think harry would like one of these?"

"yeah, probably," i answered as i pushed the cart over to the display.

the long shelves were nearly filled with a wonderful assortment of colourful treats. there were themes ranging from princesses to race cars to shrek.

i left ashton to stare at the baked goods while i picked up some items from the list.

i was combing the bread isle, looking for the brand that ashton's mom had written down. ashton had left the cake display and was tapping my shoulder.

"mike, can we get a cookie?"

"i don't know, ashton. i don't want to spend any more of your mom's money than we have to."

"please, mike? they're free."

i could tell why ashton had asked me to help him shop; without me, he definitely wouldn't get anything done.

he eventually dragged me over to the counter, and rung the small bell to alert the worker that we were there.

at the sound of the bell, an short elderly woman wearing an apron over her uniform greeted us.

"hello, boys. what can i do for you?"

"can we have a cookie?" ashton asked, excitedly. "that sign said they're free."

the woman looked ashton up and down.

"sorry, they're only free for kids under ten years old."

ashton widened his eyes and stuck out his lower lip, instantly looking much more childish.

"i just turned eleven last week, do i still count?"

the woman pursed her lips. although the pout could have been convincing under normal circumstances, ashton's height made his lie obvious.

i decided to step up.

i leant in closer to the woman and half-whispered, "could you let this one slide? he's my brother and has a couple problems that prevent him from acting his age."