shakespeare . dallas winston

07; vegetables

"If I can get that far," he grinned, interlocking his fingers behind his head.

My eyes flickered around the town, landing on the convenience store. Noticing Mr. Hanson through the glass window, I tugged on Dallas's arm and pulled him toward me. He stopped, smirking down at me.

"C'mere, there's someone I want you to meet," I pulled on his sleeve, tugging him in the direction of the corner store. He strolled beside me, taking a puff from his weed. I made a face and took it from him.

"If he sees you with this, he'll be scolding me for the next week," I flicked it at the ground and stomped mercilessly, pushing it into the dirt.

Dallas cursed under his breath but put on a face as we entered the store side by side. The bell sounded, Mr. Hanson's head popping up to look at me. He frowned, then looked at the boy beside me, and I almost saw a hint of anger in his eyes.

"Holly," he said, as always, with a hint of vexation, "you should be in school."

I smiled at him, tugging Dallas toward the counter, "we were reading Romeo and Juliet. Don't worry, I didn't miss anything important." I looked up at Dallas, smiling. He held an emotionless expression as he stared down the aging man.

"And this is?" Mr.Hanson started, disdainfully eyeing the boy. I coughed, adjusting the hem of my shirt. I ran my tongue across my bottom lip and looked towards the book section.

"This is a friend of mine, Hanson. His name is Dallas," my lips tugged upward, "he's real nice."

I saw something flicker through Dallas's eyes, but he kept his mouth shut. Mr. Hanson held out his hand and Dallas stared at it, hesitantly reaching out to grab it. The whole time I stared, uncomfortably shifting in place.

"Pleasure to meet you, man," Dallas nodded his head. My face went pale as I saw Mr. Hanson's face scrunch up.

"You too," he trailed off, looking the boy up and down, "man."

Dallas reached into his pocket, grabbing the box of cigarettes. My eyes widening, I hurriedly placed a hand over his and interlocked our fingers, dragging him toward the book section. "Come on, this is where I get all my books. I'll show you what I've read." Once we were out of hearing distance, I whispered, "no smoking. I told you."

Dallas scoffed, his eyes trailing over the vast amount of books. I picked a couple out, showing him the covers and the backs, trying to interest him. Soon enough, he was listening to what I was saying and even picking up a few himself. Mr. Hanson was watching us from afar, pursing his lips disdainfully.

"Mr. Hanson has been really nice to me since I was a kid," I started, turning towards the boy, "he's really important to me."

"I can tell," he hummed, placing a book down. Suddenly, he grinned, placing his hands on my back and pulling me in close to him. "I don't think he likes me, though."

I snickered under my breath, looking down at his chest, "yeah, probably not. He's not used to people calling him 'man'"

Dallas shrugged, squinting his eyes. Lips curling upward, he put his thumb under my chin and lifted my face to meet his. "Curtis house?"

Glancing at the books, I turned back towards him, "yeah, alright."

I spun on my toes and looked at Mr. Hanson, who was glaring at the boy. I shot daggers at him as if to tell him to back off. He respectfully softened his look and turned towards me as we were about to stroll through the door. He called out. "Holly, if you ever skip class again and I find out about it," he thought over his words, "I won't be happy. You understand?"