Chapter 7
It was only half way through the movie and Janice felt like she would faint. Jeremy had his arm around her shoulder and his hand in the popcorn bag on Janice’s lap. He watched the movie silently while he stuffed his mouth with popcorn. Did this bag not have an end? He’s been shoveling the popped kernels in his black hole for the past 40 minutes. Suddenly, Janice felt Jeremy’s breath on the side of her neck. Janice felt her face start to heat up. “There’s no more popcorn.” He whispered in her hair. She rolled her eyes, even though she didn’t know if he could see her.
“If you stop shoving it in your mouth then maybe you might have more.” She whispered back. Janice saw Jeremy move his face, maybe into a smile? He pressed his lips to her cheek and pulled her closer to his chair. She blushed darker and put her face into his neck. Janice watched as the two main characters argued over something, their faces were etched with anger and irritation. The woman started to cry while Channing stood there watching her.
Janice wondered if things like that actually happened in an Earth human’s life. Was there arguing like that? Or was their provocative language? Would any of the boys ‘try anything’ on her? Janice knew she had a decent figure and from the teen magazines she read that her long thick dark hair was ‘to die for’. Not that Janice would want that. Janice felt Jeremy lean his head on hers. Now Janice felt like she was in heaven, bad pun.
“You should stop mumbling. You sound crazy.” Jeremy told Janice in her ear. She nodded quickly. Did she say that out loud? Did Jeremy understand her? Janice didn’t watch the movie much because her brain was still racing about the ifs, ands, or buts.
After the movie the group shivered out of the theatre. “Is anyone else freezing?” Penny complained. The two boys nodded.
“I’m pretty warm.” Janice shrugged.
“Only because you made Jeremy into an igloo!” Matt pointed out. Janice stuck her tongue out at him and hugged Jeremy. He didn’t hesitate to wrap his arm around her.
“Me next!’ Penny cried before tackling the two in a hug. Jeremy also wrapped his arm around Penny. A group of pre-teens walked past the strange group. A young boy gave Jeremy a wolf whistle. Penny and Janice giggled.
“Oh, you guys.” Matt said bashfully before making a sandwich with his body. The two girls gasped for air and the two taller boys squeezed together.
“Okay! We’re warm! We’re warm!” Penny yelled out with her limited air supply. The boys chuckled before letting the girls go. Janice pushed herself away while Penny collapsed on the ground. The group of pre-teens made their escape when Penny started to yell at Matt. They were making a scene.
“Kids these days.” A middle-aged man grumbled as he walked past them.
“At least someone has kids, Mr. Kim!” Penny shouted after the man. Mr. Kim shot a glare at her over his shoulder, which she returned with a cheeky grin. “That’s my Psychology teacher.” Penny explained. “So you guys going to Pineridge?”
“Yup! Start Monday.” Janice said.
“Well, there might be a snowstorm that day, maybe Tuesday.” Matt thought. “We’ll se you guys then!” Matt waved as he led Penny to the exit.
“Nice meeting you!” She yelled.
“Bye!” Janice called back as the two missionaries waved.
“We have about an hour left. What do you wanna do?” Jeremy asked after Matt and Penny disappeared into the cold. Janice replied with a shrug.
“There’s only so much you can do in a mall.” Janice commented.
They walked hand in hand through the mall. Janice spotted a cute little clothing store and pulled Jeremy in with her. “Jan, I’m tired of shopping.” He complained.
“We don’t have anything else to do.” She simply replied. She strolled in with Jeremy behind her and was instantly attracted by the bright colors. There was no one else in the store and Janice didn’t see a sales clerk. She shrugged it off.
There were racks of yellows and greens, not much of winter colors. Jeremy plopped himself down in a small cushion seat in the corner and warily watched Janice float through the store. He admired the way the skirt of her dress moved with her nimble legs and how she smiled secretly to herself. He didn’t forget to notice how she held herself up in those heels she had on.
Suddenly a door slammed inside the store. The two missionaries turned their heads to the counter where the slam came from. A bunch of boxes magically started to float from behind a floral curtain. A small pair of hands held to bottom box. “Do you need help?” Janice spoke up. The boxes jostled as if the person holding them jumped back. They each ran over to grab the boxes from being dropped and carried them out of the person’s hands.
“Oh, sorry!” Behind the boxes, a small woman hid. She was an elderly woman, too old to be carrying the heavy boxes.
“No, no! It’s okay!” Janice told her. The old woman dropped her box on the ground by an empty rack and took the others and placed them on top.
“Oh! We haven’t had customers in ages! Can I help you with anything?” The lady rushed as she tucked a grey hair into her messy bun. Janice wondered about the ‘we’ part in her sentence. Was there someone else working here? What were they doing instead of helping this old woman carry the heavy boxes?
“Oh, we’re just looking.” Janice told the woman.
“Well, if you need any help just give me a holler!” The woman smiled at the two teens before shuffling back behind the counter. Jeremy sat back down in the cushion chair while Janice went back to her place by the racks.
Janice saw a small color change in the corner of her eye. She moved towards it and pulled a dress off the rack.
The dress was a smooth material and came with a peachy ribbon. It was a crème color and was sleeve-less. The bust area was smooth and clean. It was a short length that shouldn’t be worn in the winter. But looking at this dress, Janice knew it would be worth it.
Janice held it up to her body. She loved the soft material under her fingers as she trailed her hand down the body of the dress. Janice took the dress to the counter, trying to find the woman. “Is there a dressing room?” She asked once she spotted the lady bent over by the register.
“Over there in the corner by your boyfriend. Behind the flower curtain.” She waved Janice over without looking at her. Janice blushed at the woman’s assumption. She nodded and moved toward the changing room. Of course it was the most obvious curtain with the wild neon colors pressed against the brown wooden walls. Janice almost laughed at her obliviousness.
“I’m going to try this on.” She told Jeremy. He nodded and yawned. She slipped into the small room and slid the curtain in front of her. She stripped off her original dress and stepped into the new one. It was a perfect fit and hugged her body attractively. The bottom of the dress ended a few inches before the knee. Janice knew it would be a long time before she could wear this dress.
She admired herself in the mirror for a second before a loud crash and a low grunt came from outside. Janice rushed out of the room, with the dress still on, and found the old lady on the ground. Jeremy knelt next to her, making sure she was okay.
“I’m fine.” The woman laughed. Janice knew it was dangerous for a woman of her age to fall. Maybe she broke something!
“Are you sure?” Janice asked. The lady nodded and took Jeremy’s hand. She was pulled to her feet and she dusted off her clothes.
“Oh, well I’m fine. Thanks for asking.” A new voice said. Janice leaned over the counter to see another teenage boy lying on the ground. His voice was deep and somewhat bratty. The instant Janice laid her eyes on the boy she only saw his attractiveness. Maybe he wasn’t a teenager…
The boy looked tall, easily passing 6 feet. He had layered black hair and he was skinny. He defiantly was attractive, maybe even more attractive than Jeremy. His eyes were a rich emerald color. His chiseled features were hard with irritation. He had small, black earrings that gave him a harder look. The boy wore dark jeans and a plain white collared shirt. Judging by the way he wore his clothes, Janice saw that he seemed rather uncomfortable. Also, his shoes were a careless orange, Janice’s favorite color. Overall, Janice thought that if she would blink, the boy would be gone.
Luckily, Jeremy snapped at the boy and saved Janice from being caught for her staring. “Maybe if you watch where you’re going then we wouldn’t be on this situation would we?”
“Whatever.” The boy snorted and pushed himself off the ground.
“J. Bear, can you just relax.” The old woman held her hands out to the boy. He stepped out of reach. J. Bear? What kind of nickname was that? Was he her nephew or something?
“Stop calling me J. Bear!” He grunted at her. She flinched back.
“That is no way to talk to your grandmother!” She cried back to him. So Janice was correct, they were related somehow.
“You stopped being my grandmother when dad left.” His body shook as he stomped passed the lady and out of the store. The lady sighed and squeezed the bridge of her nose with her forefinger and thumb.
“That boy is going to give me a heart attack.” She mumbled. Janice panicked at the possibility of that statement.
“Please don’t say stuff like that.” Janice whispered to the lady.
“Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it like that…” The lady trailed off. Janice nodded her off. “Oh! Let me apologize for my grandson! He just isn’t himself these days.” The lady stressed.
“It’s okay.” Jeremy said and Janice nodded in agreement.
“That dress looks perfect on you!” The lady said suddenly. Janice looked at her in confusion and glanced down. She had completely forgotten she was still wearing the store’s dress.
“Thank you! I was planning on buying it!” She said, just incase the lady thought she was planning on stealing it. Janice could feel Jeremy’s eyes on her.
“Why don’t you keep it? Free of charge! As an apology?” The lady smiled.
“I couldn’t do…” Janice blushed.
“Pish, posh.” The lady waved her hand.
“Seriously ma’am…”
“Call me Sidney!”
“Sidney, I wouldn’t be able to take this dress.”
“Deary, you would be helping me.” The lady then left Janice and Jeremy as she walked through the back door. Janice turned to Jeremy. His eyes were on her exposed legs, which caused Janice to blush.
“See something you like?” She said as she twirled in the dress like a little girl. Jeremy shot her a grin and bit his lip. Janice couldn’t wipe the smile off her face as she skipped over to the dressing room and changed back into her original dress.
Janice walked over to Sidney and placed the dress on the counter. Sidney rang up her dress with a smile. “That would be a smile and come again cents” Sidney joked. They both laughed. Janice took Jeremy’s hand and started to walk out of the little shop when Janice noticed a help wanted sign in the window.
“Sidney?” She asked as she turned back to the store.
“Yes?”
“Are you offering a job?”
“Yes, I am! You know anyone?” Janice walked back to the counter and stuck out her hand.
“Hi, my name is Janice and I would like to apply for the job.”
A/N: Hi! Sorry for the late reply but I've been busy today! :P The dress on the side is what the dress Janice found!
*IMPORTANT NOTICE* Ohk, so in the story I had Janice as the blonde and Jeremy as the brunette. I switched it :3 I did this because I have found my Jeremy! He is played by Andrew Keenan-Bolger because I love him.
Nothing really happened over the short time I've been away... Oh well! If you find an error then please message me somehow. I'll take any suggestions!