Mia felt particularly anxious as the van rolled up to the grocery store nearest the apartment she shared with her mother. She had the fortune of sitting next to the cutest red head she’d ever met in person and it was making her into a bit of a gay disaster.

  Nichole was seemingly kind, polite and very very pretty to her eyes. She’d tried playing it cool in front of her mom, she wasn’t out yet and still uncertain how she would react. She schooled her expression and tried to eyeball her hair in the passenger side mirror but her unkempt brown curls were feeling extra unruly today.

  Suddenly she caught her mother giving her a sideways stare from the driver's seat. Had she noticed something? Mia struggled to keep her panic under control.

  “Are you going to go in or do you want me to park?” Her mom asked, waving her arm at the entrance of the supermarket. Mia realized the van had, in fact, been idling in front of the store for over a minute and she hadn’t so much as taken off her seatbelt to get out because her head was too wrapped up.

  “Right!” Mia nearly shouted startled out of her other thoughts and scrambled to get her head back in the game. She hopped out of the front as Nichole slid the side panel door shut.

  “I’mma go find a spot in the back.” Mom shouted, through the open passenger window, as begane swiftly pulling away leaving the two of them alone. Mia struggled to figure out what to do with her hands as Nichole pulled a shopping cart from the line of them just inside the door and waited for her to lead the way.

  “So, what all do you need for this thing you’re making?” Nichole asked sweetly.

  “Uhhhh” Mia’s brain was overloaded and distracted and nothing immediately came to mind. Fortunately she’d made a list and fumbled with her phone to pull up her notes app. “Let’s see…” She read everything off, more to affirm them in her own mind than anything. “Chicken, Strawberries, Black beans, pumice, and a clove of garlic.”

  Nichole looked at Mia grinning like a fiend. “You didn’t really strike me as the kind of girl who eats rocks. Is this all for the same dish?”

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  “Oh, no.” Mia sputtered. “The strawberries are a gift for someone. They’re taking me camping this weekend and I thought it would be a nice gift. The pumice I have no idea why that’s in there. I must have been composing the list while working on my geology homework” Mia tried chuckling but it died awkwardly in her throat.

  Nichole nodded. “Sounds that way. Shall we?” She motioned toward the entrance and began pushing the cart through the automatic double doors. Mia jogged up to her then slowed to match pace as they wheeled themselves into the aisle of fresh vegetables.

  Mia tried to think of something to break the silence, she was usually pretty good at finding things to talk about but something about Nichole just turned her head to mush.

  “Do you go camping with your friends very often?” Nichole asked, saving her.

  “Ah. No, this will be my first time on a camping trip.” Mia admittedly. “My mom isn’t really an outdoorsy type of person ya know?”

  Nichole nodded. “Me neither, I’d rather stay in and play games myself.” Nichole turned the cart down around the end corner smoothly despite the one cart wheel that seemed to never quite roll the way it was supposed to. “My dad and I used to camp a bunch when I was in girl scouts back in the day.”

  “Oh that sounds fun.” Mia smiled trying to sound supportive.

  “Oh it was awful.” Nichole complained. “It was usually cold and wet and they never let me take my DS. It was bullshit.”

  “Oh. I’m sorry.” Mia wondered if she’d touched a nerve. “At least you got to spend time with your dad?”

  There was a bit of an awkward silence. “I suppose. I was really there to get all the badges. I used to be obsessed with collecting every stupid patch, I have no idea why. I stayed way longer than my sister ever did. She started playing football instead.”

  “I’ve never met my dad.” Mia admitted quietly. Her father’s absence had always bothered Mia. She just knew he was out there somewhere and waiting for her.

  The last few needed items were scooped up and they backtracked toward the front.

  Nichole rolled the card up to the self checkout and Mia pulled out her mom’s credit card. The two of them quickly scanned through the items and headed out into the parking lot.

  It was a warm night and despite the late hour the sky was still crimson from the long sunset. Mia’s hand brushed against Nicholes a few times as she handed her items to load into her mother’s van. She tried to keep the slight blush to herself every time it happened.