CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
( DODGE )

     CARMEN HOBBLES ON her own. The girl had only used them a few times, considering that Zach had carried her everywhere. But now that he wasn't by her side, it made her movements a lot more complicated. With a broken arm, she had to barely put weight onto her right crutch to steady herself.

But as Aurora was by her side, helping her along, she made it through the opening doors of Walmart. She crutches in with ease, something that surprises Aurora.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Carmen questions, stopping beside Aurora.

"Nothing in particular," She replies nonchalantly. "I just wanted to get out of the house. And I'm sure you wanted to."

Carmen nods as the girl grabs a shopping cart, and leads her down a random aisle. The aisle that just happened to be stocked with party supplies. Smiling at their luck, Aurora rushes through the empty aisle, and idea forming in her mind.

"We need streamers," She declares. "Lots of streamers. We have a big house to decorate, Caramel."

As she begins to throw multiple packages of red, orange, and black streamers into the cart, Carmen wanders down the aisle. Upon glancing over the many hair accessories, she snatches a pair of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse ear headbands, tossing them into the cart.

"Aurora," She calls out, rounding the corner with a mischievous glint in her eyes, and something in her hand.

"Hmm?"

"We need confetti poppers, don't you think?" The girl questions, holding one up.

"Hell yes!" Aurora shouts. "Get a lot of them."

---

"So how are things with Corbyn and Alex?" Carmen asks from her position in the shopping cart. "She hasn't visited in a while."

"I think Callie said she's moving away soon because she got accepted into some program, or something like that," Aurora explains. "So I'm assuming they've decided to remain friends, which would explain Blondie's mood these past few days."

Carmen opens her mouth to reply, of which Aurora cuts her off in excitement.

"Toys!" She yells, sprinting down an abandoned aisle. "Caramel, we need toys!"

"We do," Carmen agrees with a chuckle, allowing the girl to help her from the cart. "I'll let you be in charge of that while I go look at the Halloween candy over there."

"Oh, grab me that monkey!" Aurora exclaims, pointing at a monkey on a middle shelf. Carmen gives her a thumbs up, before grabbing the monkey, throwing it into the cart, and disappearing into another aisle without her crutches.

She limps on her foot, before stopping in front of a large shelf full of Halloween candy. She then proceeds to grab a huge bag of chocolate, stuffing it under her arm, before hobbling a bit, and grabbing another bag of candy.

"Gosh, I love Halloween," She mutters to herself with a smile.

After filling her arms with packages of candy, she moves back to the original aisle. "Aurora, I found-"

In unison, Aurora and a girl Carmen had never seen before jump out in front of her, followed by the loud shrill of an airhorn and purple silly string. Carmen drops the bags of candy, covering her face with her hands as they continue to bombard her with silly string.

"Aurora!" Carmen sighs. "You can't get us banned from Walmart too!"

"Says who?" She questions, her smirk only growing. "My new friend sees nothing wrong with it."

The girl waves, before glancing back over at Aurora. "I quite like the idea of getting kicked out. I've been trying for years and nothing seems to do the trick."

"Fine," Carmen gives in, smiling despite herself as she gathers the candy up again, grabbing a koala from the shelf beside her. She shoves them into the cart, giving the unfamiliar brunette a grin. "At least I tried. I'm Carmen, by the way."

"Addilyn."

Aurora steps away as the girls begin to get acquainted, walking over to a crate of bouncy balls not too far away.

"Hey Addi!" She shouts, retrieving one as the girl turns around. "DODGE BALL!"

Throwing the ball at her slender frame, Addilyn ducks just in time, causing the ball to slam into the toys displayed behind her. Carmen retreats back the the cart, huddling down as the war begins.

"It's on," Addilyn declares, picking up the red ball, and tossing it back.

Grinning, Aurora dives to the tile dramatically watching as the ball sails by her, knocking over a display of Cars 3 toys.

Addilyn's eyes widen comically as the display falls to the floor with a loud crash. Latching onto the cart, she places if aside, shooting a smirk Carmen's way.

"If anyone asks, we saw nothing," She decides, grinning broadly.

Unfortunately, the Walmart manager just happened to be in the aisle with the knocked over display. "I saw that!" He shouts to us. "The three of you need to get back here now!"

"RUN!" Aurora shrieks, pushing Carmen and the cart towards the checkout quickly. "EVERY DEMON FOR THEMSELF!"

---

"Are you single?" Aurora asks Addilyn randomly, after being escorted from Walmart. She sips of her coffee, despite the bags that weigh down her arms.

Addilyn visibly hesitates, rubbing the back of her neck nervously. "Yeah. Why do you ask?"

She simply winks in response, skipping over to Jonah's Corvette, and tossing the bags into the back seat.

Carmen shakes her head in amusement. "It's better not to ask questions."

"We need to go, Caramel!" Aurora exclaims, laying on the horn. "Jonah and Heroine are going to have heart attacks if we leave them alone for much longer!"

Carmen bids Addilyn goodbye, laying her crutches in the back seat, before climbing into the passenger seat. Aurora jumps back out of the car, jumping into the arms of her new friend.

She steps back, handing the girl her phone. "Here. I grabbed this earlier to get your number. You should consider putting a password on it."

Addilyn stares back at her, slightly taken aback by her straightforwardness.

"Also," She continues. "Clear your schedule for Tuesday."

The girl's shock disappears as a smile falls onto her lips. "Only if you promise to get me kicked out of wherever we're going."

"Of course!" Aurora grins, not needing any further encouragement.

Addilyn gets into her Yukon, Aurora sliding back into the Corvette.

"Where are we going on Tuesday?" Carmen asks Aurora, both of them watching as the girl drives away.

"Somewhere to cheer Blondie up."

_____