He returned early in the morning, before the new load of products arrived. That classic bell went off when he stepped inside the cool store. Even though it was over thirty degrees Celsius outside, he wore his leather jacket. This time it was his sunglasses that covered his dark brown eyes. The sweater he had left at home.

His eyes scanned the store, looking for mirrors and camera's. Even though he did that already yesterday, he couldn't know for sure if the McAllister's had placed more security measures. He shouldn't stop by the store anymore, but it was so easy to steal those medicine... He just couldn't ignore the temptation. And maybe that wasn't the only temptation he felt.

"What do you want?" a voice asked.

He turned around and looked into the twinkling amber colored eyes of the girl who was supposed to ring him up yesterday.

"I wanna get that bag of chips you owe me." He grinned and crossed his arms.

"I don't owe you anything," Aliyah said.

A smirky smile appeared on his face. He took off his sunglasses and looked at her, over the edge of his glasses. "You wouldn't ring me up," he said.

"Because you stole from us." The girl stood before him. She was small, almost tiny. She wore white sneakers, that were stained with mud. Again, she folded her arms and looked at him.

"Watcha gonna do 'bout it?" he asked, leaning against a shelve.

She took a deep breath and sighed. "Well... I could call my dad, for starters," she said, glancing over to the storage room door. "Or the police, if you'd rather deal with them?"

"Hmm..." he said, still with a smirky smile on his face. "I'd rather deal with you."

Aliyah looked around and saw people slowly coming into the store. "Piss off," she said. "I have a store to run and customers I need to help."

"I'm a customer too," he said.

"No, you're a thief, so get out, before I call my dad." She turned around and walked over to an elderly lady that was squinting her eyes to read what was on the package of a medicine box. She smiled and offered her help to the lady, who thanked her with gratitude. While Aliyah was helping the old lady, she kept a close eye on the mysterious boy. He didn't leave, like she told him to.

"Thank you, dear," the old lady, called Margeret Forman, said when Aliyah had given her the right medicine and the instructions on how to take them. She walked with Margert to the register and waited for the woman to pay. "Have a nice day Mrs. Forman!" Aliyah said.

"You too, dear." The old lady shambled to the door and the mysterious boy with the sunglasses held the door open for her. Mrs. Forman nodded and smiled.

"See?" he said as he walked over to her. He rested with his elbow on the counter and looked at her. "Not a thief, merely a gentleman."

Aliyah sighed. "Didn't I ask you to hit the road?"

"You might've mentioned it," he said, looking innocent. He put a bag of chips and a water bottle on the counter and looked at her. "You owe me this."

"I don't owe you anything." She paused, looked straight at him and then said: "That'll costs you three dollars." She held up her hand, waiting for the money.

He kept looking at her, with a smile on his face. Underneath his sleeve he held a pack of toothbrushes, but she couldn't see that. "Okay." As he was looking for his money, he shoved the toothbrushes deeper into his sleeve, so he could show both of his hands. Then he counted out the money and gave it to her. "Three dollars for the lady."

Aliyah ignored him and gave him the receipt. "Leave, before I call my dad for real."

"As you wish." He grabbed his sunglasses and put them back on his nose. In the same motion he took the cigarette that he had stuck behind his ear and put it between his lips. He waved with his hands, grabbed his lighter and lit it, just before he stepped over the doorstep.