I was in the car with Anth, and the awkwardness and anger from earlier disappeared like it was never there to begin with.

We were listening to the music on my phone, and I was belting out 'Don't Blame Me' by Idolising Nova.

"I know that game we play! But I don't know the score! I'd promise you the world, and you'd still want more! Just cause you're feeling pain, and need someone to blame, don't put the blame on me!" I scream sang, having a mini rock session in Anth's car.

Anth was laughing hysterically the whole time, and he sang along at some parts. It was cool even though I had no idea where we were going. We even jammed out to 'Ice Ice Baby'.

I texted my parents, letting them know I was out with Anth, so they wouldn't freak out. Soon, Anth parked the car in front of a museum. 

Now, don't get me wrong, I like history and stuff. But--a museum? Out of all the things I expected us to be doing, this was far from it. I didn't want to hurt Anth's feelings, but I really wasn't in the mood to know more fucked up knowledge about our country. Especially about the millions of deaths and mistakes it has caused.

"Come on," Anth smiled, ushering me out of the car.

He must have noticed my enthusiasm when he rolled his eyes.

"Come on," he grabbed my arm and lead me away from the museum.

"What? I thought we were...." I trailed off confused.

Anth snorted, "Yeah, and learn more bogus stuff school's probably going to teach me after the weekend? No thank you. I just parked there."

I didn't say anything after that.

"Tada!" Anth said, turning around to face me with his arms out wide. He had the biggest school boy grin on his face I've ever seen. It was like he just got a bucket of candy for Christmas.

I smiled a little, but didn't get the point. We were outside of a junk shop.

"You know what they say, another man's junk is another man's treasure," Anth smiled, taking me hand and pulling me into the shop. "Come on! We've got stuff to look at!"

I followed him, trying and failing to match his excitement. Already, there was a lot of weird junk. There were giant light bulbs strewn across the ceiling, and the inside looked like a barn. The lights were the kind you'd expect outside your house, but during the whole year. They were kind of vintage, and I found myself liking it.

Anth smiled down at me, "Told ya you'd like it."

I rolled my eyes, "I'm admiring the exterior."

"Still, there's always a lot of unique stuff at these places," Anth said.

"What do you need stuff for?" I asked, while I held up a statue of a giraffe with a pig head.

Anth laughed when he saw it, "Plays and stuff. Props, and cool house decorating things."

I raised an eyebrow at him, "House decorating, huh? And plays?"

"Yeah, I'm studying film and directing. Also art," he said, while looking at a weird lamp.

"Art? Really, that's cool. What type of art are you into?" I picked up an old record player. It was unique, vintage.

"I like photography, collages, that sort of thing," Anth said absentmindedly as he carried the lamp with him.

The lamp was a copper color. The base was a tree trunk, and the shade had branches on it.

"It's five dollars, and it comes with a warm glow light bulb! It's a steal!" Anth said, kind of like he was telling  a secret, and his eyes glowed brighter than my future.

I couldn't help but laugh at his excitement. He was still holding my hand as we weaved through the junk barrels. Every once in a while, I stopped to hold up a ridiculous item, and he'd grab something to buy.

By the time we were done, Anth had spent about forty dollars.

"You know, you just bought forty dollars worth of junk," I pointed out, teasing him.

"Shut up! You wish you could have my junk!" Anth laughed, nudging me.

I smirked, "Yeah, I'm totally jealous of your pink pig."

"It's for the show! I'm telling you, they're going to need a random knickknack on a bookshelf!" Anth justified.

My hands were on my hips as I raised an eyebrow at him, "You just want an excuse to buy it. You have a serious problem. I think you're a hoarder."

Anth dramatically placed a hand on his chest, "Me? A hoarder? Never! You bring shame upon me with those words!"

I saw people watching us and felt a little weird.

"I can't believe you would say such a thing!" Anth continued, milking the scenario.

"Anth, okay, I get it. Hahaha, joke over," I said dryly, feeling like the walls were closing in.

Anth's smile faltered, "What's wrong?" 

"I got to--" I trailed off, feeling the panic settle in. More people were watching us.

Anth face went from happy to concerned, and he stood in front of me.

"You're okay Wyatt," he said soothingly, calmly. My eyes shifted past him, and the people were still watching us. Why were they watching us? It's like they knew...they knew what I did. They knew it was my fault. It was always my fault. Renz would see her baby girl's dance recital if it wasn't---

"Wyatt, hey, it's okay," Anth repeated, this time his hands were on my shoulders forcing me to look at his eyes. They had a calmness in them that made me forget about the people watching us. "You're okay."

I looked past him, and the people weren't watching us. They were entering the junk store, and Anth and I were outside. When I looked back at Anth, his hands were on my shoulders and he had a reassuring smile on his face.

I nodded.

I was okay, fine. Even Anth thought so, which was a plus. Anth grabbed my hand again, and he lead me to a little shack.

"What's in here?" I asked, breaking the silence.

"Lunch," he smiled, and he took me to a little table outside of the shack. There were several tables there, and there was only one other table occupied.

I sat down, Anth sitting across from me. He handed me a menu that you could pick up as you walked in.

"Basically, when we figure out what we want to eat, we go up to the shack and order. They'll call us, and we'll bring it back here," he said simply.

I nodded and looked at the menu.

"What are you getting?" I asked, looking up at Anth from the menu.

His eyebrows were furrowed in concentration, "Hmm...maybe a burger. You?"

"Pizza," I said. "and a smoothie."

Anth laughed. 

"What?"

"Only you would have pizza and a smoothie," Anth smiled.

"What's wrong with pizza and a smoothie?"

"It's like you're having two meals in one," Anth teased.

I rolled my eyes, "Don't worry about my plate."

Anth smiled, "I'll order."

I watched him get up and walk over towards the shack. I smiled looking down at the menu thinking today wasn't so bad after all. 

After ordering, Anth jogged over to the table.

"How was your first week?" He asked, sitting across from me.

I shrugged, "Eh, it was okay. You?"

"Great, actually. We're already talking about the play and musical productions," he smiled.

I raised an eyebrow at him, "Plays and musicals?"

"Yep! And I've been meaning to talk to you about that. I was going to ask Mr. Rinier about some students that could help design some props, but I saw that clock you made. It was amazing, and I was wondering if you'd want to help out," Anth said, acting like it wasn't a big deal even though I knew he was begging for me to say yes.

"I'm not so sure..." I trailed off, not really wanting to disappoint him, but I knew I'd feel uncomfortable about it.

"Come on, it'll be fun! Besides, it'll be great exposure for you."

"I'm not so sure Anth.....and I'm not that good anyway. I've never really done sets or anything before," I pointed out.

"You don't need to know how! I'm telling you, all you need to do is make a few props. There will be funding and everything. How about this, I'll promise to be your personal chauffeur if you help me out with this one thing," Anth said, a hopeful smile on his face.

I looked at him from the corner of my eye as I thought about it. You'd have to be a completely heartless person to not say yes to the hurt puppy dog face Anth was giving me. And it would be nice having someone drive me places.....but there was also the fact my stuff would be on display for everyone to judge.

"I'll do it, only if I get a pen name or something," I said finally after a long internal debate. 

Anth gave me a confused look, "Why a pen name?"

"Don't want people to know it's mine...it'll make it interesting. People will be trying to guess who made the wonderful art on stage. I'm kidding, I just don't want people to know it's me in case it's terrible," I shrugged.

Anth was going to say something when he was cut off by someone calling our number. I stood up and hurried to grab the food before Anth could say anything else.

The pizza, burger, and smoothie looked absolutely amazing. I quickly paid the twenty dollars for them, shocked by how cheap it was. Normally food was like twenty dollars for a drink these days.

"You shouldn't have--"

I gave Anth a look, "You drive me everywhere. Consider this payment."

"I know but--"

"It was really cheap, honestly. Just accept the offer, it's a one time deal you know," I joked while taking a bite out of my pizza.

Anth still looked dubious, "Are you--"

"Yes!" I groaned. "Now eat your food! I didn't pay for it just so it could sit there and look pretty!"

He gave me one more doubtful look before taking the biggest bite I'd ever seen out of his burger. I almost chocked on my pizza out of pure shock. Anth didn't look fazed, but he had a concerned, questioning look on his face when he glanced in my direction.

"What?"

"Nothing," I spoke quickly. "Just--maybe try and savor the thing okay? I wasn't expecting you to demolish half of it in one bite."

Anth's cheeks were rosy, "Oh--sorry."

I chuckled to myself, shaking my head as a cheesy grin formed on my face.

"I was teasing you," I pointed out after finishing my slice.

Anth turned even redder, mumbling, "I know." 

Underneath the table, I nudged his leg with my foot, a conspiratorial smile on my face. Anth looked up at me, raising an eyebrow. This time, I playfully kicked his shoe initiating the immature game of footsies.

Anth seemed to catch on, and we had an intense battle ending in losses on both sides. I took out his shin, and I missed him--taking out my own toe against the legs of the table. It was then we both had finished our meals, and we were walking towards the car.

"Thanks--I had fun," Anth gave me a lopsided grin, hands deep in his pockets.

"No problem," I said, genuinely smiling at him.

"Wait!" A teenage girl shouted, running over. Her dark brown ponytail swishing, apron crooked.

At first I didn't realize she was talking to us until she made eye contact with Anth and I. Immediately I recognized her as the cashier.

"Yes?" Anth asked, a confused expression on his face.

"Yeah--you left your wallet," her brown eyes were trained on me as she handed it to me.

I gave her a slightly awkward smile as I pocketed the old leather wallet, "Thanks."

She beamed, "Your welcome! Stop by anytime, we don't discriminate against cute couples like yourself at Loui's."

"We will," Anth smiled, a polite easygoing expression on his face.

I'm sure my smile crumpled, replaced with a placid look. Couple? Did Anth think that we were.....

"Hey you okay?" He asked, tilting his head to the side. His eyebrows were furrowed in concern, and there was a slight frown etched on his face.

Were we a couple? I didn't think so. I just thought we were friends--and I just met the guy. It wasn't like we had history or anything--well we did, but it was complicated.

"Wyatt?"

"Hmm?" I snapped out of my internal dialogue.

"Are you okay?" He repeated, eyes full of more concern.

"Yeah--totally," I said quickly, hurrying into his car before he could interrogate me further. It felt like my innermost thoughts were plastered on my forehead--my skin, and he knew how to decipher the hieroglyphics.

I didn't want him to know what I thought, how I felt. And I already felt the walls rebuilding, the fortress remodeling itself so it was stronger. At one instant, Anth and I were on the same page, and the next it was like I was on a tiny island far away from him and society; where no one could find me or disturb me.

And I was taking a one way ticket back to that island, not realizing by returning I was closing myself off all over again. Being on an island closed off from society, by yourself, is not ideal when hurricanes come.

And right now, the storms were just brewing.

A/N: Thanks for reading!

Its_A_Bookish_Thing