Entry tags:

happiness is

Chapter Four - Lost In The Supermarket

Plaything

Title: Lost In The Supermarket (04/??)
Author: so_jayded
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 2,012
Genre: Hancest



Nancy

"Do you think Taylor likes pizza?" I asked as I dropped the pizza box onto the coffee table by the couch. "I mean, he's human. He's gotta like pizza."

Jodi looked up from her book and shrugged. "I have no idea, Nancy."

I popped open the box and put a slice onto my plate. I leaned back against the couch, resting the plate in my lap and looking up at the poster above the TV. I grinned. Tulsa was going to be fantastic if they were around. We had it all planned out already: spend half a day at Starbucks because Taylor usually needed coffee at some point. Then we were going to go downtown to Zac and Taylor's apartment and hang out on the sidewalks around the place for a while. We'd hopefully be able to follow them out to dinner if they were going out, and if they weren't, then we'd catch dinner by our hotel and start the cycle all over again the next day. It was going to be amazing. I'd already charged my camera battery up.

"Do you think Taylor and Zac might be watching Tabitha next weekend?"

Jodi grinned a little. "That'd be photographic gold."

I finished off my slice of pepperoni and olive pizza and waited for Jodi to finish off hers. "We've still gotta go shopping for the trip."

She picked up the pizza box and the two empty plates and stood up to put them away. "What the heck do we need? Other than, like gas?"

I stretched out my arms over my head and shrugged. "I need clothes and we both need toothpaste and stuff... plus we should probably go grocery shopping anyway."

She shrugged as she made her way into the kitchen. "We eat take-out like every night, Nancy. We can go grocery shopping after Tulsa."

"Dude, that's like next weekend. I need cereal and stuff, c'mon. We'll stop at the record store and see if they have any copies of This Time Around."

Jodi grinned as she came back around the corner empty-handed. "You're so stressed that you lost that."

"It's, like, the best album! And I dropped it on the fucking subway in New York! Who does that?"

"You, apparently."

I shoved her playfully as I got up off the couch. "Shut up. Like. I need a new copy so bad."

Jodi punched my arm lightly and shoved me back, in the direction of my bedroom. "Get dressed then, lazy ass. You've been in those stupid pajamas all day."

I glanced down at my Calvin and Hobbes pants and frowned. "What's wrong with my pajamas? They're cute!"

"We're not going shopping with you still in your pajamas, Nancy. Just change already and we can go to the record store." I stuck my tongue out at her as I trudged down the hallway unhappily, past the framed Mayfest poster on the wall, and into my room to change.

***********

Spin Disc was a used record store owned by a guy named Paul who looked like he'd done way too many drugs in the '60's and had never quite recovered from them. He flashed patrons with a peace sign when they walked in and used the word groovy like it was nobody's business, but he ran a tight shop. College kids were always coming in to sell off their old records to make a quick buck for booze or weed or pizza; Paul wasn't cheap with them, either. He was pretty proud of being fair with his prices and hated it when people bitched about what he gave them for a disc.

I'd stepped through the bead-covered doorway countless times. I liked Paul, he was a great guy to chat with and he kept the Hanson CDs behind the counter just for me. I stopped in and bought them often enough that sometimes Paul would call me if he got a bunch in and asked me if I wanted them or if it was cool that he put them on the floor.

Today I was a girl on a mission, though. Paul hadn't called so I knew nobody had come in with like fifty copies of Middle of Nowhere, but he might've gotten a This Time Around or something over the weekend.

"Hey, Paul," I said as he flashed me his fingers, V'd out into a peace sign.

"Hey, groovy kid," he said, grinning at me. "You looking for something?"

"Just the usual," I replied.

He shuffled around behind the counter, sorting through stacks of CDs. "I got a couple copies of the Christmas album... What were you looking for?"

"This Time Around," I said, looking around for Jodi. She was over in the stacks, sorting through a handful of albums. "It's like, brown."

He pulled out a copy of the single. "This is all I got, kiddo."

I frowned. "Well, if you get the actual album, it would be great if you could save it for me. I'm stressing without it."

He nodded. "Sure thing, Nan. You looking for anything else?"

I shook my head. "Not today. I'll browse a little though... Thanks, Paul."

"It's no problem. I'll throw these on the floor, yeah?"

I waved at him as I started toward the back of the store where Jodi was still searching through the rows of CDs. "No TTAs," I told her miserably. "I'm never going to find this damn thing."

Jodi gave me a sympathetic look. "Maybe you can beg Taylor or Zac for one in Tulsa."

"I'm sure that Taylor's man purse is just full of his own seven year old albums. I'm never going to get one."

Jodi laughed. I frowned at her. "What?"

She shrugged. "You're pathetic. Just order it on Amazon."

"But what if it's scratched?!"

"Don't they have, like, new ones?"

I made a face. "I don't trust them. I need to inspect it with my own two eyes before I buy it."

She laughed again. "Are you done here? I didn't find anything I was looking for."

I nodded and shuffled out of the aisle miserably. "I'll be back next week," I told Paul. "See ya, man."

He flashed me another peace sign and Jodi and I left.

"I wonder if there's a used record store in Tulsa that has This Time Around."

Jodi shrugged as she unlocked the car and pulled the driver's side door open. "I dunno. I'm sure you'll find a copy. It's not like they all disappeared."

I slid down into the passenger's seat and kicked my sandals off. "Eventually, yeah. In like thirty years." I frowned as Jodi pulled out of the parking lot. "Grocery store next?"

Jodi nodded and cranked up the stereo. "Definitely," she said over the music. "Let you get your cereal or whatever you need. Then we can stop at Street Thread and pick up something for the Tulsa trip."

"Should we get Taylor a present?"

Jodi nodded. "Might as well, just in case we run into them. At Street Thread?"

"We can pick him up a neat scarf or something. It's going to get cold soon."

Street Thread had the best scarves in my opinion. I'd picked up wearing them ever since Taylor had started years ago. I'd found all my really neat ones at Street Thread. I'd had my eye on a blue and green one for Taylor for a while now and there were a few others that would probably look kick-ass hanging around his neck. There was a brand-new red one that I thought he'd like the last time I was in Street Threads.

"As long as it's that black one that was in the window a few weeks ago."

I looked over at Jodi. "The one with the silver sparkle strands? Seriously, Jodi?"

She laughed. "Totally."

I shook my head as we pulled into the parking lot of Street Thread. "We'll hit here first," Jodi said, "so the food doesn't go bad while we look around."

We got out of the car and went into Street Thread, heading straight for the two racks of scarves in the back. Jodi immediately picked up the black and silver sparkle scarf she'd been talking about, but I took a second to find the blue and green one. "I really had my heart set on this one."

Jodi looked at it and crinkled her nose a little. "It's sort of girly, don't you think?"

"And sparkles aren't?!"

She laughed at that and held them both up, scrutanizing them. "Taylor doesn't wear a lot of green, though, Nancy. It wouldn't match anything."

I sighed. "That's true. Black it is."

Jodi put the blue scarf back on the rack and I went over to the shirts and picked out a few - a purple long-sleeved shirt and a maroon sweater that would look great with my jeans that I was planning on bringing with me to Tulsa. We met at the counter and paid with the company credit card.

********

We got to the grocery store at a little after five and split up with the list between us. I glanced down at my half. Doctor Pepper, that was easy enough. I pushed my cart down the drink aisle and picked up Doctor Pepper. A last-minute glance got me some Jones Soda and a few Snapples. I headed over to the chips aisle and picked up Tostitos and dip, a package of blue cheese dip, and a bag of Lay's last minute. I finished my half of the shopping in the cereal aisle and met up with Jodi outside the line of registers. She had the requisite frozen pizza and Eggo waffles, along with pop tarts, a pack of pre-packaged salad and an arm load of Red Bull. That was basicaly her standard diet.

"I see you brought in the Hanson-haul," she said, grinning as she dumped her armloads into my carriage. "I did my part."

"The Eggos are a spectacular touch, I have to say."

She grinned at me and we pushed our cart into the check-out lane. Our total was $102.20 and we had a laugh about it on the way out the door.

It was only a week and a half until Tulsa and I was already so excited I wanted to explode.

As we drove back to the shop, I thought about all the things I wanted to ask Taylor and Zac if we had the chance to talk to them. Did they like pepperoni pizza? Did they ever play scrabble? Had Zac ever played Guitar Hero? Did they have girlfriends? Were they living together so they wouldn't be bored, or were they hurting for money? I always had so many questions and I never really got the chance to ask them.

I practically had a survey that I wanted Taylor to fill out. Did he ever go to the movies? What kind of movies did he like? Did he like movie theatre pop-corn? I nearly bounced in my seat, thinking about Tulsa and all the things we were going to get to do. We were planning on partying Saturday night, trying to find a club that maybe Zac and Taylor would be at and cornering them for a while, asking them non-invasive questions and buying them drinks if they wanted.

We were going to have the best time of our lives, probably. Last time we'd gone down to Tulsa, Zac and Taylor had gone to Rome of all places, so we were stuck wandering around, looking for Isaac and Tabitha because she was the sweetest little girl in the world.

This time was going to be different. I could already feel it. We were going to meet Taylor Hanson.

NEXT