Hi ya guys! It's nice to see ya again! Welcome back! And HAPPY HALLOWEEN! It might be a little late, but it still came.

First off, there is something I want to address. I've recently been... called out on something; to put it loosely. "Demanding" for reviews; except the thing is, I never meant to "demand" for them. I apologize if anyone felt this way. Some people might've taken it as a twelve year-old pouting and saying "since you're not doing this for me; I'm not doing this for you," when it was really "If you like it, please tell me so I can continue and if you don't like it, just don't review and I won't bother you and I won't update," because I have seen a LOT of people get annoyed from stories that keep updating but nobody wants to read them. I don't want to do that. Just like I said in the first chapter.

Also, when I was made known to this, it made me feel extremely guilty because I absolutely hate making people do things against their will. Most of my life I felt as if everything I ever did was only complimented by people because they were obligated to and never really meant it. Here, on this website; doing one of the things that I love most; and then being told by people I've never met and have no reason whatsoever to be... obliged to tell me I'm good at writing and like my work; makes me. So. Happy. You have no idea. But when I came to the realization that some people might have done it because I "demanded" reviews; made me feel so terrible. I didn't really feel like writing after that. But HEY, I CAN'T JUST LEAVE YA GUYS HANGING!

As you guys have probably deduced by now, I don't much have much self-confidence. That is how Bethany was created. She is the embodiment of what I want my self-confidence to be.

Ahem... my rant is now over and so I would like to thank...

KittyKatt25, Vodid, Kaida Fury, HeartsGuardianSol, Gotta Dance 88, BIackrose13,and Guest FOR REVIEWING!

KittyKatt25: What if I said she did all three? ;)

Vodid: I'm glad you feel that way. I want Bethany to be as human as possible. I sold some of my soul for that.

HeartsGuardianSol: It is pointless trying to teach Sam. Even I had a hard time doing it.

Kaida Fury: It'll most likely be hilarious. :b

BIackrose13: Here is some more!

Guest: He will come in soon enough. He'll come in when the time is right. :)

AND CONGRADULATIONS TO GOTTA DANCE 88, YOU GOT IT RIGHT! You get the batch of fresh virtual cookies! And a cameo if you want! I thought for sure it would be harder to guess...

Note: At this time; Bethany is 18, but she has one more year of school to do. The reason she hasn't graduated yet is because she was born on December 31st. And in the state I live in, if you're born in December you have to wait another year before going into school, making Bethany the oldest in her class. I am unsure whether this rule applies anywhere else, but I'm just rollin with it. Also Annie is 15 right now. She just turned. She was 9 when Beth almost attempted suicide, and she was 9 when her parents left. They left a couple of weeks after birthday. I have made a few errors in the previous chapters and I will try and get around to them when I can.

Anyway... sorry for the long note and... FOR NARNIA! (editor comes in again and hits my hand with a ruler) "QUIT IT, YOU STUPID IDIOT!" Me: I'm not sorry.

Chapter 6

In Which I go Grocery Shopping with a Little Help

...

In the previous chapter...

The rest of the night went on like that. Talking about one subject, one of us (usually me) making a snarky comment on it and then laughing our asses off. A big, giant cycle that lasted 2 hours. I went back home at 10:00 when I finally reached the breaking point.

We said our goodbyes and I drove home. I walked straight into my bedroom; not even bothering to change, and fell asleep.

Today was a good day.

…

One more problem. That's all that's left. One more problem.

I looked back down at the paper.

"Eh, I don't really need the extra credit that much." I picked up the papers and tossed them back into my backpack, not caring whether or not they got crushed. The textbooks inside it either crumpled the homework or protected them and kept them straight. But like I said, I didn't really care.

I stood up and stretched; pulling my arms behind my back. After sitting and doing nothing for an hour will make one stiff.

My stomach growled.

I looked at the clock on the stove. It read "3:15." I'm usually not hungry so soon. I suppose PE really took a toll on me today. Octoball is harder than it looks.

I slowly trodded around the island and over to the big, black double door refrigerator; opening the door. The cold seeped out and into the open. The inside was barren; small plastic containers and almost empty egg cartons littering the shelves. And the milk was gone. It's time to go grocery shopping.

Woopdee fuckin doo.

I turned around and walked over to the stairs. Knocking the my hand against the wall; I yelled up the to the second floor.

"HEY ANNNIIEEEE!"

"WHAATTT?" Annie groaned. The loud thuds of foot falls were heard on the top of the stairs and Annie peeked her head around the corner.

"I'm goin' to have to go BJ's. We're low on stuffs and things," I spoke, my grammer incorrect. Annie always laughed when I did that. It was funny when Annie laughed. She always did this wheezing, deep voice thing; she would even snort a couple times too, if whatever she was laughing at was funny enough.

"You wanna come?"

"No thanks," she answered, "I'm still busy with homework." Homework always came first. Miss Rosette made sure we understood that nice and clear. We haven't forgotten to do our homework in 5 years. The teachers loved Annie and me because of the lesson that was practically beaten into us.

"Okay, ya need anything?"

"l don't think so... wait, I need shampoo."

"Just shampoo?"

"Yeah," she replied sheepishly. I brought my hand to my face and rubbed my face.

"You accidentally spilled it again, didn't you?" She ducked her head further behind the wall and nodded her head. I pulled my hand away and placed it on my left hip.

"So that was you that caused all those bubbles under the bathroom door?" I interrogated.

"Maybe..." she looked up at the ceiling in hopes of that I would believe her feigned innocence. Better luck next time.

I sighed, "Anything else?" She looked back down at the floor in thought.

"How 'bout some chocolate chips?"

"Semi-sweet?"

"Mmhmm." She nodded her head again.

"Fine." Annie did this little jump thing and raced down the stairs, colliding into me and embracing me tightly around the neck.

"Thankyou thankyou thankyou!" she repeated rapidly. Despite the fact that Annie was 3 years younger than me, she was about the same height I was; I daresay even taller than me. BY A MILLIMETER, MIND YOU!

She pulled away and began to walk back up the creaking wooden stairs.

"Don't forget to tell Miss Rosette," I called back up, reminding her, "I don't wanna freak her out again," I murmured. Last time I forgot to tell her where I was going, Miss Rosette called the entire police squad to look for me. That was not a good day.

I grabbed the list from the fridge and walked over to the door; slipping on my shoes, those being the same rattted and worn out tennis shoes from before.

I stood up and grabbed the keys from of the hook beside the screen door; walking through it and out to the car. I sat down inside it and turned the key in the ignition. It wasn't that far of a drive away. Not much was. As far as everything else was from us, Tranquil had almost everything anyone in the town would need.

I pulled out of the driveway and drove down the empty street.

The parking lot was a lot more full than I expected It to be on a Thursday evening. Mini vans, pick-up trucks and sedans cluttered the open spaces, and shopping carts were spread everywhere they shouldn't be. For once I was glad that the Mazda I was driving was small.

I slowly pulled in to the space (that was half taken up by a stupid, little soccer-mom van) and stepped out of the car; phone sitting in my left pocket and my wallet in my right. I didn't park to far away from the building to my luck, but no matter how close I parked, the inevitable encounter would've happened sooner or later.

The sounds of heavy boots was heard behind me. I spotted a very tall form jog up close to my side. I've seen it enough to recognize it anywhere. Sadly how I have. My brain can't take much more of this.

I hoped he would have kept on jogging passed me. Or it wasn't really him at all. Either was preferable.

He stopped next to me and slowed into a walk.

What the fuck man? Really? I mentally groaned.

"Are you a hundred percent sure that you aren't stalking me?" It's going to be really embarrassing if that's not him.

"Well hello to you, too," I could just hear the smile in his voice. I snickered. Apparently this dude can be funny when he wants to be.

"Haha, you're funny. And hi back; but really," I paused, "Are you stalking me?" I looked to my right and at his really handso- No, just stop right there.

He turned his head towards me; returning my questionable stare, and gazed at me in thought. His navy blue eyes were constricted, the color burning bright and very visible. It isn't my hormones speaking when I say that his eyes very attractive.

He turned his head away and chuckled, his hand brushing through his dark hair; rustling it even more. It's not that windy out.

The wind picked up and blew the clouds in the way of the sun; darkening the outside. Scratch that. My still-unbrushed dark sandy hair blew into my eyes, effectively blinding me and causing me to trip over the curb; only to be saved from a mouth full of concrete by- you guessed it- Ian. He grabbed my arm and pulled me back to my feet, reluctantly removing his grip in case I do so again. Wouldn't be surprised if I did. I really need a haircut.

"No. I apologize if it ever seemed that way," he spoke, his voice lowering an octave, "I never meant to come across as that way," he stated.

"Apology accepted. I understand. But one can never be to careful nowadays."

"True. I can't imagine what the dilemma be like if I were." We walked up to the glass doors and they slid open, thanks to the black oval-shaped motion detectors above them. The sound of colliding carts filled the little room, and people came and went; plastic bags occupying their arms.

"I can picture it pretty clearly. And it ends with you on your knees in pain," I retorted. His smirk grew into a grin. Damn that sexy smile.

The statement caused startled looks to be shot our way, the senders appalled at the phrase. Not liking the attention laced on me; I looked over to Ian, who was facing straight as if unaffected by the glares sent at us. I took the chance to observe him. NOT to check him out!

He was still at least a foot taller than me and his form was still as stout and muscular as before. The thought made my cheeks burn red. His outfit was the same as always, the only difference being instead of a black shirt under his leather jacket, he wore a gray t-shirt. I looked away, not wanting to be caught staring at his chest (which was about an inch above my straight-on view) and trotted over to the cart stalls; yanking one of the gray wired carts out; which was stuck to the one in front of it.

I figured it would be here me and Ian would part our own separate ways; but I was wrong. He stood right where I had last left him, waiting expectantly for me to return. I pushed the cart in front of me and walked through the second set of sliding glass doors. Ian walked up beside me once again and continued alongside me.

"Don't you have your own business to attend to?"

"I already got what I needed," he explained, "I just saw you walking in and I don't have anywhere to go after, so I figured I' d stay and give you some company." Him? Give me company? That is really odd. And not the way to do it.

I shrugged my shoulders and continued on. It would be nice having someone to talk to inside this maze of a store, which I'll most likely be stuck in for 2 hours.

Hold up. Me; saying it would be nice to have someone to talk to?

My hormones must be at it again.

But in reality, the concept didn't bother me all that much. I'm constantly being bugged by Annie and Miss Rosette to be a little more social, anyway. This is a start. I'm just glad it'll be Ian I'm talking to. Okay, that last sentence wasn't me at all.

I leaned over the front of the cart and began to walk, the brute staying beside my left side the entire time.

"Is it just you or do you have a family?" I questioned. I don't know much about him. Might as well change that.

"Currently just me. But I'll be leaving for a new military base soon." Ah ha! So I was right!

"What about you? You don't seem old enough to be living alone."

"Please don't tell me you guessed my age off my height, because you'll be really far off. And yes I'm old enough to live alone, but I have a little sister and a..." How to say this without sounding like brat?

"Mother-figure of sorts, I guess," I finished.

"I didn't estimate your age by your height," he began, "If I did, I would guess you're just a child." Wrong thing to say, you motherfucker.

"For your information, I am 18 years-old. And if I had to guess your age off of your maturity, I'd say you'd be 4," I replied sardonically. How's that for a burn?

He smiled; his eyes filled with an amused mirth.

Damnit. Now I feel like an idiot.

"And what makes you think that?"

"Damn you." He laughed. He actually laughed. It was deep rumble, but it wasn't loud. It sent shivers down my spine. How can he do that?

We walked into one of the frozen food isles and the temperature seemed to drop. I stopped next to one of the doors and looked for the frozen pizza. I couldn't find any DiGiorno's. Pizza rolls sounded like a nice substitute. But something caught my eye.

A little ways down the isle; 2 old ladies stood side by side, staring at me. Actually... more like 'us.'

They whispered in each other ears, but they weren't very quiet. I could only make out mumbled words. When they caught me staring at them, they stopped... and smiled. Their eyes booked between Ian and me. Ian didn't seem to notice. I looked away and walked over to the freezer door with pizza rolls behind it. I grabbed the cheapest bag and tossed it into the empty cart. When I looked up; the women were walking past us. One of them leaned forward and whispered in my ear. Not creepy at all.

"You're a lucky girl," she murmured, "You two are very cute." My face must've been as red as a tomato. I don't think I have ever blushed so hard. My face felt like it was burning off.

We are NOT a couple. We are the farthest thing from it.

They must have over heard or little squirmish. But why would they think we were a couple? An argument would give the exact opposite impression. I didn't dwell on it long.

"What are you thinking about?" He must have seen my expression. Why else would he ask that question?

"I'm thinkin about how the heck am I gonna find the chocolate chips," I stated firmly. A weird feeling appeared in my chest. It made it feel as if it was constricting and burning. But it didn't hurt. Not at all. It was strange. I didn't know what it was. Or what was causing it. And in all honesty, it scared me. So I shoved it down hard, and focused my mind on something else.

I looked up at Ian, who was inspecting some of the pizza-related merchandise hanging at the end of the isle.

"What are these things?"

"I dunno. I gave up trying to find out years ago." He placed the... thingy mah-bobber back on the hooks and walked back to his original positon on my left side. We continued through the store. Ian stared at some of the strange things being sold throughout the store and I laughed. His reaction to the toy section was absolutely hilarious.

This was funny. I don't think I've laughed that hard in a long time. Can't wait till next time.

If there ever was a next time.

Soo... how was that one? You got a little more Bethany and Ian interaction. I am truly clueless when when it comes to writing them together. And I apologize if the chapter is a little... I dunno- off? I've just been kinda out of it lately. I also have no clue what a real relationship is like, so I have nothing to base this off of. I am practically pulling almost everything from other fanfics. ALMOST EVERYTHING.

Well... I think that's all. Don't think there is anything else I forgot to mention.

If you are a beta and bored, please PM me.

And don't forget to read and review! I love hearin from you guys!

~Adamas out