I am so happy right now!

Thank you, Guest! (For your request.) Yay. (Rainbows and watermelons…)

(*Hides in a corner* I'm such an idiot)

Randomness #6

Seth frowned at Warren and Dale, sitting up in the front of the truck. They left a few hours before dusk, saying that they 'needed' Seth's 'assistance,' and they needed more food (jam or something?). So here they were, in the truck driving to the store. Seth shifted uncomfortably.

"So… what did you guys 'need' me for?" A harmless question.

Warren, from the driver's seat, glanced back at him and smiled. "Dale, do you want to take this one?" Dale rolled his eyes.

"Getting milk and groceries. Goodness, Seth. What did you think we were gonna do, pick up girls or something?"

Seth frowned at Dale. "Yeah, like I don't know where this is going."

"Where is it going, Mr. Shadow Charmer? Can you use your new-found skills on some girls?"

Dale punched his arm. "Warren!"

Seth's eyebrow furrowed. "Why are you guys acting like Newel and Doren?" He paused. "Did you say—"

Dale waved his hand back at Seth. "It doesn't matter. We probably won't find anybody interesting in the grocery store anyway."

Seth scoffed. "Which town are we going to?"

"We could go to Ravenglass or something."

"'Ravenglass'? That's a real town?"

Warren nodded. "Yeah, it's on the—"

"Warren, watch where you're going!" Warren swerved back into his lane. "What?"

Some stupid driver decided that they didn't want to let you merge over."

Seth sighed, leaned back in his seat, and closed his eyes, exhausted from the day's work.

Seth opened his eyes as the three pulled into the parking lot and parked up next to the storefront. It was a smaller store, red brick, about three-hundred square feet, three times as long as it was wide, two windows peering out onto the street, one window, a push-to-open with inch-thick glass. Above the windows and the door, the store's name was written in bright neon green. 'Big Strawberry Herbs and Plants,' in easy-on-the-eyes cursive, that was easily decipherable.

"Okay, guys, what are we doing here?" Seth asked, folding his arms.

"Groceries," Dale answered, patting Seth on the back. "What did you think?"

Seth's arms were stone-dead-tired and didn't feel like picking things up, so Dale and Warren picked up carrots, lettuce, cottage cheese (some of the centaurs had a thing for cottage cheese, apparently), and some other things. Seth wiggled his arms around, and glanced out the window. Rain started pouring down in sheets. Seth ha-rumphed.

Warren glanced at Seth when the latter jerked back. "What? What's wrong?"

Seth glanced at the man, as if he was just noticing him. "Uh… I have to go do something. Be right back."

Warren watched as Seth disappeared outside, meandered across the street, and… Warren laughed. This was going to be good.

Seth stepped up to the girl, shivering, already soaked from the freezing rain. He rubbed his arms, and walked up to her, goose-bumps making their way to the top of his skin.

Raising his voice over the storm, he yelled, "Do you need help, Miss?"

The girl in question had managed to walk across the parking lot of the grocery store across the street, and slip and fall, face-planting into a small pile of mud in the grass, by the sidewalk, a yard or so away from the busy street. A car speeding past summoned a tiny tsunami, which rained down upon the two pedestrians. The girl's face got buried in the mud again.

Seth pulled her out and carefully walked her across the parking lot to the store. They entered the store, pulled her up next to a drinking fountain. Seth went into the mens' bathroom, grabbed some paper towels and pressed down the soap, and walked back out. He dapped soap on the girl's face, wetted the paper towel, and washed her face. As Seth carefully wiped off the teenager's face, he realized that she had a rather large gash across her forehead.

Crap. He walked back into the mens' room, grabbed more paper towels and more soap, and walked back out, wiping away the rest of the mud, which was starting to dry into dirt.

"It's like a mud-mask," Seth told her, to lighten the mood.

"Yeah," she answered. "What wonders is it going to do for me?"

Seth laughed. She stared. Seth went back to cleaning her face. "Sorry."

"Ow."

"What's wrong?"

"Something hurts. I think it's the soap…"

"It'll disinfect the wound."

"I have a wound?"

"What?" Seth asked. "You didn't know you were bleeding?"

"Bleeding?" the girl screeched, and promptly slumped over, Seth dropping everything and catching her waist before she fell to the ground. Great. He was in a near-deserted store with some girl he barely met, and he didn't know what he was supposed to do. This was wonderful.

Plus Warren and Dale were across the street, probably still getting groceries. They hadn't left without him, had they? He didn't have a cell phone, and… Warren had one, didn't he? But there weren't any phones around here, and he couldn't leave the girl all by herself.

A cashier walked over, intrigued, and when he saw the scar—already clotting—he frowned. "What happened?" he called to Seth.

"She slipped out in the parking lot and fell face-first into some mud and cut her some on something."

"Probably glass or something." The cashier frowned. "There's a drunk that's always out there littering. I think he got arrested the other day for excessive loitering or something."

Seth stopped him before he could say anything else. "Do you have any gaze or band aids or something?" The cashier nodded, and headed off to get them.

He arrived with a first aid kit that still had a price tag on it. He cut it off, opened it, and handed Seth some disinfectant, gaze, and medical tape. Seth placed the square on the girl's face, cut the tape, and placed it on her face and the gauze. After a few minutes, the girl woke up.

"Feeling better?" Seth asked her. She nodded, touching her face.

"What happened?"

"I guess you must be squeamish, because once I mentioned your little dilemma, you fainted."

The girl touched her face again. "Thank you. Seriously. I could have died."

"What do you mean?"

"I have hemophilia."

Seth jerked back. "You what?"

"I have—"

"Yeah, I know, you just said, but with that type of… You should…" His voice strained and he fizzled out to silence. The girl gave a weak smile and pecked him on the cheek.

Seth put his own hand on his face.

"Thanks for being my hero. What's your name?"

"Seth," he blurted out, his face turning red.

The girl smiled. "Thank you, Seth, for saving me."

They got up, and started heading toward the door. The cashier cleared his throat. Seth turned back to look at him. The cashier pointed at the giant first-aid box. "You break it, you buy it."

Seth scoffed. "But I didn't break it."

"Yeah, but you still have to buy it."

Seth frowned, but pulled out his wallet. "Okay, how much is it?"

"Thirty-seven, fifty."

Seth nearly fainted.

Warren, Dale, and Seth were back on the road. Seth had said bye to the girl and walked back across the busy street, and now they were heading back to Fablehaven.

Warren, when he saw the huge first aid box, had asked if Seth had gotten into any mishaps helping the girl. Seth whirled when he heard 'helping the girl,' but Warren didn't smile. Seth shook his head, but told him she was a hemophiliac, and that if he hadn't of gotten to her, she might have fainted and suffocated because of the mud.

The thing Seth had been confused about was that the cashier had given him back the tag to the first aid box. Seth held on to it, feeling the hard paper-and-plastic cut into his skin, leaving an impression, but not cutting.

The price was on the front, and the back had nothing on it. He stared at the front, still slightly angry that he had had to pay thirty-seven-fifty for the gigantic box.

Dale turned his head back and looked at Seth, who was still staring at the price. "Are you going to throw that away or just keep staring at it?"

"Keep staring at it," Seth grunted, "because… well, look at the price tag…" He held the front side up to Dale, and saw the blue handwriting on the blank white back.

Written on the back, in large, blue, girly handwriting was Thanks again for helping me. My brother (the cashier) likes to tease, and honestly, you didn't have to pay for that first aid box, but I guess you might need it, Super Man. Open the box.

Seth opened the box and smiled. A copy of his receipt lie on top of the tube of Neosporin, all clipped together with a paperclip, and on top of that was a piece of paper with the words:

Monica Winston, 555-2860

Call Me, Super-Man!