Story by Cedric225
Chapter 2 mall dates are the best dates
Carol felt like her heart was going to erupt from her ribs.
The last time she had felt shame and guilt about her actions like this was when she had first started sneaking the vodka bottle out of the cabinet, but once she had realized her dad wasn't the kind of person to notice the disturbed dust-lines, or the receding amount of clear liquor, Carol's fears were replaced with a defiant satisfaction.
But there was a real risk here, in front of the Oak crown minimall, that someone would recognize her, and notice what was amiss.
The girl had thrown a ratty hoodie over her preppy blouse. The extra layer was perfectly appropriate for the mid-November weather, but the wannabe pot dealer look was so against everything Carol Pringey represented, if she was seen by a classmate it could ruin her highschool career.
The risk was made worth it, however, the moment Lincoln Loud pulled up on his bike and waved to the girl as he guided the front wheel into a locking rack.
Lincoln was responsible with his hand-me-down bike, knowing that one day it would one day be passed onto Lucy...naw, of all his younger sisters, Lincoln could only see Lana riding bikes.
He clicked the coil-lock into place and made his way back to the icy bench his new friend was waiting on.
Carol stood up to greet the boy, who knocked away her impersonal handshake and threw a hug around her waist.
"Were you waiting long?"
"Ehh, the walk over here from school was long but not really...I do wanna warm up inside, though."
Lincoln detached from the older girl and went into the well lit & poorly renovated outlet.
This was the kind of mall girls like Leni avoided like the plague, and Carol was simply too good for.
But that's what made it ideal for today, the sheer contradiction of Carol Pringey standing outside a mall Target and snacking on powdered donuts only helped solidify her disguise.
Plus, Lincoln liked shopping at Target. He seemed genuinely incapable of recognizing the lower quality of the products, and reveled in the search for weird toys.
Carol was enjoying this pseudo-date with the boy more than she had relished the time spent on her last three dates put together.
She wasn't desperately looking forward to getting home and drinking, for one thing.
Carol had managed to cut back on her alcohol intake quite a bit in the short time since Halloween, as a matter of fact.
The teenage girl mused on the notion that she had only been drinking when she was alone, which was occurring less and less often, when she felt a tug on her sleeve.
"Hey! Do you think this looks goth?" Lincoln asked as he held up a black-and-white striped longsleeve shirt with a rough yellow skull emblazoned on the chest.
"Lincoln if I caught you in that I would probably reconsider whatever this is." Carol said sternly, hoping to nip any errant phases in the bud.
"...Oh! It's not for me! It's for my little sister. She could probably wear this like a huge sweater."
"Well, if you want goth it's tacky, which I assume is a criteria for that stuff."
Lincoln nodded approvingly and tossed it into the handbasket they were sharing. Carol tried to return her attention to browsing the stacks, but in the distance her attention was pulled towards two women.
At first, Carol only wanted to make sure they did not know her. But her eyes could not pick up a familiar face on either of them, but she did hear a bit of their muttered conversation.
"Kids having kids these days, how tragic...and of course she can't afford to shop anywhere better."
Carol felt a pang of spite roil in her stomach, she wanted to tromp over to the woman and ask her what she was doing shopping here, if she was going to judge her like that...but Lincoln's voice calmed the emotion inside her.
"Hey, Carol! New hat?"
Carol could not stop herself from smiling at the stupid toque.
The main body of it was a tannish-brown, but the poof ball on top of Lincoln's head was almost the exact same shade as his orange shirts.
"Yes, you have to buy that! It's so you!" Carol cried out between giggles.
All of her negativity towards those old hags was whisked away by the boys positivity, and Carol loved him for that.
The two continued to search the grid of aisles in the off-brand superstore. Lincoln kept snatching one thing or another off the shelves, citing that one of his dizzying array of sisters would probably love it.
Lincoln and Carol left the Target with the boy hauling an armful of christmas presents in a plastic bag.
"Lincoln, did you...forget you rode a bike here?"
Carol's question hung in the air as realization smacked the boy in the face.
"Aw dangit." He muttered angrily, but even his anger and failings were cute! Carol smiled and grabbed the bag out of his hands.
"I'll take his to my place and you can come pick it up in...honestly, I can't not picture you with a little red wagon or something."
Lincoln wanted to protest, but it was true that somewhere in the bowels of the Loud house was the exact sort of wagon Carol was describing.
"Thanks, I'll try to get it tomorrow after school."
The older girl hummed to herself happily as the two of them walked out of the mall. Lincoln waved goodbye to Carol as he mounted up on his bike and rode into the cold autumn night.
Carol, meanwhile, was left doing something she had been doing for as long as she could remember; waiting for dad to get her text and come pick her up.
Carol stood alone right by the exit to the mall, still warm but staring out into the bleak landscape.
A familiar black car slowed to a stop on the curb, and Carol came out to greet her parental figure. As the two exchanged robotic pleasantries and made for home, all Carol could think about was how easily she had invited the boy back to her place.