No Answer - A Finished Short Story by Mo

Haha, your friends sound like mine! I so much as mention things like that and they look at me like I'm a freak. XP

x3 Lol, nice, guys. My friend knows, me, though. So her nastiness was in fun.

Haha, yeah. I'm pretty sure my friends were kidding, too.

Haha, thanks! XP Lol, and I guess all of our friends are like that. XP

XP No kidding.

Yeah! XP Maybe they're the weird ones and we're normal.

Yes, that must be it! XP

Yes! I'm liking this plan.

You should!!!

Wow, Part 4 is really good. I want more!

Well, guess what? We live in a world where it's normal to be weird, and weird to be normal. So everyone's weird!

Thanks Arianna! I'll see if I can write more today.

Haha, that's so true, Ado!

Part 5

Kayda chugged down the bottle of water that she and Josh swiped from a nearby Wal-Mart in mere seconds. Once she was done, she crunched it in her hands and tossed it in a nearby garbage can before the two of them collapsed onto a bench.

"Now what?" she asked, wiping away the lingering droplets of water from her lips.

He sighed, running a hand through his hair in stress. "I really don't know..." Josh muttered, shaking his head. "I have no idea what's going on here... I mean, is this just a dream?"

Kayda buried her face in her hands. "It sure seems like it, with you being here and all," she agreed, her voice muffled. The second she let that slip, she instantly regret it.

"What did you say?" Josh asked, his face masked with confusion.

"Um... Nothing. Just agreed with your dream theory, that's all," she lied, a forced smile on her lips.

He shrugged and let it drop, the passing minutes filled with an awkward silence.

Kayda, refusing to break the silence, bit her nails as she waited for Josh to speak first.

He watched her chew before taking her hand, the action making her heart skip a beat. Josh studied her nails, frowning. "You shouldn't bite your nails, you know," he told her, taking out a file from his back pocket. He filed the chipped pieces down for her.

Kayda just gaped at him, utterly stunned. She couldn't think of anything to say. What kind of guy carries around a nail file? Seeing her expression, Josh laughed. "Sorry. My mom's kind of a manicurist... I get obsessive about these kinds of things."

She chuckled along with him, rolling her eyes. If his mom really did work in the beauty department, it would make a lot of sense. He had precisely cut hair, his piercings had never been infected, and his nails always were perfect. Though it was hard to tell because they were painted black most of the time, Kayda noticed that they were never chipped, always were the same size and the edges were perfectly rounded.

He smiled, noticing her observe him. She flushed and looked away, her face hot with embarrassment.
He must think I'm a total loser, she thought to herself with a sigh.

Hearing her sigh, he asked what was wrong. She shook her head and shuffled away from him on the bench, leaning on the arm of the seat.

"Was it something I said?" Josh wondered aloud, eyes wide with bewilderment.

"No... Sorry, I'm just a little moody," she explained, grumbling. "I guess I have no idea what to do, either."

"How about we just cheer up and make the best of this?" he suggested, standing up and gesturing for Kayda to follow. He strutted towards the movie theater that was built inside the mall. "We can have all the popcorn we want and all of the movies we want... Completely for free!"

A smile pulled at Kayda's lips. That did sound like fun. Her eyes grazed past all the posters on the walls. "Which one do you want to see?" she asked him.

He paused thoughtfully. Just as he said his answer, Kayda made a suggestion.

"Stay Alive?" they said at the same time, looking at each other and giggling when they realized they had said the same thing.

"So you like horror movies too?" Josh guessed with a grin.

Kayda nodded, smiling at him. For a second they just stood there, looking at each other. After a few seconds, she blinked, looking away. "I'll go try to figure out the popcorn machine," she offered.

"Okay, then I can try to figure out how to play the movies," Josh added in, rushing away through a door that said "Staff Only".

After he left, Kayda turned on the popcorn machine, watching as the kernels popped before her eyes. After a few minutes, there was enough for a large bag. She filled up a red and white striped bag with popcorn before adding more butter and all-dressed seasoning.

Wrapping her arms around the bursting bag, she sat on a counter, waiting for Josh. It was quite some time before he joined her. "Sorry it took me so long. It took me a while to find the room with all their movie copies, and it took me even longer to figure out how to work their projectors," he apologized.

"It's alright," she told him with a friendly smile as he hooked his arm around hers.

"Shall we be off to the movie now?" he asked her with a goofy grin.

She laughed and nodded as they pranced to the first theater. They slunk down into the seats, already cramming popcorn into their mouths as the commercials began.

Kayda couldn't wait to see the movie, but being able to watch it with Josh was a gift all by itself.

During the previews, Kayda and Josh chatted. Kayda talked about her life as a farm girl, and Josh talked about his life in the salon. Apparently not only was his mother a manicurist, but she also did hair, piercings, massages, facial masks, you name it. When he was young, he'd get teased and called names because he dressed neatly and "girly". That's the reason why he dressed the way he did now.

Kayda felt really sorry for him and almost felt embarrassed because they both had the same style, but she didn't have a reason behind her choice, unlike him. "The lifestyle just appeals to me, I guess," she explained, having been asked why she liked all the hardcore music and the dark clothes that he does.

He nodded in understanding before the movie started and their conversation ended.

Throughout the movie, neither of them got really scared. It had a pretty good plot, but there wasn't a whole lot of scariness. Sure, there were things that made her jump, but Kayda only had to bury her face in Josh's shoulder once... and that was at a particularly gory part. He didn't seem to mind though, he actually leaned closer to her when it happened. Their hands even touched once when they went to reach for popcorn at the same time but Josh didn't pull away like she expected him to, she actually felt his fingers intertwine with hers for a moment.

Her heart hummed happily when he whispered, "We should do this again sometime," before they left the movie theater together.

<><><><><><><>

It was getting dark outside, for Kayda could see the black night reflecting against the store windows. She looked at Josh, concerned. "Where will we stay for the night?"

Josh sighed, shrugging. Kayda watched as he looked up, eyes brightening as he focused on a shop in the distance. "We could stay at the mattress store?" he suggested.

"Great idea! We could get blankets from Wal-Mart or something, too. We can worry about food in the morning, I guess," she added.

He nodded in agreement with her and together they made their way towards the all purpose store. They split up, deciding that Kayda could try to find pillows and Josh would find quilts.

Kayda headed down the right isle straight away, finding two memory-foam pillows that she would have previously worried about being too expensive. Her stomach twisted a bit when she realized they were stealing, but it wasn't like there were cashiers around. Besides, they'd return them if things ever did go back to normal.


She made her way back with the pillows in the grasp of her right arm, picking up a quick chocolate bar to shove in her mouth. She gulped down the caramely goodness before meeting Josh at the store entrance. He had with him two duvets and it made her glad that he chose warm blankets. There wasn't really any heating in the mall at the moment, even though it got quite chilly at night. Kayda figured that the building was automatically programmed to turn off the heater in the evenings, though, probably right when the mall shut down. It was nearly midnight so it would make sense if that was the case.

When the two met up, they walked leisurely to the mattress store. Kayda amused herself by avoiding the cracks in the pink and white tiles, much like she did when she was a kid. Josh gave her a weird look while she wasn't looking.

They entered the doors of the shop, greeted by the smell of cotton and feathers. Before them were rows and rows of beds from king sized to kid sized. Kayda immediately pushed past two counters blocking her way, pouncing onto the hugest bed in the store. "This one is mine!" she cheered, jumping for joy on the springy, plush mattress.

Josh grinned evilly, leaping beside her. "Not if I wrestle you for it!" he jeered, crouching down threateningly.

She rolled her eyes, sticking out her tongue playfully. "I'm scared!"

He smirked mischievously before, to her surprise, tackling her down. He hovered over her, pinning her arms against the cushiony fabric. He was so close to her that their noses were touching.

For a moment, they gazed deeply into one another's eyes, not knowing what to say to each other in the awkward position. Kayda left him there, trying to push away the insane butterflies that were fluttering in her stomach. Despite her shyness, she tried to hold her gaze strong. It was weird how a moment of childish fooling around came to that

Josh tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear, his minty breath brushing lightly in her face. They stayed there quietly for a while before abruptly, he pulled himself off of her, breaking the awkward silence. "Actually... You can have it. I'll take this one," he gestured to the bed beside her, which was notably smaller. He smiled without looking into her eyes, throwing a soft but thick lavender blanket over to her. He took the green one for himself, settling down with one of the pillows once he crawled over to the twin bed.

"Good night," she whispered, her heart pounding and the sweat gathering at her palms.
Once her body was calmed down from the romantic encounter, she managed to drift to sleep.

"Here, child, take this. It will bring you luck," Grandma Fairings told the toddler, her friendly smile lined with small wrinkles.

"But what is it, grandma?" Kayda asked, twirling the shiny star with her finger.

"It's a shooting star," the old lady said with a wink. "It was harvested from the most magickal of fairies."

Kayda beamed brightly, pocketing the star excitedly in her overalls. She did love fairies. "Thanks, grandma!"

She rolled over groggily after the flashback, her dreams then turning into images of her and Josh...

Oooh, nice
I want more

Her heart hummed happily when he whispered, "We should do this again sometime," before they left the movie theater together.

That would be my EXACT reaction. Haha! Awesome job, Mo!!

Thanks guys!!

XP Same here.

Josh ^


Kayda ^

I did them differently than I normally would, but that's because they had to have a certain 'look'.