Pride, Mates, and Past Mistakes

The Art of Balancing on the Wall of A Fitting Room

*Cody*

 

Blondie and I raced out of the back door, and I could hear the sounds of bullets being fired behind.

 It was times like this that regretted joining the football team over the cross-country team. Blondie was fast, and it took all my energy to keep up with her. We raced down the crowded blocks for about five minutes straight, dodging all the irritated people walking along the sidewalks (and knocking over a few), until we finally, finally, slowed down. We coasted to a stop in front of a store, and scanned the clusters of people behind us.

"Are...they...still...following...us?" I wheezed, trying to take a proper breath without coughing.

 Naturally, Blondie didn't even look winded.

 "No..." she said, still gazing behind us. "But they're probably—oh, crap!"

I spun around to where she was looking.

 Two security guards—both armed—were running down the street.

Right at us.

 Suddenly, my exhaustion disappeared within a second, replaced by dread.

"Run!" Doreen shrieked for the second time, grabbing my wrist.

 And the next thing I knew, I was running full-speed down the street.

 I risked a glance behind us.

The two men were gaining on us, and quickly. To make it worse, I could hear a police siren ringing in the background. When we heard the wailing siren, I heard Doreen curse—which I was very surprised to hear, coming from her, of all people—and the next thing I knew, I was yanked to the left.

 My sweaty body met with air-conditioning, and my nose was hit with the aroma of new clothes.

I gaped at the scene before me, half shocked, half confused. We were in a women's clothing store.

 I gaped at Doreen. "Why are we here?!" I wheezed. "Maybe you hadn't noticed, but we're being chased by armed strangers."

"Exactly," Doreen panted, dragging me into the maze of racks when we saw a sales worker began to head towards us. "they wouldn't expect us to run into here."

I was so exhausted from running five blocks that I didn't argue, and I simply let her drag me deeper into the store.

 That was when I caught sight of where Blondie was headed.

 "No way!" I said, yanking my wrist from her grip. "I can't go in there!"

"Cody," Doreen groaned, grabbing my arm again, "it's not that bad, no one's watching."

"Blondie, that's a women's changing room. I can't go in there."

"Did you just call me Blondie?" she demanded, distracted for a moment. "You did it before, too, back at the store! I have a name, you know!"

I gave her a look. "I'm not going in there. Besides, it's against the rules."

"If it's breaking rules you're worried about, just remember that you have a gun strapped to your side, and that you have people chasing after us that wouldn't hesitate to break the rules and kill you," she hissed, lowering her voice considerably. "Now, come on."

She gave my arm one final yank and dragged me into the dressing room with her.

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