The Weight of the World by Amy Leigh Strickland Page B

the
street. Despite all of the sun and sand, Penny looked as pale as
ever.
    “You
look nice,” he said, choosing to ignore the ketchup on her tank
top. Undoubtedly one of the twins had spilled it on her.
    “Come
in,” she said. “I'm just picking up. Haley finally went to
sleep.”
    Teddy
followed Penny into the house. He looked around the living room,
curious to see how Doc Livingstone lived. His house was decorated in
cool, desaturated colors and had a lot of packed bookshelves,
containing everything from Grey's Anatomy to The Wolves in the Walls . Teddy sat down on the sofa
while Penny cleaned up. He checked out the framed photos on the end
table. Teddy picked up a photograph of a blonde woman with large blue
eyes. “Was this his wife?” Teddy asked.
    Penny
nodded. She came to sit down with him. “Yeah, she passed away right
after the twins were born.”
    That
was a downer. Teddy set the photo down. “Well, she was beautiful.”
    “Did
you bring a movie?” Penny asked.
    Teddy
handed her the envelope. “Yeah. Wanna pop it in?”
    Penny
took the movie and loaded it into the DVD player. “We'll have to
keep it down so they don't wake up.”
    Teddy
smirked. He was hoping to have a lot of alone time with Penny
tonight.

    Jason
pushed his cart around the store, browsing the back wall of the movie
section. He was dressed down in paint-stained jeans and a fitted grey
t-shirt. It was a lazy evening out, taking some time to unwind. He
froze when he saw a familiar face across the electronics department.
Candice Matthews. “Crap,” he muttered. Her frizzy red hair and
gawdy makeup were unmistakable. The moment he had arrived at Olympia
Heights Senior High, broken and recently widowed, she had been on the
prowl. He had been dodging her attempts to catch him for years.
    Jason
ducked down, drawing confused looks from a woman down the end of the
aisle. Jason pushed his cart quickly out of the department and
straight across to sporting goods. He looked back over his shoulder
as he fled, checking to make sure that Candice hadn't spotted him.
    “Jason?”
a voice asked. Jason leapt, terrified that she had somehow cut him
off. He looked ahead and saw Celene Davis standing just ahead of him,
holding a Water Bobble. “Everything alright?”
    He
sighed in relief but responded quietly. “Oh, thank God, it's you. I
was just... dodging someone.”
    Celene
raised an eyebrow.
    “I
kind of have an admirer,” he admitted, blushing a little. Celene
had never seen him blush before.
    “Candice?”
she ventured to guess. Jason nodded. Celene hid her laughter poorly.
“Sorry,” she said. “It's not that funny, but... well... it's a
little funny.”
    “Thanks
a lot.”
    “Oh,
come on. It's got to at least be flattering.”
    “It
was flattering until it became painful. She acts like she's
fourteen.”
    She
sighed. “I'm sorry. I'll try to be more supportive. Are you here
for something specific?”
    Jason
shrugged. “Just unwinding. I was going to get some new music or a
movie, but I got spooked and took off.” He looked down in her cart.
Aside from the food in her cart and the filtered water bottle in her
hand, she had a pair of athletic shoe inserts and a few sports bras.
“Looking to start some physical activity?”
    “I've
started running again. Something I haven't done in years. I'm
starting to realize how out of shape I am.”
    “You're
not out of shape,” he said.
    Celene
began to push the cart towards the check-lanes. “You flatter me.”
    Jason
and Celene walked to the registers.
    “So
was your trip a total bust?” she asked. His cart had a bottle of
shampoo and a pack of chocolate chip cookies.
    Jason
laughed, “It looks like it.”
    Jason
rang up his purchases first and waited with Celene while she scanned
her full cart. “I'm glad you're getting out of the house,” she
said. “Me-time is extra vital when you're a single parent. It's the
oxygen mask principle. You have to take care of yourself so that
you're