“Mom, I wanna go to the candy store in Othermart. Can I?”

“Okay, sweetie! Just don’t take too long, all right?”

Sunny nodded and smiled before taking off. The boy had just turned ten three months ago and with that significant milestone came certain privileges, like being allowed to go out on his own within certain limits, as long as Sunny came back on time. Mari wasn’t home right now and Kel and Hero were currently on a trip to see their relatives outside of town, leaving Sunny to go out on his own.

But that’s fine, he’s a big boy now.

Sunny reached Othermart after a short trek, his shirt drenched in sweat and panting heavily because of the scorching summer heat. Sunny groaned as he hastily wiped his damp forehead and hair, now sticky and gross, but whatever. He came here for one thing — delicious, juicy caramel apples. Mari introduced the tasty treat to him one Sunday afternoon and it hasn’t been off his mind ever since. He’s going to get one today even if he had to walk dozens of miles, though thankfully he didn’t have to. The doors of Othermart parted and the cool, air-conditioned air assaulted him as he entered, making Sunny shiver from the sudden temperature change. He took a sigh of relief. On to the candy store then.

The candy store was totally empty save for Miss Candice as usual and a girl his age wearing a hoodie — someone vaguely familiar from school. Wait, is that Kim? Sunny had only spoken to her once and found it to be a very unpleasant experience. She’s just way too loud and pushy for his liking. Curious, Sunny backed away and instinctively hid behind a shelf of assorted chocolates to observe her from afar, watching her pace the room back and forth restlessly. When Miss Candice turned her back to her moments later to answer the phone, Kim jumped and took it as an opportunity to grab something — Sunny didn’t see what it was — from the top level of a shelf, sneakily pocketing the item. Kim turned around as though nothing happened and walked away, heading for the exit.

Sunny bit his lip. She was headed in his direction. Should he stop her?

His legs moved on his own anyway and Sunny found himself blocking her way.

The girl’s eyes widened. “S-Sunny?”

Sunny forced a smile. “Hi.” The item she took bulged awkwardly in her hoodie pocket. It was very noticeable even though the girl tried to cover it with her left arm.

“Um, hi. If you don’t mind, I have to go now,” she said, brushing past him with a barely concealed panic. Sunny caught her arm.

“Aren’t you going to pay for that?”. He sensed hostility in her eyes as he uttered those words, not that he could blame her.

“Why do you care?!” she glared. “Mind your own business, nerd.” She tried shaking his hands off but Sunny did not let go.

“Mari wouldn’t be happy with me if I let this go,” he said, tightening his grip. It was indeed none of his business but his conscience wouldn’t let him pretend that nothing happened. “Look, if you don’t have the money for it, I could just —”

“It’s not that I don’t, I just forgot my wallet!”

“So that makes stealing it okay?”

“Argh! I can’t explain now. I don’t have the time for this. Let me go!”

“Ahem.”

The two froze.

“Hello kids. It’s a nice day today, isn’t it? Smiley, smiley!” Miss Candice towered behind them, with her ghastly, not-child-friendly-at-all smile plastered on her face. “Is there anything wrong? Smiley, smiley!”

Sunny walked in front of Kim and stealthily grabbed the item from her pocket without Miss Candice noticing it. It was a box with a giant gummy bear inside it — about nine inches tall.

“M-Me and my friend were just discussing about what we wanted,” he said, turning back, his eyes pleading for Kim to just play along. She nodded. “And we…found this cute thing right there,” he said, pointing to where Kim grabbed it.

Miss Smiley Smiley’s creepy expression did not change. Just what is this woman anyway? “Oh this? A wonderful choice. Are you gonna take this?”

Sunny nodded. “Yeah. How much?”

“That would be 30 dollars, smiley, smiley!”

Sunny’s heart dropped. $30 was all he had.

Kim fidgeted. “Look, it’s okay. We’ll just—”

Sunny already took the item with him before Kim can say anything more. He wanted to cry right then and there. Goodbye, caramel apples. He handed Miss Candice the bill and walked back to where Kim stood with a look of defeat. What was wrong with him? Why did he do this?

He grunted. “Here’s your gummy bear.”

Kim reluctantly grabbed the box with a look of disbelief in her face. “Um, thanks. But why?”

Sunny squinted his eyes. “I don’t know. But what I do know is that you owe me six caramel apples for this,” he said with a huff. “What’s that for anyway?”

Silence.

“It’s for my big brother’s birthday today,” she finally said, examining the box closely. “I planned to get this thing for him as a present since that’s what he wanted but as I’ve said earlier, I forgot my wallet back home and I can’t just come back empty-handed, so yeah.” Kim smiled. “I was still going to pay for it later when I had the money so it’s not like I was committing theft or anything,” she added. “Thanks Sunny! You’re a lifesaver.”

Kim slapped him on the back and he blushed.

“It was nothing,” he muttered. So it was for her big bro huh? That knowledge made him feel a little bit better at least.

“Don’t worry about the caramel apples, I’ll get you as many as you want. Not today of course, hehe.”

With that, the girl ran off.

He sighed. Sunny didn’t quite know what to make of Kim yet, but maybe he judged her wrong and she’s not so bad after all. Time will tell.