Tara had in the process of leaving decided that biking would get her away from the notebook a lot faster than her feet could, as such she was pedaling at breakneck speed, though unsure where she was going.

She took a few turns at random, then another and kept cycling until she found herself somewhere near Farmer Hobbs's place.

An orange sports car honked at her and she offered a stiff wave to Sawyer, who came to one of his trademark burning tire stops.

“Need a ride home?”

Tara shook her head.

“You’re gonna be late for dinner.”

Tara shrugged.

“Dad’s gonna let you have it.”

She shrugged again.

“Whatever,” Sawyer mumbled and sped home.

Tara sighed and started to pedal again, then remembered where she could find a non judgmental pair of ears to listen to her.

“Girls can’t kiss girls, right?” Tara asked, “I mean, they can but they shouldn’t, should they? … Don’t give me that look, it’s just a thought. I don’t want to kiss girls… I don’t!”

Tara leaned down on the fence, looking at her feet, “Maybe just a little… But I also want to kiss boys!”

She stopped talking, having to admit to herself that she had very little interest in kissing boys. Her mind jumped to the fairy tales she’d liked when she was younger, Sleeping Beauty had been her favorite.

Placing herself in the position of the princess, sleeping and waiting to be woken by a kiss, she imagined a handsome prince leaning over her, his lips puckering…

She made a face. The idea did not thrill her. She placed herself in the position of the prince next, walking up to kiss the princess. A moment later she snapped back to reality, that was a dangerous path of thought. She glared at her conversation partner.

“I told you not to look at me like that!” she snapped, turned and away and angrily grabbed her bike, almost tripping over the frame as she got on.

“Like you know anything,” she yelled over her shoulder as she set off in a random direction.

After Tara had left, Bucephelus the Donkey started to graze again.

Tara’s angry pedaling led her to the strip mall. She was unsure what she’d do there, and very aware of the trouble she’d get into for being late for dinner, but her mind was elsewhere.

She parked her bike outside the video store, in front of which the owner, Mister O’Donnell was currently smoking a cigarette. It was an odd look, as Mister O’Donnell very much resembled a scarecrow, leathery skin and a mop of wild blonde hair that peeked out from under a bucket hat. The hair looked like a fire hazard.

He nodded a greeting to the girl, then looked up when a car raced onto the parking lot, slamming the brakes right in front of them.

A woman in her fifties, who might have been attractive for her age had it not been for the Botox and unnaturally colored perm, got out of the car and waved a book in the air, somehow making it look like a threat to Mister O’Donnell. Tara read the title, ‘Birds of the Pacific’.

“I got you!” the woman called triumphantly.

“Let me hear it,” the man replied.

Tara who wasn’t sure what else she should be doing, and grateful for the distraction, stayed to watch.

The woman opened the book to a donkey-eared page and read out loud, “The blue-footed booby is a marine bird!”

She pointed to a giant inflatable bird that had stood in front of the store for ages, that indeed had blue feet.

“Well done,” Mister O'Donnell replied dryly, “And?”

“And? Marine! Marine means sea!”

“Sort of, yes.”

“And you ‘sea’ with your eyes! You ‘sea’ movies! That’s why it’s the boobie!”

Mister O’Donnell took a long drag of his cigarette and shook his head, “That’s wrong, sorry.”

“You’re just changing cause I got it right!”

“He can’t!” Tara replied immediately.

“Mind your business, little girl, he’s cheating me!”

“But he can’t change it,” Tara said emphatically, glad to have found something she could direct her energy to, “He wrote the answer on a piece of paper and that paper is in the manager’s safe!”

“he’s the manager! He can open it!”

“The mall manager’s safe!”

The woman looked from Tara to Mister O’Donnell. He simply nodded to confirm the girl’s words.

A moment later, the woman furiously returned to her car and left.

“That was close though,” Mister O’Donnell said, “That is most definitely a Sula Nebouxii, but not what I was was going for. Thanks for helping me out there. Brooks, right? The girl… Sarah!”

“Tara.”

“Tara,” the man corrected himself, “You can have some free popcorn if you want.”

Tara mumbled a thank you and wondered what she’d do with the popcorn. It was some off brand the man couldn’t peddle for the life of him. It tasted fine, but it reeked of dish soap, so it hadn’t sold.

“Oh, Brooks?”

“Yes?”

“When’s your brother coming back?”

“Next week.”

“Good, I need Yuki back in the store..”

Tara nodded and entered the shop, it reeked of plastic, old cigarettes and people, all underscored by the dish soap scented popcorn.

Normally Tara would’ve made straight for the adventure section, but today she went for romance instead. She sifted through the videos, looking at the heartthrobs that should appeal to her, then to the women. Neither were very appealing. Sighing, she put a copy of footloose back, then turned her attention to a yellowed bead curtain in the back of the store that hid the adult section from the rest.

Mister O’Donnell wasn’t in the store and Tara considered having a quick look, but decided against it when an elderly man furtively ducked behind it. She sighed again, then out of habit went for the adventure section anyway, where she picked up the case for a movie titled ‘Amazons’. A movie her brother had refused to rent for her as he had deemed it too explicit. She stared at the scantily clad women on the cover for some time.

‘Where no man has ever entered,’ concluded the tagline with some pride, which meant to Tara that if there were to be any kissing in their world, it’d be between women… She put it back, shook her head to clear it and headed for the door, grabbing the free bag of popcorn right before she went through the door.

She headed home.