The Pineapple Mystery

"Okay, so what do we need? Did you bring our grocery list?" I asked Tracy, my best friend. She walked into the grocery store before me, skipped like a little girl and got ourselves a shopping cart. Her blonde hair waved in the air and she truly looked as if she was sixteen years old. Smiling all cute with the shopping cart and the note in her hand.

"What do you think?" she asked. I never forget these kind of things. Even if you write them and leave them behind in your apartment! I am the master of shopping lists. You know that," she said smiling, her hair a little tilted and her big blue innocent eyes all lovely. I saw Mason looking at her. The perfect girl next door in her short blue summer dress and pretty white sandals. I wish I looked liked that. My hair was brown and a bit frizzy, so I usually wore it in a tail or a knot. Today as well. I also had the problem of not being able to wear short sleeves because of my scars on my arms, so I wore a green top with a black vest, and jeans. It must've seen as if it was summer at Stacy's and Autumn at my body. Whatever, it didn't matter. The thing that did matter was that we were going on a double date and have a picnic in the woods tonight.

Mason was my boyfriend and Tracy had a date with a guy called Greg, but I hadn't met him yet. He would meet us later, at the forest meet-up benches. So the three of us were in charge of the picnic foods and drinks.

"We need loads of fruits," I said enthusiastically as we were walking through the store. We got bananas, strawberries, blueberries, a pineapple, mandarins and apples. Then we went on to the alcohol consumption of our picnic. I noticed how nervous Tracy was for her date, so the four bottles of white wine seemed normal to me. One for each, right? Plastic cups and plates and cutlery, energy drinks, more food like croissants and brownies, a bottle of cola to mix with the Vodka that we were getting after the grocery store.

"Why are there eggs on your list?" Tracy asked me when I was paying for the groceries. "we haven't got any eggs and what do you want to do with eggs in a forest?" she said, smiling, playing with me.

"Just because maybe I need eggs okay, just never mind. Maybe I wanted to throw them to you tonight if you're as annoying as you're being now!" We both laughed. The cashier said an amount, but Tracy wanted a large bag as well, so it took a while before we were done and everything was loaded. I paid with my card and got the receipt of the groceries. Mason and Tracy were walking before me as we walked home and I scanned the receipt.

"Wait," I said. "How come the pineapple is so expensive? That's just weird.." I said hesitantly.

"Oh you and your money. Just send us a payment request and we'll split it, yeah? Don't worry, you can eat all the pineapple you want tonight; as long as we give my date a few pieces as well, yeah?" she giggled. Mason flushed and I had to laugh as well.

"You mean you want to uh.." I began.

"Maybe. If he's as hot as he looks on Tinder, then I would definitely do that, yes. Although, maybe the first date-rule is a good one this time. I always fuck it up with guys somehow. I don't get it. You score a guy like Mason and I can't even get a guy for a week somehow," Tracy said. Mason flushed even more; his face was like a tomato. He wasn't used to us doing girl-talk were he was at.

"Here's my advice," I began, "Don't do anything with him on the first date. Then you know for 100 percent sure that there will be a second. Only lead him on, maybe a kiss at the end? Just see him as boyfriend-material and maybe he sees you as girlfriend-material. I think the thing is that you just behave like a one-night thing and you end up as that as well."

"Wow, that hurts, you know." Tracy said this very seriously. I knew I may have said some hurtful things, but they were true though, and she had to learn at some point. "I'll try to follow-up your advice, Lin! I will truly try. So keep the pineapple to your…. boyfriend," she winked at the both of us.

Back at my apartment, we got the picnic blanket and a basket, like in the movies. We put everything in there we just bought together with our music stereo and the Vodka and we were ready to go; ready to picnic in the woods! And meet Greg as well.

***********

He was already sitting at the bench, waiting for us when we arrived at the forest meet-up place. He was indeed very handsome. He was tall, had an athletic figure and very muscular arms; which showed since he was wearing a white tank top. He had a broad jawline, a blonde 3-day beard, and very green eyes. Very enchanting eyes, in my opinion. He was way too handsome for me, and I also noticed that Mason was feeling a little blown off by this kind of competitor; even though they weren't. Tracy, of course, didn't mind his good looks and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Nice to finally meet you Greg. So, I'm Tracy, and these are my friends Lin and Mason with who we are going to have a lovely picnic in the forests. Even though the weather is not looking so well anymore at this point," she said. We all looked at the sky and saw the dark clouds coming near us.

"Nice to meet all of you," Greg said, "I'm Greg as you probably already know. Let's go, right? I've been waiting here for almost half an hour!"

"Yeah, sorry," I said. We were very enthusiastic with doing groceries for the picnic."

"Yeah, yeah!" Tracy smothered me. "We bought the most lovely pineapple, truly! And all sorts of different fruit, right? A whole bunch of stuff and we even got ourselves a blanket and a basket. Isn't that so cool?"

"Uh.. yeah. Cool," Greg said hesitantly. This was so typical of Tracy to get all talkative and steal all attention possible. But whatever, it was her date. I got Mason's hand and we walked to location we thought was perfect for our picnic. The clouds still didn't promise any good, though. They got only closer and darker as time went by.

When we sat at out spot, we got all the ingredients out of our bag. All the fruits, bread, brownies, whine, vodka, cola, and all out plates and cups and cutlery but… There was one thing missing though. Where was the pineapple?!

***********

"Oh my god, Lin, you are so overreacting. We probably left it at your apartment. The whole thing was too huge to take with us anyways. And how should we have eaten it, right? Did you bring a pineapple knife?!" she said annoyed by my extreme reaction about the missing pineapple.

"Uh yeah," I showed her the pineapple knife. "I took it because we bought a pineapple!" I shouted. I was totally overreacting I guess, since the guys became quite and looked and Tracy and me arguing about this pineapple.

"What is it with you and that piece of fruit? Does your boyfriend taste so bad?!" Tracy argued and Mason and I both flushed.

"You can't just say things like that, trace!" I shouted. "Look," I got the receipt out of my bag and showed her what I was so amazed about in the grocery store. The pineapple had costed us 30 dollars. And now it was gone.

"That's an expensive pineapple," Greg laughed at us. "just…. let it go. It must have been an accident or the grocery guy ripped you off, and it's probably still at your apartment, Lin. Don't you think? You guys took so much food in one basket; how should a pineapple have fitted in with all of this? I don't know about you guys, but I can do with some vodka and cola right now," he said, with his masculine rough voice.

"I…" That were all the sounds I was able to make at that point. I saw Mason looking at me, getting all jealous since I obviously thought this guy Greg was hot. Tracy agreed with Greg and we all drank our Vodka and cola. Still, I was feeling pissed off, since I know for 100 percent sure that I had taken the pineapple with me. And why was it so expensive? I really, really, needed to know if it was in my apartment. I have no clue why it was so important for me to know more about this stupid pineapple.

After a few drinks, Tracy was all over Greg. I couldn't blame her. Mason only seemed jealous. Jealous of him; that bothered me as well. Why was he even with me if he liked Tracy that much obviously? And why would she never listen to me if I gave her advice? She would ruin it with this Greg anyways; and Mason was my boyfriend. I decided I had enough of this picnic party exactly when it started to rain and thunder came out of the sky.

"I'm gonna leave," I said. "Are you coming with me, Mason?" Of course he agreed, and Tracy and Greg preferred to stay just for a little while.

"Okay, so just, make sure you get everything back to my place this week okay? The basked and the blanket and stuff," I said annoyed by her behavior and her promiscuous act. She just wants attention, I thought. It doesn't matter what I say to her. We said our goodbyes and I told Mason I had to get to my apartment as fast as possible to check whether I left our pineapple there. He literally laughed at me.

"Really, Lin? What's this about? You and your pineapple?"

"I'm just 100 percent sure I took it here, and now it's gone! It has to be somewhere and I held it when we walked from the store to my apartment so where else can it be? And why was it 30 dollars? That's just crazy!"

"You and your mystery pineapple. Sure, I'll come with. I'm actually kind of curious as well at this point," he said laughingly. We walked home, I walked as fast as I could since my patience was gone. I needed to know.

When we got at my apartment, I was actually shaking, when putting in the keys and I walked straight to the kitchen, where we packed our stuff. It wasn't there. It wasn't there. I totally freaked out and looked everywhere in my apartment, literally everywhere I could've been, but it was not to be found.

The 30 dollar pineapple, it had disappeared on me. I have never found out what happened to it, and it stays a mystery until this very day. The Pineapple Mystery.