Hurricane [Discontinued]

Chapter two |Nice to know I have reliable friends...|

"Do you hear that?" Ember asks, exiting Target. It's the smallest noise, but she's good with hearing, especially with the radio earlier. We all stop moving and listen, a faint beat of a song can be heard from down the long hall. "Hey!" Whisper/exclaims Arista. "It's Albatroaz!" We all listen closer before realization hits us.

"Yeah, it is." I answer, looking at the girls. The three of them look at me with confused/scared expressions on their faces. I nod in the direction of the music before we begin slowly creeping forward. As we get closer -now empty handed- we hear the sound of wrappers and off beat metallic clanging. As we near the food court, we hide behind the wall. Me in the front, the other girls behind me.

"What if it's another person? You know, a nut job or murderer?" Quivers Ember.

I take a deep breath and prepare to look around the corner. "Only one way to find out." Then within that same couple of seconds, I pop my head around the corner and gasp, falling to the floor in shock. The girls scream like they've just witnesses murder before running back towards Target. Nice to know I have reliable friends...

I stand and chuckle under my breath nervously as four pairs of eyes are now on me and the music is silent. Dusting myself off, I walk closer the three of the hottest people in our school. One including my crush, Gavin Palo. And Arista's, Thomas Arch. "Hey..." Says one of the guys, Aaron Quimby, while questionably looking at me. I glare at a smirking Thomas and amused Gavin. The other guy, Liam Vann/Ember's neighbour, is too busy shoving food down his throat to notice my fall, or that the music has already shut off.

"What are you doing here? And who screamed?" Asked Thomas, motioning for me to sit beside him on a table, so I do.

"Well, I'm here because the manager locked us in -long story-, and I'm with Carly, Ember and Arista." I notice Thomas's cheeks slightly flush at Arista's mention. Awe...

"Why did they scream?" Asks Aaron, casually biting into a Big Mac from the MacDonalds part of the food court. I slightly wince at the burger in disgust before looking between him and the other boys, avoiding Gavin to prevent obvious blush.

"When I gasped and fell, they thought it was a nut job-murderer-dude, so they screamed and ran away." I say lamely, playing with my fingers.

"Oh..." Says Gavin, trailing off. "But if they thought that's who it was, why would they leave you behind?"

I giggle. "They're that great of friends!" I exclaim in sarcasm. The boys chuckle and go back to finding food in the different sections. Gavin motions for me to eat, so I nod and walk over to the Starbucks as he rolls his eyes and I giggle. I grab a recipe book, and since the power hadn't shut off yet, I make myself a Carmel Brûlée frappe. After mixing many weird things together, I add a tower of whip cream and the weird brown sprinkle things, than take a sip through the signature green straw and clear cup. The logo never made sense to me, who would put a Siren on a cup. I mean, I know the story, but if a girl (a siren/mermaid) was found out about, then had turned into a dragon, what does that have to do with Starbucks? Whatever.

I realize I'm actually good at making these drinks, I mean, it tastes normal anyway. I turn my head when I hear war cries from down the hall as I walk towards the all guys at the tables, they look at me with confused looks. "Well," I grunt, sitting on a table beside Aaron, in front of Thomas. "The girls are back." I sip from my drink, pulling it away and swirling it with my straw before sipping it again.

The girls come yelling war cries around the corner, then stop in their tracks as we take them in. They must've went to different stores, because they're wearing ripped camo shorts, a black tank top, a camo bandana, black war paint across their cheeks and combat boots. What's even funnier, is that since the mall doesn't carry real weapons -they're using fishing rods. I snort out a laugh, almost choking on my drink as the girls toss the fishing rods away in embarrassment. I slid off the table and walk up the them. Just as I'm about to reach them, Ember gasps and runs to Liam, jumping in his arms.

"I thought you left already! What are you doing here?!" She screeches. We all laugh as he just gives her an odd look, setting her back on her feet. They're good friends I guess you can say, they've always known each other.

"Well," he coughs. "My family left, totally forgot about me. And I'm here because we hid upstairs in Sears." Oh yeah, there's a large department store at the opposite end to Target where Sears is, there's an escalator and everything. Although it's probably not the safest considering our current circumstances.

"So you guys just kinda 'camped out' here over night?" Asks Arista, stealing glances at Thomas, seriously, they should get together.

"Yeah," Gavin shrugs. "I mean, it has everything we need. Food, clothes, food, more food." Says Gavin with a smirk, standing beside me.

"So you just stayed here for food during the biggest storm in San Diego?" Laughs Carly, crossing her arms and jutting out her hip dramatically.

"And clothes." Adds Liam jokingly, his arm around Ember's waist tightly. They're 'friends with benefits', but very cute.

I laugh with the group and step in front of them all, having something on my mind. "Okay," I say, grabbing everyone's attention as they sit on the tables in front of me. "So, sorry to end the fun here guys, but I case ya'll haven't noticed, there's a hurricane brewing outside, and we only have four days before the eye hits. I say w-"

"We group together and I become the leader!" Shouts Gavin, shooting his arm in the air like you would in class while finishing the sentence.

"No, Harper becomes leader, you're not that responsible, plus this is a serious matter." Notes Ember.

"Says the girl who's too attached to a guy to bother helping out the cause. Maybe then you'd realize that we can't rely on a girl to keep us safe-"

"Why don't we just take Harper, and Gavin, and make them both leaders of the group or pack or whatever?!" Yells Carly over the arguing group. We all freeze from our arguments and stare at her like shocked sloths, then burst into hysterical laughter, which is how I end up on the greasy floor. I hear another body fall to the floor in laughter and realize it's Adam, who's face is reddened and tears are literally falling from his eyes.

"I don't know why you think it's so funny." Pouts Carly, sitting in a hunched position on the table. I don't know either, I mean, I wouldn't mind if Gavin and I got to spend more time together, or having an excuse to anyway.

"Because do you really think that Gavin and Harper would make good leaders? I mean, no offence to them, but they would probably come up with the most ingenuous idea of walking outside in the eye of the hurricane." States Adam.

"Probably" Carly mumbles, looking down in embarrassment. Gavin stands up, helpin me and Adam off the floor before turning to Carly.

"Fine, I'll agree to be the leader. With Harper. But, you need to promise that you won't say anything as stupid as that ever again." She giggles and playfully glares at him before hopping off the table and grabbing Arista and Ember's arms, then pulling them towards Victoria's Secret yelling, "Free Stuff!" All the way down.

"Well, I've gotta watch this." Chimes in Liam pervertingly, bolting towards Ember, before wrapping his arms around her bridal style. Awe.

"Me too!" Yells Thomas, Arista looks back shyly and smiles at Tom as he runs over.

"I need to pee, cya." Says Adam, walking in the other direction, leaving Gavin and I alone.

"Well, we might as well get to know each other," Gavin says, siting on a table and nudging my arm. "Partner." he winks.

Oh lord, please help me.