A flashlight in the shadows.

Chapter 3: Friends at the mall.

Of course they were up to it. They're always up for the chance to shop, especially for clothes. Dina was in need of clothes for her own date, so she came along. We all filed into Kendra's car and drove off towards the mall. I usually only went there for the book store or for new clothes, but I've never been to most of the stores. Dina sat talking to Hannah in the back seat,
"Oh my god!!! I can't even right now!" They squealed and smiled. I rolled my eyes and huffed.
"So, where's he taking you?"
"The movies! We're gonna see insurgent!" I smiled and sighed. Kendra looked over at me and asked,
"So, what are we shopping for?" I hadn't told them about the date yet. I bit my bottom lip and sighed.
"Well..I kinda..sorta...am going out?" Her eyes became wide and she slammed on the breaks, stopping on the side of the road.
"WHAT?!?!? You didn't say anything before now!!!???" She squealed. I leaned away from her, frowning.
"I didn't think it mattered that..."
"OF COURSE IT DOES!!! Who's taking you out?!??" Hannah asked, breathing really hard. I mumbled,
"Carson."
"AS IN LEROY!!!!????" Hannah called, amazed. Carson was one guy in the school who always has a girlfriend. If I had been prepared for his question, I would've said no. I nodded. They all screeched and said,
"Omgomgomgomgomg!!!! Where are you going?!"
"I don't know. He's gonna get me on Saturday night. He said to wear something sexy..."
"You'll be the sexiest sexy there ever was, then!!" Dina exclaimed, smiling. They all nodded and Kendra started speeding away to the mall. I clutched the seatbelt and screamed,
"DEAR SWEET JESUS, I WANNA LIVE TO SEE THE MALL!!!" She laughed crazily and we pulled up to macys. She put the car in park and we all sprinted to the doors, me almost dying. I'm 6 feet tall and north of 210 pounds, I'm not exactly in the best of shape. I inhaled the fresh air as we walked inside, heading to the women's section. Dina and I decided to each get one new dress and one new outfit. Kendra walked with me to the outfits while Hannah and Dina went to try on dresses. She started throwing me the most random assortment of clothes you can imagine.
"I don't need all of these!"
"No, but please try them on!" She laughed, shoving me into the stalls. "Change, bitch! Change!"
"Bossy much?" I asked, giggling as I slipped the different outfits on. The first ten or so sucked, so I threw them out the door to her. The next three were ok, but they weren't my favorite. I finally settled on a pair of black and grey striped leggings with a pink shirt that had drapes running down the length of it and a black over-jacket to match the leggings. We decided to pick out a few dresses and wait for Dina to show us what she chose. I picked out a simple purple dress that hugged my hips, but then decided against it. The only one I didn't think I'd look fat in was a dark blue dress that flowed down at the waist and fluffed out. We waited for Dina to reappear from the dressing rooms. She'd picked out a shirt with a peacock on it with skinny jeans and a grey fedora for her outfit. For her dress, she'd chosen an all yellow dress that flowed in the back and showed off her legs. I smiled and clapped.
"That dress looks nice on you." She twirled in it and smiled.
"You think Bennett will like it?"
"Yeah, I don't see why not," I stated, thinking of the library again. We all payed at the cash registers and headed to Dina's house, where we were all spending the night.
Dina lived about three miles out of town in a log cabin next to a lake. I personally would hate living out on the lake, especially after all the horror movies I've seen. Even the news makes a lake seem like a terrible place to live. In reality, it was quiet and beautiful, yet terrifying at night. She had a long dirt driveway leading up to her little cabin, surrounded by trees and shrubbery of every kind imaginable. We stopped the car and hopped out, carrying our over night bags with us. The weather wasn't terribly cold yet, so we all decided to go swimming. I threw my bag onto the living room couch and went to the bathroom to change. Everyone else was in there changing, so I just went behind the shower curtain to change. Kendra giggled and yelled to me,
"I swear, Sarah. You'd better be wearing a bikini, if you're not, I'm gonna rip you a new one."
"Interesting choice of words, Kendra, but I'm not going to wear a bikini."
"Why the hell not?!?"
"Because I jiggle!" I stated. Hannah laughed and said,
"You know what to do, with that big fat butt..." Everyone in the bathroom laughed,
"Jiggle jiggle jiggle!" I smirked and threw on my light blue one piece with two straps. I smiled and stepped out of the bathroom, combing my hair one last time before it got all tangled. Dina wore a red bikini with a front drape on the top, Kendra word a white string bikini with purple polka dots, and Hannah wore an all white bikini, but the bottoms read; 'all you can eat!' I laughed every time I saw it. We all grabbed towels and ran out onto the deck, me and Hannah diving right in. The cold water absorbed us, making my muscles more tense. I came up spewing water out of my mouth, gasping for air. Hannah was currently shivering. I swam around for a few minutes, then I started to get used to the water. Kendra was slowly making her way in, trying to take her time. Hannah got an evil smile on her face and started splashing Kendra with the cold water. Kendra squealed and said,
"If you do that again I'll cunt punt you!" Hannah scowled and swam off. I smirked and watched Dina, sun bathing on the deck. I looked at Kendra and Hannah, who were thinking exactly what I was thinking. We all got out of the water, slowly creeping our way to Dina. She sat up when we were halfway to her.
"What're you guys do.." Then she realized our plan, and got up on her feet. "Don't even think about it!" But she was too late. I lunged forward, grabbing her arms. She started kicking, trying to get Kendra and Hannah to back off, but it was no use. They grabbed her legs and we all carried her to the side of the deck.
"One..two...THREE!" We all shouted and threw her in, laughing as she hit the water. She came up, cursing profanities at us. Kendra was laughing, but Hannah and I shoved her in, making Dina and us laugh hysterically. She came up, threatening to kill us in our sleep, when we heard a noise; laughing. Not from us, though. From the driveway. Dina looked at me with a questioning glance. I shrugged and called out;
"Hello?" Four guys appeared, all familiar. One was Hannah's crush; Mike Duffle. One was Kendra's crush; Kenny Zamon. The other two surprised me; Carson and Bennett. I was extremely grateful that I didn't like bikinis, because I would feel very violated right now. Dina blushed and waved. Bennett nodded and then turned to me, smirking. I crossed my arms and said,
"Who's the stalker now?"
"Moi? Stalk? Never, I'm just here with Carson and the boys to go skiing, would you ladies like to join us?" Before I could even shake my head, all three of my friends squealed,
"We'd love to! Let us grab some stuff quick," they pulled me after them, me sighing. They started throwing hair brushes and other stuff into plastic bags to bring along. I threw in 'Drop Shot' by Harlan Coban and a jacket to go over my swim suit. When everyone was ready, we all hopped onto the boy's boat, which they'd gotten while we were inside, and started off to the middle of the lake. I sighed and crossed my legs, reading the pages as the wind ran through my now wet hair.
'Myron could see what win had meant. The guy was wearing a fishnet shirt. As in, a ton of holes...'
"Watcha reading?" I heard Carson ask. I huffed and smiled at him.
"Drop shot."
"Never heard of it," then he added,"why don't you wear bikinis?" I closed the book and shrugged.
"They're not comfortable."
"Yeah they are."
"How would you know?" I asked, frowning. He shrugged and replied,
"Other girls wear em."
"Well, I'm not other girls, am I?" I asked, flipping hair out of my eyes. He bit his lip and said,
"Guess not, but don't wear blue again. It looks terrible on you." What was that? Did he just command me not to wear blue? I was about to protest when Bennett tapped my shoulder. I whipped around and said,
"What?"
"Whoa, chill out. Dina and I wanted to ask if you and Carson wanted to do a double date?" Without asking how I felt, Carson said,
"Sure, we'd love to." My lips formed a tight line as the two boys got on the ski's and prepared for take off. Mike was driving, so he sped up for the two of them. Carson wasn't wearing a shirt, revealing his sleek, body builder phisyic. Bennett wore a grey shirt with his red trunks and was getting drenched as we skidded over the lake. Dina shook my arm and shouted,
"Are you ok? You seem kinda tense!"
"I'll tell you later when we're alone!" I shouted over the engine. We weren't alone later. After the skiing, Dina invited the boys to stay awhile, to which they agreed. The sun started setting, and we all retreated to the kitchen, where I started to cook supper. Dina and Bennett were talking about his basketball, something I knew absolutely nothing about. Kendra and Kenny were out on a walk and Hannah and mike sat in the living room, choosing a scary movie for everyone. Carson came around the corner, drying his bleach blonde hair with a towel. I was making grilled shish kabobs on their griddle, and was currently in the process of cutting up chicken and beef. I called out to everyone,
"Who wants what on their bobs?!" Everyone shouted at once, but I told them to just write it down. When they handed me the list, it read this;
Hannah-beef, pepper, and cheese.
Kendra-beef, onion, and peppers.
Mike-chicken, beef, and broccoli.
Bennett-chicken, peppers, cheese, onions, broccoli.
Kenny-chicken and peppers.
Dina-beef, broccoli and cheese:)
I didn't see Carson on there, so I turned around and crossed my arms.
"What do you want?"
"You," he stated, winking. I rolled my eyes and said,
"It's not wise to piss off the girl with the knife." He threw his hands up in surrender and said,
"I don't care, you pick." I was strongly tempted to put soap and laxatives on his, but decided it'd be too much work. I started to grill everyone's food. Dina and Bennett went off to watch TV, so it was just Carson and me alone in the kitchen. I was humming to myself, not really paying attention to anything.
"Where'd you learn to cook?" Carson asked. I didn't hear him because I was in my own little world. Suddenly, a pain erupted on the roots of my hair as my head was pulled sharply back in the direction it was never meant to go. I gasped and said,
"OWW, the fuck?!" Carson smirked and whispered in my ear,
"You don't hear very well," then, he slipped his free hand onto my right buttock, squeezing a little. "I asked, where'd you learn to cook?"
"My dad!" I said, trying to break free of his grasp. He pushed my head forward and let go, leaving my hair in a bunch in the back. He smacked my ass and went to grab a glass of water.
"There, was that so hard?" Bennett came around the corner, smiling.
"Carson, c'mon, we're all gonna play truth or dare when the foods done!" Carson smiled at me and followed Bennett out of the room. My jaw clenched as I grudgingly made the food. I turned slightly to see Kendra standing in the sliding glass door, eyes wide. I opened the door and sniffled,
"Hey, where's Kenny?"
"He went to the bathroom," she stated quietly, staring at me for a reaction. I didn't make eye contact with her, fearful that I'd break into tears. I hated crying. It made me feel weak and helpless. After a few minutes of Kendra staring at me, I sighed,
"Something you want?" My voice quivered a little. She set her hands gently on my shoulders.
"It's ok, Sarah. I saw what he did." A few tears slid out of my eyes and I felt a giant lump in my throat. I breathed in slowly.
"I'm ok." She turned me around and hugged me. I squeezed my eyes shut and breathed, my chest hitching slightly. She rocked me back and forth until three minutes had passed. I wiped my tears away and laughed,
"C'mon, they're probably getting suspicious," I took the plate of food and we sat at the couch with everyone else. I passed out the food and then went back to the kitchen to get drinks. Once everyone was settled, Carson patted the seat next to him. Kendra and I exchanged a glance, but I sat next to him to avoid suspicion. He scooted a little closer to me, I squirmed. Hannah started the game by saying,
"Ok...Kendra, truth or dare?"
"Mmmm...dare!"
"I dare you to kiss the deer head!" Dina's father was a big Hunter, and they had a stuffed deer head above their fireplace. She shrugged and kissed on the mouth. She then sat down and looked at mike.
"Mike, truth or dare?"
"Truth," he stated. Bennett pushed him and told him to choose dare, but he wouldn't.
"Would you have sex with a bear for a million dollars?"
"Fuck no! That shit would hurt!" He exclaimed, laughing, he turned to Carson and said,
"Truth or dare?"
"Dare."
"I dare you to lick someone!"He smirked and turned sideways, licking up my neck to behind my ear, being slow about it. I shivered and wiped it away, sighing. Kendra looked down, eating some more of her food. Carson turned to me and said,
"Truth or dare?" Dina and Hannah mouthed 'dare.' I sighed and said,
"I'll take a dare."
"I dare you to get me a beer."
"Me too!" Mike and Kenny said, smiling. I rolled my eyes and got up, walking to the refrigerator. I opened it and pulled out a pack of six bottles of Heineken, walking back and setting it on the wooden coffee table. Carson took it and took a sip, smiling at me. I sighed and said,
"Bennett, truth or dare?"
"Well...I'll take a dare too." He ran his fingers through his hair. I crossed my arms.
"I dare you to help with our skit and not just sit on your ass." Everyone oohed and he rolled his eyes.
"Fine, later."
"K," I smiled. He looked around and said,
"Kendra, truth or dare?"
"Eh, truth."
"Ok...I dare you to kiss Kenny." Everyone started chanting. She blushed and leaned forward, kissing him slowly on the lips. He smirked and pulled her in closer, kissing back. We all cheered and she pulled away, blushing. We all decided to watch a movie, me getting the popcorn. We put in silence of the lambs, which I thought made a better book than a movie. I didn't care to voice my opinion, because everyone would just sigh. As the scene where Dr. Lector eats the face off of one of the police guards came on, everyone else cringed. I just sat and watched the movie, eating popcorn and wondering, 'what do humans taste like?' Then, almost as if on cue, Hannah asked,
"I wonder how people taste?"
"I've tasted plenty of people," mike said, smirking at her. She rolled her eyes and punched his chest. After the movie, everyone filed off to bed. Carson, Bennett, mike and Kenny would be sleeping in the living room, while us girls would take Dina's bedroom. I started to walk down the hall, when Bennett tapped my shoulder.
"Hey, I haven't completed my dare yet."
"Huh?" I asked, swiping some hair from my face. He smirked.
"About helping with the skit. I never back out of a dare." I thought for a second, shrugged, and we went to the kitchen to begin our search for a skit.
"Ok, so what're we thinking? Comedy, romance, action?" I asked, logging onto Dina's laptop. He sat on the stool next to me, smiling.
"You'd like a romance, wouldn't you?"
"Comedy it is, then." I stated, searching, 'Shakespeare comedies.' We got about 14 different options. Sighing, I asked,
"So, what'll it be? Measure for measure? Winters tale? Twelfth night?"
"Not winters tale, that one sucks," he stated, eyes widening the second he spoke it. "Uh, I mean..twelfth night sounds good." He stopped, blushing and looking down at the counter. I smiled and tilted my head, looking at him.
"I didn't know you read Shakespeare." He shrugged and said,
"Only from time to time. It's not an everyday sorta thing." He rubbed his arm with one of his hands. I smiled to myself and continued,
"Well, ok. Twelfth night it is. Let's get started on writing our interpretation." We, or should I say I, got about half way finished with it, when the clock struck twelve. I sighed and closed the laptop.
"I think that's enough for today."
"Ok, oh! I almost forgot, you left this on the boat." He handed me drop shot, the book I'd been reading earlier. I smiled and took it from him.
"Thanks, goodnight Bennett." He smirked and replied,
"Night, book theif." He walked around the corner to the living room. I walked into the bedroom and sighed. Kendra sat next to me and whispered,
"Are you still going on a date with him tomorrow?"
"Well, Dina's expecting us to, and I don't wanna disappoint her," I stated, looking at her brushing her teeth. Kendra nodded and said,
"Ok, but break up with him after that date, k?" I nodded and laid down, trying not to think of tomorrow.

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Hey everyone! Just wanted you to know, if there's ever an adult subject chapter, I'll let you know in the authors note of the chapter before it, bye, see ya next time!;3