After driving Kathy home and stopping at his house to drop off his books and grab a few essentials for the night, Andy was off to Matt's place for the weekend.
The usual plans were in effect: They dropped off all their stuff at Matt's place, went out to get dinner, drove around the neighborhoods for awhile, and then headed back when it started getting dark so that they'd have the best atmosphere for the movies.
Running a little late, Andy was the last one to get there. After all putting their stuff down in the basement, they got into Andy's car and pulled out of the driveway, no particular destination in mind just yet.
"So, where do we go this week?" Cooper brought up.
"Well, we could-" Matt began, but he was cut off by both Coop and Andy.
"We're not going to Chuck E Cheese," they declared in unison.
"Aw, why not?" Matt moaned, distinctly resembling a little kid who didn't get what they wanted.
"Well, first off, we'd be surrounded by toddlers," Cooper began.
"Not to mention they think we're crazy," Andy added.
"This is true," said Matt.
"And some kid thought I was a clown last time we went there," Andy said. "He grabbed my leg and demanded a balloon animal."
"And I think we're banned from there because of that anyway," Cooper remembered.
"Damnit," Mat whispered under his breath. Andy and Coop looked at him like he was crazy. "What? I like that place."
"Well, we're practically at the mall," Coop pointed out. "Let's eat and kill time there."
The other two agreed, and a few minutes later they pulled into the parking lot of their relatively new local mall. It was a very large, two story building built with dingy, dark grey bricks and all glass doors. It pretty much help every teenager's paradise-food, entertainment, and clothes away from home. That would be why they were greeting people every five seconds. It was Friday afternoon and this was their school's home away from home.
When they sat down with their dinner, which consisted of soft pretzels and cheese, something extremely weird happened.
They knew just about everyone in the large, round, many-boothed room full of people, but this one was a mystery.
She was tall, curvy, and tough-looking. Her waist-length black-brown hair was parted in the middle, lacking bangs, and was cut in one long, heavy layer; her flat black eyes were quick and observant, keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary; and she had delicate facial features that seemed to mesmerize you with the full lips and well-framed eyes. She was darker-skinned than most of the Caucasians they had seen and probably had ancestors from Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean, or Turkey. She looked as though she was in her very early twenties. She was clad in flip flops, a pair of bootcut jeans, and a Black Sabbath t-shirt, but that didn't stop a thousand pairs of eyes from staring her down as she made her way into the food court.
Andy was particularly brought, however, it was not like the others were. He sensed danger. He didn't know where the instinct had come from, but he felt that the woman who had just walked in was a danger to him. After going over this in his head, he tapped Cooper on the shoulder to get his attention.
"What is it, man?" he semi-whispered to Andy.
"I feel like we're in danger."
"You mean right now? In public? In the mall?"
"No, I mean at school,"Andy whispered sarcastically. "Yes, at the mall. Where else do you think I'd mean?"
"Well, when did it start?"
"Just now, when that chick walked in. The one with the Black Sabbath shirt and all the hair."
"I think that's a different kind of danger you're thinking of, man," Matt chimed in. Andy gave him a dirty look and flipped him off.
Before he knew what was going on, his eyes locked on the mysterious woman and were watching her every move.
He had never felt like this before. He was mysteriously drawn to her. He wanted her.
It wasn't lust exactly-this attraction was much more violent-but it had many of the same elements. He wanted to feel close to her, wanted to feel her warm presence up against his body. Suddenly, he was snapped our of this trance by a sudden shaking sensation.
"Andy! Andy!" he heard a nearby voice yelling into his ear. "Andy, are you okay?"
When he came to a second later, he was still sitting up with a pretzel in front of him staring in the direction the woman had been walking. Right in front of him were Matt and Cooper.
"Andy, man, are you okay?" Cooper asked him, pulling his chair over to sit by him.
"I'm fine," Andy replied. "Just zoned out a little."
"Man, we were worried. Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine."
By that time, everyone in the food court was staring at them.
"I think we should go," Andy said a after a few seconds.
"Agreed," Matt said, starting to get up. "Let's get out of here."
With that, they went out to the car and took off. It wasn't until they were almost to Matt's house that they realized they were being followed.
