"Hey, you remember what I said last year, right? We're Zombie Boy and Ghost Boy. I'm not ever gonna leave you."
"Promise?"
"One hundred percent."
***
In which Alistair fights the monster that possessed his friend alongside his friends, while trying...
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Chapter Twelve: The Breakup, Pt. II
(The Mall Rats, Pt. 4)
***
To safe the say the mood is glum would be an understatement.
Alistair tied his bag holding his comic to the handlebar of his bike, Will doing the same as Mike grumbled, "That's ridiculous. Why can't I just buy it later?"
He rattled his bike viciously, as if to emphasise his point.
"This is a mall, Mike. Malls, especially ones with fancy stores, always pull this shit," Alistair snarked, rolling his eyes heavily. Never was he more looking forward to leaving than he was now.
"Yeah, but, what if I mow Old Man Humphrey's Lawn?" Mike suggested.
"He hasn't got that much," Lucas informed him.
"Okay, what if we split it?" Mike pitched, desperate for a way to get more money. If his friend wanted money quickly, then he could help Alistair's aunt scam people.
"Split it with what?" Lucas countered. "Does that even make sense?"
Alistair shrugged. "I don't have much money on me anyway. Perks of being a trailer park kid."
He gave Mike a pointed look, but before anymore could be said, another voice joined the conversation—a familiar one.
"Isn't this a nice surprise?"
As one, all four boys turned, and saw with shock Max, Cami... and El.
Mike's bike dropped out from his slack hands, landing with a clatter on the ground as Alistair stared with wide eyes before hurriedly checking around—were they mental? Did Max and Cami remember the very real danger El was in if the wrong people saw her wandering around before her guaranteed safety?
"What are you doing here?" Mike demanded, voicing Alistair's thoughts into being.
"Shopping," El answered, holding her ice cream as Alistair now registered the black jumpsuit with a crazy pattern on it. It was nice and suited her, but Alistair was still wrapped up in the fear of some government spies seeing El and recognising her, that her chance of freedom and a normal life was shot before it could properly begin.
"This is her new style," Max said, eyebrows raised in challenge at Mike. "What do you think?"
"It suits her pretty well, don't you think?" Cami wondered out loud innocently, her smirk cracking the facade of innocence as she licked her ice cream.
"What is wrong with you two?" Mike hissed. "You know she's not allowed to be here."
Cami scoffed as Max shot back, "What is she, your little pet?"
