Crystal

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I walked down the stairs slowly, glancing around the living room and kitchen until my eyes finally landed on Michael who was sitting at the bar.

 
"So, are we going somewhere?" I asked, as he turned and smiled toward me.

 
"Yep! The mall." He stood up and grabbed his wallet and keys from the entry table, now holding the front door open for me.

 
"The mall...?" I questioned, confused. I'd heard the term before, but I wasn't quite sure what it was. 

He just nodded his head and ushered me out of house, locking up behind us. He opened the massive garage and unlocked the red sports car that I'd come to recognize as his.

"Wanna DJ?" He asked, handing me his phone as we pulled out and began driving down the main street.

 
"Um, I can.." I took the phone from him and held it in my hands, unsure of what to do with it. I'd never owned a phone before, so I really didn't have a clue how they worked. I watched some of the boys as they played on them a bit before, but that's as far as my experience went with them. 

"Look for the little pink app with a white music note on it." He said, not taking his eyes off the road.

 
I searched the all the phones screens before finally landing on the one that I assumed was the music app.

 
"There's radio stations, music I've downloaded, and a search button, just play around with it." He explained, as I swiped around on the screen looking at all the different options. After about ten minutes of just exploring, I settled on what the app called "person of the year."

 
It was some singer named Taylor Swift.

 
I clicked the icon and what I assumed was her music started playing. The first song that it choose was Better Than Revenge, which I quite enjoyed.

 
Michael started laughing from the seat beside me, and I shot him a quizzical look.

 
"What's so funny?" I asked, thinking I must've choose wrong.


"If you end up liking this girls music, than you and the person you're meeting are going to be great friends." He explained, with a smile that never left his face.

 
"Can I at least know this mystery person's name before I meet them?" I bargained, basically pleading at this point for any clues.

 

"Her name's Crystal."


"OoOOOoo it's a her...?" I teased, while he just shook his head, the giddy grin never leaving his cheeks.

 
"Shhhhh I like this song." He said, trying to change the topic.

 
"Of course you would, with a title like Paper Rings, I'm sure both you AND Crystal like it."

 
"Alrighty nowwww, shut up." He said, elbowing me from the drivers seat.

It took another thirty minutes before Michael finally pulled into a giant ass parking lot with what had to have been hundreds of full parking spots. 

"How many people are here?" I asked, fidgeting with the bracelet, Luke had given me at the hospital. 

"Well, I mean.. it's a mall." He said, shrugging. "Probably at least 300." My eyes widened in response, and I suddenly felt very nervous. 

After parking, and locking the car Michael led the way, heading toward the insanely sized building in front of us. It literally looked like it went on forever.

"What's here?" I asked, as we approached a set of double doors. 

"Right shit, you've never been to one of these before.. uh." Michael dropped his hand away from the door handle and scratched the back of his neck. "Basically, it's a collection of a bunch of different stores in one building." He explained, now texting someone on his phone.

"I didn't think about big crowds not being something you're used to. Do you think you can handle it?" 

"Yeah.. yeah I'll be fine." I assured him, as we walked inside. 

Despite not being used to sheer amass of people in one place, I actually ended up LOVING the mall. Which I'm told is pretty typical for a teenage girl. 

It was just.. everything you could ever need in one place. Clothing, electronics, makeup, music.. I could go on. Michael taught me about of a lot of things that I had never experience at the order, like certain movies, and bands.. what different electronics did etc. 

After a little bit of wandering around, Michael led us to the food court, which was my favorite part I must say. 

We walked over to a table that had a girl, who I assumed was Crystal, sitting at it. She stood, a wide smile on her face as soon as she saw us. Walking over, and throwing her arms around me with a squeal. 

"Oh my GOD! You must be Alice!" She said, pulling back and studying me intently. 

"That's me.." I suddenly felt shy, she was so pretty.. and kind.. and enthusiastic. 

She let go of me and hugged Michael, they did some gross smooshy love things, which I quickly poked fun at him for. 

We sat down, and ate some lunch, still talking and getting to know each other. A short time later Crystal insisted that we go on a shopping spree, which Michael surprisingly agreed to. 

We went to store after store, Crystal teaching me about fashion and style, and sending me to go try on outfits. By the end of the hour, we had so many bags that Michael looked like he was about to fall over from carrying them all.

A good part of me felt guilty for how much they'd spend on me, but after getting to know Crystal a bit.. I also knew I didn't have much of a choice. 

"Guys, if we don't stop soon I think my arms might fall off." Michael groaned, as we both laughed at him.

"Someone needs to go hit the weights." I said, giggling as he shot me a glare and suppressed his smile.

"I guess he's right.. I need to get going anyway." Crystal said, as we walked toward the doors that we had come in through. When we stepped outside I was quickly enveloped in another hug as said our goodbye. She then turned to Michael and gave him a quick kiss.

"Awwwww" I teased from behind them. Michael put his hand on her waist and pulled her in closer, using his other hand to flip me off behind her back. 

I let out a loud laugh, and she quickly realized what he was doing and smacked him. 

"Ow." He laughed out as she shook her head.

"Boys sometimes." I watched her pull out a piece of paper before handing it to me. "In case you ever need a break from the mojo dojo casa house... call me." I smile gratefully and took it from her, happy to have some girl support. 

Shortly after we drove home, and Michael helped me haul all the bags upstairs to what would soon be my room. We shut the door and let out sighs of relief, both exhausted from dragging them up the stairs.

After a beat of silence, Michael turned to me.. a sly grin on his face. 

"Wanna have some fun?" He asked, a mischievous tone to his voice. I nodded hesitantly, curious on what he had in store.

"Grab some shaving cream from under the bathroom sink.. I'll go get a bucket and some glue." He said, running off. I shook my head and stifled a chuckle.

This was going to get interesting.  

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