𝓗𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓫𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴

𝕿𝖍𝖗𝖎𝖋𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖌

I quietly sat in the back seat of their car, while Tom yapped to Bill about some new porn star he had discovered. Disgusted but still slightly interested in their conversation, I listened. He went on and on about this girl until we reached the mall when he finally changed the subject to how hungry he was and how we should eat before we go shopping. I chuckled to myself - he is twenty-one but mostly acts like a whiny, horny teenager.

As we walked into the mall, Bill suggested going to his favorite cafe. Me and Tom agreed, but as we turned the corner, and Bill undeniably headed to the same cafe where I had breakfast two days ago, I started feeling a little anxious. Just as I thought, I saw the cute guy who had given me his number, taking orders from one of the tables.

"Bill," I whispered, tugging on his sweater. He stopped and turned to see what I had to say. "Bill, we can't go there."

"Why not?" They both looked at me confused.

I let out a big sigh, knowing I had no other choice but to explain. "See that waiter over there?" I asked, pointing at him. They both looked over and then to me, nodding. "He gave me his number, and I never called."

They looked at each other, slightly confused. "Why did you accept if you weren't planning on calling him?" Bill asked.

"Because I felt bad. He said my breakfast was on the house, which I knew was coming off his paycheck. I can't go back there; I'll die of embarrassment," I explained, my eyes glued to my shoes.

"McDonald's?" Tom broke the awkward silence. "You know it," Bill replied and happily made his way inside the fast-food restaurant.

After we ordered and got our food, I sat down at one of the tables with them sitting right across from me. We all immediately dug into our food, Bill taking a huge bite out of his burger and letting out a satisfied moan. Tom and I gave him a quizzical look but kept eating in silence.

"So, Tom," I began, taking a sip of my Fanta.

"Mhm?" He raised his eyes from his tray with a mouth full of a Big Mac.

"My friend Katherine is coming to visit this Saturday. She is a huge fan of the band, but you are her favorite. Would you mind taking her out?" I asked. "Just don't sleep with her." My remark made Bill choke on his Coke.

"No problem," Tom said after swallowing his burger, not bothered by my comment. "As long as you tell me who's your favorite band member." Oh, he thought he was smart. "Georg," I said, with a satisfied grin on my lips.

"That doesn't count; he is your brother," he took another enormous bite out of his burger. I just shrugged my shoulders. "Okay, what about this? Which of us do you think plays the biggest part in the band?" he asked, mouth still full. He just doesn't give up, does he?

"The thing is, the band wouldn't work without any of you. However, I've always thought that the most important member is the singer. The music doesn't matter if the singer can't sing, which, fortunately, Bill can do very well." I glanced at Bill, and he was smiling at me, trying to get his nuggets open.

"Yea, makes sense, I guess," Tom said, sounding a tiny bit disappointed. Oh well, can't satisfy everyone.

"Have you seen any of our concerts? Georg has never mentioned that," Bill asked, dipping his nugget in the sauce.

"Yes, I've been to a lot of your concerts actually. I was in one of the 'Welcome to humanoid city' concerts. The one in Milan. Totally loved it."

"I'm kind of bummed that Georg didn't take you backstage, though. I wish we'd met sooner. Like when Tokio Hotel began. I would have loved to know you then," Tom spoke, having finished his burger.

"I know, right? He always said he wanted to keep his family and our band separated, but I never understood why he never let us meet you until now," Bill added.

"I always whined to him about meeting you. I was dying to talk to you guys in person during the dread and hedgehog hair eras. Bill, you have to do my hair like that someday."

"Sure thing. Lolita, do you still want to get that ice cream, or should we go?" Bill asked, standing up and taking both our trays.

"No, I'm fine. I'm full anyway, glad I didn't order it."

After throwing out our trash, the three of us started casually strolling through the mall, glancing at various shops. Eventually, we came across a thrift store and I imediatly spotted a few things I had to have.

"Hey, guys, can we go in there?" I pointed excitedly.

"A thrift store? Yeah, sure. Why not?" Tom responded, and we headed into the store. We split up, with Tom going to a different section, while Bill and I browsed through the racks of women's clothing. I pulled out a cropped, pink 'Hello Kitty' top and turned to show Bill, who was already holding a leopard print tank top. "Oh my God, yes," I said and took it from his hands. He just smiled and returned to browsing.

Suddenly, I heard him chuckle as he took out a shirt with "I ♥" and a burger printed on it. "You should totally get it," I giggled.

After a while, my hands were full of different kinds of clothes, and we saw Tom returning with a few pants, so we knew it was time to try things on. Tom and I got into the dressing rooms right next to each other, and Bill stayed outside to wait for us. The dressing booths were all divided by curtains, so I prayed for Tom not to just open the one separating us at some point.

I removed my shirt, and immediately heard a chuckle right next to me. "Tom, don't peek, please,"

"Okay, okay, but I got to say, you have a nice bra," he said, peeking his head around the curtain. I just sighed, defeated, and went to try on a dark blue long sleeve shirt.

I ended up with just the 'Hello Kitty' shirt and a pair of a mini skirt since most of the clothes didn't look the way I wanted them to and I wasn't sure how to style them. My total was 4 euros. We left soon after, all tired and ready to go home.