Chapter 9
Pheonix
I felt as if my whole world had just collapsed underneath my feet. Evan's my little brother, my little baby. But now, he just disappeared. I looked around in exasperation, my breathing coming in fast and heavy. Cassidy looked around, her eyes widening. Deseray clasped a hand over her mouth as her eyes met mine. I dropped the shopping bags and ran down the hallway.
"Pheonix!" Justin yelled as he ran after me. I could hear his footsteps as they echoed off the walls.
I looked from left to right, trying to find Evan. But he was nowhere to be found. "Evan?!" I called out loudly, causing people to turn around and look at me, their eyes wide.
Justin grabbed me by my upper arm and pulled me to him harshly. "Pheonix, relax, we're going to find him." He said.
"No, no, no, this can't be happening," I whispered as I ran a hand over my face and pulled on the ends of my hair, trying to release some of the tension.
He grabbed my shoulders and tried to snap me back into reality. "Pheonix, relax! We're going to find him, I promise."
I looked at him and found him staring at me in a sort of soothing way, as if he was actually trying to calm me down. His lips weren't formed into a smirk or a scowl. They were just resting there on his face. His eyebrows weren't knitted together. They were just there, serving as a characteristic on his face. "Okay," I gave in. He let go of my shoulders and we began walking down the hallway.
We walked into about three stores, and he wasn't in any of them. I scoured through every rack and corner of the stores, and he wasn't anywhere. It was hard to keep my calm, but Justin seemed to be doing well at not freaking out. Well, of course he is, Evan isn't his brother, I told myself mentally. But I pushed that thought out of my head.
"Okay, maybe he's back over there with Deseray and Cassidy," Justin told me as we walked out of Hollister.
I nodded and walked grudgingly over to our original spot. My eyebrows knitted together in curiosity as I saw Deseray on her knees, talking to someone. Nick and Paige were gone, probably wandering the halls or something.
Relief swept over me as I saw Evan there. Then, my feet sped up as I approached them. Evan ran over to me and I picked him up, spinning him in a circle as I hugged him. Justin reached us and I could have sworn a smile was about to appear on his face.
"Where was he?!" I asked Deseray as I let Evan down on the floor.
"He went to go to a vending machine nearby to get some food," She explained.
I turned to Evan and brushed some hair off his forehead. I had completely forgotten about the fact that neither Evan, Cassidy, or I have had food. We skipped breakfast, but it's not like we had a choice. "I forgot that you haven't eaten yet," I said.
"I'm sorry, Phen, I was just really hungry," He apologized softly.
"No, I'm sorry," I smiled softly and then turned to Justin. "Justin, neither Cassidy nor Evan has had food, so me and Deseray are going to take them. I need twenty," I held out my hand.
He sighed and pulled out his wallet, handing me a twenty dollar bill. "Don't go too crazy," He hissed. "And don't try anything funny, either. I'm going to the bathroom, but I'll be meeting you in the food court soon." He turned around without another word and walked down the hallway, making a right and walking into the hallway containing the bathrooms.
Deseray grabbed Evan's hand and I placed my hand on Cassidy's shoulder, following Deseray as she led the way. Cassidy was looking around, something that she had been doing a lot of lately.
