Brutal Love

Chapter 5

*Tre's POV*

"So, when's your birthday, Winnie?" Asked Mike as we were driving to the mall. It had been weirdly quiet, except for the faint sound of the radio. He was obviously trying to make small talk.

"It's actually this Friday. I'll be 16." She replied, still looking out the window. Shit. Today was Monday. It was approaching fast.

"Wow, that's a big milestone in a girl's life. You must be pretty excited for it to only be a few days away." I exclaim, practically jumping up and down in my seat next to her. I wasn't apart of Ramona's sweet 16, I was on tour. She said she didn't mind, but I did.

"I guess." She sighed. I stopped bouncing and looked from her to the guys in the front. The were looking back at me, eyes full of concern.

"What's wrong? Aren't you excited?"

She turned to face me, then looked at the others. She smiled. "Of course, I'm just a little tired from breakfast."

"You better wake up, because we have a lot of walking ahead of us." Billie said, pulling into the mall parking lot. Winnie's face brightened as we got closer and closer to the building.

"Wow it's huge!" She exclaimed. Has she never been to the mall before? I didn't want to ask because I thought it would bring up bad memories and ruin her time. "I've never been to the mall before!"

We all laughed as Billie pulled into a spot. We weren't so lucky and the spot was pretty far from the entrance.

"Alright. Let's roll." I said. We all piled out of the car and started walking through the lot. It was really busy and the drivers were crazy.

We were walking and a car came out of nowhere and zoomed right in front of us. Winnie was a little ahead of us and she almost got hit but I grabbed her hand and yanked her back.

"You have to be careful, Win. These people are crazy." I said, looking into her eyes. She nodded and I started to let go of her hand but she squeezed mine.

"Can I hold your hand, just until we get inside?" She asked.

"Of course." I smiled and we continued walking. Mike and Billie were already inside. They flipped off the driver and kept walking while I was talking to Winnie.

"You guys ok?" Mike asked.

"Yup, never better." I said.

"Alright, let's find a map and see where to go first." We all agreed and continued walking. I started to take my hand away from Winnie but she only squeezed. I stopped and looked down at her. She had fear plastered all over her face as she looked straight ahead.

"It's ok. There aren't any cars in here." I joked.

"I know, but there are so many people here. I don't want to get lost." She said, her voice shaking a little. "Come on, let's hurry and catch up."

She started dragging me along in the direction of the guys. I looked where she was staring and saw a woman standing at a perfume kiosk. I wonder if that was her aunt? I was about to ask when we stopped behind the guys who were studying a map.

"Ok. What do you like to wear?" Billie asked, turning around.

"Tutus and bras please." I said, earning a giggle from Mike and Winnie.

"Shut up Tre. I was talking to Winnie you daft idiot."

"Hey, that's daft punk to you bub." He just shook his head, but I saw a little smile on his face. "Now enough jokes, Armstrong, we have clothes to buy."