jessie's girl [thief] // BD - ON HOLD

3.1

the mall wasn't packed as much as usual. baby expected there to be many teenage girls with their mothers or friends shopping for clothes. that's what he had seen in movies. perhaps most people were still sleeping. joe certainly was.

over a shirt and jeans, baby was wearing his black and white jacket that he always wore. it was his favorite one. baby had bought it years ago in a thrift store. it was bigger on him then, but he had brought it with him everywhere. and the jacket was good quality.

baby had sunglasses on, despite being indoors. his headphones were playing some track from 'queen'. there was lots of dramatic singing and guitar solos. baby liked that. he wanted to learn guitar a few years ago, but he figured he wouldn't have time for guitar lessons. baby still wanted to.

bella had headphones in her ear, a song from the beatles playing almost at the loudest volume. she was wearing a dress with a floral pattern, the base colour was white. her shoulders were covered by a light denim jacket that had colorful patches all over. she had a black backpack on her back, only one strap of it hung over bella's shoulder.

the upper part of bella's hair was braided and then tied up into two small... horns, maybe? they looked like small horns. the sides of her face were shimmering. was that some kind of make-up? 

baby was about ten feet away from bella, sitting on a chair in the mall. she hadn't noticed him yet, so he could watch her walk around the large fountain in the middle of the mall's first floor. bella checked her phone once in a while, probably to check if she had arrived at the wrong time.

she looked around one more time and finally noticed baby. bella smiled widely and then surpressed the smile as she approached baby. he could hear her shoes thumping against the floor. baby looked at what she had on her feet. dr. marten's.

"hey, baby." bella said, sitting down next to baby. he turned his head to her. "i couldn't find you at first. thought i had come here at the wrong time."

"i've been sitting here for a while." baby said. "didn't notice you."

bella chuckled. "that's alright." she admitted. "i like that we're both sitting next to each other with headphones in." bella said after a short while. baby grinned and nodded.

"what are you listening to?" he asked quieter than he wanted to. bella took her phone out of the jacket's pocket and showed baby the screen. it showed the song 'savoy truffle' from the beatles' white album was playing. 

he took out his ipod and showed bella what he listened to. "nice." bella said with a grin on her face. 

"did you buy that queen record on sunday?" baby asked her, putting his ipod back in his pocket. bella nodded.

"it's all i've been listening to this week." she admitted. 

"really?" baby asked with raised eyebrows. bella nodded and chuckled. "that one's my favorite."

"i think it's my fave now, too." she stated. 

they looked at each other for a while, not saying anything. just baby and bella and their music. 

"um... i actually need to get jessie a present." bella said, turning her head away from baby. she stood up and straightened her dress out. "shall we go?" she reached her arm out to baby. he nodded and took her hand, standing up.

"what do you want to get him?" baby asked bella. they were standing on a moving elevator, going up. 

"well, actually," bella started to say, looking at her feet, "i wanted to ask you for advice. you've known him better than me."

baby rolled his eyes and chuckled. "i don't really know what he wants." he admitted. some balls to grow, that's for sure.

"c'mon." bella nudged baby's leg with her foot. "there's probably something he's wanted for years." 

"maybe something sports related." baby said. 

"oh, right." 

baby and bella practically turned the mall around to find presents for jessie, and it took them almost four hours. but they eventually found what seemed suitable for an eighteen year old guy. 

after all that running around, they both were pretty tired. baby was more tired than bella because he was basically running after her. her mind seemed to change every two seconds. bella and baby went into a store and then bella spotted something in another shop window and immediately ran there. and baby followed her.

at around four in the afternoon, bella and baby were waiting in line at the cinema. there were mostly adults or denzel washington fans waiting in line before baby and bella. 

baby was surprised bella was excited to see the movie 'magnificent seven'. he would have expected her to wanna see some shitty romance movie or a book made into a movie. bella was different than most girls, or at least she seemed so.

the movie was alright. baby almost fell asleep at one point. but bella seemed really hyped about it, she was eating her popcorn like crazy all the time. 

"and with the horses! that was so cool!" bella fused after she and baby had walked out of the cinema. they were currently walking down the street. baby didn't know where exactly they were going, because bella had only mentioned it briefly. 

they took a left turn and were now on a small street. there weren't many people walking on the street.

"did you notice that one part wher-" bella was rambling, but stopped abruptly. she also stopped walking and grabbed baby's forearm. "do you see that?" she asked quietly, pointing across the street.

baby looked at where she was pointing, or rather, who. there was a guy and a girl holding hands, walking the direction baby and bella were heading. baby squinted his eyes to see why bella had specifically pointed out those two.

oh, no, was the only thing baby could think.

the guy was jessie. baby noticed his friend's face in a shop window he and the girl were walking by. jessie was wearing the school's jacket that everyone on the basketball team had. it was blue, with the school's initials on the back. how could baby have not noticed jessie's signature black hair?

"is that really her? and jessie??" bella was whisper-shouting to baby. she dragged him after herself as she walked over to a car. bella bent down, hiding behind it. baby was forced to do the same. "they're holding hands."

baby nodded. he and bella watched jessie and the girl walking further down the street. baby took one of his headphones out, trying to make out if the two were talking. they were, and they seemed so casual. jessie seemed alright, he looked natural.

"let's follow them." bella said and harshly pulled baby up on their feet again, in disguise. her eyes were on jessie and the girl all the time, sending nasty glares their way. baby had to stop her from running into a pole and being driven over by a car. "she." was all bella said once in a while. it sounded so horrible when she said it, like poison or something.

"who is she?" baby finally asked. bella scoffed.

"that's teresa jones." she said. "the person responsible for almost everything bad in my life. she's the devil. she was my bully in middle school. she did every horrible thing a bully could." bella sighed. "and i still don't know why."

baby nodded at her words. he looked at jessie and teresa over the street and saw that they were going in a sports themed store. if baby hadn't stopped her, bella was going to march in there and make a show. 

"why are you holding me back?!" bella whisper-shouted. "i have to know what's going on between them!" she argued. baby shook his head and kept his grip around bella strong, so she couldn't wiggle out of his grasp. "baby!" bella fought against his arms.

you can't cause a scene, he said in his mind to bella, you'll ruin your first relationship. baby had no choice but to bring bella to his car, which thankfully, wasn't too far away. 

"you'll ask him at school." baby said, starting his car. bella looked at him with an angry stare and furrowed eyebrows. baby ignored her and drove away from the parking space.