Long Gone [a.i]

chapter 1

"We should get your mom this dress," Hannah said, pointing to a floral-patterned gown in the store window.

"She'll have to wait till the warmer weather comes, though," I said, taking out my wallet and counting my money one more time.

We were in the mall searching for Christmas presents. It was only two weeks before the 25th, and I hadn't even started shopping till now.

Hannah flicked her long blond hair away from her face; an action she so casually did. She grabbed her boyfriend, Michael's, hand.

Michael and Hannah had started dating last month, and they had to keep it a secret because he was friends with Ashton. Ash had lots of friends, but Michael was one of his friends that happened to be in the same year as Hannah and I.

If Ashton found out that his sister happened to be dating his best mate, he'd freak.

"Aw, Mikey, that shirt would go so well with your hair color," Hannah said. Michael's hair was green at the moment.

I had walked away from the lovebirds by then, striding towards a small cart in the middle of the mall.

I must've stayed there for a while, because Hannah had come over. She looked down at the bracelet I was looking at.

"You like it?" she asked, grabbing my arm. I shrugged.

In reality, I loved it. It was silver with little beads hanging off of it. The beads were all different colors, and each had a different design on them.

I took one look at the price tag, and backed away from the cart.

"It's too much," I said, walking towards a different store.

I looked back, because Hannah hadn't followed me, and saw that both her and Michael were still near the cart.

Michael was talking to the cart owner, while Hannah was holding something.

My bracelet.

The bracelet that I had my eye on.

***

An hour later, and I had bought a lot of clothes. Mostly for my mom and my younger cousins who came over near Christmas time.

"Luc, can you bring my car back to my place? I'm going with Michael," Hannah said, smiling at her boyfriend.

"Yeah, sure."

Okay, maybe I was mad at Hannah. Mad because she asked me to go to the mall with her, even though she hung out with Michael the whole time. Mad because she bought the bracelet that I had my eye on. Mad because she was asking me to do her a favor.

She waved to me as her and Michael made their way to his car.

It was snowing outside, the small snowflakes dotting the grass with white. I wrapped my jacket tighter around me before walking out into the parking lot.

I piled my bags into Hannah's nice black car before hopping in and blasting the heat.

It took me about ten minutes to get to my house, which was right next door to Hannah's.

Hannah and I still lived with our parents; well I lived with my mom. My dad left about five years ago. Anyways, Han and I lived next door to each other, which was quite convenient.

We just needed to finish high school, then we could leave home and find a college to go to. Ashton still lived with Hannah and his parents because he didn't want to go to college.

I dropped my bags at my house and drove over to the Irwin house. We lived in a very nice and rich neighborhood that was right next to a large lake. It was beautiful in the warmer weather.