Partners With The Badboy

Chapter 21

The car ride was loud and incredibly fun. The experience lifted Hannah's mood dramatically.

Tao's sock flew out the window, so you could guess that it was pretty awesome.

The group arrived at the mall, laughing and arguing with each other.

"You made it fly out the window!"
"Your shoe was off, all I did was slap your foot."
"Why would you do that?!"

Hannah laughed along with the rest of them.

They walked into the mall. Arlene grabbed Hannah's hand and dragged her to the left.

"Let's go to Pacsun!" She cheered, running to the store with the boys close behind.

In the store, Hannah followed Arlene as she picked through the racks of clothing. Kris and Tao looked through clothing themselves, arguing over what suited which girl best. Luhan just kind of awkwardly stood along the sidelines; shopping wasn't really his thing.

Hannah's eyes caught sight of a white top with gray detailed flowers. It had the number "23" in a bold white font.

She plucked it from it's hanger and grabbed a black coat to hide it. It would be a perfect gift for Arlene; it was just her style.

"Umm, I don't think you want that coat," Arlene quirked her bottom lip.

Hannah smiled and shrugged.

She waited for Arlene to go into the dressing room. Then, Hannah bought the top.

Everyone waited for Arlene to finish her shopping. They walked out of the store when she was done.

"Let's go to Forever 21," Tao suggested.

Hannah and Arlene nodded vigorously. Luhan began to protest, but the two girls (and guy) were already gone.

As Luhan and Kris played with the jewelry, Tao helped Arlene and Hannah shop.

"This is perfect!" Hannah would say.

"No, sweetie, it's not," Tao would say sweetly.

Hannah soon gave up after being shot down countless times by the two fashionistas. She stood with Kris and Luhan and played with the jewelry with them.

As Hannah and Kris were trying to detangle a necklace from Luhan's hair, Arlene skipped over and flaunted a navy blue dress in Hannah's face.

"Ta-dah!" Arlene sang.

Hannah barely looked over. "It's pretty."

Arlene dropped her arms. She hit Hannah's shoulder. "Try it on!"

"I'm kinda busy right now, dude," Hannah laughed shortly.

Luhan winced as she yanked a strand of hair.

"Okay first and foremost, how do you even do that," Arlene exclaimed, skeptical.

Kris shrugged, causing her to roll her eyes.

"Come on, Hannah, Tao's waiting."

Hannah sighed. "Fine." She waved at Kris, "Have fun."

Arlene ushered Hannah into a dressing room and placed the dress on a hook. Then, she shut the door.

Hannah peeled her clothing off and stepped into the dress. Her shoulders and back felt bare, except for the thin straps. The dress stopped just above her knees and hugged her curves.

She was admiring the black lace running down the sides of the dress when an impatient knock released her from her daydreams.

"Are you done yet?" Arlene called.

Hannah turned the door handle and stepped out, nearly tripping on her jeans strewn across the floor.

Tao looked at her with approval and nodded his head. "I told you," he scoffed playfully.

Arlene smiled. "That's hot. You should get it."

"Oh yeah, you should." A store attendant said, awe in her voice.

Hannah blushed and grinned.

"Whoa," Luhan said from where Kris was standing. "You look amazing."

Hannah rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out playfully.

Hannah changed out of the dress and ended up buying it.

"Can we eat? I'm hungry," Kris asked, pouting.

Arlene laughed. "Sure."

They went to the Starbucks in the mall.

Luhan ordered the drinks and pastries. He came back to the table soon after.

"Thank you!" Hannah said, happily slurping up her Caramel Macchiato.

They made simple talk, while munching on sandwiches and scones.

Hannah's phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out and quickly swallowed her muffin when she saw that it was Mal calling.

She answered and immediately launched into an explanation on where she was.

"Hi, Mal! So sorry, I'm at the mall with Arlene right now and I forgot to call to tell-"

"Hannah. That's not important right now."

Hannah pulled her head back and blinked at the screen in confusion. "What?"

"Mal, what do you mean? What going on? Are you alright?" Hannah demanded, asking question after question.

"I-it's y-your...it's yo-your...," Mal's voice was just above a whisper.

Hannah shot from her seat. "My what? It's my what?!" Hannah's wavered, her tone beginning to rise.

"It's your mom," Mal said, barley audible through the phone.

Hannah stood unmoving. Nothing was processing. She couldn't move. She could hear her friends calling for her, asking what was wrong. She could hear Mal crying hysterically.

But she couldn't move. She couldn't think. So she didn't.

Her feet shuffled for a second, unsure of what she wanted to do.

"Hannah, what's going on?" Arlene's voice broke through Hannah's haze.

Hannah looked at her friend. Her lips moved on their own: "My mother is..."

Without another word, the four of Hannah's friends stood up and grabbed their stuff. Luhan grabbed Hannah's hand and ran out of the store.
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Dun dun daaahhhh :)