Unexpected // sm

Chapter 54

I felt a hand brush my face softly, barely touching me. I woke up, but no one was there. I heard a crash from upstairs, and ran to see what it was. I reached the top, and saw Nash in the kitchen laughing at Elizabeth, who was standing in front of the stove. There was a metal cookie tray on the floor. I looked at them in wonder, as he continued to laugh.

"She can't even make cookies without dropping a pan. I'm not sure if I can ever marry her. I need food." Nash was still laughing, barely stopping to breathe.

She turned to him saying, "Excuse you. I'm learning. Marry Mykenna, she can cook way better than I can." Elizabeth put a hand on her hip and sighed. I was a good cook and I always tried to teach her, but she was so impatient. She could barely focus on a subject for more than five minutes.

"Oh, you know I wouldn't trade you for the world. Come here." Nash slid off the counter and walked over to her with his arms spread. She faked a pout and let him bring her into a hug. They kissed, and she giggled into his shoulder. Gross. "By the way, here's this." He handed me a piece of paper before returning to their cuddling in the middle of the kitchen floor.

I looked down at the paper, it was a note from Shawn. He must have left it. He was gone. His flight, shit I forgot all about it. Hopefully he made it. I looked at the clock hanging on the wall above the stove, 9 o'clock. Obviously he did make it or he'd be back. I felt my heart sink a little. I wanted him here. He was only leaving for a week probably, but I didn't want him gone. I sighed and put the note into my pocket. I didn't know how I would deal with these two for that long. Shaking my head, I went back downstairs to check my phone. I was surprised to see a message from Casen.

From: Casen

I'm back in Kansas City, I miss you! Meet up?

It didn't take me long to type him a yes. I had missed him, a lot had happened since I saw him last. We needed to catch up, especially since I would be seeing him every day for about ten months starting in a week and a half. I ran back upstairs, getting tired of all of this running.

"Plans?" Elizabeth was still standing at the stove with Nash. They were wrapped around each other, and didn't seem to mind me being in their midst.

"Shopping. Movie after. That's all I got so far. Hope that's okay with everyone." She smiled an innocent smile and I nodded.

I tapped my foot nervously, "Can I bring my friend?" It sounded as more of a statement than a question, but it didn't matter. It's not like she was the boss of me. She nodded, not bothering to find out who it was. She obviously wouldn't know him anyway.

"Be ready in an hour. Wear something presentable." She shouted as I went to the spare bedroom where my bag was. I had no clue what I would wear. It wasn't nearly as warm here this time of year. I could still wear shorts, just with a sweatshirt definitely. Sounded fine to me. I opened the bags and ruffled through them. I wasn't a very neat person, and there were articles of clothing stuffed in there messily.. Finally, I pulled out an old pair of jean shorts and my blue MAGCON sweatshirt. It was the only piece of clothing I had kept from that time of my life. I hadn't worn it since I first moved to L.A., and I felt like today would be a good day. I didn't bother with a certain shirt underneath and just grabbed a random one. Heading for the bathroom, I waved at Elizabeth telling her I was taking the shower. The shower quickly hit my face and stained my body with streaks of hot water.

We were almost to the mall finally. It took Elizabeth entirely too long to get ready. I silently wished Nash luck with her in the future. I looked out to the side of the road and watched city buildings pass us block after block, each building looking the same to me. They were so different from places in California and it still surprised me. I could tell we were getting close to the shopping district because there were more and more people on the streets. I almost forgot how crazy this part of town got during the end of the summer, but it quickly came back to me. I scanned the faces, hoping to see Casen. He was supposed to be waiting for us there already but I had to check. Elizabeth drummed her freshly painted nails against the dark window ledge, along to some rap song I had never heard. Nash was rapping along, as we pulled into a heavily crowded parking lot. Shit. He ran a hand through his hair and searched the area ahead. Luckily, a spot opened quickly in the front row. He hit the gas pedal so fast I hit my head on Elizabeth's seat, and he beat everyone else to the spot.

"Sorry girls. I just love front row parking." He smiled and opened his door, before racing to open Elizabeth's. I groaned and stepped out. It was already noisy with people on all sides of us. I pulled a strand of hair behind my ear and slid my eyes to the ground. I really wish I hadn't agreed to this. Elizabeth skipped to the doors ahead of me and quickly went inside. She didn't love anything more than shopping.

"Imagine a whole summer of this. Good thing I love her right?" Nash's voice came from behind me as he jogged to my side. I smiled at him, grateful that she and someone as good as him. I really hope she knew how lucky she was. He chuckled, and opened the door as we reached it. I took a deep breath and stood inside. I felt determined to get through today. I didn't want Elizabeth to see me like this, so I had to make it work for her sake.

About an hour later, we had only been through two shops. Damn, this girl could look at everything in a store twice and not get bored. I was beginning to wonder if we were ever going to get out of here. She was now trying on some dresses for homecoming, which wasn't for another two months. She didn't even have a date. Some women are so complicated. I shook my head and sat down on a small couch near the dressing rooms.

"Excuse me, is there a really cute girl, with light brown hair, about this tall, in here?" It was Casen's voice, he was standing about five feet behind me. Looking right at me, he winked and walked towards me. He was wearing a plain white shirt and dark jeans which matched the color of his hair. I felt like I hadn't seen him in a month, and I ran to him. He smelled like cologne, his shirt like it just got out of the dryer. "Finally. Have you been hiding from me? I couldn't find you. What's up? How you been? Damn I'm talking a lot aren't I?" He laughed and released his grip on me.

"What do you think? I'm not sure, it might be too small. But who cares. What do you think? What about a different color? Mykenna?" Elizabeth was patting at her light blue dress, before raising her eyes to meet us. They went big and she raised a eye brow in question.

I nudged Casen forward with my elbow, "Hi, I'm Casen Mulett. I met her a while ago in L.A., I just moved here and I guess I go to the same school as you guys." He smirked and reached out to shake her hand. She stared down at it before grabbing it.

"Oh, well that's cool. You're our age? Not bad looking. Good catch, Mykenna." She smirked and turned around out of sight. I looked up at his reddened face, his eyes wide with surprise.

He cleared his throat saying, "Well, she seems nice." Casen chuckled and took a seat on the couch next to me. It bent down under his huge frame, and he clicked his tongue as we waited for Elizabeth to finish playing dress up.