"Fine, but the moment we are on school grounds, I Do. Not. Know. Either. Of. You." I enunciate each word, trying to get my point across.
"Fine with us. That'll give us more time to investigate." Richard laughs. I can see by the way his eyes are now narrowed that he's angry even though he’s trying to hide it, but they can't really expect me to attend a school they are investigating. Once they leave, I'd be a sitting duck.
"Come on, get dressed so we can go." Jason ushers me from the kitchen and over to the stairs. Before he lets me go, he places a soft kiss on my cheek. My eyes pop out of my head. First he touches me gently, then he mentions some kind of rule that's been vetoed and now he's kissing me? What the fuck is going on?
"Get a move on, it's Sunday, all the stores are only open half the day." Richard shouts out from the kitchen. I can hear him filling the sink and recall that it was my turn to do the dishes today. Shrugging I run up the stairs and into my room.If he wants to do my chores then why should I complain?
I'm dressed and ready to go in less than five minutes. As I come back down the stairs, Jason and Richard appear from the lounge room, both of them fumble to a stop at the bottom of the stairs. Their jaws hang open as they stare up at me. A blush spreads across my cheeks as I duck my head, trying to ignore the pit in my stomach. "What?" I ask, looking over my clothing choice. Today I've got on my favourite black pleated skirt, tights, and halter top combo, due to my leather jacket still having mud on it, I opted for a see-through black lace jacket, my boots are knee high ones with silver skull buckles down the side. To top it all off, I'm wearing my small silver hoops, all six of them, my silver skull necklace, and my black lace choker.
What can I say? I look good in black, but these two have me second guessing my choice.
"You look nice is all." Jason answers, his cheeks turning slightly red. I have no idea what to say to that, let alone how to react, so I just walk down to the bottom of the stairs.
"You do, look nice that is." Richard stammers out. I shake my head, my eyes threatening to roll to the ceiling in annoyance.What is with them?
Jason leads us out to the garage, hitting the remote for the garage door on his keyring. I glance over to the neighbour’s house, but there's no sign of Remmie or his annoying sister Tori. I start to make my way to the cop car in the end bay but pull up short when Jason hits the unlock button for the Lexus LS 500 sport instead.They never use this car.Shrugging again, I walk over to the passenger side and open the back door and climb in. I've admired this car since the first time I saw it in the garage. It's the kind of car a guy buys just to show off how much money he has. Especially since it's in that chrome-gold colour. Jason told me when I first got here that the Lexus was the last thing his parents bought before they died. He got all sad looking, his eyes staring at the vehicle like it held the secrets to all of his unanswered questions.
The moment Richard gets in the car he turns the stereo on, Luke Bryan's 'Shake it for me' blasts out through the speakers and I raise my eyebrows, staring at Richard questioningly.
"Don't look at me, I've never driven this car, country boy here is in charge of the stereo." I snicker at the idea of Jason being a 'country boy,' He looks more like a womanising jock than a country boy to me. Ignoring our comments on the music, Jason leaves it playing. After four more songs, I find myself singing along to the silly country-pop style music.Not that I'll ever admit that to anyone.Personally, I'd rather listen to old school rock and roll or heavy metal, but not everyone likes that style of music.
Jason turns the car into the mall parking lot. After circling the lot three times, he finally parks the flashy car in one of the wider bays before killing the engine. A shadow goes past the window and I glance out to see what it was. Derrin, the guy who kissed me, is walking across the parking lot, heading into the mall. My heart skips a beat at the thought of seeing him again.
"What are you staring at?" Jason asks as he opens my door.
I blink up at him, completely lost for a good lie to tell. "The cute guy from the bonfire is here." I reply with a smirk. Suddenly, the silence around me feels oppressive.
"Maybe I should take Rose back home." Richard suggests staring in the direction I was looking.
"What? Why?" I ask, begging him with my eyes to let me stay. It’s been far too long since I got out of the house for anything other than the bonfire Friday night. When he just sits there staring after Derrin, my heart sinks. I hang my head, trying to hide my disappointment.
"I'm not so sure the bond is under control."
My head snaps up, meeting his emerald eyes. "Why do you say that?"Are they jealous of me paying attention to someone else?I can't bring myself to say it out loud.
Ignoring my question, Richard starts to open my door again. "No, we'll be okay, just stay close to us, okay Rose?"
I roll my eyes at his use of my last name. They only do that when they are trying to be all authoritative and in command. It's kind of hot how they are acting right now though. I've never found jealousy to be endearing before but these two make it look sexy.Okay, I think Richard might be right, the bond isn't just affecting them, it's affecting me as well.
"Are you coming Areyna?" Richard's use of my first name snaps me out of my thoughts. I follow them across the parking lot to the mall's entrance. It's not a huge mall, only fifteen or so shops but with the amount of people in there it feels like the mall goes on forever. I huddle close to Jason's side as people pass. I'm not so good with crowds these days. Richard wraps his arm around my shoulders, pulling me against his side instead, I'm about to protest when he steers me into a clothing store.
Tragically Beautiful.
It's filled with goth/punk style clothes, the biggest smile ever graces my face.
"Jase and I need to go do some things, will you be alright in here by yourself for about half an hour?"
"I could easily spend the whole day in here." I gush.
He nods then shoves a wad of cash into my hand. "Do not leave this store until we come and get you, okay?" Again, all I can do is nod distractedly.
Tragically Beautiful has everything from clothes right through to gothic style homewares. I'm in heaven.
Nine
Jason
It takes everything in me to walk away from Rose. I don’t want to leave her behind, yet at the same time I need some space to get these thoughts out of my head. It doesn’t help that Richard drags his feet too. On impulse, I grab his arm, practically dragging him across the mall and into a store with ‘Stanardz’ written in bright red letters and ‘The latest hip brand in men’s fashion’ written in smaller black lettering. The store itself looks like any other store, racks of clothing filling every available space, but the sales clerks are all dressed like teenagers, even the manager who looks to be in her late fifties. It’s on the tip of my tongue to blurt out ‘Hippie Granny’ but I keep my mouth shut and continue to drag a reluctant Richard behind me.