“Bailz, listen to me, he’s not worth it,” I said for the hundredth time, trying and failing to talk Bailey out of her post-breakup funk. “Besides, you never know, maybe things’ll be okay between you two”
“Easy for you to say,” she mumbled, wiping at her teary blue eyes with the back of her hand, “You and Drew have been friends for as long as you can remember, so it was easy for you to make up after you broke up”
“You and Chris are just as close as me and Drew,” I said, “It can’t be that hard to forgive and forget”
“Did Drew cheat on you with the queen of the bitches?” she asked me, getting an angry glint in her eyes.
I made to reply, then stopped; she had a point. Suddenly, I was pulled out of my thoughts by a barking sound and turned to see a Jack Russell Terrier coming at the two of us full speed. I yelped and made to run, but stopped as I heard someone call from down the sidewalk, “Wishbone, heel!”
The dog skidded to a stop and I looked up to see a girl that looked to be about our age coming down the walk on a skateboard. She stopped and picked up the black leash that’d been dragging behind the dog before kicking her board up into her hand, “Sorry, he’s just excited to be out of his cage after being cooped up for a while”
“No problem,” I said with a bit of a laugh, bending down to pet the dog.
“Hey, are you from around here?” Bailey asked curiously, and I looked up to see her giving the girl a look, “You don’t look familiar and I’ve lived on this street all my life”
“Not really,” the girl said as Wishbone started licking my hand and wrist, and nodded up the hill, “I just moved in up the street with my sister and mom and Wishbone here, as you guys obviously know,” she looked down at me and laughed a bit.
I smiled and stood up, “Sweet, we’re always more than happy to meet newcomers. I’m Mel and this sourpuss here is Wackness”
“Ha, ha,” Bailz said sarcastically, shoving me lightly before extending a hand to the girl, “I’m Bailey”
“Erin,” the girl said, taking and shaking Bailey’s hand, “Nice to meet you both. I gotta say, I didn’t exactly expect to find someone who’d actually talk to me this quickly”
I smiled, “What can I say? It’s part of our charm”
Erin smiled, then turned to Bailey, “Let me guess; you just broke up with your boyfriend, didn’t you?”
We both gave her a shocked look, How the hell did she know that? “How the hell did you know that?” Bailey asked, and I smiled a bit, Great minds aren’t the only ones that can think alike.
“I just broke up with mine a couple weeks ago,” Erin explained with a slight smile, “So I guess it’s safe to assume that I can recognize the signs”
“Then what do you recommend to get me out of this mood?” Bailz asked curiously.
Erin shrugged, but I then got hit with a sudden idea, “Hold on! I know what’ll help!”
“What?” they both asked, giving me curious looks.
I shook my head, “I’m surprised I didn’t think of this before; Talya’s having a party at her place tomorrow night, and what better way to get over a lost love than by hanging with your best girls?”
“She’s got a point,” Erin said, nodding in agreement, “You guys should go. Having a good time is a perfect way to forget any bad”
“You really think so?” Bailey asked, and I smiled, I’m liking this girl more and more by the second.
She nodded, “Most definitely. Hang out with your friends and banish any bad thoughts about the guy from your head. Perfect cure for a post-breakup funk”
“You and your sister should come, too,” I said to Erin, “You guys would have a good time”
She smiled, “Thanks for the offer, but I want to get a little more settled in first before running off anywhere and partying all night”
“Oh, come on,” Bailey said, and I thought I saw a smile on her lips, “It’d be fun.”
“Thanks but no thanks,” Erin said, turning on her heel and starting to walk away.
“Wait a sec,” I said to stop her and pulled out my phone from my pocket, “Can we at least have your number so we all can hang some other time?”
She smiled and turned back around, pulling a purple Rival out of her pocket, “Sure, that sounds fun”
The three of us exchanged numbers, and Erin skated away with Wishbone running ahead of her, tugging her along up the hill. Once she was gone, I turned to Bailey, “She sure seems cool”
“Very,” she nodded in agreement as we turned and started walking towards her house at the bottom of the hill, “I just wish she’d come to the party”
“You and me both,” I agreed, taking off my hat to scratch the top of my head, “Maybe we can convince her somehow”
Bailey nodded and pulled out her phone, “I’ll text her Talya’s address and tell her we wish she was coming, maybe that’ll help convince her to”
I nodded, “Maybe”
***
At about 7:00 the next night, all of us were hanging out at Talya’s house; I was crashed with Angel and Kitty on the couch while Missy and Bailz took each other on in DDR. Talya herself was off with Jenna, getting the rest of us more drinks and food and such, when the doorbell rang. “Hey Mel, can you get that?” Talya called from the kitchen, “My hands are a little full!”
“Will do!” I called, and stood up off the couch to go to the front door. When I opened it, I smiled as I saw Erin standing out there with a mousy-haired girl standing behind her, “Hey, look who decided to show up”
She smiled and shrugged a bit, “Mom thought it’d be good for us to get out of the house for a bit and come out here. Oh, and this is my twin sister Marta,” she gestured to the girl behind her, who smiled shyly.
I made to say hi, but stopped as Bailey’s voice came from out of the hall, “Who is it, Mel?”
“Come and see for yourself!” I called, “I’m no messenger!”
A second later, Bailey and Missy came into the room. Bailey smiled when she saw who it was, “Hey, you came!”
“Yup,” Erin said as she and Marta came in off the porch, then turned to Missy, “I don’t believe we’ve met yet; I’m Erin”
“Melissa,” Missy said, “But call me Missy, otherwise it’s way too confusing”
Both the girls nodded, and Marta spoke up, “I’m Marta, by the way”
We brought the girls into the other room and went around with all the other introductions. After that, we were just hanging out and getting to know the two girls better until Talya’s mom came into the room. “Hey Mom,” T said, looking up at her, “What’s up?”
“I was just wondering if you girls wanted to get out of the house and head out to the mall,” she said with a forced-looking smile, “I mean, you’ve been cooped up in here for a while, you should get out of the house”
“You just want us out of here, don’t you?” T said, giving her a suspicious look.
“No!” she said a tad too defensively, then broke down at the look she was giving her, “Okay, yes. Your dad and I wanted to have a romantic evening, just the two of us, so we were thinking that you girls might want to go out to the mall and hang out there for dinner and such”
“Sounds good to me,” I said, and the other girls muttered their agreement.
Erin and Marta looked at each other for a second, then Marta spoke up, “We could probably drive us all out there, give you some time to set the scene”
“Do you have a car that’ll fit all of us?” Kitty asked and I rolled my eyes Kitty, forever the worrywart.
“Our mom has a giant silver jeep, what do you think?” Erin asked, then laughed a bit, “We might be a little squished, but it should work”
“I call shotgun!” Jenna randomly shouted out, causing the rest of us to burst out laughing.
“Then I hope you know the way to the mall,” Marta said.
“Since we’re new and I have no clue whatsoever on how to get anywhere,” Erin finished.
Jenna nodded, “Then we’re good; ‘cause I know the way to the mall like the back of my hand”
“And we all know that it’s only because you drove out there yourself to flirt with the cute smoothie guy,” Angel shot back at her, and I stifled a laugh as Jenna’s face grew beet red.
Talya’s mom smiled and nodded, “All right, seems that you girls have this all under control, so I’ll leave you to it, and some money on the counter for dinner”
“Thanks Mom!” Talya called as she left the room, then turned to Erin and Marta, “So is your mom okay with us taking her car?”
Before either of them could answer, there was a horn from the driveway and I looked over my shoulder out of the window behind me to see a silver jeep sitting in the driveway. Marta smiled as I turned back around, “There’s your answer”
Erin stood up and went over to the front door, dropping her phone back into the pocket of her black plaid Bermuda shorts. She came back a few minutes later with a woman who looked just like Marta close behind her, “Guys, meet my mom. Mom, these are the girls; Jenna, Angel, Kitty, Missy, Talya, Bailz, and Mel,” she pointed to each girl as she introduced them, and I was surprised when she didn’t screw up any names.
Her mom nodded in greeting to all of us, “Nice to meet you all. Now,” she turned to Erin, who I guess we all automatically assumed was driving, and handed her some car keys, “Drive carefully and call me when you’re leaving. Don’t text, call.”
Erin nodded, taking the keys and putting them in her pocket too, “Yes ma’m, updates will be given. So are you good with walking home?”
“Erin, I run 5k’s, I think I’ll be good with a mile walk home,” her mom said with a smile, then turned and waved, “Once again, it was nice to meet you all; see you some other time”
“Bye Mom!” Erin called, then turned as I heard the door slam shut, “Well? Shall we go?”
We all nodded and Angel spoke up, “So how’re we doing this?”
Marta stood up and went over to stand next to Erin, “Does Mom have the bench in the back?”
Erin nodded, “I told her to make sure she did, otherwise she would’ve been here quicker”
“Then we can fit three people on the front bench and four on the back with Erin driving and Jenna riding shotgun,” Marta explained, then put on a cheesy smile, “Who wants to be squished together in the back?”
We all talked for a little while, until we all decided on me sitting in the middle with Kitty and Angel while Marta, Missy, Bailz, and Talya jammed themselves onto the back bench. Jenna hopped in the shotgun seat as Erin turned the engine over and pulled out of the driveway. As she started driving, I heard Bailz speak up behind me, “So where are you two from, anyway?”
“Silver Hills,” Marta said, “Our mom wanted to start over with her life so we moved out here with her”
Before anyone could say any more, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket and pulled it out to check the number. I smiled as I saw who it was and put it on speaker before answering, “What do you want David?”
“Nice to hear from you too, pipsqueak,” David’s voice said with a laugh, “Just wanted to see what you were up to”
“Not much, just heading to the mall with the girls”
“I’d better not be on speaker because you’re driving,” he said, sounding like his over-protective brotherly self.
“No,” I said, rolling my eyes, “Erin’s driving, I just don’t want to seem rude and treat my friends to a completely one-sided conversation”
“‘Erin’?” David asked, “May I ask who that is?”
“A new friend,” Angel said over my shoulder into the phone, “She and her sister just moved out here from… Uhh…”
“Silver Hills,” Erin and Marta both called loud enough for David to hear.
“Ooh, that’s sweet. So, you’re heading to the mall?”
“Yuppers,” Bailz said, leaning over the seat to get to the phone, “Some much-needed girl bonding time is in order”
“But I thought you all were going to hang at T’s house? Speaking of which, is she there with you guys?” David sounded curious, and I thought I heard some snickers in the background.
“We were,” Talya said, and I handed the phone back to her so she could talk to David, “But my mom kicked us out so she could have some time with Dad”
“Finally got sick of ya, huh?”
She broke out into nervous giggles like she always does whenever she talks to David, “No, they just wanted to be totally sappy and disgusting and spare us the sight.”
“Pretty much, yeah,” Kitty agreed as Talya handed the phone back up to me.
“So what’re you up to and who the hell are you with?” I asked, hearing the snickers again.
“Just the guys and some friends,” he said, and I heard a click as I’m guessing he put his phone on speaker, “And you guys aren’t the only ones heading to the mall”
“Sweet, we can meet you there!” Jenna said from the shotgun seat.
“Was that Jenna?” asked a voice I vaguely recognized, but it probably just sounded distorted from both of our phones being on speaker.
“Yup yup,” I said, “So do you guys just want to meet up at the mall?”
“Sounds good to us,” said another unfamiliar voice that sounded kind of far away, “We could meet up in the food court”
“That would be good, since we haven’t had dinner yet,” Missy said from behind me.
“All right sweet,” David’s voice said again, “We’ll meet you there. See you later.”
“Later,” I said, then hung up the phone and looked up into the front seat to see Erin shaking her head a bit, “What’s up, Erin?”
“Nothing, just something about David’s voice struck me as really familiar,” she said.
“Yeah, same here,” Marta said.
Just then, my phone vibrated and I looked down at it to read a text from David
The guys are asking for a pic of Erin and her sister. You mind?
“Hey Erin, Marta, you mind if we get a couple pictures of you two? The guys are curious about what you look like,” I explained, already setting up my phone’s camera.
“Not a problem with me,” Marta said, “Howsabout you, Sull?”
“Sounds good to me,” Erin said with a shrug, “Just take Marta’s first, will ya? I need to stop at this light so I can turn around”
I nodded, “No prob. Hey Marta, scoot up a bit so you can get in here”
She leaned forward a bit and put her chin on the seat between me and Kitty. I took a quick picture of the three of us, then saved it as Erin pulled into a red light. “All right Erin, your turn!”
She rolled her eyes a bit and turned around; flashing a rocker sign and sticking her tongue out. After I’d taken the picture, she turned back around and pulled away from the light as I sent the two to David.
Erin’s POV –
After I’d pulled into the mall’s parking lot and killed the engine, we all hopped out of the car and stretched our legs a bit before heading into the building. Once we’d gotten inside, I looked around and smiled, Well, well, not bad. “Come on, guys!” Bailz cried, running ahead of us, “Let’s get down to the food court! There’s a pizza at Sbarro’s calling our name!”
“Is she always this crazy?” I asked Missy, who was walking next to me towards the back of the group.
“Only when she’s around her friends,” she replied, “So yea, pretty much”
I laughed, then a store ahead of us caught my eye. Looking closer, I saw the name above the doors; Diaz Skates. I smiled a bit, “You guys go on ahead, I need to get some new stuff for my board. I’ll meet you guys there in a few minutes”
“I’d tell you we could wait, but Bailz is already way too far ahead,” Kitty said, looking off in the direction that Bailey had disappeared in, “So we’ll just meet you in the food court, I guess”
I nodded, already heading for the store, “No prob, catch you guys in a few”
They all went down the aisle, chatting amongst themselves, as I went into the store and started checking out the shelves. After finding some new wheels and griptape, I went over to the wall to try to find some new trucks. I started walking down the aisle, scanning the walls as I did so, then came to an abrupt stop as I rammed into someone and dropped all the stuff I’d been carrying. “Sorry,” I apologized quickly, crouching down to pick up my stuff, “I should’ve been watching where I was going”
“No problem,” a guy’s voice said as they bent down to help me gather up my things, “I wasn’t exactly watching myself”
I laughed a bit, picking up the last of my things and standing up, “Thanks,” glancing up at who I’d run into, I felt my jaw drop…
