P.H.O.B.I.A.S. (Paranormal Home of Biologically Improved Attributes to Society)

Gen Ath24's First Joyride

"Nooooo!" squealed Ath24 as he scrambled away from K10, who was holding out a frilly pink dress, through the racks of clothing in the clothes store. The cashier glanced up at us warily. "I will not wear that!"

"C'mon, kid!" K10 called after him. "You could pass as a girl."

Ath 24 leaped up into my open arms and clung to my throat. I adjusted him so that he was on my back instead of my neck. I winced as his knee bumped into my bandaged shoulder. I took in a deep breath, trying to ignore the blaring pain.

K10 was still chasing him down, but one look from me froze him in his tracks. Ath24 climbed down , and smiled gratefully up at me. I pulled the butterfly clip K10 managed to get into his wavy, burgundy hair and chucked it at K10's head.

"Ow!" he hissed, rubbing his forhead. "What was that for!"

"You know damn well what that was for!" I pointed back at Ath24's still flustered face. "You tried to dress this boy up like a girl? What's your damage?"

"Well, I thought since everyone's looking for three teenagers and a little boy, we could make Ath24 look like a girl and we'd be off the hook! Genius, right!" K10 grinned proudly at his ridiculous plan. I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed.

"Yeah, leave the plans to me from now on, okay? Besides if anyone here could pass as a girl here, it'd be H2." Ath24 stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Hearing the last part, H2, who was leaning on a cheap crutch we bought for his injured leg, turned around from a rack of jeans, wide-eyed. "What? Why would I make the best girl?"

"Well, you do have long hair." I mused.

"And those dainty features..." Ath24 added.

"My features aren't dainty!" H2 protested. "Honestly, why do you guys have to pick on me? I'm pretty sure that's racism."

"But it's fun!" K10 chirped. He picked up a hat that had, Friggin' Epic. printed across the front. "What do guys think?"

"I think that hat is lying." I sneered. His face quirked up into a pout. "Now quit playing around, grab your stuff, and let's get out of here."

We made our way to the front desk, and the cashier looked us up and down as we handed her the clothing we picked out. I hated her already. She reluctantly scanned our items with this laser-gun thing that reminded me of the stun guns that the guards and Joan would use on us. An involuntarily shiver raced down my spine.

"That'll be three-hundred twenty-eight dollars and fity-three cents." the cashier said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

We turned to each other, wide-eyed. "What?" I stuttered.

Ath24 double-checked the price tags. "Actually, these jeans are 49.99, so that is an extra 18 dollars. I think your machine is broken..."

We shot him the, 'Not. Helping.' look.

She rolled her hazel eyes andhuffed. "You heard me. I said, 'three-hundred twenty-eight dollars'. Was that loud enough for you?"

Ath24 raised a hand.  "Ahem. Plus the18 dollars and fifty-three c..."

My hands balled up into fists and a pen on the counter began to rise a few centimeters. Thankfully, the cashier didn't notice the pen. I brought my face really close to hers. "We heard you the first time, you..."

Before I could finish, H2 picked me up by my waist and pulled me away from the front desk. "Behave and stay where you are, alright?"

He walked, well, more like limped, back over to the desk, flashed a smile at the cashier, and held out his hand. "Hi. My name's Samuel and these are siblings Chester, Justin, and Layla." The cashier hesitated, but shook H2's awaiting hand.