Just Kidding, But Seriously...

The Adventures of Mr. Skittle-Stealer and Karate Boy

A/N- This is all unedited and I'm sorry it took a while. I've been writing too many stories at the same time and yeah

Dedicated to @beneaththeglamour bc TEEN WOLF and bc she is just an all around cool person to talk to :)

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That Sunday, I went to the mall.

God. That first sentence makes me sound like such a girl.

I brought Luke with me, more for protection than for actual assistance. His epic karate skills were definitely laudable, meaning that if I were to run into those police officers and their scooters, Luke would be there to defend my ass from getting run over and hauled to jail for grand theft of a candy store. Y'know, since stealing and ingesting one measly little skittle is such a big deal.

That's actually a hilarious thought, come to think of it. I imagined a mug shot of my sexy face posted all over the local news channels—hell, maybe I'd even make national news considering how overdramatic the law enforcement of California apparently was—and beneath my breathtaking image would be a caption that read: Seventeen year old male finally arrested after spending a week in hiding from police when he stole a Skittle from World of Candy.

It was so ridiculous I couldn't help but chuckle to myself as Luke and I walked through the throng of people travelling busily through the mall walkway. Being back here again reminded me of Gwen and of the time we spent together during our first date, and my grin widened wistfully.

Luke cut me a sidelong glance. "What's so funny?"

"Ah, nothing," I waved it off, still smiling. "Just imagining myself getting arrested."

"You know, for a guy that's supposed to be the King of Funny, you sure have a twisted sense of humor."

"I didn't mean it like that," I explained with another laugh. "I—never mind."

"So I've calculated how much time it'll take us to walk this entire mall. So long as we keep walking at the exact same space we currently are travelling at the moment, at least," Luke informed me, his eyes focused on the glowing iPhone in his palm.

"Aw, Luke!" I complained, twisting my face in disgust. "You promised me no math! I get enough of that torture at school."

"I know, I know," Luke said. "But this'll help us. I have all the distances between stores mapped out; we'll be able to keep track of how much time we should spend in each store so that you can get out of here before four. That way you won't be late for your shift at Greasy Joe's."

"Well," I began gruffly, "I suppose that could come in handy."

"And that's not even the best part," Luke added, my compliment encouraging his plain excitement. He showed me his phone, its lit screen displaying what looked like a map with blocks of different shapes and sizes arranged into a U formation. Some were green, others were pink, yellow—only a select few were glowing bright red. "See the red blocks? Those are the stores that carry women's items. The stores where you would have a higher likelihood of finding a Valentine's Day gift to present to Gwen."

"Holy crap," I commented in astonishment, my eyes raking over the screen before glancing at the nerd beside me. "That is useful. Luke, you're a lifesaver."

Luke grinned, exposing the shiny metal of his braces. "So I've been told."

And just like that, we began our search, making our first stop at the store closest to our current location—Wet Seal. Why it was named after an arctic marine carnivore drenched in water was beyond me, because it wasn't like the store sold anything related to what the name implied (and thank God for that, I might add, cause that'd be just a tad bit weird). It was your traditional girly store with an entire wall taken up by shelves and shelves of way too many types of jeans, a dressing room area with frilly curtains layered below beaded strings while brightly lit light bulbs illuminated the gleaming floor, and separate sections dedicated to different areas of women's fashion, including jewelry, shoes, and makeup.