Out of Step

xxvii. romancing the hell out of them

Avoiding Owen for the bus ride was easy. All she had to do was sink into her seat and stare out the window, beating herself up over what she had done. Why had she done it? It had been impulsive and maybe a little reckless, but still, she wasn't sure she regretted it.

A sharp pinch on her arm pulled her from her thoughts and she yanked away turning to glare at Laila.

"What was that for?" She asked and Laila rolled her eyes.

"We needed to get your attention," Eli said from where she stood next to Laila.

"Couldn't you have just, oh I don't know, used my name then?"

"We said your name like twelve times," Laila said.

"Actually, it was thirteen, but who's counting." Eli shrugged.

"Apparently you." Alana's glare had yet to dim. "What did you two want anyway?"

"We're at Weaston. Everyone else is already off the bus."

A quick survey of the bus and the dim parking garage outside the bus told Alana this was true and in seconds she was scrambling up, following her friends off the bus and towards the outdoor shopping mall.

It was a lot harder to avoid Owen at the shopping mall. The girls had been keeping the same routine since they'd first come after their freshman year state finals and Owen knew this, so Alana fully expected to see him at some point.

"Maybe we should change things up this year," Alana said, wringing her hands and before pulling her hoodie sleeves over them. "Go to the bookstore first and then get food."

"Nope, I'm hungry and you know we have to get to Brews Burgers before the line gets too long," Laila said, her feet speeding up as they closed in on the entrance to the main part of the shopping mall.

Alana pouted, but followed after her friends, her eyes peeled so she could duck into a store or bathroom if need be.

Amazingly, Alana didn't see Owen at all. Not when they were seated at one of the tables outside Brews Burgers munching on their food and watching as other band members ordered their own food and surrounded them, and not when they window shopped, ducking into random stores to see how out of their price range items were. In fact, Alana hadn't seen her brother or their other friends either the whole time they'd been there, even though they had a very similar schedule to the girls.

They'd finally meandered their way to the giant bookstore, the sun barely peaking above the horizon, and Laila carry a bag full of some lotions she'd bought. It was in the bookstore that they ran into Arista, who was running a hand over a shelf of books, her finger grazing titles as she read them.

"Arista!" Alana hugged the girl from behind, causing Arista to freeze and spin to give Alana a full hug.

"I was wondering when you all would show up."

"How long have you been here?" Laila asked, pulling a book from the shelf above them and skimming the summary on the back. Eli was already sitting on a stool, several pages into a book she'd found.

Arista shrugged as Alana let go of her and turned to the bookshelf to shuffle through the books herself. "Not long I 'pose. My parents and I got food, but they wanted to find my brother before we headed home."

"You should've texted us," Alana said, pulling a book out and flipping through it. She was quick to carefully put it back. "We could have joined you earlier so you wouldn't be so lonely."

"I was okay. I wondered through the shelves a bit and ran into your brother and Owen and Ian."

Alana froze. "The boys are here?"