As we approach the mall, I look at the time and see that it's already 5:20. The sun is already setting since it is mid-December. As we pull into the parking lot, I slowly shake Ari trying to wake her up. Ari stirs and starts to wake up as Cade parks the car. The mall parking lot is nearly full, which is kind of surprising, considering that it is a Sunday night in Wisconsin.
"Make sure you stay with us" Cade says as we walk through the parking lot, to the entrance of the mall.
"Obviously" I say with a slight smile. As we walk in the mall, Cade is on the left with me to his right, Ari is on my right, and Ryder is on the far right. In other words, Ari and I are sandwiched between the boys.
"Where are we going to first?" Ryder asks.
"How about we just walk until we reach a store we want to go in" I recommend. The boys agree and we just start walking towards the center of the mall. As we walk around, I see an American Eagle coming up. "Can we go into American Eagle?" I ask.
"Sure" Cade answers simply with a blank expression on his face. We walk into the store and it was swamped with people shopping. The two boys follow me and Ari to where the sweaters were hanging. Even though we had just bought sweaters a few days prior, I had no idea where they were now. Ari and I quietly looked around the sweater section picking out a few sweaters each. I didn't want to get a lot of clothes, since Cade will be paying for them. After picking out a few sweaters, then we head to the tops section to look for everyday tops. I get a few simple black crop tops and add them to the small pile of clothes to try on. Then we go to where the undergarments are at and pick out some of them.
"Are you ready?" I ask Ari. I look at the pile of clothes in her arms and see that it is the same size as mine.
"Yes" Ari answers simply. The boys nod their head and lead us to the dressing room. As we approach the dressing rooms, I lead the way into one of the stalls. I wait for Ari to follow in and she slowly does. Once she comes in, I go close the door and return to my pile of clothes. Before I start to change and try on clothes, I see Ari sitting on the floor.
"Are you OK?" I ask. She shakes her head as her breathing becomes labored. I can tell that a panic attack is coming, so I instantly try to calm her down.
"OK, focus on something and just think about that" I say quietly. I rub her back and whisper things to calm her down. "Keep focusing on one thing" I continue. After a few minutes, her breathing starts to return back to normal. When she gets panic attacks, she tends to cry a lot without realizing it. As her breathing is completely back to normal. She wipes the tears and sits up against the wall.
"What's wrong? What happened?" I ask as she slowly stands up and sits on the bench in the stall.
"I can't do this" she says.
"You can't do what?" I question.
"Be in here, trying on clothes" she answers.
"OK, do you just want to go home?"
"I don't know, all I know is that I can't try clothes on. I feel like something is going to happen when the boys aren't with us. It's not that I like them or feel comfortable around them. It's just that being with them makes me feel safer than being without them. I want to get clothes, but I know I can't try on clothes".
"OK, do you want to buy clothes, but not try them on?" I ask.
"Sure, let's do that" she says standing up.
"OK, are you going to tell the guys about your panic attacks?" I question.
"I can't. can you tell them for me?" she asks.
CITEȘTI
Never Safe ✔︎
DragosteWynter is a nineteen-year-old girl whose life is anything but normal. Her father is a famous politician and her mother was kidnapped when she was young. Her best friend, Ariana, has been living with her since her parents died. And to top that off, p...
