Ace of Hearts - All We Are Series [NaNoWriMo 2014] [#JustWriteIt]

Chapter Thirty

“Anaya Auntie!!” I heard a little voice coming from the pounding on my door. I quickly rushed over to the door to let in Velisa and Kaleb.

“Hey Kaley! How are you?” I asked him, bending down and swooping him up in a hug.

“Stop it! I’m too old to do that!” He squirmed and I quickly obliged to letting him go. As soon as I did, he jumped back, much to my amusement.

“Wow, Velisa, I swear he’s grown a foot since I’ve seen him last. How old is he again?” I asked Velisa as Kaleb ran off.

“Too old,” Velisa laughed. “He’s almost 14. There’s one more month before his birthday.”

“Seriously? I feel old,” I groaned.

“You do? He’s my kid!” She exclaimed.

“Speaking of which, where’d your kid go?” I asked questioningly. Kaleb had run off to somewhere as soon as I released him.

“He’s probably exploring your apartment or something. I hope you don’t have anything massively breakable; boys tend to destroy things.”

“Sexist,” I laughed, punching her arm.

“Well, it’s true! At least, Kaleb loves destroying things and fiddling with buttons. Thankfully he tends to like being the annoying “brother” to Will and doesn’t bug me as much as he could. But anyways, what’s the plan for today?”

“Well, Margaret is late, as always. Shelly should be coming over soon; she will never miss a girl’s day out. Is Will going to the mall?”

“No, I think he’s opting to sleep in. Either that or something with Olivia.”

“Oh, that’s right. Have they started dating?” I questioned, tilting my head curiously.

“You know, I never quite know. I’m usually too busy with Kaleb to pay attention to that stuff. You’d have to ask Margaret,” Velisa shrugged.

“Oh, she always knows all the gossip,” I grinned.

“Anaya!” Shelly sang as she burst through my door.

“Aunty Shelly!” Kaleb cheered, zooming out from some corner of my apartment.

“Hey Kaleb! How has your fall been?”

“Good! I’m in eight grade! All the little kids have to listen to me,” Kaleb cackled evilly.

“He did not learn that from me,” Velisa said wearily.

“Probably Will. Guys are crazy,” Shelly laughed.

“Can we go? I wanna meet Kory,” Kaleb whined, making Shelly and I exchange a glance.

“Dave’s coming, too?” I questioned curiously.

“Oh, he said he’s in the area anyways, so I invited them to come join us for lunch,” Velisa said, blushing a little.

“Ooh, you’re blushing? You must really like him,” Shelly commented.

“Hush, you,” I said before Velisa could respond. I didn’t want to start a fight like with Margaret. She raised an eyebrow as she looked at me but didn’t say anything. “Let’s call Margaret and see if she’s on her way.”

Soon enough, we were all on our way to the mall. As soon as we got there, Kaleb and Kory ran off, leaving Dave, Velisa, Shelly, Margaret, and I to explore the mall.

“So, there’s this new store, we should go check it out! They apparently have TONS of cute jewelry!” Margaret gushed, grabbing Shelly as she started walking. Velisa, Dave, and I quickly started walking to catch up with them.

“Holy cow,” I breathed in wonder as we entered the store. The walls were filled with jewelry, just as Margaret had said. All of it was color coded. It wasn’t a small store, either: it was easily as big as the shoe store next door and much bigger than the smaller shops in the mall.

“This is heaven,” Margaret breathed as she walked down an aisle.

“Hello, and welcome! Is there anything I can assist you with today?” A sales person walked up to us and asked, smiling at our enthusiasm.

Margaret stole her away with questions about some of the jewelry. Dave and Velisa walked into a corner, Dave picking up a necklace and holding it up against Velisa.

Shelly, seeing them, grabbed the biggest, most gaudy necklace and held it up.

“This would fit perfectly on you, Anaya!” She grinned evilly.

“No way in hell,” I shook my head vehemently. “Definitely not!”

“What? You don’t like my choice in style?” Shelly raised an eyebrow.

“Would you ever wear that?” I questioned her.

She hesitated, and sighed, “No, I guess not. Boo, Anaya, you take away all my fun!”

Shelly pouted as I walked away further into the depths of the glittery store.

Finally, after three department stores, two shoe stores, and one trip to the food court, the shopper duo’s appetites for spending were fulfilled. Velisa called Kaleb and we waited to meet them at the front entrance of the mall.

“Guys, I need to tell you something,” Shelly called our attention to her.

“What’s up?” Margaret asked.

“Jack and I are moving to Maryland. We have a few houses in mind, and we’re going to check them out in a few weeks. We’re moving in a month if all goes as planned.”

“You’re leaving?” Margaret looked shocked. I bit my lip. I knew it was coming, but her confirming it just made it feel worse.

“Yes,” Shelly confirmed.

“Wow. That’s big,” Dave commented, making Velisa hit him.

“Don’t be insensitive,” she scolded him quietly.

“What? I was being serious!” Dave protested.

“Oh, oops,” Velisa smiled apologetically and Dave nodded in response.

“Why?” Margaret asked, ignoring the two.

“Jack got a really great job opportunity out there, and it’ll be great for us. We’ll be able to get a bigger place, I’ll be able to quit my job, and we can start a family.”

“Oh,” Margaret said, looking troubled.

“You’re set on going?” I finally asked, looking over at Shelly in the eyes.

“Yes, we are. I’m sorry,” she apologized.

“No, don’t. This is great for you and Jack,” I said, trying to smile in response but it fell a bit flat.

“I’ll just be on the other end of Skype. We’ll still see each other all the time!” Shelly tried to cheer Margaret and I up.

Just then, Kory and Kaleb came running up with prizes from the arcade.

“Kaleb, how much money did you spend?” Velisa gasped with wide eyes.

“Quite a bit, it seems,” Dave said as he eyed the enormous toys and stuffed animal.

“Can we go play?” Kory begged the two, causing Velisa and Dave to exchange glances.

“You can come back to our place?” Velisa questioned quietly to him.

“Works for me.”

“Okay! Chop chop!” Margaret said, making a weird waving motion with her hand.

“Margaret, what was that?” Shelly asked warily.

“I was chopping us up!”

 Kaleb tugged on Velisa’s sleeve. “Mommy, why is Aunty Margaret trying to kill us?”