THIS LOVE | luke hughes

xii.

PENELOPE HAD A LOVE hate relationship with the mall. She loved shopping and the food court, where she would always end up eating an unhealthy amount of pretzels, but she wasn't exactly thrilled when it came to the walking part. She groaned as soon as they parked in the parking lot, slouching in her seat next to Mark who she had invited to come along on their adventure.

Trevor narrowed his eyes, looking back at the girl who said something about decaying in the seat. "You're the one who recommended coming to the mall!?" He shrieked, eyebrows furrowing as he waited for Cole and Alex to get out of the car.

"She hates walking the mall." Jack said on the other side of Penelope, the girl making it uncomfortable for the two boys as she practically laid in the seat. "She says it makes her feet cry." He laughed as he began to crawl over the seat, noticing Alex's struggles to pop the seat.

"It does!" She exclaimed while hopping over the seat, tumbling into the floorboard earning laughs from the boys. She scooted towards the open door, jumping out before Mark climbed over the seat next, groaning whenever his head his the seatbelt buckle before he got out of the car.

Quinn, whose car they were exiting, groaned as he looked back to see the shoe prints on his seats. "Guys." He said in a whiny tone as he unbuckled his seatbelt and began to get of the car.

"Wow, Quinner, never took you for a whiner." Trevor joked as he patted the older boys back with a smile on his face.

"He's gonna start growling next." Alex muttered into Jack's ear earning a small snort while Quinn merely rolled his eyes, grabbing his wallet and shoving it into his pocket.

"We thought we lost you guys!" Angie called out as they walked up to the other vehicle. "Did I miss Penelope's complaints?" She questioned as they all began to walk towards the mall.

"There's more to come!" Trevor exclaimed as he began to skip towards the entrance.

"Zegras, you're the bane of my existence." Penelope shouted as she began to run after him, shrieking whenever he randomly stopped causing her to hit his back.

"That's rude." He stated while looking both ways for any passing cars. It was his turn to scream whenever he felt the girl jump onto his back, his arms going to the back of her knees to make sure she didn't fall and drag him down with her. "Penelope!" He shouted as he began to cross the street as a car let him pass.

"No complaining from me today."

The mall has been packed with groups of friends and a few families that scattered throughout the mall. Trevor continued to carry Penelope despite his various complaints.

"I wanna go into Spencer's." She stated while pointing towards the store. "Go, pony, go." She said while placing her hands back onto his shoulders.

"I am not going into Spencer's with you." He stated as he stopped in the middle of the mall, patting her legs signifying for the girl to get down. She sighed and hopped off his back, letting her hands fall from his shoulders.

"Spencer's has cool shirts," she muttered while she looked behind her to see the group being stopped by a pack of teenage girls. "Uh oh." She whispered out, bringing Trevor's attention to what she was looking at.

"To Spencer's we go." He stated while grabbing her hand beginning to pull her towards the store while keeping his head down in hopes to not get noticed by anyone else.

Penelope and Trevor wandered around Spencer's trying their best to avoid the back of the store while also keeping a look out for the group of girls, noticing they kept the rest of the group behind.