This, That & The Third

Chapter 14

I inspect my hair and face briefly in a passing mirror, as Malcolm had texted that he won't be too long.

I must say, my hair knows just when to behave.

I look down at my feet while I make my way towards the mall entrance we've agreed to meet. The warm breeze wangles its way through my light long-sleeved emerald jersey. It dances on my open collarbone, rewinding memories from Thursday night with Malcolm.

I am awoken out of my memories by a familiar looking faded blue van. A sudden spirit of spontaneity comes over me and I hide behind the nearest shrub. I try to suppress my giggle as I retrieve LouLou from the back pocket of my distressed black jeans. "Hi", a familiar sounding voice comes through from the other end. "I'm outside. Where are you?" I raise my head just enough to see his figure from behind. "Hey, I'll be out soon." I straighten my spine a bit. "What a big vehicle you have.", to this he turns around. "All the better to kidnap with." He hasn't seen me yet though. "What a great pair of pants you have." He spots me and smiles that same smile when you see your food coming in a restaurant. It makes my insides squirm, in a good way, of course. "All the better to attract the prey." He takes large steps forward and stops just an arm-length away from me. "What a gorgeous smile you have.", he moves closer and reaches up and puts a piece of hair behind my ear. "But nothing like yours." I can barely conceal my smile as he gently cups my face with both his hands and places a delicate kiss upon my lips. He looks into my eyes and mumbles something, but I'm too caught up in the moment to listen.

He takes my left hand in his and walks me over to the van. I fix my seatbelt as he comes around the car. We share a sweet look before he starts the engine. Just as he is about to move out of his parking, LouLou rings again. I pick her up in a huff, "Hello?"

Only pests have such great timing.

"It's always lovely when you're one friend down while fighting a flock of fxckboys.", Rae's clearly irritated voice booms in from the other end of the line. "Yeah, life is great hey.", says Zoella in the background. "Hey, I thought you guys were strong and independent," I scoff which gains me a quizzical look from Malcolm. "So where are you?", ask the both of them at the same time. "Errrr...", is all I can think of saying while Malcolm checks his rear view mirror. "You're with him, aren't you?!", gasps Zoella so loudly I'm certain he hear too. "Well the least you could've done was given us a lift.", Rae says sounding rather defeated. I look over at Malcolm how is ready to turn out of the mall parking lot. "Malcolm, do you think you could turn around please? I forgot something."

Zoella is practically bursting out her skin as we approach them. "Stop and wait right here.", I say as I undo my seatbelt and let myself out the van. "Don't say a thing.", I whisper-shout at both of them when I walk over and grab their respective wrists. "Whaaaat?", smiles Zoella. "I'll behave.", she winks after she says this. "I'll make sure she'll behave.", says Rae answering my silent prayer.