Her Instinct: His Game

Chapter 7: Shameless

The name of this chapter was inspired by the song Shameless by The Weeknd. Feel free to listen as you read!

We were all set to head to the mall. Our day plan was figured out down to the coordinates of which section of the mall to hit first and when. We were dressed casually. Nothing much to my outfit, just a pair of dark skinny jeggings and a fuchsia knit sweater with tennis ball-sized polka dots separated sporadically across my sweater. I pulled half of my hair back in a clip behind my head so I could keep it out of my face. My wavy black hair is almost past my shoulder blades now, might have to cut it soon.

"There!" Allegra's cheery voice broke through the silence.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Check your phones and you'll see."  Our phones sounded simultaneously.

It was a screenshot of her text conversation with one of Derek's friends, Ethan Snyder. Allegra and Ethan claim to been "friends" but there's more than meets the eye to their friendship. The text told us that the guys plan to be there around 3. We're meeting them for lunch at the food court for lunch. Liam and Noah from Trig class are also tagging along, too.

"Sounds like fun, right Kerri?" Sydney tried to egg me on.

I shoot her a glare and then playfully shook it off.

"The mall awaits!" Allegra signaled to the living room. We all got up and filed into the conjoining room.

Mr. Leto was there, still engrossed in the TV.  I tried to get a closer look to see what it read on the screen. It was some breaking news special. I heard the newscaster's voice:

A woman was murdered in Harrisburg this week. Her body was discovered in the Mohaney Lake. Officers and investigators remain on the scene looking for clues as we...

"Dad, we're ready to go."

"Yeah, hold on a sec, Legra." His eyes remained on the screen.

"Dad loves murder mysteries," she sighed before turning to us. "It's his 'thing.'" One time, he stayed up all night watching this marathon on the ID network." She shook her head. "Those shows give me the creeps..."

His eyes brim soaked in the TV screen. It was like he was taking everything the reporter said in, like he was taking mental notes. He looked so hot when engrossed.

Allegra made a mini megaphone with her hands as she shouted "Earth to dad..." her voice rang through the room.

His eyes flicked to hers, snapping him back into the living room. "Sorry Legra. Sure, let's get ready to go." He jumped up to grab his keys.

"Yea, can't get enough of them," he looked present but his eyes said he was somewhere else, mulling over the news.

We all headed to the car. Allegra took the obvious seat next to her dad in the front. I sat in the back behind Mr. Leto with Sydney splitting the middle between Dasha and I. Songs from our local radio station filled the car. We danced around with the music.

Allegra stopped dancing and asked, "You excited, Kerri?"

"What is this? Pick on Kerri day?" We all bust out laughing.

"I should be asking you that, Allegra. You and Ethan have a thing and I know it."

"Sounds like someone's diverting the question..." Dasha teased.