After the Storm

A day in town

"Alright, have fun." I smiled and followed Devin out. I could already tell it was going to be a long day.

The sun was blaring down on us from the moment we stepped outside. I raised my arm trying to block it but it didn't change.

"Today is not a good day to go outside." I whined as best I could without my voice. Dakota just laughed.

"It's California. Of course it's a good day." I let the group walk in front of me before continuing. Well I did as best I could with Devin walking beside me no matter how much I slowed down.

"Malone, at this rate, we're never going to get there." I smiled a closed mouth smile and sped up.

"What are we doing today?" I asked as best I could. He shook his head.

"You will see." he took out his phone and responded to a text before continuing. "And you should probably stop trying to talk. It's not good for your voice." my jaw dropped. I wasn't going to stop trying. When he saw my reaction he laughed.

"Don't worry." he pushed my arm lightly. "It will be fun."

I tried to go along but honestly it was killing me inside. Everyone just laughed and talked and walked. Especially Kelly and Dakota even though we could be getting kidnapped. We had no idea where we were going and they weren't even worried in the slightest. I crossed my arms and watched Kelly trip over herself and try to recover before Craig could see it. I just laughed.

"So Malone, shopping, food, or movies?" asked Kelly coming to stand next to me. I sighed and put on a thinking face.

"Food." I whispered. Suddenly Devin was on the other side of me.

"No talking." he reminded. I wrinkled my nose at him, but he just laughed.

"So where are you all from anyway?" asked Craig walking backwards to look at us.

"Arizona." said Dakota quickly. Craig nodded.

"That's cool. Always cool." he turned around and walked straight again.

"So I think we're going shopping first." said Kelly getting louder and louder until she was screaming in her high pitch voice. I gave her a shocked look and turned to Devin who shrugged.

"I couldn't hear what you said, so shopping it is!" he high fived Kelly behind my back, and she went back to Craig's side.

"Where to?" asked Dakota looking around.

The outskirts of the town seemed to be mostly stores so if we were going shopping all we had to do was stop at any one of the options. I sighed and pointed to the nearest one that seemed to have a bunch of 70's and 80's fashion. They all walked in, Devin was last. Before he walked in he grabbed my hand and pulled me inside.

"What kind of stuff do you guys like?" he asked going off to look by himself.

That alone scared me. Was he trying to pick clothes out... for Dakota, Kelly, and I? I shook my head and joined him. I wasn't going to let him embarrass me. I picked out a frilled yellow shirt and held it up to Dakota. Devin gave a thumbs up and so did Dakota.

"Good pick, Dev." she said already changing her attention. I turned around on him with my mouth wide open. She had to know he didn't pick that!

Devin was cracking up when I turned around. He knew why I was so surprised, but didn't say anything. Shaking my head I went to another rack and kept looking.

"Malone! I bet you will like this!" he said holding something just below the rack so that I couldn't see behind the other clothes. I walked over to him cautiously and looked at it. It was a pink shirt with.... That's it. It was a plain pink t-shirt. I gave him a blank stare before taking the shirt and putting it back on the shelf while shaking my head.