A lot had happened in the last week. A huge rain storm struck and locked practically everyone inside.
Lindsay found out she was Caleb's daughter, but she left for Chicago with her mother, leaving Ryan behind. He had been stuck in the pool house since, not really speaking to anyone. Today I decided I'd had enough and had to do something to help him. Seth seemed to have the same idea as we met in the kitchen.
"Checking on Ry?" I asked him and he nodded. "I feel terrible. I mean, we have to do something."
I nodded and the two of us headed to the poolhouse. Seth and I shared a look as we saw Ryan was awake, but just lying on his bed.
"Ry, come on. I know that you're upset about Lindsay, but you need to come out of the poolhouse." I told him, opening the blinds and letting the light in.
Ryan didn't say anything and I sighed. "Look, when I was really upset about Seth and I breaking up you refused to let me be depressed."
"Yeah, I also gave you your space. Let you do what you had to do." Ryan said, sitting up with a sigh.
"Thats true."
"But right now, what we need to do is help you. So what can we do? Level with us. Ask and it shall be yours." Seth suggested to Ryan.
"Fine. You two leaving right now."
"Okay, anything but that. Hey..what about Captain Oats, I've seen the way you look at him. Say the word and your pool house is his manger."
"Seth."
"Speaking of which, if you're getting a bit sick of the pool house, we can actually switch rooms, you can have mine. We just thought you liked the privacy."
"I do like the privacy, I would like some now actually."
"Ry, what about we go to the diner? You know we can invite Sum and Ben and it'll be fun-"
"Ally."
"What? I'm just trying to-"
"Ally! Seth! Shut up!"
I glanced at Ryan in shock. He hadn't snapped at me like that in forever. And Seth looked even more surprised than I was. Maybe because he and Ryan always got along.
"Please..this thing with Lindsay, it's different." Ryan told us, looking slightly guilty at our hurt looks.
"Different how?"
"Different as in it can't be fixed by pancakes. I don't mean to take this out on you two."
"No, it's fine it's what I'm here for." Seth stated and I glanced at him. Definitely not what he was here for.
"I just had a lot of people in my life who just left.. I thought those days were gone, but I guess they aren't." Ryan said and I sighed.
"Ry, you're not alone. If you need anything, Seth and I are here. So are Kirsten and Sandy. And that's four people who won't ever leave. So just think about that." I told him. Seth and I glanced at each other and then left the poolhouse.
"Wow, he's really upset." Seth muttered as we walked into the kitchen.
Kirsten and Sandy stood at the counter, not hearing as we came in. I watched in amusement as she accidentally poured coffee everywhere. Sandy grabbed a towel and went to clean it just as she did, and they bumped into each other.
Seth and I exchanged a look and I grinned as I walked to the fridge into their line of sight.
"Hey."
"Oh, hey Ally. Seth. I didn't even see you two there." Kirsten said, looking embarrassed.
"How's Ryan?" Sandy asked and I sighed. "Upset. We're trying to bring him out of it though. Right now he just wants his space."
"Probably best to give it to him then." Sandy stated and I nodded.
Kirsten lifted her hand up and I noticed something looked off.
"Mom, where's your ring?" Seth asked then and I realized that's what was missing.
"Hmm?"
"Two carats, platinum setting, lives on your left hand second finger." Sandy told her, seeing her look.
"I can't find it."
"But you never take that ring off." Sandy stated.
"That's not true, sometimes when I'm gardening or..washing the dishes, I leave it on the sink."
"I bet it fell in and it's stuck in the drain." Sandy stated, but I thought differently. I'd never once seen Kirsten take off her ring. I knew it must have something to do with the tension that was between Kirsten and Sandy the last weeks. It all seemed to be good now, but maybe she just took her ring off and didn't want Sandy to feel bad.
"I'll call the plumber tomorrow. I'm sure it's not lost." Kirsten assured Sandy before leaving the kitchen.
Sandy stared after her a moment before turning back to Seth and I.
"What are the plans for today?"
"Cheer Ryan up." I stated.
"Let me know how it goes." Sandy stated before walking off.
"I'm gonna call Sum. She always knows how to cheer people up. You call Ben, see if he knows anything that could cheer Ryan up."
I ended up calling Summer and she said she was planning to ask Marissa to go to the mall later and to ask Ryan to come as well. Ben said the same, that he was going with Summer, so we should make it a group thing. I just hoped the plan worked.
~~~~
Summer and I knocked on Alex's apartment door where Marissa was now staying. Apparently it was because Julie didn't really approve of the relationship between Alex and Marissa.
Marissa opened the door quickly and sighed in relief before gesturing for us to come in.
She hugged the two of us, before closing the door quickly.
"Good, Ally, Sum, it's just you two. I thought it was the big guy with the I Heart Nascar tattoo."
Summer and I made a face at that.
"Okay, not asking why."
"What is that uh..earthy musky smell?" Summer asked, her nose scrunching up.
"Oh, that's skunked beer."
"Oh. Well hey, it must be awesome to be away from your mom huh, be out of Caleb's mansion?" I asked Marissa, who nodded, but I could tell she didn't really mean it.
"Totally, I don't miss it at all." She told us in a very unconvincing tone.
"So I'm sure that you have these like really cool, edgy plans with Alex, but Ally and I were going to the mall because I have to go for the clothing drive-"
"The mall? Sounds great. Let me just grab my purse."
"That didn't take much convincing." I murmured and Summer nodded, looking amused.
~~~~
The car pulled to a stop in front of the mall and everyone unbuckled their seat belts.
"Home sweet home." Marissa stated as she saw the mall.
"Sweet, sweet shopping." Summer added and I laughed.
"Twenty four hours, buddy you're gonna feel like a new man." Seth told Ryan. I noticed Ryan and Marissa look at each other awkwardly, then look away. Maybe it was weird to sit them by each other, but everyone else was coupled up.
Everyone climbed out of the car then, and I walked over to Seth.
"How's Ry?"
"Our works not done yet." Seth told me.
The group of us headed into the mall, following behind Summer and Ben since she was getting the donations for the women's shelter from a store here and knew where to go.
We ended up in the storage room of a trendy clothes store, watching as a blonde employee boxed up some clothes.
"So the stuff for the women's shelter is in those boxes and on this rack." The employee stated, gesturing to the rack.
"Thanks." Summer told her.
"As if those poor women's lives weren't hard enough.." she stated, holding up a coat.
"Someone should get a restraining order against that coat."
I rolled my eyes at the employee's insensitivity.
"And we close early today, so don't take too long." She called before leaving us.
"Wow, somebody missed the sensitivity training seminar." Ben muttered and I nodded.
"But this is gonna be so much fun, though. It's like we have a backstage pass to the mall." Summer said excitedly.
~~~~
An hour later, we'd sorted all the clothes and fixed them into the correct boxes. I walked over to the door, pushing on it, but it didn't budge.
I put the box I was holding down and shoved harder, but it still didn't move.
"Guys! I think we're stuck in here." I called to everyone, who came walking over.
"That clueless sales skank probably did it on purpose." Summer muttered.
"Well, let's just call someone." Marissa suggested.
"But there's no phone." Ryan told her.
Collectively, we all pulled out our cellphones and saw there was no service.
"There's no cell service. Wait I have an idea." Summer said, pulling out a hair pin.
"Ally, do the honors." Seth said, handing it to me.
"Now why would you assume I know how to pick a lock? We lived in Chino, not Fort Knox."
"Then I'll give it a try." Seth stated. He attempted to pick the lock with no luck and the pin ended up breaking.
"Guys, what about over there?" Ben suggested, pointing at the air vents.
I now stood with Summer and Marissa, waiting while Ben, Ryan and Seth crawled through the vents, looking for a way out of the storage room.
"So I think this is the last of it." Marissa stated, putting down another bag of clothes.
"Yep."
"So you and Seth seem happy, Ally." Marissa told me and I smiled. "We are. I'm just happy we're together again. I just feel really connected to him."
"That's how I feel about Ben. What about you Mariss? I mean, do you feel that way about Alex?"
"Well, truthfully I think the only person I've ever really felt that way with is.."
I nodded as I knew who she was talking about. Ryan.
"Is it weird being here with him? And then the rest of us?" Summer asked.
"No it's fine."
"Good, because I know that you're into girls now and everything, but do you ever think about getting back together with him? I mean Lindsay's gone now.."
"Yeah Lindsay's gone and he's heartbroken." Marissa reminded Summer.
"Do you miss him?" I asked her and she sighed. "Every day."
The three of us smiled at each other before I looked over and saw Seth and Ben walking in, having unlocked the storage room door.
"Hey guys, where's um-"
I looked over to see Ryan slowly climbing out of the vent. Marissa looked away from him, probably realizing he might have heard everything she just said.
The six of us walked out of the storage room then and into the store. It was pretty big for what I assumed was a small shop.
"So why is no one else here?" Ryan asked us.
"They closed early, remember?"
"Let's find an exit and get out of here." Seth stated.
"Good idea." Ben agreed.
"No, wait. We're not going anywhere." Summer said suddenly and I raised an eyebrow at her. "Yeah because we're trapped, so let's-"
"Yes, trapped in a department store, which is my ultimate fantasy."
"Okay and what if we get caught?" Ryan asked her.
"We'll be stealth, come on you guys, what would be cooler : go to sleep in a mall and wake up in a mall, it's like being awake but still dreaming. And the mall doesn't open till 10 a.m, we'll be out before then."
To my surprise, I was sort of agreeing with her. I glanced at Seth and Ben, who seemed on the fence, but then they both shrugged.
"Sounds cool."
"Yeah, I suppose we could use a night to forget all our troubles."
"It's true." Ryan agreed.
"Soo, it's settled then."
"What happens in the mall stays in the mall." I stated with a smile.
~~~~
Ryan and I stood outside the fitting room stalls as Summer, Marissa, Seth and Ben made calls to home.
The four of them walked out and over to us.
"So what do we do now?" I asked.
"Hmm, I have an idea." Summer said, walking over to some hockey masks, and puts one on.
"You're gonna kill us all with a chainsaw?" Ryan joked.
Summer took off the mask and gave him a look.
"No, highest score gets the bed, lowest scores gets the tents."
"We're actually playing sports." Seth muttered and I grinned.
Our game of hockey ended with Summer and Ben winning, so that left Marissa, Ryan, Seth and I to the tents.
We all scavenged the store for food and ended up with gift baskets and small snacks for our dinner. It was still fun to be with my friends either way, no matter how hard it was to find food in this particular store.
Seth and I were laying in the tent talking about little things when Summer and Ben suddenly poked their heads in.
"We have to go now."
Apparently the security cameras picked up our movements and the guards were now after us. I wondered if this counted as a parole violation. I glanced over at Ryan and he seemed to be thinking the same, that we both didn't want to risk it.
We found an exit and all bolted to the parking lot before getting into the car.
I found myself unable to stop laughing as the adrenaline wore off. Everyone else seemed to be laughing too and I found it nice to be able to laugh with my friends and just relax. So many other days, we were all worried about something but today we could just relax and have fun.
"Anyone hungry?"
"Im thinking hamburgers."
"And chilli fries."
"Perfect."