The next morning I felt terrible. My voice was just about gone, and my legs felt like jelly. I stretched and rolled over to look out the window. It was kind of dark as if it were about to rain, but the sun was still out. Hearing my door open I moaned, and stretched again.
"Malone, get up, we're in California!!" said Dakota jumping on my bed.
"No, let me sleep." I tried to pull the blanket up to my chin, but Kelly wouldn't let me.
"Seriously, get up, Devin told us we might hang out today." said Dakota already going to my closet.
"Yeah, and Craig said he would come if we wanted him to." she giggled at that.
"Guys!!!" I tried to scream, but my voice wouldn't let me.
"Malone, are you sick?" asked Kelly feeling my head. I gave her a 'well duh' look and she pulled away.
"What are we going to tell Devin when he comes by?" I threw my hands and feet in the air and let them drop.
"That I'm sick! What else?" they both just laughed, and went to my closet anyway.
"Your not sick enough to argue so it looks like we're still going." I grunted and rolled over.
"Fine, but I'm picking my own clothes." I slowly climbed out of bed and got an outfit.
I picked a dull green shirt that showed my shoulders, and wore a pair of black jeans with it. I put on a vest, and flip flops and was done. I looked to Kelly and Dakota for approving looks.
"Aren't you going to brush your hair?" asked Kelly kind of annoyed.
"Why do I need to?" I asked raising an eyebrow at her. She gave me a peculiar look and got a brush.
"Because your hair is a mess." I let her brush through my hair before we all walked downstairs to eat breakfast.
"Hey dad, we're going to hang out with Devin and his friend Craig." I said grabbing an apple and walking into the living room.
"Alright, don't forget I go back to work on Tuesday." I flipped on the TV and searched through the channels for something good.
"Alright dad. Let's have a movie marathon tomorrow." I sat on my knees and looked at him. "All day."
"Alright, sounds good." he ruffled my hair, and sat down next to me. "Do you have a cold or something?"
"She lost her voice." said Dakota sitting down with a banana. My dad nodded.
Kelly was just sitting down when the doorbell rang. She jumped up and ran to the door. Dakota and I watched her jump excitedly to the door. She swung it open, and just about tackled Craig.
"Hey!" she screamed. I covered my ears and Dakota laughed.
"Hey, so are we all hanging out?" asked Devin stepping in past Kelly and Craig.
"Hello Devin." said my dad without even looking back.
"Hello Mr. Hanson." he said back.
"Yeah we can hang out but, Malone here is a little sick, but she's fine." she said looking at him over the back of her chair.
I mouthed 'my voice is gone' to him, and he laughed.
"I was thinking we should go into town today." said Craig with one arm around Kelly.
"Sounds fun." said Dakota watching TV. I just nodded.
"We'll be back later." I whispered to my dad. He nodded.
"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.
"What was wrong with it?" he asked, continuing to look through the racks.
I tried mouthing, 'When have you ever seen me wear plain pink?! I hate pink! There wasn't even a picture or design.' I even used a lot of hand gestures but Devin didn't seem to be getting. I sighed gving up, and went back to looking on my own.
After that store we went to a more modern day botique. The moment we walked in we were over whelmed by the smell of different perfumes mixing in the air. It took everything in me not to gag. No one else seemed to notice.
"Craig what do you think of this?" asked Kelly holding up a strapless orange shirt with a mix of rainbow colors. At first he looked scared but then he smiled and hugged Kelly.
"It's cute." she laughed.
"Oh well I hated it." she put it back and walked away. Devin and I were left trying to hold in a laugh and failing miserably.
"Shut up." looking our way before catching up with Kelly. We were still laughing.
"Malone, come here." said Dakota looking over two shirts. "I don't know which one I like."
I rolled my eyes and was about to respond when I remembered Devin was just waiting for an excuse to tell me not to. I growled in the back of my throat before approaching her. I caught a glimpse of the weird face Devin made, but didn't pay any attention to it.
Dakota and I decided on a light blue one, before we left the store. By this point I was really hungry, but still couldn't talk to protest. I smiled evily when I got an idea. Quickly, getting out my phone I typed a short message and sent it to Dakota.
"I'm hungry. Let's get something to eat." she read out loud. Everyone turned to her trying to figure out why her speech was so blocky before realizing that she was reading it. I smiled a victorious smile at Devin who clapped approvingly.
"There's pizza around the corner." he said pointing. "Is that good enough?" I shook my head, and typed out another message.
"I want ice cream." said Dakota reading it.
"I don't care where we eat." said Craig with his arm around Kelly.
"Yeah, neither do I." I looked at Devin, he was the only one....
"Fine, there's a diner a few blocks from here."
"Yes!" I said in a hoarse voice, throwing my fist up in the air. He laughed before putting a finger to his lips and shushing me.
"No talking." Kelly and Dakota laughed. I just rolled my eyes.
The diner was really nice. Inside was all black, white, and red. It reminded me of Steak and Shake, a little bit. We took a seat at one of the booths, and waited for someone to take our order.
"So this was a fun day." said Dakota looking at the menu. I nodded agreeing. Kelly, Craig, and Devin sat on the other side of the boothe.
"Yeah, and Malone didn't complain about anything either!" teased Kelly. I huffed at her, making everyone laugh.
"So, Malone, what are you having?" teased Devin knowing I still couldn't talk. I raised an eyebrow.
I hid my face behind my menu as I looked for something simple when my eyes landed on the most delicious looking burger I had ever seen. I opened my mouth to tell him, but stopped myself. He smiled. I laid the menu down in front of me and pointed it out to him. He gave me a satisfied look.
"You should try the special." Craig said to Kelly. She smiled and looked at the menu.
"I hate chicken strips." she said giving him an apologetic smile. He nodded and blushed a little.
"Oh, well, in that case the you should try whatever you want." Kelly laughed and looked at the menu.
"I'm going to try the blt." Criag nodded and laughed along.
"That's good too." she laughed again.
When the waiter came we all told him what we were going to have, and talked and laughed as we waited for our food. I was still bummed that I couldn't talk, but my throat was feeling a little better. I couldn't help but laugh at some of the faces Devin made while Craig told us about different things they had gotten in trouble for.
"Remember when we paint balled the Principal's car on the last day of school?" my jaw dropped when Craig said it. I looked at Devin for conformation and he was cracking up.
"I wanted to paint the shit-mobile on it!" I let out a loud laugh and covered my mouth. Dakota and Kelly hadn't stopped laughing since Craig and Devin started talking.
When the food finally came, we all got our plates and ate. I had to admit the food was really good there. I scared down my food, and soda, and looked around at other people's plates. They were still eating just as slow as ever. I sighed. Watching them eat was making me hungry again.
To distract myself I looked around the restaurant noticing all of the different colors, but I was still hungry. I glanced back at the table to see Devin looking at me with a slight smile on his face. I raised my eyebrows at him and he laughed eating a fry.
"Did you even taste your food?" I closed my eyes and nodded. "Want some fries?" I nodded excited.
He placed most of his on my plate and went back to eating. "There are to many for me."
I hardly heard him while I was scarfing down the fries. When everyone finished we paid, and got ready to leave. I didn't really care where we went next. At least they weren't trying to starve me anymore.
"We're going to catch up with you guys." said Craig with an arm around Kelly.
"And where are you two going?" asked Dakota with a skeptical look. Kelly laughed.
"I don't know, it's a surprise." she told us. I laughed and looked at Devin and Dakota before waving goodbye to the cute couple.
"So where to then, Devin?" asked Dakota already walking away. Devin and I followed close behind.
"I was ready to head back, but if you had anywhere in mind then, let's go." we stopped for a second while Dakota thought.
"No, we can head back." she said. We all remembered the way back.
The walk back was fairly quiet, with the occasional small talk. Every once in a while Devin would tell us some random fact about the town. He made me feel like a tourist. By the time we got back to the house I was exhausted.
"Movie marathon!" I said as I ran in the front door. My dad waved hi from the couch where we left him, and I ran to join him.
"Your voice is back." said Devin coming and sitting in a chair across from my dad and I. Dakota sat next to me.
"What are we watching?" she asked. I shrugged and picked a random movie from the shelf next to the TV.
"Anacondas." I said putting it in. My dad laughed.
"This was always one of your favorites." I laughed and sat down to watch it.
"Do you remember when we were younger, we tried to make a movie?" laughed Devin.
I laughed. "And I was a princess and you were a prince?" he nodded.
"Until you decided you didn't want to be a princess." we all laughed for a while just imagining. It wasn't unlike me to do something like that.
The rest of the evening was pretty relaxing. We watched a series of movies before Devin decided it was time for him to leave. Kelly and Craig still weren't back when he finally left. Dakota and I walked up the stairs to get ready for bed when we heard the door swing open behind us followed by a long sigh. I turned around just in time to see Kelly close the door with her back, and lean against it.
"So?" asked Dakota already running back down the stairs.
"He asked me out!" she squealed jumping. I made a scared face but couldn't help but laugh along with them.
"Yay! Congrats!" I said after the worst of the laughing fit was over.
"Oh my gosh!" she started rambling on but thinking my dad wouldn't want to hear it, Dakota and I dragged her up the stairs and into my room.
"Okay, start over." I said sitting on my bed and waiting for her to continue. When we were all comfortable, she finally continued.
"After the diner we just went for a walk and it was so sweet! He held my hand most of the way, and when he didn't he had his arm around me, and before we came back he asked if he could take me out!" I could tell she was dying of excitement but it had to be one of the most cliche ways to ask a girl out. However due to many occasions I learned it was better to just agree with her instead of stating the obvious.
"That's so cute!" I said with the fakest smile I could manage plastered on my face. She just hit my arm.
"Anyway, how were things without me?" she seemed to have forgotten I was there.
"Pretty good, I felt like a third wheel with Devin and Malone though." she pushed my leg and I kicked her back.
"You were not a third wheel!" I objected but they continued ignoring me.
"Oh really? They're cute aren't they?" teased Kelly. In the back of my mind I hoped they knew they were on thin ice.
"Don't talk about me like I'm not here!" I screamed waving my arms. They laughed.
"You know we're kidding with you..." said Dakota messing up my hair. I pushed her hand away. "You guys really are cute though."
"Yeah, as cute as two people can be when they grew up with each other." Kelly just laughed.
"You didn't even remember him!" I rolled my eyes playfully.
"Your just using it as an excuse to be nicer to him than you are most people when you first meet." I let out a dry laugh.
"Very funny, now if you will excuse me, I'm going to bed." they laughed and laid down at the end of the bed. "Seriously get out."
It took some time but I was finally able to get them to leave my room and go to bed. I laid there for a while just thinking about my day. Craig and Kelly were together. I thought that was kind of interesting, but the conversation about Devin earlier had most of my attention. He was cute no doubt, but that was about it. There was no charm, or attractive charisma about him. He was just an old friend.
I closed my eyes and listened to Time to Dance by Panic! At the disco. It felt right. Maybe Kelly and Dakota were right, I wasn't exactly acting like myself here, but did it matter if we were going to be leaving in a week? I sighed and finally fell asleep.
Authors note:
This chapter was a bit difficult for us to write and as much as I feel like it came together well, I still want to hear your opinions! I hope this was funnier than the previous chapters, I felt like it was! Lol anyway please vote and comment and don't forget to tell your friends! If you have any ideas for the story feel free to shoot us a message! Thanks!