Four

A Chapter by Kat G.

More Emma.

The next week, I sat at lunch with Adrian, Val, and Gideon. Just then, Emma walked up to the table.

“Hey!” she exclaimed.

“Hey, Em!” Val replied. “What are you doing here?”

“Well...,” Emma started. “I actually came to ask Riley if he had any plans later. I told him I’d show him around town, and a couple of us are meeting at the mall after school.”

Val and Adrian looked at me, expecting me to answer. “Oh, uh... sure.”

“Great!” she exclaimed. “And of course, ya’ll can come too, if you want.”

“Oh, no, no. That’s okay,” Adrian replied. “I think we all got stuff to do. Have fun though!”

Emma smiled and walked away.

Adrian, Val, and Gideon were all staring at me.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing,” Adrian replied, but I could tell by the tone of his voice, that it wasn’t nothing. Regardless, I ignored him and continued eating my lunch.

After school, Emma picked me up. I opened the car door, and her rosy cheeks raised as she smiled.

“Yaaay! This’ll be fun.”

I smiled and she continued, “I love your house by the way. Totally rustic.”

I ignored her compliment. “Who are we meeting?”

“Oh, my friends. Holly, Dani, and Dani’s boyfriend, Chris.”

I nodded. “Are you friends with Jessica?”

Emma stared at me. Then, she started laughing. “Of course not! Jessica’s a senior. Way too cool for us!” she exclaimed as she pulled out of my driveway.

Eventually, we pulled into the mall parking lot. I was surprised at how big the building was. A large Cheesecake Factory building stood right in front of us, with two pillars holding up the structure. Directly to the left of it was a long, white building with green letters across the front that read, ‘Woodfield Mall.’ I was expecting a small outlet mall, but instead, the mall looked about the size of a football field.

“Come on!” Emma said, motioning toward the doors.

We walked into the mall, which looked like it had more elevators than stores. The interior reminded me of M.C. Escher’s Relativity painting, with stairs going every which way, as though gravity didn’t exist.

I followed Emma through the mall, until we reached a store.

“Lulu’s is my favorite place to shop,” Emma explained as we made our way into the store.

Then, we approached three other teenagers.

“There ya’ll are! Hi guys!” Emma exclaimed.

A blonde girl with bangs and long, wavy hair wrapped her arms around Emma. When they pulled away, her brown eyes looked me up and down.

“Who’s this?”

Suddenly, everyone was looking at me. “This is Riley,” Emma said. “He’s new in town. I’m showing him around.”

“Isn’t Riley a girl’s name?” a boy asked.

Emma rolled her eyes and defended me before I could. “Shut up, Chris. I’m sorry, Riley. He’s an a*****e sometimes. Sorry.”

Chris wore a white shirt and a gold cross necklace around his neck. His brown hair was styled with gel and sat perfectly on top of his head. He also had a beard and a small mustache which contrasted against his pale skin.

“And this is Holly...,” she continued, gesturing toward the blonde girl. Holly was wearing a black Nike sweatshirt and ripped jeans.

“...and Dani,” she finished. The Asian girl was the most attractive out of the group, with tan skin and long, pitch-black hair. She had full lips and high cheekbones, and on her petite body, she was wearing a gray cropped tank-top and dark low-rise sweatpants.

I nodded to the three of them, who merely glanced at me before resuming their shopping.

My smile faded as I followed them through the store.

“Ooh, this is cuute,” one of the girls would exclaim every now and then.

I eventually got bored, so I walked over to a chair and sat down. I pulled my small copy of Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë out from my back pocket and started reading. I took a book everywhere with me, just in case.

Eventually, I heard Emma exclaim, “Riley!!”

I stood up and started walking back to the front of the store. “Riley! Where are you?”

I approached Emma, who was standing on her tip toes, frantically searching around the store. Then, she noticed me.

“Oh, there you are!” She was wearing a pink crop top with a bedazzled, golden crown on the front. “I need your advice. Dani said this is tacky, but I think it’s kind of cute. What do you think?”

It was tacky. But there was something about Emma’s innocent face that made me want to tell her what she wanted to hear. So, instead, I said, “No, it’s not. It’s cute.”

Emma’s face lit up as Dani scoffed and rolled her eyes.

“Really? You like it?”

I nodded and Emma squealed. “Okay, I’m going to buy this.” Then she turned to Dani.

“See? Maybe I just need someone else’s advice for once.”

We went to a couple more stores before we grew hungry and decided to grab food from the food-court. Dani and Chris sat next to each other, sharing a slushie. The way they flirted reminded me of Adrian and Val. I sat next to Emma, and across from Holly who was munching down on a vegan burger. “Oh my god, it’s so good guys,” she moaned with a mouth full of food.