Chapter One:
"Jeffrey! Faye! Stand closer to the sign!"
Jeffrey seriously didn't understand why his mom always had to take pictures. His twin sister, Faye, on the other hand, loved taking pictures. They were starting their first day of Kindergarten at Cherryseed Elementary School. Jeffrey was absolutely terrified, at least until a short, blonde haired girl ran into him.
"Hi! I'm Reid! Want to be friends?" she said without a hint of fear in her voice.
"Um...I guess..." Jeffrey replied unexcitedly, his voice shaking a little bit.
"Cool!' Reid said. She turned to Faye, "Whoa you guys look alike!"
"We're twins. Duh," Faye said with the sassy undertone of a sophomore in high school.
At that moment, a tall boy came over (at least tall for a kindergartener), being pushed by his dad. His dad kneeled down to whisper something to the boy.
"Mason, why don't you go and talk to those kids over there. Make some friends!" He proceeded to talk to Jeffrey and Faye's mom.
Reid then turned to face the newcomer.
"Hey! You can be friends with us! This is..." she turned to Jeffrey, "What's your name?"
"Jeffrey. This is-" He was interrupted.
"I's Faye. Nice to meet you." She put her hand out towards Mason, prompt and businesslike. Mason had never encountered a situation where someone wanted to shake his hand before so he was a bit clueless on what to do next. After a moment of awkward silence Faye put her hand down as Jeffrey began to walk towards Mason to stand next to him. Little did the four know that their kindergarten friendship would last much longer.
[FLASHBACK ENDS]
Mason shook his head, disregarding the distant memory, waiting inside for Reid to pick him up for their annual back to school shopping trip at the mall. Suddenly Mason heard the doorbell ring and he ran to the door, eager to get out of the house after a quarrel with his father. He opened the door to see Jeffrey standing on the porch awkwardly. Mason smiled the moment he saw him. His gaze into Jeffrey's eyes lingered for just a moment too long. They both blushed and looked away quickly.
"I thought me and Reid were going to pick up you and Faye after she got me," Mason said.
Jeffrey shrugged and cleared his throat, "Change of plans. Let's go."
Apparently the two were walking down the driveway too slow for Faye's liking as she rolled down the window and yelled, "HURRY IT UP, YOU TWO! THE MALL CLOSES IN FOUR HOURS AND WE NEED AS MUCH TIME AS WE CAN GET!" This was probably a result of their last year's two hour trip resulted with Faye not having time to pick out another pair of jeans for Jeffrey even though she'd already gotten him four before that. Jeffrey and Mason knew what Faye could be like when angry so they ran the rest of the short distance from the porch to Reid's car.
It was a bit run-down and still smelled of the 30 bananas eaten during a 10-hour road trip the four took to Reid's grandmother's house in the other side of the state. Still, the car was theirs. Well, it was technically Reid's but it was practically owned by all of them. Many memories were made in it.
Jeffrey and Mason climbed into the back.
"Buckled up?" Reid asked.
"Yep," they responded in unison. Then they were off. Jeffrey was quick to roll down his window in the summer heat. Well, the "one-day-before-the-end-of-summer" heat. The four would be starting school at a new boarding school close to where Reid's grandma lived. At first only Jeffrey and Faye were going but their parents talked with Reid's parents and Mason's dad which resulted in Mason and Reid enrolling in the school as well. The entire thing with the four not being separated seemed almost too good to be true. Since they weren't living at home monthly mall trips would not be possible. Thus Faye, the fashion-guru of the group, was absolutely convinced that for their sophomore year at Westmont Academy they would need many, many outfits to last them.
Light conversations of how the teens were not looking forward to this year in high school erupted and, before they knew it, they had arrived at Viewfair, the local mall.