Chapter 4

My eyes fluttered open. And quickly shut. "Owww," I moaned. I had a killer headache, almost like a hangover. Odd. I didn't even have one sip of bear last night. At least I thought I hadn't had any. I dragged my feet out of bed. If Mom were home she'd immediately think I had a hangover and then I would be grounded. luckily she isn't. Or is it? Whenever my parents had left time I felt insecure and unprotected. Yeah, I know I'm such a baby. But it wasn't just the insecurity of them leaving, but a chill would go down my spine and I would know exactly when they were out of the city. The phone rang and I struggled to get it.

"Yeah?"

"Wow, Jess. Nice to talk to you too," Star said, annoyance in the sound of her voice.

"Oh. Star. Sorry, It feels like I have a hangover. It's so weird. I didn't have anything to drink last night," I paused to think for a moment. " I didn't right?"

I could hear Star laughing from the other end before she said, " Oh you did. And you lost your virginity." My eyes widened.

"What?!" There hadn't been anyone else in my bed upstairs…

"Jess, Jess, I'm just playing. You're so gullible."

"Oh," I mumbled weakly. "So what's up?"

"Nothing just me and Bella are going shopping. You wanna come?"

"Sure. Where?" "You'll see when we get there. Pick you up at 6.

* * *

They didn't get there at 6. More like 7. I was sitting at the table, finally thinking maybe they decided to ditch me when the headlights shone in my driveway. I ran out and hopped in the car. "Sorry," Bella said, " fashionably late is the way we like to go."

"This is not late. This is more like lets freak Jess out and get her to believe we forgot her." I laughed. " So what's Alex doing?"

"Oh come on, Jess," Star said, " Didn't you see me and him fighting at the party? He's like a brother to me, yeah, but I can't spend every waking hour with him."

"Oh yeah and that's why you're over each other's houses 24/7 too right?" Bella teased. I suppressed a laugh.

" You and Alex seem closer than him and bella." I stated, hoping not to hurt Bella's feelings. "Or … seem like you guys no each other better." Star sighed as she pulled out my driveway. Her hair had a royal blue streak in it today. And Bella's was wavy. I needed to get some tips for dressing from them someday. Their mini dresses looked like they were going out to a club instead of shopping. My jeans were old and washed out but my shirt was one of my better ones. Once again I managed to look like the garbage.

"Well you see we've known each other… forever." Star said quietly. "His mother and mine had been best friends. And when they had us, they didn't want us. So one of our neighbors, she's about 35 and beautiful too, begged them to keep us, she's always wanted children. So they agreed and she's been basically taking care of us for our whole lives. She's great but since she couldn't exactly go from house to house we all moved next to each other and Alex was either over my house, or I was over his. So we got used to each other. Like siblings."

"Oh," I said stupidly. I wasn't ready for that.

"Anyways," Bella said thankfully breaking the mood, " I'll think you'll like where we're shopping,"

"Where?"

" Well I don't need to tell you because we're here." My mouth flew open. This was the Jefferson mall. This mall's products were at least 100$ My family would kill me. The mall looked like it was made out of gold with it's paint which matched the theme, Hollywood. Even inside the floor was covered with red carpeting. There was no greasy fast food court, all restaurants. And the place was huge.

"Here?" Star looked thrilled, mistaking my expression for anxiety.

"Yes!" She squealed. Star and Bella must have been loaded in money but not me. We found a place to park quickly and got out. " Don't worry. We have membership cards that get us 80% off." "Wow, I didn't know they even had membership cards." Maybe because they don't, a tiny voice in my head said. We rushed inside eager to start shopping. The place was brilliant. It looked more like a mansion than a mall. But what got me the most was a lot of people had the same endless, black eyes Alex had had at the party. Just thinking of his eyes made me feel faint.

"Are you ok, Jess? I'd say you look sea sick except we're not on a boat."

"I'm fine," I mumbled. For some reason mentioning His black eyes didn't seem like such a good idea. "Oh my god! We have to go there!" Star pointed to a store with Pretty In Pink in big letters.

"No way. You've got to be kidding me."

"What? Just because I dress like I'm emo doesn't mean I'm not a girl." I hadn't really thought of Star as emo but now I realized it was the look she had. Either way it didn't matter to me.

"Ok, let's go." Star and Bella had to practically drag me in there. It turns out not everything was pink. Thank god. I had even found this nice teal blouse. When we went to get checked out, I looked like someone who was on a 5$ shopping spree. Bella And Star had shirts on top of shirts gathered in their arms. They gasped as they looked at what they had found.

Star gasped, " I love that blouse, Jess!" I was surprised, it's not like the blouse was really that nice.

"Thanks." When it was finally our turn to pay I held in a gasp, the checkout lady had black eyes. These weren't like endless holes but like a black sea covering the things that lurked in it. All the dangers deeply hidden. A shiver went down my spine. The Lady looked up at me and her black eyes widened. She turned around for a second and when she faced me again, her eyes were a deep copper. I could only stare.

"Well you could've told me you were bringing a new friend Star. You know I love new people." But a voice in my head told me what she was really meaning to say, Next time tell me when to hide. I didn't get it, even though it had come from my head. What was it anyways? I looked out the store doors. Each person walked like a lion hunting their prey and I couldn't find one that wasn't gorgeous. What was with this mall? I haven't exactly been here. As a matter of fact no one I knew had. All the big prices scared everyone away. They're all the same. I looked back at Star and Bella and the checkout lady. All of them looked like fierce tigers. They had the same feminine glare even if they meant their stares to be warming.

"Jess? Are you going to pay or do you want me?" Star said interrupting my thoughts.

"Oh…"

"Put it on my card, Sheila," Star said to the checkout lady.

"Sure thing." I decided to drop my theory- Whatever my theory was- I knew that Bella, Star, and Alex were already my best friends and I had realized I already started to love them as if they were my brothers and sisters. We finished up shopping quickly, thanks to my rushing.

"God, lady. Why are you in such a rush?" Bella complained.

"No reason it's just that I have to get home, I'm wiped."

"whatever," Star said. The mall was creeping me out and it seemed like I was being watched and any moment, everyone would turn on me.

"I wished we shopped more." Bella said as we got into the car.

"Sorry guys," I apologized. " Next time just go without me." I smiled half heartedly.

Once we were home I ran upstairs and stopped. Mom and dad weren't home and Aiden was no where to be found. Don't worry, their flight is probably running late. But that didn't mean I wasn't worried. My family was suppose to be home tonight and it wasn't like them to be late. I had no idea who the rest of my family was so I was alone tonight. I didn't know my grandmother or grandfather, no aunt or uncle, cousins -no. All I had were my parents and brother. I got ready for bed and promised myself I'd hang out with Collin tomorrow. I'll be able to talk to him about everyone at the mall. Maybe he'll have an explanation. Or he'll say I'm going crazy. Either way it was nice that it was summer. I didn't have to worry about school or staying up too late. My mind kept wondering back to Star, Bella, and Alex though. Then it hit me. I hadn't told them where I lived. So how did they know? I gave them my number so it wasn't like I gave them my street. Last time I checked, you couldn't look people up on white pages by phone numbers. And plus my parents made sure We weren't in any phone books or things like that. What was so different about them? I couldn't put my finger on it but it sure scared the hell out of me. Tomorrow, I thought, I'll think about it tomorrow. I went to sleep early and it seemed like an endless sleep. A sleep where I couldn't possibly dream. But I was wrong. Because I dreamt such a strange dream.