Chapter 8 - Mall Madness
After Keely finally calmed down, they all walked around together into stores to buy a few things (well... except Keely, Tia, and Via of course... they bought practically everything in the mall!).
"Do you girls EVER come across something you DON'T want?" Owen asked them.
Tia, Via, and Keely all giggled and said, in unison, "Nope."
Owen and Bruno rolled their eyes while Phil came up behind Keely and put his arm around her. Keely grinned and grabbed his hand.
Tia and Via looked at the two and 'Awwd.' Phil and Keely looked at them and then Keely kissed Phil on the cheek, leaving a huge red lip mark on the side of his face. Tia and Via bursted out with laughter instantly.
Phil looked at Keely out of the corner of his eye and started tickling her in the side.
"Phil! Stop!" she exclaimed. She started squirming and laughing and he still wouldn't stop, so she gave him a playful punch in the side. That was the only thing that stopped him.
"Okay, okay, I'll stop," he said with his boyish grin. Keely smiled and rolled her eyes.
"You know, it's a good thing that I love you so much," she said.
"I know, isn't it?" Phil said sarcastically. She rolled her eyes, grinned, and then they kissed each other.
"Okay, you two... get a room," Tia said. Keely and Phil looked at her out of the corner of their eyes and ignored her. Tia rolled her eyes and gave up.
"I give up... nothing can stop those two once they get started," Tia whispered in Via's ear. She laughed out loud and then Keely and Phil finally stopped.
"Let's go in here," Keely said, pointing to the Hallmark store.
All the boys grunted. "You know... why don't we let the girls hang out together for a little while, and us boys can go off on our own?" Bruno suggested.
"Keely, do you mind?" Phil asked.
"No, go ahead! Us girls need to catch up with each other, anyway," Keely said. Tia and Via nodded their heads in agreement.
"Alright... well, call me when you guys are done, and we'll meet up for lunch," Owen suggested.
"Alright, that sounds pretty good," Via said. Then she walked over to Owen, gave him a kiss and said she loved him, and Keely did the same with Phil. Tia looked at them all and frowned.
"That's not fair... I don't have a boyfriend," she said, pouting.
Keely and Via walked over to Tia, put their arms around her and said, "Aww, it's okay, you've still got us!"
"Yeah, I guess you're right!" she said. They all shared a laugh.
"I'm sure you'll find someone one day," Owen told Tia.
"Yeah... hopefully," she replied.
"Okay, well let's split up now," Bruno said. "We'll see you gals later."
"Okay, let's go, girls!" Keely said, walking between Via and Tia. They all put their arms around each other and walked in a line.
"Oh, do you guys remember how to do the monkey walk?" Keely asked.
"Yes!" Via and Tia exclaimed in unison.
Then they all started doing it, putting each foot out in front of the other, in a sort of circular motion. They all laughed; they couldn't hold it in.
Then they walked into the Marble Slab Creamery, which was an ice cream and yogurt shop. Via got a mint chocolate chip waffle cone, Tia got a cookie dough cake cone, and Keely got a strawberry yogurt smoothie. They got a table outside the shop with a cute umbrella over it.
"This is just like good old times," Via said. "The ones I miss."
Keely sighed and said, "Yeah, I know... I miss them too. But I love being a singer! It's so much fun!"
Tia and Via looked at her and they both frowned. Keely kept trying to tell them how fun her career was.
"I get to meet new fans all the time, and I get to perform live, and all that good stuff. It's really a lot of fun!" she exclaimed.
"Yeah... fun for you..." Tia mumbled.
Keely sighed. "Tia... I know that you miss me, but... you would be away from me anyway, even if I wasn't a singer. You don't live in Pickford."
"Well, yeah... but... still, it's not the same."
"I know it's not... but at least you get to see me SOMETIMES," Keely said. Via looked at Tia and nodded, trying to show her that she was right.
"Yeah, I guess so. Let's just enjoy you while you last."
"Okay. Good idea," she said. They all smiled and got up to throw away their messy napkins and cups and then decided where they were going to look next.
"Let's go into Jasmine," Keely said. "They're having like a monster sale... everything is like 85 to 90 percent off."
"Oh, boy! Okay, let's go!" Tia said, running ahead of them. Via and Keely looked at each other, laughed, and ran to catch up with her.
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Meanwhile, Phil, Bruno, Owen, and Bruno's crew were in the Bass Pro Shops at the south end of the mall. Bruno had gone off with his crew to the other end of the huge store while Owen and Phil walked around and waited for them, since the both of them didn't see anything they wanted.
"So... you're pretty lucky to have Keely as your girlfriend," Owen said. Phil smiled, thinking of her.
"Yeah, I guess I am, huh?" he replied, looking up at him.
"Oh yeah. She's a hot one!" he said. Phil looked at him with a piercing look and got defensive.
"Oh... sorry, dude," he said.
Phil slitted his eyes and looked away.
"She's mine."
"Oh, I know, dude, I know... I've just always liked her is all," Owen said, touching a golf club as they walked past the golfing section.
"Yeah, well... you've got Via now. Be happy."
"Yeah, I know... I am happy. She just wasn't my first choice."
"And does she know this?" Phil asked.
"No... and she doesn't need to," Owen said.
"Well, if you talk anymore about her behind her back to me, she will soon enough," Phil said somewhat angrily.
Owen's eyes grew wide. "Okay, gotcha."
Phil smiled and then they moved on to another subject.
"Let's go try to find Bruno and his crew... I'm sick of this place," Phil said.
"Okay, let's go," Owen said in agreement.
They walked around for about five to six minutes and finally found them, over in the hunting section.
"Bruno... do you guys hunt or something?" Phil asked, furrowing his brow.
"No... we're just looking," he said.
Phil and Owen raised their eyebrows. "Okay..." Owen said. "Let's just go."
As they walked out of the shop, Phil said, "Guys, I'm gonna go into Hallmark and see if there's anything in there that Keely might like."
"Why?" Bruno asked.
"Just because."
"Because why?"
"Because I love her. I wanna get her something special."
"Oh," Bruno said. "Okay. Well, we're gonna head down to Dick's Sporting Goods. Call us when you're done... we'll be in there for awhile."
"Alright, I'll see you guys later," Phil said, walking away from them and heading down to the Hallmark at a quick pace. Bruno, his crew, and Owen walked in the same direction, but not in any particular hurry.
Phil found a lot of things that he knew Keely would like, but nothing... SPECIAL enough. He was going to get her a magnet with her name on it, but he thought that was a little cheesy. Then he saw a cute silver heart necklace with her name on it, but he thought that was too simple.
Then he saw it. A white furry puppy beanie baby, holding a red heart that said "I love you." He grabbed it, paid for it at the cash register, and walked outside to see Keely, Via, and Tia walking on the other side of the huge hallway in his opposite direction. He ran to catch up with them. He was going to give her his present now, but he thought it would be better to give it to her when they were alone.
"Hey, Philly-Willy!" Keely exclaimed, giving him another kiss on the cheek.
"Hi, Keely-Weely," he teased. Keely giggled.
"We're starving... call Owen, Bruno, and his little crew," Tia said.
"Okay," Phil said, grabbing his cell phone out of his back pocket.
"Hey, where are you guys? Oh, okay. No, that's fine, really. Alright. See you later." Phil hung up and looked at the girls.
"Bruno, his crew, and Owen had to leave," Phil said.
"Why?" Tia asked.
"No idea."
"Okay, let's just forget about it and go eat some lunch... I'm starving," Keely said.
"Yeah, okay, good plan," Via said.
They all did the monkey walk together until they arrived at their destination... Buckhead Colorado Steakhouse.
End of Chapter 8