Chapter 4! Hope you enjoy :) Let me know!

After texting Rebekah about the barbeque on Saturday, she had practically freaked out, and insisted we go shopping before. Apparently, the girl would take any excuse to go shopping, and would have gone every day because she needed to find, and I quote, "the perfect outfit, shoes, bag, accessories and make up" for the occasion. Yes, she even wanted to buy make up. But she had to settle for Friday, seeing as, you know, I have a life and all that.

A sad, miserable life where I'm currently in a relationship with my notes, but a life, nonetheless. Don't judge me.

Anyway, knowing that she would never forgive me if I hadn't, I decided to tell Caroline about the plans for Friday as well. I was kind of scared actually, having Caroline and Rebekah together. Those two seem oddly alike. I was sure they were going to turn me into a live mannequin and make me try on all kinds of ridiculous outfits, but oh well. Fingers crossed. Caroline obviously accepted in a heartbeat, 1) because it involved shopping, and 2) because having Rebekah near meant being one step closer to the Mikaelson brothers. Mikaelson being their last name. I forgot to mention that earlier. I apologise.

Back on point. It was now Friday morning and I was getting ready to meet the girls, who were both supposed to be waiting for me in front of my house in about fifteen minutes. I, of course, had woken up late. The alarm clock had failed to wake me up on time seeing as I just love hitting the snooze button, and my darling brother Enzo didn't take the hint of me wanting to get up after ten alarm rings, so he let me be. Although, to be fair, every time he had tried to wake me up in the past, he had always ended up getting attacked. So I don't blame him really.

I had just taken a shower and was now desperately trying to find something to wear. Seeing as it was somewhat hot out, I decided on a pair of jean shorts, white tank top and I also put on my favourite rust cardigan for good measure. I was having a bit of a bad hair day, so I dug out my trusty baseball cap. I was looking for my white converse when I heard the bell ring.

"Maya, the door!" Seriously? It was obvious that my brother was downstairs, and he wanted me to open the door?! I decided to ignore him. Sure enough, another two rings later and I heard him get up, grumbling all the way. I smirked. Maya 1; Enzo 0.

"Hello girls," he smiled, both of whom smiled right back, flashing their pearly whites. I hated to say it, but my brother's a catch with the ladies. Always seems to have them right in the palms of his hands. No idea how he does it, really. They tell me it's the eyes. Now he and I have practically the same eyes, and I know for a fact that my eyes do not have that effect on people, whatsoever. I was robbed, I tell you. Something else lost in my genes. Ugh, life.

"Ah, Maya, there you are," Caroline called out as I showed up at the top of the stairs. "We were wondering where you were." Of course you were.

"Well, here I am," I said. "Ready to go?"

"I'm off to meet Damon at the park. So make sure to take a key with you, and I'll catch you later, yeah? See ya," he said, removing my baseball cap, planting a kiss on my forehead, giving me a little nudgie, of course, and placing my cap back. Ah, brothers and their demonstrations of affection.

"Gotcha," I replied, giving him a quick hug.

"Aren't Maya and Enzo the sweetest? So, Rebekah, are your brothers anything like that?" Caroline asked our new friend as we made our way to the car.

"Like that? Gosh no. They love me, but they have weird ways of showing it. Wait, how do you know I have brothers?"

"Oh uhh… Maya told me." Of course, put the blame on me, why don't you?

"Aah so you've been talking about my brothers now, have you Maya?" she grinned.

"What and you talking about mine doesn't count? Okay. Everyone, car. Now."

I was right. Five minutes into the car ride and Caroline and Rebekah had already hit it off like they had known each other for ages. We were now in the mall, and they were already driving me crazy with all the outfit ideas they wanted to try out. Honestly, I was starting to feel like a third wheel. They were both girly girls who loved the idea of putting outfits together and talking about fashion, whereas I was content wearing jeans and t-shirt anywhere I went. But, I am giving them the benefit of the doubt. They did try their best to include me in their conversations, even if most of the time I had no idea what they were saying.

"Did you see the outfits in Fashion Week? Some of them were adorable!" Caroline would say.

"I know!" Rebekah would answer.

"What?" comes my reply.

Something like that.

"Okay, Maya, we have got to enlighten you on all things fashion, this is getting ridiculous. You're my best friend, but honey, your closet needs more than just jeans and t-shirts," Caroline said, taking pity on me. Not that I needed pitying, in my opinion.

"I'm not wearing jeans and t-shirts today, I'm wearing shorts and a tank top. And a cardigan," I pointed out.

"Those don't count."

"You know what, we passed by a place that has some great outfits for you. Let's go there," Rebekah joined in.

"Girl, you just met me, and you're already taking care of my life decisions?"

Told you they're going to turn me into a live mannequin.

"Seriously, guys? It's a barbeque, not a ball," I whined. I was currently in the dressing room, waiting in line, with at least nine outfits in my hand waiting to be tried on.

"Nonsense," said Caroline. "It's the town barbeque, that I'm helping organise. So it's a big deal, and you're going to look good. End of discussion." There was no reasoning with Caroline when she was like this. Apart from being a fashion guru, she was also an organisation freak, and if anyone messed up her plans, there would be hell to pay. So, for the greater good, I shut my mouth.

Outfit after outfit, I came out of the dressing room to show them what they had made me try on. Yes, you read that right. I had no say, whatsoever, in what outfit I wanted to wear for the barbeque. And here I was thinking that this shopping trip was for them to buy outfits for themselves. Silly me.

There were obviously a lot of misses, so they both decided to scour the shop again, with me tagging along behind them.

"What about this one?" Caroline asked, showing me a purple floral dress with lace on top.

"I don't do dresses," I replied bluntly.

"Maya Catalani, you can do dresses, and you will do dresses. Come on, this is sweet. I'm going easy on you, trust me."

"Hey, if you don't take this, I will. This is adorable," said Rebekah, checking out the dress.

"See?" smiled Caroline.

"Fine," I mumbled, taking the dress from her and going back to the dressing room.

I had to admit, trying it on, I didn't look half bad, but I didn't want to give Caroline the satisfaction. As I went out to show them, I put on my best I-don't-like-it face.

"You like it," she said.

And failing miserably, apparently.

"What? I didn't even say anything," I said.

"You didn't, but your eyes did," she grinned.

"It's true," Rebekah agreed. "Plus, it looks great on you."

"Okay fine you win," I said, giving up. "I'm sold."

"Yay!" Caroline shouted, jumping for joy. "Now all that's left are shoes, accessories –"

"– Hold that thought," I stopped her. "I'm on a tight budget. Shoes and accessories, I shall get from my own closet." I wasn't going to budge on this one.

"Okay fine," she said. "I'm sure there's something in there we can work with."

After that rigorous shopping session, we decided to stop for some lunch before going at it again. While my session was hard because nothing they showed me appealed to me, theirs, on the other hand, was excruciating because they had countless outfits in their hands that they loved and they couldn't decide which one to take. Approximately eight outfits each later, and finally, Caroline decided on a baby blue dress with lace detailing on the front and Rebekah had gone with a multi-coloured sleeveless dress that had a zig-zag pattern on it.

"So, we good to go?" I asked. I didn't mind shopping, but two hours of it was definitely enough for me. Having Caroline with you on a shopping trip meant at least six hours, so you could imagine the state of my brain right at that point.

When they finally agreed that yes, we were good to go (Thank the heavens! Ring the bells! We're done! AHH!), we all headed back to my car and drove off, eventually dropping them off at their respective houses.

As I got home, I went inside, looking forward to a nice hot shower. First, I made my way to the kitchen as I had bought some macaroons that I wanted to put away. Of course, my day wouldn't be complete without me having the fright of my life.

"What the hell?!" I screamed.

I stopped in my tracks as I found a being in front of me, rummaging through my cupboards. I knew it wasn't Enzo because he had told me he would be back later than this. The being's head appeared from behind the cupboard door, and who else could it be?

"Oh, hi Maya."

Kai, or course. Who else? He grabbed a jar of jam from the cupboard, and was now scouring the drawers for a spoon.

"Holy sh- Did you just 'Hi Maya' me? You scared me half to death!"

"Sorry," he answered simply. Lord, take me now. He was just standing there, taking delight in all that is jam.

"'Sorry?' What the hell are you doing here anyway? I said you could use that key for emergencies."

"I had a huge craving for jam, and I had run out. I call that an emergency," he said, licking the spoon.

"What are you, pregnant? Haven't you heard of a supermarket?"

"Yeah but you always have these pretty little cute ones that taste awesome and I never find them."

Remind me why this guy is my best friend again?

"Yeah, okay, Kai. Just don't do it again or the key goes off the Best-Friend-has-Benefits list. Or at least send me a message that I'm going to find you at home, geez. Do you want Enzo to kick you out for overstepping your boundaries? He already doesn't like the fact that you have a key as it is."

"Okay you're right I'm sorry," he said, giving me hug and a pat on the head. What was it with these guys and patting me on the head? What was I, a poodle?

"Apology accepted," I said.

"Now that my jam craving is over and done with," he started, throwing away the now empty jam jar, "back to you. How was your shopping trip?"

"Torturous, but fun," I said, "You know how Caroline can be. I bought an outfit for tomorrow's barbeque," I continued, already making my way to the shopping bag to show him what I had bought.

"Oh no, don't show me. I'll see it tomorrow," he said, "We're still going together, right?"

"Yeah, don't we always?" I asked, nodding my head.

"Yeah, nothing, just making sure."

Weird.

As I left him downstairs to see what else he could bum from my kitchen, I headed to my room for the long awaited shower. Going inside, I thought about the day ahead and smiled. The annual spring barbeque was always fun, and I was sure that tomorrow would be no exception.

Don't forget to leave a review guys! You're the best :) Thanks for reading!