A/N: Konnichiwa my little dumplings! As you can tell, I'm in a rather good mood at the moment. It's probably due to the fact that I did pretty much nothing all day but read, eat, and listen to The Beatles while I tidied up the house a little bit. That and took a few walks around my neighborhood. We've had terribly hot weather lately, so I'm trying to get used to it and also worshipping the inventor of air conditioners. Anyways, enough ranting.

Chapter 10: Privacy Invasions

Max's POV

His black hair reflected the moonlight streaming down from the night sky as we continued walking. I followed after him, walking faster than my normal pace as I tried to keep up. "Come on..." he muttered, turning back to look at me. "It's only a few more feet away." We suddenly brushed through a thick swarm of trees, and exited out of the forest we'd been trekking through, and into a Walmart parking lot. I looked around in surprise. I hadn't been aware that they were now building Walmarts in the middle of scenic National Park-like areas.

"See, isn't it nice?" Fang asked me, gesturing to the Walmart ahead of us. I stared at in confusion, not quite sure what he was getting at.

"Umm...I guess..." I said, rubbing my arms to keep warm. For some reason it was cold even though we were in Arizona. I think... Suddenly, I saw figures creeping out from behind cars and coming around to encircle us. I shifted nervously and saw Fang tense as well. "What's going on?" I whispered anxiously, clenching my fists into tight balls.

"Hello, Max. We've been looking for you everwhere." And Sean stepped out into the glow of a nearby streetlamp. He was grinning wickedly. I jumped back, startled. But before I could do anything, Fang stepped in front of me.

"Not to fear!" he said loudly. I stared at him in utter confusion. What was he DOING? "I'll save you!" And with that, he ripped off his shirt revealing rock hard abs underneath a blue spandex shirt with a giant red letter 'S' on the front. Then he scooped me up and we began to rise into the night sky. Well this was not going as expected...

"Max! Max, wake up! C'mon, you're gonna be late!" I snapped up abruptly and reached out to beat my attacker. "Ah! Ah! Stop it, what are you doing?" I paused, recognizing the voice to be Ella's. I let my arms drop and then rubbed the blurriness out of my eyes. Ella was cowering away from me slightly, but straightening up, already fully dressed.

"Ugh...what time is it?" I asked blearily. Ella rolled her eyes.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you. It's already 7:20. You must've forgot to set your alarm. Now hurry up and get ready or we'll be late for school." I groaned loudly and flopped back down onto my bed, pinching my eyes shut. I was too tired to deal with school today. "Hey, what's that?" I squinted my eyes open to see Ella pointing curiously at something to the left of my sprawled form. I turned my head to follow the direction of her point.

"Oh shit..." I muttered to myself. The taaffeite necklace was laying in a crumpled heap ontop of the sheets. I must have fallen asleep before putting it away last night. I grabbed it hastily and stuffed my hand under the covers. Ella raised her eyebrows.

"Is that the necklace that your ex-boyfriend gave you?" she asked. I paused momentarily, and she took it as a confirmation. "You SLEEP with it?" she said incredulously. Then she snorted. "Wow...you REALLY must not be over this guy." I chucked a pillow at her and she backed up with her hands raised in a surrender.

"Get out so I can get changed." I said, sliding lazily out of bed and stifling a yawn. She shrugged her shoulders and started for the door before pausing with her hand poised above the knob. I stared at her back expectantly. Then she turned around to face me again.

"By the way...what were you dreaming about just before I woke you up?" I felt my face heat up.

"I-I don't know. Why? Did I say something?" I cringed at the thought that I might have been sleep talking, and probably about Fang, too.

"Eh...all I heard was something about a Walmart and then you started clutching your pillow like you were dangling off of a building or something." I pretended not to have any clue about what she was talking about.

"No idea...Must've been a weird one though." She just shrugged and then left the room. I let out a sigh of relief and smoothed my messy hair out of my face. Weird didn't even begin to summarize it. Not only did the fact that I had been dreaming about one of my guy friends make me extremely embarassed, but the fact that Sean had been in it was extremely unnerving. I shivered a little as I stowed the necklace away safely under my matress. Looking out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ella's form standing in the hallway, looking into my room.

I nearly jumped two feet in the air. "Jesus Christ! What are you doing?" I said half shocked, half angry that she was watching me.

"I just forgot to tell you that my mom was getting something portable together for you for breakfast." She paused for a second and then redirected the conversation. "Why are you hiding that thing, anyways?" I became instantly flustered. Why did she have to ask so many questions? I hated being interrogated. It always made me awfully nervous.

"I don't know, I just-I...Just leave for a minute so I can get dressed!" I quickly shut the door, and huffed in frustration. My God, could I get no privacy around here? I shook my head as I whipped out a fresh pair of jeans and a faded yellow t-shirt from my dresser. I dressed quickly, brushed my teeth and hair, and then rushed downstairs to gather my things and then hurry out to the car where Mrs. Martinez and Ella were waiting for me.

I stood behind Iggy in the school lunch line, waiting impatiently as he carefully considered each of the choices. "Hmm..." he muttered to himself, scanning the array of food even though he could see none of it. He sniffed over a bin of applesauce cups and pulled away in confusion. Then he turned to me. "What are those? I can't smell them. They must be in a container." I sighed. He'd been asking me questions about what was what for the last ten minutes. Everyone else in line behind me groaned in annoyance.

"It's applesauce, Iggy. Now would you please just freaking pick something already?" He huffed.

"Well, sorry that I'm blind and can't see a damn thing! It makes picking things kinda difficult." he said irately. He slid down the line, grabbing a sandwich off a platter and a package of chips out of a bowl with no problem.

"Difficult my ass..." I muttered sarcastically. I followed suit though, thankful to be getting out of the line. Everyone else was already seated at the table, eating. I slid in next to Caitlyn and started on my sandwich. JJ suddenly made a noise to get my attention, trying hard to swallow a large bite of food.

"Okay, Max..." she said, wiping her mouth on a napkin. "You still up for the mall on Saturday?" She grinned hopefully, but gave me the evil eye when it looked like I was considering. I shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess so." I said quietly, picking at my cookie.

"Awesome!" JJ said excitedly, brightening up. "So, since Caitlyn's the only one that can drive, she's gonna come around and pick everyone up. She'll probably swing by at your place around...oh I don't know. Twenty minutes after noon?" She glanced at Caitlyn in question, who nodded in agreement to the statement. "Right...well, all of us are coming with, so it should be fun." She beamed proudly.

"Some of us more reluctantly than others." Fang murmured under his breath. I laughed lightly, but no on else seemed to have heard. JJ held out a pen and paper to me. I stared at it in puzzlement.

"You should write your address on it so we know where to get you." she informed me. I took them from her, and after thinking hard about what the address to the house was, finally recalled it and wrote it down for her. She smiled as she took it back from me and slipped it into her pocket. "So, it's all set then. Oooh I can hardly wait!" It was easy to tell the JJ was probably the most enthusiastic one in the bunch.

"Yippee..." Fang said sarcastically, giving half-hearted jazz hands. I snorted. It was also easy to tell who was the least enthusiastic.

It was a pretty warm day out so I was grateful to step into the cool air conditioned sphere of Mrs. Martinez's car after school was out. The building was not properly cooled, so I had been nearly sweating all through my last few classes of the day. I wiped a bit of moisture from my brow as I plopped into the front seat. Ella seemed to have relinquished it for me as a sign of respect or something because she now constantly sat in the back.

"Damn it's hot out..." I said, fanning myself. Mrs. Martinez grinned.

"Yeah, we usually have a really hot day or two before it really starts cooling off. Of course, it never really truly gets to be winter weather, but it does cool off nicely." I prayed that this so called 'cool weather' would come soon. I wasn't a fan of too much heat. We pulled out of the parking lot and started cruising down the road. Suddenly Mrs. Martinez spoke up, keeping her eyes on the road. "Oh, Max..." she glanced at me out of the corner of her eyes and I raised my eyebrows to show I was listening.

"I'm just going to drop you off at home. I have to take Ella to a doctor's appointment. We won't be gone too long, but you'll probably have the house to yourself for about an hour and a half, give or take. I'll be home to make dinner and stuff, though, so you don't have to worry about it."

"Well, that's good." Ella piped up from the backseat. "Otherwise she'd probably burn the house down this time." She smirked playfully at me. I turned in my seat and shot ice needles at her through my glare.

"Shut up." I said defensively. "That was ONE TIME." I sulked, crossing my arms. Mrs. Martinez chuckled at my reaction. We finally pulled up in the driveway, and I hopped out, dragging my backpack behind me as I made my way to the front door. Mrs. Martinez waved at me as she pulled back out, and I gave a quick wave back. I set my bag down on the front step and walked over to the rock in the front garden where the spare key was hidden. I pulled the little gold key out from it's hidey hole, unlocked the door, and then put it back.

The house was as delightfully air conditioned as the car, and I relished in the cooling sensation, kicking off my shoes and socks. Even inside, I was too warm in my jeans so I ran up to my room to pull on some shorts and a new t-shirt that wasn't sticking to my body. Once feeling freshened up, I strolled into the kitchen to hunt down something to eat. Total, the Martinez's dog, followed excitedly at my heels. "Easy, boy..." I muttered, crouching down to ruff his fur before opening the fridge and pulling out some orange juice and a handful of string cheeses.

I poured myself a glass and then leaned against the island, entertaining myself by trying to get the string cheese open. Those things are so fucking hard to peel apart! I was struggling with it between my teeth when the telephone rang. I didn't feel like picking it up, so I continued with what I was doing and let it ring. Then it popped into my head that it could be either JJ calling about Saturday or maybe Mrs. Martinez trying to get ahold of me for something important. I chucked my cheese down on the counter in frustration and dashed towards the phone. I got to it just in time before it stopped ringing.

"Hello!" I said into the receiver, sounding slightly out of breath. I waited for someone to respond, but there was only silence on the other line. My breathing picked up a little bit. Uh oh...I'd seen this horror movie. But I composed myself and spoke again. "Hello, is anyone there?" This time there was a bit of crackling. I started to get worried. Should I just hang up? But finally, they spoke.

"Max?" a female voice said on the other line. It was my turn to pause. I was trying to match the voice to a face, but with only such a short sample of it, I couldn't do it.

"Wh-Who is this?" I asked hesitantly. There was another bout of silence.

"It's me, Max." the voice said. I though for another minute, and suddenly, a small face with curly light brown hair and slight buck teeth popped into my head. I almost gasped.

"Mousey? What are you doing? Why are you calling me?" I started pacing around the kitchen. Uh oh...this wasn't good. How did they find me? What did they want? "How did you get this number?" I asked frantically. Total was watching me from where he was laying on the floor, cocking his head to the side.

"That's not important." Mousey said solemnly. A shiver of fear tingled up my spine when she said this. I nervously glanced out the window to the backyard. The only thing that was out there was a squirrel. I ran a hand through my hair in stress. "Look, Max..." Mousey continued. I held my breath while she talked. "I'm calling to warn you." she said in earnest.

"Warn me about what?" I asked, controlling my voice carefully so that it didn't shake. I heard Mousey sigh.

"Some things have happened since you left. Some very serious things." she said gravely. I waited for her to explain. "I-You know how we were supposed to steal that book and the necklace for one of Sean's 'friends'?" she asked.

"Y-Yeah..." I said, fear growing in the pit of my stomach.

"Well, he wasn't too happy when Sean brought by only the book. He seems to think that we're keeping the necklace for ourselves." I waited patiently when she paused, probably thinking of the best way to tell the story. "Well...he got a little angry and came by The Meeting House a few days ago." I gulped.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Well, he didn't come alone, that's for sure." Mousey said. I could hear the cringe in her voice as she remembered what happened. "A-A fight broke out. Me and Sean and Caden managed to get out alright, but Carson...Carson didn't quite get away." I heard her sniffle in the background. My breathing stopped. Even though Carson had been the one to tackle me and bring me back to The Meeting House that one night, he'd always been kind to me before that. A lump was growing in my throat when I tried to speak.

"Mousey...what happened to Carson?" I asked with great solemnity.

"He got beat up pretty bad..." she answered, sounding a little bit better than before, but not by much. "Mostly around the head...He-There was some swelling in his brain and all. He-He's in a coma right now. The doctor's aren't sure if he's going to make it." I bit my lip hard until I felt my eyes stop watering.

"Okay..." I said, "How is this warning me about anything?" I knew I shouldn't be distracting myself from the fact that one of my long-time...well I don't know if 'friend' is the right word, but it was something like that... Was in a coma. But I couldn't deal with this right now. Not now. Mousey sniffled again.

"Max, Sean is NOT happy that his brother's in a coma. I know he may not always show it, but he's super protective of his family. And since he- since he thinks you took the necklace, he-he blames you for Carson getting hurt." I became suddenly furious.

"What the fuck!" I said loudly. "It's not my fault!" I started to pace again, this time out of anger.

"Max, he doesn't care. He needs someone to blame, or it's his fault. I don't think he can stand himself as it is." I huffed.

"Well, he SHOULD be sick with himself. This WHOLE THING is his fault!" I flung myself down in a chair and started tapping my foot with anxiety, just trying to burn off energy. There was silence on the other line. I wasn't patient enough to wait for her to start speaking again this time. "Well, why the hell are you telling me all this?" I blurted out, sounding bitter and resentful. Mousey probably wasn't the one to yell at here, but she was the only person I'd be talking to for the next hour or more.

"Did you take the necklace?" she asked in a small voice. I'd been about to snap something back, but the question registered and my breath hitched in my throat.

"I-Of course not." I said defensively, though I could feel my palms sticking up with persperation.

"Max...I...You know, you can tell me if you took it." Mousey said slowly. Anger bubbled up inside me again.

"You don't believe me, do you?" I demanded.

"That's not it! I just..." she trailed off. "Look, I can't afford to argue about this right now." The conversation was shifting again. "Regardless of whether you took it or not, he's coming after you, Max. And when he finds you, I highly doubt he's going to care WHO took it. He just wants revenge." I almost choked on just the air I was breathing in.

"Wh-? They're coming after me? How do they know where I am?" I was frantic again. I hopped up from my chair and started pacing around the kitchen like a mad woman. I was close to hyperventilation, but I wasn't about to let Mousey hear anything. I held my hand over the part you talk into to prevent any sound from leaking through.

"They called your house. Your brother picked up and when he said you weren't there, they asked where you were, and he said you went to live with your mom in Arizona." Mousey informed me quickly. "I guess they asked where in Arizona, and he told them the city too." I nearly face-palmed. Of course it would be my own brother that would betray me to the bad guys. Of course, he probably had no idea what he was getting me into when he told them, but still... "I guess Sean knows some guys in the Sierra Vista area and he's gonna have them keep an eye out for you until he can get tickets to fly down there himself."

I felt just about ready to puke. Even the thought of Sean in town was enough to make me sick to my stomach with nerves. I'd never been scared of him until now. He could do ANYTHING to me. He could be preparing to pull out a gun and shoot me for all I know. I closed my eyes, leaning against the counter, and pinched the bridge of my nose. Mousey spoke up on the phone again. "Are you okay? I can understand that you'd be scared. I-" I interrupted her.

"Don't call this number again. I don't want to talk to any of you. Good bye." And I hung up the phone, letting it drop onto the counter. I wanted to curl up in a ball and die. What if he came to my house? What if Ella or Mrs. Martinez got hurt? I pondered running away for a moment, but then figured that would do no good. They'd probably find me easier that way. And I'd be alot more vulnerable living on the streets. To them, and to random creepy strangers.

Out of nerves, I went around each room in the house and checked under beds and behind shower curtains, as though expecting someone to already have found me and be just waiting to strike. I checked all the locks on the windows and doors to make sure they were all in working order. I found nothing to be out of place, but I was still pretty shaken up. I calmed down enough finally to start talking to myself and reassuring myself how unlikely it would be for them to find me.

"Just breathe, Max." I muttered to myself. "Sean's probably just being a hot head. He won't really do anything. Yeah...they'll never find you. Just relax." This made me feel a little bit better, and I stopped pacing around so much. My breathing evened out, and my face cooled off. All the same, I felt safer after I'd hidden a particularily large, sharp knife in the drawer of my bedside table.

Saturday afternoon came far too soon. I'd woken up early in the morning after another freaky nightmare about the gang finding me here. The sun was just coming up, so I stole quietly downstairs and curled up on the couch in the living room to watch the tail end of several infommercials. I'd spent the rest of the day up until now trying to do things to distract myself from my frazzled nerves. Mrs. Martinez had asked me on several different occasions whether or not I was okay, but I didn't want to worry her so I simply told her I was just overly tired and therefore a bit jumpy because of it.

And now, with noon fast approaching, I was not only worrying about my old so-called friends, but the new ones that I was going out with today. How was I supposed to act? When was I supposed to laugh and when was I supposed to be serious? Could I sit through an entire day of shopping? I nibbled erratically on a slice of leftover pizza as these questions ran through my mind. Even on a nervous stomach, I still seemed perfectly capable of putting away a vast amount of food. This was my third slice.

Suddenly, I heard a honk from outside the house. I started, but then realized it was probably only Caitlyn. "Max!" I heard Mrs. Martinez yell from the front hallway. "Your friends are here!" I tossed what was left of my pizza slice in the trash can and then hurried to get to the door. Mrs. Martinez grinned at me as I slipped my shoes on. In fact, she was grinning so widely that I began to get suspicious. I cocked my head to the side as I started for the door.

"Ummm...is something the matter?" I asked her curiously, wondering why she seemed so cheery. I noticed she was holding something behind her back.

"Here." she said, "I...figured you'd be needing one of these sometime soon so I picked one up for you the other day while you were at school. I guess today's the perfect day to use it." She held out her hands in front of me, revealing a sleek, electric blue cell phone. I stared at it with wide eyes, not sure what to say. Mrs. Martinez shrugged as she pressed it into my hands. "You can keep in touch with all your friends and I can have a way to reach you. I will never understand why your father didn't get you one. You're fifteen for christ's sake."

I turned the cell phone over it my hands. It was already on and the screen glowed. "Umm...thank-thank you. This is awesome. Thanks." I smiled at her to show my gratitude. She smiled back.

"You're welcome. Now hurry up. Your friends are waiting." I nodded and opened the door, pocketing my new phone. "I'm sure Ella will show you how to use it later!" she called as I walked over to Caitlyn's car which was waiting patiently in my driveway. I waved and hopped into the backseat. It was EXTREMELY cramped. The backseat was only technically supposed to seat three people, but I squeezed in and me and Michael ended up sharing a seatbelt. JJ was in passenger. Iggy and Fang were squished on the other side of Michael. Caitlyn was driving of course.

JJ turned around to beam at me. "All good? Sweet, let's go." And we pulled out of the drive way, JJ turning up the radio and humming along. I smiled to myself, but still felt the nerves coiling in my stomach.

The Sierra Vista Mall was averagely sized. It had two large department stores and a movie theater, along with a variety of smaller stores and restaurants throughout it. It looked to be a popular hangout for the weekends. Families crowded the food court, and lots of teenagers moved around in giggling packs, slipping in and out of different stores. JJ zoomed ahead of us, positively ecstatic to be here. The rest of us followed behind. Me and Fang lagged in the back, the least eager out of everyone.

Finally, JJ stopped at a large stand displaying a map in the middle of the floor. We all crowded around it. JJ turned to address everyone. "Does everyone at least have a vague idea of what they're looking for?" she asked. I saw pretty much everyone nod. I gulped. Uh oh. I hadn't even thought about it. JJ continued though. "Okay...well, I think we should split into groups and go off to find the costumes. We can meet back in the food court when we're done. Sound good?" Again, everyone nodded. This was new territory for me. I felt like I was being ordered around again instead of the born leader I was.

I knew JJ wasn't trying to be controlling, it just felt strange to me. It seemed to split up into a girls group and a guys group. Iggy, Fang, and Michael headed off in one direction, and me, JJ, and Caitlyn went in another. With JJ in the lead, we flitted from store to store, and went through what seemed like a thousand different items. The girls slipped in and out of dressing rooms faster than I could've ever imagined. It was like watching one of those movies where they speed up the shopping trips and makeovers to run in fastforward. I was reluctant to try on much of anything and they picked up on that quickly.

They began making me model various types of costumes to try to "get my imagination going". I reluctantly let them have their fun. And actually, I ended up enjoying myself. I eventually began to get more comfortable and started trying on random costumes with them and then laughing hysterically when they looked funny. However, I wasn't anywhere close to picking something I'd actually want to wear. They finally coaxed me into something though.

Finally, after an hour and a half of running around the mall, we were lazily making our way to the food court with our purchases in tow. We'd all successfully managed to find a costume. Well...They'd successfully found a costume for me as well, but still. You get the point. Caitlyn planned to go as a car hop from the 50's. She'd found a black collared shirt that she was going to tuck into a turquoise skirt with a black hem. She'd even managed to find on of those cute little car hop hats in turquoise as well. And she alread had a pair of roller skates at home, along with a tray for her to carry.

JJ was beside herself with joy after finding a green Crayola crayon costume. It was a little mint green dress made to look like the label of a Crayola crayon and a mint green hat which looked like the tip of one. And since I'd INSISTED that I didn't want anything too elaborate, they'd agreed on just a pair of wings for me as long as I promised to let them do my makeup on halloween. I was quickly regretting that I'd said I would allow them. But the wings were pretty cool, I have to admit. They were pretty big and start out a sort of tawny brown at the top and then fade into ivory in the middle before going pure white around the second and primary feathers. They were sort of beautiful in a way.

We spotted the boys sitting at a table in the middle of the food court, and hurried over to join them. Iggy hopped up from his chair when he heard our footsteps. "Well there you guys are!" he cried in exasperation. "It only took you about three hours. We've been waiting here for at least half an hour." JJ rolled her eyes.

"Oh quit complaining, Jeff." I blinked twice. I'd forgotten that Iggy wasn't his real name. JJ tried to peek into the shopping bag he was holding. "What'd you get?" she asked curiously. Iggy grinned.

"Only just about the sexiest costume you'll ever see." he gloated, pulling the costume out of the bag and holding it up to show us. All three of us girls stared at it for a minute before we burst out into laughter.

"You are the biggest dork EVER!" I said, holding sides while I laughed. He was holding up a full-body spandex Spiderman suit. He glared in our direction.

"You women just don't understand. Don't tell me you wouldn't just about faint if THIS handsome young thing..." he pointed to himself, "dropped in to save you from evil." That just made us laugh harder. He finally rolled his eyes and sank down into his chair to sulk. Michael patted his shoulder.

"It's okay, man. Yours can't be much more embarassing as mine." Michael took out several items to reveal a Michael Jackson costume. "Gotta pay tribute to my good pal! We share the same name, after all." It was bright red leather jacket and some black pants and a black hat. Standard Michael Jackson. We all chuckled at this too.

"And what did Nick get?" JJ asked, turning to face Fang. He held up his hands to reveal that he hadn't bought anything.

"Sorry." he said, though he didn't sound it. "Halloween's not really my thing."

"Yeah, that's what I said, but they still made me get one." I said, pretending to be bummed that I had to suffer alone. All the sudden, I heard someone's stomach growl. Caitlyn clutched her abdomen, and looked around in embarrassment.

"Sorry, I'm starving." she said. JJ looked enlightened.

"That's okay, I am too! Anybody else want anything?" she asked. We all agreed that we could go for something to snack on. We scanned the food court for anything that caught our eyes, and eventually split up to order. Iggy and JJ both followed the scent of spicy Mexican food to a Taco Bell, and Michael and Caitlyn made their way over to an Auntie Anne's Pretzle Shop. Every line to every restaurant seemed to go on for a mile. I wasn't patient enough to stand around waiting to order, so I picked the restaurant with the shortest line.

As I stood waiting to get to the counter of a Starbuck's, I tapped my foot in impatience. Suddenly, I heard a voice behind me say something. "Hey." I jumped about a foot in the air, and swung around, expecting to see Sean towering over me with that wicked grin he always wore in my nightmares. But no...it was just Fang, looking slightly surprised at my reaction. "Jeese...someone's edgy today." he observed.

"I am NOT edgy." I said defensively.

"Excuse me, miss?" I felt someone touch my shoulder and whipped around again, holding my hand in the air like I was about to strike. The elderly woman that had tapped me flinched away in shock. "I just wanted to let you know that they were ready to take your order." she said in a frightened voice, hurrying away. Fang looked at me pointedly. I sighed and walked up to the counter.

I ordered a black and white cookie, and Fang ordered a small iced coffee and a chocolate scone after me. We walked back to the table with our food, and I was surprised to see that no one had returned yet. I glanced around to see JJ and Iggy still aways back in the line to Taco Bell. Michael and Caitlyn were making about as much progress at Auntie Anne's. Me and Fang sat down at the table and ate in a rather awkward silence.

After about five minutes, I said something to break the ice. "So...how's your sister?" He was drinking his coffee when I asked, and I saw him almost choke on it before trying to answer.

"Oh...she's-she's fine." he said, sounding a bit flustered for the first time since I'd met him. "She's...fine." I eyed him a bit suspiciously.

"What was it you said she had?"

"Oh...she was just getting over a flu is all." Fang looked down at his half-eaten scone when he said this.

"She looked pretty under the weather that time at Dairy Queen." I continued, having no tact in conversation, simply just wanting to nose about because I thought it was good entertainment. It kept me from getting bored. What can I say? I'm a nosy person. At least I don't deny it.

"Yeah..." was all Fang said, stirring his coffee.

"She looked like her ankles hurt or something. Did she sprain one?" I knew I was probably pushing it too far, but I wanted to know what was going on. Fang was looking quite uncomfortable at this point.

"I don't know, maybe." He quickly redirected the conversation. "So, what did they FORCE you into buying that you were complaining about earlier?" I let it drop. Pulling my bag onto the table, I took out the pair of wings I'd purchased. He nodded at them to show he thought they were neat. I was looking over his shoulder to see if I could spot JJ or Michael or someone, when I caught sight of something that almost stopped my heart.

A tall figure was walking about in the crowd. He had dark brown hair and very hard, square jaw. I stood up out of my sit, feeling like I was going to be sick again. "Oh shit..." I muttered under my breath. Then the boy turned and I saw that it hadn't been Sean like I'd thought. Just a guy that looked like him. This boy's face was softer though, and he looked a little older. I let out a sound of relief and sat back down a little shakily.

Fang looked at me in puzzlement. "What was that about?" he asked, looking over his shoulder to see where I had been staring. The boy had dissappeared in the crowd.

"Nothing." I said, picking apart my cookie. "I just thought I saw someone I knew." Fang looked like he was maybe going to inquire further, which was EXTREMELY out of character for him, but JJ, Michael and the others picked then to arrive back at the table with their food. I was grateful for their impecable timing.

By the time we finished, it was nearing three o' clock in the afternoon. We all stopped at one of those MASSIVE gum ball dispensers to grab some gum before we left. I got two blue ones, my favorite kind. Must be my lucky day. I was bending over to pull out the candy when I felt someone tap my shoulder again. Still paranoid, I whipped around and almost punched poor JJ in the face. All she'd wanted to do was offer me another quarter for more gum. I felt terrible, and apologized profusely.

Fang was supressing a smirk as we exited the mall. Me and him lagged in the back again while we tried to find Caitlyn's car in the lot. "What?" I asked him rather irritatedly. He shrugged.

"Nothing. I just think it's kind of funny that you almost punch everybody that tries to talk to you." I frowned.

"I'm not trying to..." I muttered quietly. He seemed to hear me, though.

"Seriously, why are you so...freaked out today?" he asked. It was my turn to shrug as I thought up a quick lie. I didn't feel like explaining the whole messy situation. Not to him. Not today.

"I-I guess it's just because I was nervous that you guys would think I was like...a freak or something. I've never...had a group a friends that really did anything together. This is kinda new for me." Phew...not too bad.

Fang looked like he was thinking for a minute. "Eh...you get used to it." he said wisely. "I mean...you have to." he smirked at me. "You can't go on being a hermit forever, you know." I rolled my eyes.

"Shut up." I said, chucking a gumball at his head.

A/N: Ah...finished. Links to pictures of their costumes are in my profile under the Links For My Stories section. I always enjoy writing filler chapters. :D

Haha...I've had the song Who's Going Home With You Tonight stuck in my head all day and all yesterday! That one and then a bunch of the songs by The Kinks. I need new music on my ipod. :)