Chapter 16
Jonas' voice was the first to break the silence. "Well, that definitely went better than I anticipated."
"Yeah but it also didn't go as well as I anticipated." Zach's voice rang out louder than Jonas' he must have been closer.
"I think all things considered it could have been much, much worse." Grant put it. "Bex and I made eye contact it she didn't look as furious so I guess that's something."
"I think we're making progress here." Preston said a little dreamily.
The boys erupted into roars. "Oh that's only cause you got to make out with McHenry." Grant yelled at him. "Totally unfair."
"Well last I checked, none of you losers even attempted to talk to your girlfriends, you don't know how they would've responded." Preston tried to defend.
Zach snorted. "Nothing like McHenry thats for sure." Someone snickered.
"He's not kidding," Grant put in "Cam and Bex would take turns walloping us, no way we'd receive that warm of a welcome if we made a move on them in this state."
"Amen." Bex said reaching over her hand for me to slap, I obliged.
"Jo, any progress on figuring out what made them so mad?" Preston asked out of the blue.
"None, I've watched the footing about a hundred times now, I've got nothing. They're perfectly fine, even looked like they were gonna laugh with us for a while then all of the sudden, they're ticked!" He informed the group.
"Footage? We've got to get that." Macey said quietly
"Well, I'm stumped." Grant said after a few minutes of silence. We skipped most of it, we were almost to their live conversation.
"Me too." Preston said.
"I've got nothing." Jonas added
"I'm...still thinking." Zach said thoughtfully.
"Well, you could always ask them." Solomon put in, speaking for the first time.
Liz jumped "I forgot he was there." She said quietly.
"What? Are you insane?!" Jonas asked loudly.
"Absolutely not, you boys have this 'fool-proof-plan' don't you?" I could practically see the air quotes. Obviously Solomon didn't think highly of their plan.
"Yeah, we do." Zach said confidently.
"Well then, what's the problem, ask them tomorrow before the night is over, if everything goes as you expect it to, then there shouldn't be a problem. They will have forgiven you and there's no harm in asking them what was wrong in the first place." Solomon suggested.
"The one problem with that, is bringing it up might make them mad all over again." Preston put in.
"Not if we do this right." Grant said persuasively.
"Well, we'll only get one shot at this, it absolutely has to be perfect." Jonas added.
"This summer is going to suck so bad at their mad at us the whole time. I just barely got Cammie back, I can't lose her again. This will work and it will be perfect. This is our summer guys." Zach made a mini speech, and the girls cooed when he mentioned me.
"Yeah Zach!" Grant yelled before whistling while Jonas and Preston cheered. The boys continued to chat in the background, whooping and cheering while steps came just a bit too close to the bug.
"Have a nice day ladies." Solomon whispered in the unit before crushing it.
"Curse you, Solomon!" I whisper/yelled while glaring at the laptop.
"That was certainly informative." Macey said sarcastically.
"I can honestly say I wasn't expecting that." Bex said.
"Expecting what?" I asked confused.
"You know, like half of what they said. I expected it to be more of the stuff we've been getting the past couple days. Mostly talk about school, their plans for the summer, teasing, maybe a couple mentions of us. I didn't think they were going to take us being mad so seriously."
"Well, they didn't expect us to get so mad about Lizzie either. I guess we've all been underestimating each other." Macey said.
"Still, I'm surprised the care so much. I kind of assumed their big plan was to like, bake us cookies or something like that. They really do want us to forgive them." Liz said softly.
"Let's not jump to conclusions," I added cautiously "The plan may be for us to make cookies with them, or for us to build sand castles together. We don't know what's coming so we have to be prepared for anything."
"Can we at least all agree that we're going to forgive them?" Bex added.
"Yeah, can we?" Liz added hopefully.
"Yeah Mace, I'm done being mad at Zach. It's no fun."
We all looked at Macey, asking for her opinion, begging her to say yes.
She thought about it for a minute, biting her lip, probably weighing pros and cons out in her mind. "Alright." She said finally. "We'll forgive the guys."
We cheered before thanking her profusely.
"So mom, where exactly are we going?"
"Shopping." She replied vaguely.
"Well, yes thank you for that captain obvious, but what are we looking for?" Macey asked sweetly in a half sarcastic voice.
I could see my mom smile in the rear view mirror as she looked at me. "You'll see."
The girls and I groaned, and begged for her to tell us but she stood firm. As the drive went on, it was clear we were going to be in the car for a while so we started playing the alphabet game again. We quickly made our way through the alphabet and were about halfway through with our second time around when we finally pulled into the parking lot of some mall.
We burst out of the car like we had been in there for days. "Finally!" I exclaimed as I stretched my arms and legs.
"Cam, stretch your back with me." Macey said as she leaned back towards the ground. I went to stand by her as we fell into back bends before flipping over.
We sighed in content. "That felt good." I said as we looked up to see my mom, Bex, and Liz staring at us.
"What?" Macey asked innocently.
"Are you girls ready?" My mom countered.
"Yeah, lets go." I exclaimed hopping once before settling in beside Bex.
"Let's go." She set off quickly towards the mall and we hurried behind her. "Now, this is going to get tricky because you are all doing different kinds of things that require different kinds of clothing." The girls and I perked up, this was definitely something file away. I wondered if she was going to drop hints the whole time.
"Whose stuff are we looking for first?" Macey asked.
"We'll start with Liz. Then Bex then Cam and then Macey last." She answered after thinking for a moment.
We stopped walking for a moment and looked at what stores were around us before turning into one on our right. Instantly we were surrounded by racks of more casual clothing. It seemed like Lizzie's night out wasn't going to be too fancy.
We each picked out an outfit for Liz to try on before sending her to the dressing rooms before looking for more. There were skirts and shorts and leggings and pants and blouses and t-shirts and sweaters (I swear I have never felt so sorry for Liz in my entire life) before finally we all agreed on a pair of light jean shorts a pink slouchy shirt and a gray sweater to go over it.
One down, three to go.
Next, we were lead to a dressier store.
"Okay, we should be able to get Bex's and Cam's outfit here." My mom said surveying the store.
I tried to hold back a groan. I was excited to see where Zach was taking me but fancy dress meant fancy make-up which meant lots and lots of time in front of a mirror.
"Let's split up so we can cover more ground, Macey and Liz you two go look for something for Cam. Something shorter so she has lots of room to move and nothing too fancy." I sighed in relief, and then she winked and I groaned again. "Bex you and Cammie are coming with me, we're going to find something fabulous for Bex to wear."
"Aye aye captain." I said with a sarcastic salute. My mom grinned a little before turning to Macey.
"Meet us back at this spot in exactly an hour with all your choices, we'll meet up here later to try things on." Macey nodded and then we were off.
The next hour managed to simultaneously be a blur and drag on forever. I vaguely remember handing a few dresses that would suit Bex to my mother but other than that I mostly gave opinions on other dresses they showed me. Exactly an hour later we returned to meet Macey and Liz. They both held dozens of dresses and I tried very hard not to groan.
"Alright," I said grabbing some dresses and looking at Bex "Let's do this." Bex and I nodded at each other as we made way for the dressing rooms.
The next hour and a half (Yeah, it really took that long. I wish I was joking.) was spent trying on dresses, then trying on different dresses, then re-trying on the same dresses as before. Bex managed to somehow look incredible in every single thing she tried on while I tried very hard to look good in at least one of the dresses.
After about an hour Bex had her dress, it was a gorgeous red sequined dress embroidered with lace and she looked stunning in it.
Finally, finally, finally, we decided on a light pink ruffled dress with a small jewel detail on the waist and a built in bra. It was heavy and uncomfortable and it had a corseted back but I was eager to leave so I agreed to it. After paying for our ridiculously priced dresses, we headed for the food court for a small snack before we went to find something for Macey to wear.
As s we waited impatiently for the line to moe I suggested some of us go to find seats with the bags so we didn't have to keep holding them.
"Great idea Cam. Liz why don't you and Macey head over to find us a table while Bex, Cam, and I finish ordering our food. We'll meet you over there in a few minutes." My mom suggested.
"Okay, sounds good. Make sure my drink is diet." Macey said as she pulled Liz towards the empty tables.
"So after Macey's outfit are we done?" I asked anxiously.
"No." My mom answered.
"What?" Bex asked surprised. "What else could we possibly have to buy?"
"Shoes, make-up, underclothes, hair product, accessories, perfumes, and phones would probably be a good idea too. We'll get some for the boys though." She answered as if it were an obvious answer.
Bex and I shared a look. This was going to be a long few hours. Suddenly, I had an idea.
"Wait, since we're shopping today does this mean we don't have to go shopping next week?" I asked excitedly.
"Oh no, we're still going shopping next week." Bex answered quickly as my mom turned to pay.
"Why are you so eager to go shopping all of the sudden?"
"Have you seen my wardrobe? It's time for a new look."
"Yeah, I kinda need one too." I agreed grudgingly.
"Do my ears deceive me? Did you just agree to go shopping for a whole new wardrobe?" My mom asked suddenly interested in the conversation.
"Not an entirely new wardrobe." I tried to protest.
"Now now, you said a new look, that entails a new wardrobe. And new accessories!"
"Not to mention new perfumes, make-up, jackets, shoes, hair-styles, nail styles, practically a whole new Cammie." Bex added in.
"Bex! You are not helping!" I exclaimed
"I am helping, just not you." She said cheekily with a small wink to show she was joking. "Come on Cam, this will be fun!"
I sighed but reluctantly agreed. "Fine, but I reserve the right to veto whatever I find necessary."
"Deal." Bex said reaching over and shaking my hand.
"Girls come help me carry this." My said calling to me and Bex. We had three trays covered in chinese food and drinks it smelled amazing.
We quickly found Liz and Macey and set down the trays before jumping on them like ravenous lions. Within moments the food had disappeared.
I leaned back in my chair and let out a satisfied sigh.
"Don't get comfortable on me now, we still have a lot of work to do." My mom said gathering the garbage.
"I know I'm not, I'm just momentarily relaxing." I answered slowly.
"Well moments over. We've got a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it." Reluctantly we all climbed to our feet.
"Macey's shouldn't take too long, I already have the perfect outfit in mind then we can do everything else."
"Everything else?" Liz asked wearily.
"Shoes, make-up, underclothes, hair product, accessories, perfumes, and phones for us and the boys." Bex and I repeated verbatim.
"That's right, now let's get moving."
We set off. My mom led us quickly to a store only a few yards from the food court. She browsed the store only for a moment before leading us to the back of the store. She handed macey a rose print dress and a red ¾ length sleeve blazer with studs on the sleeves and told her to go and try it on. Macey grabbed it and without a moment to spare set out for the dressing rooms and we followed behind her. An impossibly short amount of time later she appeared once more.
"It's perfect." She said and we all looked at her, baffled. Well, except for my mom she just said.
"I had a feeling it might be."She had a sly look on her face.
"I even have shoes that go perfectly with this."
"I know I thought of this when I saw them earlier."
"You're a miracle worker." I saw in awe. "I thought we were gonna be here for hours."
"I think we all did." Bex added quietly.
"This is just statistically improbable." Liz whispered.
"Doing the impossible is fun girls, always remember this. Now come on, we've got places to go." And once more, we were off.
First thing first; shoes. We went to the nearest shoe store and went straight for the heels. Lizzie got some light pink high tops the exact shade of pink as her shirt and they had small heels on the bottom with spikes on the sides. Bex got some dangerously high heels that were a dark black. I got some incredibly hard to walk in high heeled shoes. They made me walk around the store in them so I could get used to walking in heels. Macey got some adorable red heels with a bow on them. We double checked the fit and then we were out of there.
"Alright girls, switch shoes." My mom said handing each of us the box with our shoes.
"What?" Squeaked Liz.
"You have to break them in and get used to wearing them, and now is the time. Come on, hop to it."
We all reluctantly slipped on the heels and then set off to buy new makeup.
We walked into a local makeup store and I was shocked at how much there was. I mean, I knew there was a lot of different makeup options but I didn't know there were this many.
"Alright, we already have most of the things we need at home so we're mostly going to buy back ups." Macey decided surveying the store with a hand on her hip.
"Sounds good, lead the way." My mom added and then we were running around the store, trying to keep Macey from trying too many new kinds of makeup. After picking up extras of all the makeup we already had, we paid quickly and then went to find the next thing on our list.
They led us to *gulp* an underwear store (I bet you can guess which one). Luckily for me I had a built in bra in my dress so I bought so boy shorts go on under the dress and called life good. But then I had to wait for everyone else to pick their favorite pair and try them on. Poor Liz was cornered by Macey by the push up bra's and I haven't seen her since. I decided to go and find her and see if she needed an escape.
"Liz?" I called softly into the changing rooms, trying not to attract too much attention.
"Over here." A voice called from my right. Her head popped out of a nearby changing room. "Help. Me." She whispered.
I nodded once and checked for Bex and Macey before giving her the all clear signal. She burst out of her changing room, wobbling on her heels with unwanted underclothing in her hands and we ran to the register. She bought a much more appropriate article and we ran from the store.
"That was close." I said breathing heavily, waiting for a wild Macey to appear and drag us back into the store.
We started walking towards my mom. "Way too close." She added.
"Hey girls, did you get everything you need?" My mom asked from where she sat with our big pile of bags.
"Yes ma'am." We responded in unison.
"Brilliant. Look, I found the cutest little boutique over there, it has the cutest accessories and looks like it has some great perfumes, why don't you go start looking while I wait for Bex and Macey then we can finish up there and go get phones?" She asked us.
"Sounds good." I said and we hiked off towards the aforementioned store.
"This is actually a pretty cute store." Liz remarked as we entered.
"Yeah it is, and look at the wall of accessories." I said in awe. Liz caught her breath in her throat as she saw the wall I was gesturing too.
We looked at each other and grinned before taking off towards the necklaces, earrings, rings and bracelets. We sat there for ages just trying on necklaces and earrings and rings, admiring how they looked on us, and when Macey and Bex got there too they joined us.
"Oooooh, Cam, you should wear these." Macey said pulling some dangly earrings from the rack and handing them to me.
I held them next to my ears and nodded. "I think these will do perfectly. Thanks Mace."
"Sure thing." She replied before going back to looking at rings.
"Hey guys, we should all get matching rings." Bex said as she looked over the rings she had on each of her fingers.
"That's a great idea!" Liz exclaimed as she popped her head out from behind a stand that was covered in necklaces.
"Which one should we get?" I asked them and we all began to look at rings. We looked at fancy ones, plan ones, funny ones (ugly ones according to Macey), ever those weird rubber ones before deciding.
"Hey guys, look at these." Bex called from a little farther down the counter. She showed us tiny crystal rings with dark bands. They weren't too flashy and they weren't too plain. They were perfect.
"There's four left." Liz noted.
"It's fate." I whispered.
Macey nodded and Bex scooped them up. We quickly picked out the rest of our jewelry and went over the perfumes.
"How are you ladies doing today?" A worker asked. Her name tag read Sam.
"We're great, how are you?" I responded perfectly polite and Bex elbowed me in the gut.
"Cover" She mumbled in my ear.
"Can I help you find anything?" I just shrugged and turned back to the counter when Liz spoke up.
"What's your favorite scent?" She asked innocently.
"Well...my favorite would have to be…" She surveyed the shelves. "This one." She said finally pulling a small bottle from the back of one of the shelves.
She sprayed it on a test paper and we took turns smelling it.
"Wow." Macey murmured. "Where did you find this?" She asked louder as she passed it to me. I held it to my nose.
"We make it right here. The only store in the world you can find this exact one at. Most of our products are made right there in the back room."
This perfume smelled indescribably amazing. It smelled like...flowers but not really and it smelled like fruit but not really. I really can't find the words. It was perfect.
"How many bottles of it do you have made?" I asked curiously.
"About a dozen I would say."
"Can we order it and have it shipped to us?" Bex asked after smelling it herself.
"I'm not sure but I think so. Maybe not for much longer, this old shop is going out of business. Most people like those big department stores better now." She said sadly.
"That's awful." Liz said as she stared at the paper as if hoping to extract the scents that were in it.
"Yes, well...Anything else I can do for you girls today?" She asked smiling once more.
"No, I think we're ready to go." I said smiling back at her.
"Well then, I'll ring you up." She crossed to the cash register and we each grabbed one of the bottles of the perfume.
We piled our finds on the counter and waited as she pulled up our total. She gasped when she saw the rings.
"I didn't realize we still had these" she said looking at them with almost a reverence. "They were hand made by the late owner of the store. The only four she made like this. They're one of a kind." She placed each of them gently in a ring box then placed the boxes in a bag.
"It really was fate." Macey mumbled under her breath.
She finished wrapping up the items and handed them to us after we had paid. We waved to her joyfully, thanking her as we left the store.
"I really liked that store." I said happily as we crossed towards the electronic store where my mom was waiting for us.
"I did too. What a find." Bex said with a grin.
"I love boutiques. It's official. I'm never shopping anywhere else." Macey said decided.
Liz snorted. "Suuuure Mace." I giggled. This was definitely not the first time Macey had sworn herself to one kind of shopping.
"What?" She asked confused as Bex started to guffaw. "I'm serious this time!" She complained.
Liz and I stopped trying to hold it in, we burst into laughter. Macey looked at us sulkily before allowing a small smile to cross her face.
"Alright, alright, maybe I'm not so serious but lets hurry up and get this done so we can take these dumb heels off. I hate breaking in new shoes." She grumbled and we all hurried our steps so we could get the heck out of the mall.
"There you girls are, I was about to give up hope that you would ever leave that store." My mom said as we entered the store. "We're just about done here too, go pick a phone case from the cart outside. The boys need one too, if you want to pick theirs out."
"Oh absolutely." Macey said crossing to the door.
She told us the name of the phones she was getting us and we went to examine the cases while my mom finished picking a plan and setting up the phones. I had no doubt as soon as she got home, the service would be switched to the CIA main satellite service and the phones would definitely be tricked out, even if we had to do it ourselves.
"Hey Cam, what do you think of this case for Grant?" Bex asked holding up a pink chevron case.
"Nah, too mainstream. He'd like it too much." I answered.
"Agreed." Bex said surveying it again.
I was hit with a stroke of genius. "Hey, what if we get Zach and Grant one of those couples cases? You know so they're all matching and adorable." I asked her.
"Great idea! Let's get looking." She agreed and we began to search. We had barely covered one side of the cart before Liz called to us.
"Hey guys! The do custom cases!" She said excitedly. "Let's get cute matching cases!"
"That'd be cool." Macey said.
"I feel like such a stereotypical white girl." I said, a little weirded out.
"Same, isn't it weird?" Bex asked. I couldn't agree more.
"What kind of cases are we getting?" I asked Macey.
"I'm not sure yet, I'm still thinking it over. Let's go talk to the guy again." She spun on her heel and led us to where the man running the cart stood.
"So how customizable are these cases?" Macey asked, a hand on her hip.
"Pretty customizable. We can use pictures, quotes, anything you may want. We scan it into the computer, edit it until it fits your phone, print it out, and stick it to the case." He said showing us the clear cases. "Nothing too hard."
"Can you sell us the kits?" Bex asked.
"Sure can, it's a few dollars more though, and it can be tricky to get right."
"I think we can manage. Can we get four of these kits?" I asked.
"Sure thing. Anything else I can do for you guys today?"
"Actually." I said pulling Bex to my side. "We would like to make a couple case set. Can we do that?"
He laughed a little. "Totally, what do you want on it?" I looked at Bex evilly.
"Do you have a favorite? Maybe something that you've seen people do that you really liked, or one you made for you and your girlfriend?" I asked with an innocent smile. Bex coughed behind me, trying to cover up a laugh.
"Actually, yeah. I just saw the cutest case set the other day." He winced. "That sounded so girly, I apologize that you had to hear that."
Bex and I laughed as he pulled up a document. It was a picture of two elephants, one pick one blue, and their trunks crossed over onto the other case to make a heart in the middle.
"Oh that's perfect." I said smiling.
"Do you want names on it?" He asked.
"Bex? What do you think?" I asked my giggling friend.
"Oh I think nicknames would be perfect." She said pushing back her laughter.
"What are the names?" He asked, fingers poised above the keys.
She thought about it only for a minute. "Gumdrop and..." I burst into laughter "Pookie Bear." I couldn't help it, I laughed even harder and it took only seconds for Bex to join in.
"Well, alright then." The cashier, Jonathan, said chuckling along with us.
"I'm, I'm sorry." I said holding my side, trying to stop laughing. "These are for our boyfriends, we're getting them matching phone cases and, this is so much better than anything I could have imagined." I managed to get out, dissolving into giggles at the end of my sentence.
"Ah, I understand now. You guys are hilarious." He said with a sincere smile on his face. "I get the feeling that is some sort of payback…?" He asked
"Oh yeah." Bex said breathing heavily.
"Aw, I kinda feel bad for the poor guys." He said smiling as he began to put the pictures on the cases.
"Wait, who's Gumdrop and who's Pookie Bear?" I asked Bex.
"Grant is Gumdrop, because the both start with G and we both know that's the only way he's going to remember it's his." She clarified.
"Ah, yes that makes sense."
"Alrighty," Jonathan said "Here you guys go." He said putting the completed cases in a box, the putting it into a bag with the kits "Anything else?"
"I think they should have cases as well." I said pointing to the approaching Macey and Liz.
"Indeed we do." Macey said handing over 2 cases. One a bright pink and the other with a disney princess on the back. "And that should be it." Macey handed over his credit card for him to swipe.
"Awesome, you ladies have a nice day." He said handing me the bag and Macey her credit card.
"You too." I replied sincerely.
"Look Cam, there's your mom." Liz said. She stood over by a fountain a few yards away.
"Finally! Let's go home!" Bex exclaimed.
"So what cases did you guys get for Grant and Zach?" Macey asked as we crossed towards my mother.
"Oh, we personalized some." Bex said simply.
"Can we see?" Liz asked.
Bex looked at me and I nodded.
"We'll show you in the car." Bex said "I can't bloody stand anymore."
"Alright girls, you ready to go?" She asked chipperly.
"Yes!" We all cried in unison.
She laughed slightly and we were off. We practically ran to the car.
"I'm starving!" Bex cried as soon as we reached the car.
"I am too." I agreed.
"Same." Macey said plainly.
"Me too." Liz agreed as she let out a sigh from beside my mom.
"Let's run through the drive thru and get some burgers." My said as she pulled towards a fast food restaurant.
"I'm honestly too hungry to argue." Macey said as we all looked at her.
We ordered five double cheeseburgers and enough fries to give us all a heart attack.
"Hey Cam, show us the cases." Liz said as my mom pulled up to pay.
"Okay." I giggled as Bex and I pulled the cases out from the boxes and held them side by side for Macey and Liz to see.
They burst into laughter. "Oh my word that is hilarious!" Macey cried as she reached out to pull them closer to her face. "You two are officially my heroes."
"Who's Gumdrop and who's Pookie Bear?" Liz asked
"Guess!" I exclaimed
"Grant is obviously Gumdrop." Liz said after only a moments hesitation.
"Seriously though." Macey agreed handing us the cases back.
"What are we going to put on our cases?" I asked.
"I'll get online and see if I can find something cute." Liz said reaching for her laptop.
"Awesome."
"Here you are girls." My mom said passing back our burgers and fries.
"YUM!" I said and dug right into my burger.
Bex scoffed. "Americans." But she attacked her burger with as much fervor as I did.
As we began the drive home, we decided to set up our phones. We immediately put each others contact information on our phones. We even put in cutesy nicknames. Well, sort of cutesy, we got them from the Little Miss books. Bex was "Little Miss Chatterbox" Macey was "Little Miss Princess" Liz was "Little Miss Giggles" and despite my protests, I was "Little Miss Trouble". My friends think they are hilarious.
We put our contacts in the boys phones too, but we just left our names as the were, they could put in nicknames if they wanted too but we were worried they would confuse Grant just a little bit. The best part was putting their names in our phones. Since ours were all from the Little Miss books, we did theirs based on the Mr Men ones. Jonas was "Mr. Bump" Preston was "Mr. Messy" (Macey said it was accurate, and who were we to disagree) Grant was "Mr. Loud" and Zach...well we disagreed on Zach. Macey and Bex wanted him to be "Mr. Uppity" but Liz and I thought it was mean and the one that made the most sense (Mr. Impossible) Bex and Macey thought was too nice, and even though Liz and I agreed, nothing else really worked so after like 20 minutes (and a lot of inappropriate jokes from Bex) we just went with "Mr. Small" (which lead to even more inappropriate jokes from Bex.) It would take some explaining when he found out who he was.
So the drive continued, we discussed different case ideas, what we thought the guys were doing, how long the drive was, what we planned on doing on the next few days, what the boys surprise was, and took plenty of pictures. After waaaaayyyyyy too long in the car, we finally pulled back up to the house. My mom turned off the car and turned to look at us.
"The boys are still in there. You girls ready?" She asked.
We looked at each other and nodded.
