“Tanner would probably like some CDs, too,” Tegan commented.
We headed for Sam Goody, weaving our way through the early morning crowds. It seemed we weren’t the only ones on a mission to buy Christmas gifts.
As we made our way into the music store, Tegan commented, “I think Tierney mentioned they were closing this store after the holidays.”
“Really? What are we going to do for music then?” I glanced around, expecting to see a sign mentioning its upcoming closing, but there didn’t seem to be one. The store looked the same as usual with aisles of bins with CDs and posters on the wall.
“Maybe they’ll put another music store in.”
“I hope so,” I commented as I followed Tegan over to one of the displays. “I seriously doubt people will have much luck finding Ashlee Simpson’s music in Hot Topic.”
“Who would want an Ashlee Simpson CD anyway?” Rather than being snide, Tegan actually looked thoughtful and confused.
“I don’t know,” I shrugged, motioning toward the display. “I was just using that as an example because it was the first CD I saw.”
“Likely story,” Tegan smirked. “But I must admit Ashlee looks so much better since the nose job.”
“Lips too,” I nodded, browsing through the CDs to see if anything interesting jumped out at me.
“I just hope she doesn’t get anything else done,” Tegan commented, thumbing through some CDs. “Some people go way overboard. Look at Michael Jackson and Joan Rivers.”
“I’d really rather not,” I shuddered. “Although I might have considered getting a boob job if I hadn’t gotten mine.”
“Your parents wouldn’t let you get a boob job,” Tegan laughed.
I grinned. “You’re probably right. My dad would likely say boobs are unnecessary or something like that.”
“I bet if your mom was boobless that would change his mind,” Tegan snickered.
I scrunched up my nose in revulsion. “Ew, Tegan, I don’t want to think about stuff like that.”
“Hey, I was just saying . . .” She didn’t finish her thought as she looked over my shoulder and cocked her head to the side.
“What?” I glanced over my shoulder, but I couldn’t tell what she was looking at.
Her brows furrowed with uncertainty as she asked, “Is that Mark over there?”
I turned fully this time and stepped back so I was beside Tegan and looked in the same direction she was staring. I saw the tall figure dressed all in black. His head was bent, hiding his face from view, but when I saw the Slipknot patch on the shoulder of his jacket, it confirmed Tegan’s suspicions.
I bit my lip and glanced at Tegan. “Should we go say hi?”
She looked reluctant. Mark had been sitting with us at lunch pretty much every day for over three weeks, and Tegan was starting to warm up to him a bit, but she was still a little hesitant. I couldn’t blame her because I was still, most generally, freaked out by the change in the tide. However, when Mark wasn’t being menacing, he was rather endearing. Then again, I might have only felt that way because he didn’t seem to mind listening to me ramble stupidly about meaningless things.
Tegan squinted her eyes and didn’t answer my question. Just as I was about to repeat it, Tegan cut me off, asking incredulously, “Is he holding a Britney Spears CD?”
I looked back at the mass of black that was Mark and squinted too. It occurred to me I probably needed my eyes checked because, unlike Tegan, I couldn’t tell what he was holding. However, if Mark was, in fact, holding a Britney CD, there wasn’t a chance in hell I was going to overlook it, so I picked up my feet and headed in his direction.
Tegan reluctantly followed, hissing under her breath. “Silly, what are you doing? Are sure we should go over there? What if he . . . ” but she couldn’t finish because, as I approached him, Mark turned and caught sight of us.
“Hi, we thought that was you,” I smiled, glancing at Tegan who fidgeted uncomfortably.
“Oh, hi,” Mark greeted. One side of his mouth twitched upward in what I had come to know as Mark’s smile. Sometimes it was hard to tell the difference between his smile and grimace, but I’d taken note of the subtle differences. I realized maybe he was self-conscious about the condition of his teeth and didn’t want to show them off.
If I weren’t scared he’d turn on me and go back to making my life a living hell, I’d have told him that it was too late to hide his teeth from me. I’d seen the ugly yellow sneer up close, but for once the filter between my mind and mouth was working and kept me from making the mean remark.
“What are you up to?” I asked, eyeing the CD in his hand. I could see half of the cover, and the half I could see showed a blonde clad in some feathery, poofy black thing that didn’t look like much more than underwear. “I didn’t know you were a Britney fan,” I commented, nodding toward the case.
Mark looked down at the CD in his hand and his cheeks turn a pale shade of pink, which was quite obvious against his near porcelain complexion. He placed his hand fully over the cover, trying to hide it, and Tegan couldn’t suppress a giggle.
When I glanced at her, she covered her mouth and turned and looked the other way while muttering, “Sorry.”
“It’s for my sister,” Mark explained. “For Christmas.”
He was so obviously embarrassed. I couldn’t keep the smile from my face. “Right.”
“It is!” he exclaimed.
I arched an eyebrow. “Are you sure you just don’t like looking at the cover?”
Mark glanced down at the CD and shrugged a shoulder. “Eye candy, perhaps, but not really my cup of tea.”
“I didn’t take you for a tea drinker anyway,” I said, biting back a smile.
“Aren’t we witty today?” he replied. “Seriously, it’s for my sister.”
“Okay, okay,” I nodded. “So, you’re Christmas shopping today?”
“Yep,” he nodded. He glanced from me to Tegan, who had managed to compose herself enough to turn back toward us. “How about you two?”
“Same,” Tegan answered.
“Speaking of which, what CD do you suppose a seventeen-year-old guy would like?” I asked, figuring he might be able to give me some insight.
He scratched his chin thoughtfully. “Depends on the guy.”
“My brother,” I answered.
He rolled his eyes. “Ah, a jock.”
“He’s not that bad,” I said, feeling oddly protective of Luke. “He likes rock music, and he used to play guitar.”
“Really? Never would have guessed that about Mr. Football Star,” Mark commented.
“He doesn’t play football anymore,” I pointed out.
Mark rolled his eyes. “I play drums.”
“Really?” My eyes widened. “I’ve always wanted to learn, but my parents said they were too loud.”
“My set is out in the garage. It’s detached from the house, so that helps mute out some of the noise,” Mark shrugged. “Haven’t played much lately.”
“I’d like to hear it sometime.” Mostly I just didn’t think I’d believe it until I saw it. I had no idea why since Mark, obviously, liked to hit things.
“Yeah, maybe sometime.” Mark shifted his eyes nervously before looking around. “Back to the CD.”
I glanced at Tegan to see if she’d caught the way he’d clammed up slightly before changing the subject, but she was browsing through some of the nearby displays. I thought she was probably still listening, though.
I turned back to Mark and explained, “Luke mostly likes classic rock stuff, but he’s into alternative rock too. I like some, but I really don’t know many of the new bands, which is probably what Luke would want.”
“Me either,” Tegan put in. “I need something for my ten-year-old brother.”
“I don’t think I can help you there,” Mark said, looking at Tegan. “The stuff I listen to isn’t exactly kid friendly.”
Tegan smirked. “You could probably pick out something that would scar
e them away, though, couldn’t you?”
“Like Slipknot!” I exclaimed, thinking of the patch on his jacket. “Those guys are creepy looking. What’s with the masks? Did they like Halloween so much they thought they’d celebrate all year long?”
“Oh, Silly,” Mark laughed and rolled his eyes, “you’re something else.”
I was slightly taken aback by the way he’d said my name with such familiarity, and his laugh was such an odd contrast to his usual dry sarcasm. I tucked that away to consider later and grinned up at him, “That’s what everyone tells me, but nobody says exactly what it is that I am.”
In the end, I bought Bob Seger’s Greatest Hits album for Luke while Tegan purchased Now 22 for Tanner. We were at a loss for appropriate music for a ten-year-old, but since Tegan and I liked half of the songs on the CD, we thought Tanner might like it too. Despite Tegan’s continuous bouts of giggles every time it was brought up, Mark bought the Britney CD for his sister.
After Sam Goody, I decided to check the Hallmark store for something for Mom. Tegan and Mark were utterly useless. They got distracted reading ridiculously, sickeningly sweet cards. I heard them laughing from across the store, and not long after, I saw one of the women who worked in the store ushering them to the exit. Mark called out, “We’ll wait for you outside, Silly!”
“You’re the wind beneath my wings!” Tegan added.
I rolled my eyes but couldn’t help but smile as I continued looking for the perfect trinket for Mom. I couldn’t believe Tegan was acting so silly with Mark of all people, but it seemed she’d gotten over her previous reservations about him.
I settled on a snow globe for Mom that had colorful butterflies on the inside. It was the last one left, and I thought it was really pretty. I hoped Mom would agree as I walked up to the counter to pay.
I found Mark and Tegan seated on a bench outside the store. They both looked bored and lazy. Tegan at least asked, “What did you find?”
I showed them both the gift, and Tegan cooed over it while, in typical guy fashion, Mark merely said, “That’s nice.”
After that we went into several different stores, picking out random things for different people. By noon our stomachs were grumbling, so we headed to the food court. Naturally, it was buzzing with the swarm of people. We bought our lunch from Johnny Rockets, and, of course, I managed to drip mustard and mayo on my shirt.
Afterward, we shopped around for a while, and when we passed by the mall Santa, there were, surprisingly, no kids in line waiting to sit on his lap or have their picture taken.
“I bet Santa’s pretty bored,” I commented.
“Maybe you should go keep him entertained,” Mark suggested.
From there I somehow wound up sitting on Santa’s lap as he asked me what I wanted for Christmas while some woman dressed as an elf took our picture. Needless to say, it was rather embarrassing, and Tegan and Mark couldn’t stop laughing.
“You two are just jealous you didn’t get your picture taken with St. Nick,” I scoffed once I’d purchased an overpriced photograph with the man in the red suit.
“That’s exactly it,” Mark laughed.
Tegan giggled, “Yes, so jealous.”
“What did you tell him you wanted for Christmas?” Mark inquired.
I blushed, remembering the first thing that popped out of my mouth.
“What?” Tegan asked, noticing my rosy cheeks. “What did you say?”
I rolled my eyes and muttered, “I said I wanted Jackson.”
“You didn’t!” Tegan exclaimed before dissolving into another fit of giggles.
“I didn’t know Santa granted those kind of wishes,” Mark commented. “Maybe I should go back and ask for Jessica Simpson.”
“Oh, so Jessica Simpson’s your type but Britney’s not, huh?” I questioned.
“What can I say?” Mark shrugged. “I like my girls dumb, but not continually knocked up.”
“Charming,” Tegan smirked.
“I’m kidding, I’m kidding,” Mark said, pushing his hands down toward Tegan as if to tell her to calm down.
Tegan and I glanced at each other and rolled our eyes. I turned back to Mark, shaking my head disapprovingly. “Shall we continue shopping?”
“Certainly,” Mark replied, trying to replicate a New York accent, so it sounded more like “soitenly.”
As we were heading for the elevators, we passed the movie theater, which happened to be on the same floor as Santa. “Shit,” I muttered under my breath, as I glanced at the ticket box.
Tegan glanced around with wide eyes. “What?”
“Jackson’s working,” I replied, walking around to the other side of Mark and using him as a shield so Jackson wouldn’t see me.
“I thought you wanted Jackson, though,” Mark commented. “Shouldn’t we call him over and let you have your dirty ways with him.”
“First of all, I have no dirty ways,” I said, shooting him a playful glare. “Second of all, I had a fight with him a couple of weeks ago and we haven’t spoken since.”
“What’d you fight about?” Mark asked.
“My sister.”
“Your sister?” The confusion was clear in Mark’s voice.
I peeked around behind Mark’s back to look at the ticket box as Tegan clarified, “She thinks he likes her sister instead of her.”
Jackson was taking a couple’s money and handing them tickets. He looked a bit glum. A couple of weeks ago I would have thought it served him right because maybe he was getting a taste of how I’d felt for several weeks. Of course, that was assuming his glumness had anything to do with me, which I was sure it didn’t.
When I decided to sneak a peek at Jackson, my feet, apparently, decided to quit moving. Mark and Tegan were still walking, discussing why I thought Jackson liked Skylar instead of me, though, which left me standing there in plain view. If Jackson looked up, he would probably notice me. As soon as I came to this realization, I made a mad dash for cover, which happened to be in a photo booth just beyond Jackson’s line of vision.
I peeked outside and whisper-yelled for Mark and Tegan, who were close to the elevators, looking around—mostly likely for me. Tegan spotted me and tugged at Mark’s sleeve before hurrying over.
Her face was scrunched up in confusion as she asked, “What are you doing in there?”
“Hiding. You two walked off and left me out in the open for Jackson to see.”
“So, now you’re taking cover in a photo booth?” Mark grinned.
“I wouldn’t have had to if you two hadn’t just walked off,” I glared.
Tegan rolled her eyes. “We were talking. We thought you were with us.”
“Didn’t you notice that there was a lack of clumsiness in your presence?” I asked.
“We somehow overlooked that,” Mark smirked. “So, are we going to go or are you going to hide in there all day?”
I rolled my eyes with a sigh and started to climb out of the booth, but Tegan pushed me back in. “Wait!”
I fell back into the seat, sputtering and confused. I rubbed my elbow, where I’d hit it on one of the buttons inside, as I glared at Tegan. “What did you do that for?”
“Let’s get our picture taken,” she exclaimed, gleefully.
I looked from Tegan to Mark, who looked about as thrilled with this idea as I did, but Tegan was already digging a couple of bills out of her purse and climbing into the booth. She started inserting her money in the slot, and after she had all three bills in it, a timer showed up on the screen.
“Get your butt in here,” she said, grabbing Mark by the arm and pulling him inside just as the camera took the first picture.
Needless to say, it was cramped and we looked ridiculous. Mark wouldn’t stop complaining that his butt was hanging out of the booth for everyone to see, and Tegan was too busy telling us how to pose to care about his complaints.
However, despite our discomfort inside the tiny booth, we all emerged with looks of amusement as we waited for our
pictures to come out. While we were waiting, I made sure to stay hidden from view by standing in front of Mark, and I didn’t dare sneak another peek in Jackson’s direction.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
The school system is full of a bunch of sadists. It was really the only explanation. Why else would they torture students with finals right before Christmas break? Instead of finishing last minute shopping, anticipating good food and watching the pile of presents grow beneath the tree, we—the students—were subjected to worry and stress while we crammed for exams and hoped and prayed we’d pass.
Because I had been preoccupied with other drama, I hadn’t thought much about finals, but when I arrived at school on Monday morning I could feel the tension beginning to rise. Even Luke had been subdued during the ride to school.
After I asked what was wrong with him, he answered with a shudder, “Finals. I just know I’m going to fail Algebra II.”
Luke rarely ever let anything stress him out. If I didn’t know for a fact that he had to take random drug tests throughout the year, I would have suspected he was a pothead because he was so laid back most of the time. With him anxious about finals, my worries began to sprout up because it probably wasn’t going to be pretty.
On my way to my locker, I decided I needed to talk strategy with Tegan. While my grades were usually decent, Tegan was an honor student. Unlike at home on my own, I was always able to stay focused on the task at hand when I studied with Tegan. She didn’t allow me to wander off and do something else because I’d lost interest in studying.
When Tegan showed up at my locker, I started to launch into talking about our study plan, but I stopped short when she held out a box wrapped in plain blue wrapping paper. “But we’re not exchanging gifts until this weekend,” I said when she shoved it toward me.
“It’s not a Christmas present, and it’s not from me,” she said with a gleam in her eyes.
Infinite (Strange and Beautiful, Book 1) Page 30
