The bus halted just a few meters from the mall and a bunch of people got off, amongst them was Taylor. He walked slowly, dragging his feet as he went along. Kind of lost in his thoughts he walked through the mall’s entrance door and not bothering to take the elevator he climbed up the stairs till he got to the third floor where he usually went and sat with his friends.
He stretched himself out on one of the side benches since he was the only one sitting on it. Still feeling restless he put his hands up and took hold of his longish blond hair. He gathered it all together, carefully leaving out the rat tail and using one of his black hair bands he tied his hair back in a loose ponytail. He sat there not moving, just looking at the people passing by. Most of them looked so busy, like they knew what they were there for and were all rushing to get what they wanted before it ran out. Some others were just strolling around, not looking for something in particular, just wondering about. None of them looked lost though. He wondered if he was the only one that felt lost in a mall that he knew so well. He picked himself up and started to walk around the floor he was on. One of the girls that passed by him reminded him of Tania, the way she always looked so sure of herself, and was always busy doing something. Then again it was probably that the girl had almost the same kind of hair as Tania that made him think of her. He thought about her again… What could she be doing? He hadn’t heard from her in some time now. They hadn’t broken up too long ago, but it seemed ages. He missed her a bit. She was really a pretty little girl, but she was so time consuming and had interests much different to his. It wasn’t the fact that they had different interests that annoyed Taylor, but more the fact that she tried to force her interests upon him not recognizing that he had his own interests. Bottom line was that they just weren’t made for each other, they were two totally different people and maybe it was better that they weren’t together as an item. He was sad though that he had lost a friend, and she was really good as a friend, and they had had some fun times together… Taylor collected his thoughts and tried to focus on something else, thinking about Tania always arouse guilt in him, he had hurt her feelings and in the end it was probably his fault for not standing up to his true feelings in the start and putting his foot down more often.
Taylor walked around a bit more till he had walked around the mall at least twice. He rested on the same bench as before where there still wasn’t anyone sitting there.
"Excuse me…", a soft but very clear voice caught Taylor off guard. He turned to his left and saw a girl probably around his age.
"Yes?", Taylor asked curiously.
"Could you please tell me where I can find a bead shop, if there are any that is. I’ve been looking all around this place and I haven’t come across one yet".
"Yeah, there is one on the second floor, you mustn’t have looked too well coz it’s quite a big shop", Taylor smiled.
"That bad huh?", she giggled, "I’m new here, it’s my first time in the mall and I think I’m kind of lost", she smiled back.
"That’s okay, it’s quite a big place, sometimes I get a bit confused too", Taylor said tying to make her feel better, "hey, you know, I can take you there", he offered.
"Oh no! Really, you don’t have to, I’ll get myself there… Don’t worry, I’ll find it".
"Do I look like I’ve got anything better to do?", Taylor insisted, "C’mon, I’ll take you there", he said getting up.
"Thanx…", the girl said feeling a bit embarrassed.
"I’m Taylor, you are….?", Taylor waited for her to introduce herself.
"Oh, sorry… I’m Simone", she said feeling her cheeks blushing. "I’m not very good at this am I?"
"No you are great, don’t feel nervous, I know how it is meeting new people, I do it all the time, I’m kind of used to it though, but you’re good for a beginner", Taylor tried to loosen her up. "So you said that it’s your first time here… you mean you just moved here?"
"Yeah, yesterday actually. We moved here from England. It’s quite different here, I didn’t want to move at first, you know, had all my friends there… but when you are fifteen and still in school you are still dependent on your parents. Plus I love my parents, and I couldn’t imagine living somewhere without them… I wouldn’t want to either, at least not now.
"So you’re from England? I thought I could recognize an English accent there. Which part for England?"
"Well I was born in Kent, lived my first 5 years of life in London and then went up North to Newcastle".
"I’ve been to London, it’s very nice there… That place has a lot of history, it’s great! And how come you decided to come to America?", Taylor asked as they reached the bead shop.
"Well… my dad’s brother lives here and has this shop going, and he asked my dad if they wanted to be partners, and since work in Newcastle wasn’t going too well he said yes. So we packed things up, bought a house, sent all thing over here and then said goodbye to everyone and came here".
"Boy, it must have been hard on you all to move to another country, losing most of your friends, changing your lifestyle".
"It was hard on me and my mum. Dad didn’t care, I think he always wanted to come to America, ever since my uncle went there he has been feeding my dad’s brain with stories about America and the Land Of Opportunities… It’s not that I don’t think America is nice, but England’s always been my home country and I’ll always love it more".
"I know what you mean, it’s the same with me, no matter where I travel too, I couldn’t imagine living anywhere but here in Tulsa. It’s where I grew up, I’d be very upset if I had to leave. I promise you are going to like it here though…. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll be alright…. So you don’t have sisters or brothers?", Taylor asked resting his shoulder on the store’s wall.
"Yep, got a little brother, Jimmy. He’s only 2 years old, so the moving business didn’t affect him at all. I think he’s kind of excited about the change", Simone said, then realizing that they were at the bead store, "so, this is the place? Thanx a lot Taylor, it was very nice meeting you".
"Same here… it was nice talking to you, I’m usually around here, so I might see you around sometime", Taylor waved goodbye and left her to do her shopping. He decided to head home, there wasn’t much else to do, and somehow the talk he had had with Simone had cheered him up a bit. He always liked meeting new people, and it wasn’t everyday that he met someone from England. He felt sorry for her, having to leave her friends, coming to a new country with an alien lifestyle to her own. She seemed quite a nice girl though so she wouldn’t have problems finding friends and adjusting to the lifestyle.
Isaac parked the car in their driveway and nervously hopped out, locked the car door and walked up to the house’s front door. He searched his pockets for his key and found it lying in his back jeans pocket. He slipped the key in the keyhole and by turning it forced the door to easily open allowing him to enter. He thought of sneaking up to his room without anyone seeing him and then claiming that he had been there all along, but he knew that his parents wouldn’t buy that and by telling lies he would just make his position even worse. So he walked into the house soundlessly closing the door behind him and walked into the kitchen where he found his mum putting on a load of dishes to be washed. Isaac cleared his voice to make his present noticed.
"I’m back mum", he said with a tone of guilt.
His mother turned around and looked at him with a disapproving face. "I am very upset with you Isaac, your dad and I have been worried sick! I called Lisa up and she told me what had happened. You are very irresponsible! Why would you put as through so much worry? We thought that something had happened to you!"
"I’m sorry mum… I know… I…", Isaac tried to explain.
"Your dad was going to take a day off work you know, just to go looking for you!", his mother carried on, "luckily we called Lisa first and she told us that you had slept over".
"I’m sorry… I should have called you I know…", Isaac tried to apologize.
"Yeah well it’s a bit too late for that now. Isaac, you are a grown boy, and you should learn to be more responsible! We were thinking of punishing you for this, but then we realized that you are too old for punishments. It is up to you to act mature now…. Someday when you grow up and have children you will feel the stress and worry that we do now. Now go up to your room and think about it a bit", Mrs. Hanson said dismissing him.
Isaac apologized again and climbed the stairs to his bedroom. He found Zac lying on his bed reading a girls magazine.
"Oh, Casanova is finally back!", he yelled.
Isaac ignored him and taking off his shoes and shirt laid on his bed.
"Speak to me oh mighty one!", Zac continued his annoying remarks. "What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?"
"Shut up Zac, I’m not in the mood for your immature remarks".
"Immature? Who’s the immature one in here? At least I don’t go off sleeping around and not telling my parents! Gee Ike, I would have thought you’d know better!", Zac shot back.
"I wasn’t sleeping around! I was with Lisa, she’s my girlfriend, remember?"
"That is still no reason to keep everyone worried!", Zac replied.
"I didn’t do it on purpose you know! We were a bit drunk and got carried away, next thing we knew it was morning", Isaac said without realizing what he had just said.
"WHAT??!! You drunk and drove?! Does mum know this??!! Oh will she be sooo mad!"
"No she DOESN’T know, and I would like to keep this between us", Isaac said trying to keep calm and not hit himself for letting such a thing slip from his BIG mouth.
"Was that an order?", Zac asked with an evil grin stretching across his childish face.
Isaac was almost losing it by then. He wanted to practically kill his younger brother, like as if he hadn’t heard enough of it so far. But for his own sake he thought he’d better keep calm, and maybe even beg Zac to keep quite. "Zac, please, I know it was stupid, and after all this I’m never going to pull a trick like this again. Please don’t tell mum and dad… C’mon Zac, you wouldn’t tell on me would you?", Isaac watched his younger brother with anger as he seemed to be enjoying every second of their conversation.
"Hmmm…? And what will you do for me?", Zac’s eyes instantly lit up.
"I don’t know… anything! Just don’t tell them, or they will be even more worried and furious!"
"Well my life is quite perfect at the moment, but I’ll let you know when I need something", Zac chuckled, "Seeing you begging for my silence is just so low Ike, this is really amusing!"
"Be quite! And how sure are you that your life is perfect? By the girly magazine you’re reading I’d say that you need a LOT of help!"
"Hey don’t push your luck mister!", Zac said pissed turning a bit red at his brother’s remark.
"Okay, okay, I won’t say a word", Isaac was starting to feel better, after all he knew that his brother wouldn’t tell on him like that. Not in such a serious matter anyway, or at least he wouldn’t if he didn’t piss him off.
"The magazine is just informational, I want to know what girls like and see what they like about all this crap", Zac tried to explain.
Isaac just looked at him, "Um… right… whatever you say…"
"I’m NOT gay damn it!", Zac yelled at his brother, "Do you want to piss me off now? I’m gonna tell on you, I swear!".
"Calm down Zac, no one said you are gay! I’ve read girl’s magazines too", Isaac confessed trying to keep Zac calm.
"Really? Casanova himself has read girl’s magazines? Well what do you know!", Zac laughed.
"Yeah, well that was a LONG time ago, I was probably even younger than you", Isaac tried to cover himself up, "besides, all boys go through that stage".
"Nick hasn’t, he would kill me if he knew that I was reading a girl’s magazine!"
"Well most boy’s don’t admit to it, I certainly wouldn’t… Well, only to you and Taylor I guess…", Isaac explained to him.
"Whoa! You think Nick has probably read girl’s magazines too? And Daniel, and Peter?? This is so weird!", Zac said, feeling better.
"I’m not certain that they have, but it’s very likely that they have… Now do you promise not to tell anyone about last night?", Isaac asked his brother, hoping that he would say yes.
"Okay, I promise… You’ve gotta promise not to say anything about this either, especially to my friends!", Zac offered Isaac a deal.
"Of course I won’t, anything we say stays between us", Isaac said and feeling safer he rolled over on his bed and tried to get some rest.
Zac felt a lot happier too, he lay back and taking the magazine in his hands again he started to read the "How to impress a guy" section, hoping that he would understand a bit more about girl’s behavior.