Love Happens

6. "Not gonna let you go until you say bye."

-x-

If you still didn't understand why I was screwed, then I'm sure you've never checked your phone and seen that your parents have left you seventeen missed calls in a row. This means that your parents have automatically assumed that you've been kidnapped or brutally murdered and have already informed the police about your disappearance and are roaming the streets to find your dead body.

And in reality, your phone's probably just out of battery.

So in this panic, I immediately called mom back, and when she picked up, I sucked in my breath, waiting for her wrath. She didn't speak for a few seconds, so I tentatively spoke out. "Hey, mom...?"

"Kirstin," her voice was icy cold, and my heart skipped a beat because she only uses my full name when she's furious at me. "Where the heck are you?! DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED I AM?"

"Sorry!" I gushed, burying my face into my hands. "I'm at the mall, mom, there's no reason to be worried-"

"There's no reason to be worried?!" she snapped. "I called you so many times, I was this close to calling your father up at work and telling him-"

"Mom-"

"You're coming home right now, we need to talk!"

"But-"

"I said now!" she finally exclaimed, before hanging up on me. I stared at my phone for a few seconds, fazed.

"Well, that seemed to have gone well," the boy next to me spoke, bringing me back to reality. He was leaning against a wall with a hint of a smirk on his face, and hands tucked in his pockets- just watching me. God, he was good looking. Instead, I glared at him, a scowl morphing over my features. "I have to go," I muttered, turning to the elevators. "Bye."

"Kit, wait," he said, jogging slightly to catch up with the annoying smirk on his face. "I'm coming with you."

"I know you're a stalker, but I'm not letting you come to my house with me."

"No, you idiot, back to the food court."

I raised my eyebrows at him. "Um, okay?" 

We began to walk towards the elevators in silence, and I reached over to push the button. We waited for the lift to reach our floor and for the doors to open- but as they did, my best friend Gabby was staring at me. And as soon as she saw me, her expression turned into fury and she let out a shriek of anger.

"WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU, YOU ABSOLUTE BITCH!?" she squealed, repeatedly hitting my arm. "Do you know how many times your mom called me up?! I WAS SO SCARED BECAUSE I COULDN'T FIND WHERE YOU WERE AND YOU WEREN'T RESPONDING TO MY TEXTS-"

She then froze, her eyes falling on Cage who was standing beside me, wearing that same annoying smirk.

Her face turned from anger to surprise in a heartbeat, her eyes widening slightly. "Oh my god, isn't he the cute Instagram guy? Cupid?!"

Cage's smirk grew. "Hey."

"OH MY GOD," she stared at me, her anger clearly forgotten. "OH MY GOD, I STALKED YOU ALL WEEKEND. OH MY GOD. This is so cool!"

The elevator doors opened once again behind her, and two teenagers stepped out. The guy's eyes fell on us, before he smirked. The girl who was with him, on the other hand, looked kind of annoyed.

"Eyy, look who it is," the guy laughed, walking towards Cage. His eyes then fell on me, and his smirk widened. "Damn."

But before I could respond, the girl along with him, smacked him lightly in the chest. "Oh my god, Tanner, you're such a disgrace to society," she snapped, and the blonde haired guy, 'Tanner', just grinned. The girl had long red curls that fell to her waist, and she barely glanced at me as she spoke kind of coldly.

"Sorry about Tanner. He's always this stupid," she said, rolling her eyes. Cage nudged me lightly, his eyes gleaming lightly

"Ah, Kit, meet my friends. The 'always stupid one' is Tanner and this is Aleisha," Cage gestured towards the new people, and I awkwardly waved at them. "Um, hello. I'm Kit."

"Oh my gosh," Gabby was still in her daze, as she stared admiringly at Cage. "You are definitely cuter in real life."

Cage laughed, running a hand through his hair distractedly. "Well, thank you."

Rolling my eyes, I pulled at Gabby's arm. "Seriously? Anyway, we have to leave, mom's freaking furious at me for not returning her calls." I glanced up at Cage and his friends, before nodding at them. "See you, guys."

"Yeah," Tanner's eyes were on Gabby now as he responded. "See you..."

I didn't look at Cage as I began to leave, but he grabbed my arm, forcing me to look at him. His eyes were burning with some kind of weird intensity as he spoke. "Not going to say bye to me, huh Kit?"

I glared at the collar of his shirt, because I couldn't look into his eyes. "Nope."

"You've gotta say bye," he said, teasingly, still holding my arm tightly. "Not going to let go until you do."

I tried to pull my arm away from his grip, but apparently he was too strong for me. "Ugh, fine! You win, I lose. BYE," I snapped and with a smirk, he finally let go. "Bye."

I grabbed Gabby's arm furiously, pulling her out of there. God, my heart should stop beating so fast.

-x-

"Come on, Kit, she's not going to murder you or something."

 Gabby rolled her eyes at me, tapping her fingers on the steering wheel impatiently. We were outside my house, inside Gabby's car which was parked on the curb. I was too afraid to get out and go inside the house. I wasn't exactly afraid of mom, but when she's mad, she goes mental.

"Just go inside. Isn't Vegas home too? He'll probably distract her or something," Gabby said and I chuckled drily. "Vegas helping me out? I wish."

I took a heavy breath in before sighing and grabbing my bag.

 "Okay, I guess I'm ready to die. See you later, Gabs," I said, as I opened the car door and she smiled. "Call me if you survive, okay?" she laughed and rolling my eyes, I ran from her car to the porch. I watched her drive away before I turned towards my door.

I waited until Gabby drove away before I reached over to the door knob. Bracing myself, I turned the handle and nervously walked inside my house.

She was sitting on the couch in the living room, sitting completely still, scaring me slightly. I cautiously neared her. "Hey, mom."

But she completely ignored me.

At first, I thought she was doing it because she was mad at me, but then I realized that she couldn't hear me. There were earphones in her ears, and she had her eyes closedas she bobbed her head to the music. I stared at her.

Um, okay then.

I gently prodded her arm and her eyes fluttered open. She smiled widely at me, removing one earplug from her ear.

Wow, she was in a good mood.

 "Kit! You're finally home. Why didn't you pick up my calls?" she questioned, her eyes narrowing slightly but before I could answer, she continued. 

"I found your iPod which you lost a few months ago. You dropped it under your bed," she held up my iPod which she was listening to. "And I started to go through, and god, am I in love with this band. What was it called, One Direction I think? Who are they?"

I tried not to cringe as she spoke, and I bit my lip. "They're a British boy band, mom."

"Ah, that's so nice! You should start a band, you know," Mom gave me one of her do-something-with-your-life looks, and I wanted to crawl out of the room and bury myself under my pillows. She then shoed me away before she plugged the earphones back into her ears. 

Thank you One Direction, for saving my life.

-x-