Hades

Chapter treinta y uno

"I'm nervous." I hear Bradley say from the driver's side next to me and I look at him.
"I'm not going to say you don't have to, but calm down. It's going to be alright." I assure him.

We are on our way to the mall, where we're going to meet the girls. I really hope they give him a chance today. I understand his nervousness, though.

"I hope." He says.
"You're a sweetheart. They'll notice." I yawn out, not bothering to cover my mouth.

After Hades and Maria left yesterday, Bradley, Jack and I talked about what happened until late in the night. So no wonder I'm still tired.

"We're here." Bradley sighs, making me snap out of my thoughts and nod. I notice Stella's car, meaning the girls are probably already here.

"Come on. I think they're already there." I tell him, making my way into the huge building. Bradley falls into step with me when I walk up to our usual spot.

"You ready?" I ask him, seeing my friends already sitting on the bench a few metres away from us.
"I guess. Here goes nothing." He answers, making me giggle.

"Hi guys." I say when we reach them. They turn towards us with a smile plastered on each of their faces. Doesn't take a genius to know those smiles are fake. But at least they're trying.

"Hi." Each of the girls give me a hug and shake Bradley's hand. He runs a shaky hand through his hair, showing me he is still nervous. But we'll manage.

"Shall we go then?" I ask them and all of them nod, silently.
"But where to?" Zada asks, making our heads snap back towards her.
"I mean, which floor? Because the majority of our group is female. Sorry Bradley." She jokes, making me smile.

"Uh, it's fine. I don't mind." He shrugs, smiling like those boys who don't really know how to smile, because they're awkward.
The girls exchange a look, before shrugging and walking off towards the escalators.

"You okay?" I ask him and he nods.
"Ask me in an hour." He answers. I laugh and hook my arm with his.

><><><><

"Really? I didn't know that." Stella tells Bradley. He nods, smiling. I'm proud of him. He has officially won my friends' hearts. They seem to really be interested in him. I knew they would fit together.

"There's a lot of things you don't know about him. Bradley is actually a very interesting person." I tell her, looking at a golden bracelet. My mom's birthday is coming up soon, so why not look for a present?

"Oh really?" I hear him ask me, making the girls giggle and me roll my eyes. He's doing so good.
"Yes." I wink at him, looking back at the bracelets.

"How about we eat a little bit. I'm so hungry. How long have we been up here?" Bradley asks.
"Trying to seduce us with food. Good choice." Brooklyn jokes, making us laugh.

"We should really go and eat something. My stomach is dying." Zada complains.
"You should go to the hospital the, don't you think?" Brooklyn jokes, making her roll her eyes.

"Let's go then." I say and we walk towards Darmetir's.
"It's become kind of a tradition to go to Darmetir's after shopping." I explain to Bradley.

"Oh, I've never been there before actually." He shrugs, making all of us stop and throw him a disbelieving look.
"You're joking, right?" Stella asks, making him shake his head.

"No, I'm serious." He answers. Wow.
"Well, congratulations you've wasted all your life eating some trash, when you could've eaten Darmetir's." Brooklyn says, seconds later realizing that sounded kind of wrong. I exchange a look with the others.