Adopted by Pentatonix

Fifteen- Elevator

Ana

We browsed through the clothes hanging on the rack. I had a shirt in my hand while Kristin had a whole pile of stuff. She was just picking up things she thought was cute, but I on the other hand was looking at all the prices. A lot of this stuff was expensive and I don't want to make her pay too much. I saw a cute black dress and immediately looked at the tag. $60.00, I put it back. As I tried to move on she grabbed my arm. I spun around with a confused face.

"Do you like it?"
"Yeah," I say and fiddle with my fingers
"Then why did you put it back?" She ask, her eyes narrowed at me as she tried to understand.
"It's so expensive, I-I don't want to make you pay that much."
"Ana, if you like it then get it. Don't worry about the price, okay?"
I smile," Okay." I grab the dress and start picking out more clothes I like.

We've already gone to Victoria's Secret, Belk's, Old Navy, and now we are in Rue 21. I grab a few shirts and jeans that I like along with a skirt or two.

Suddenly a group of excited girls run to us and my eyes go wide with fear and shock. They crowd around us and I manage to break free from the tight circle.

"Oh my God, you're Kristin from Pentatonix!" One girl yells. Kristin looks only slightly frazzled like she's used to this. The girls are all squealing and jumping around excitedly.
"Hi," was all she managed to get out before the girls started talking again.
"Can we get your autograph?" One girl shrieks
"Sure, but only if everyone backs up, please." She says, I notice she is looking a tiny bit frantic but she seems normal of other than that. Everyone takes a big step back and Kristin looks relieved.

She takes a picture and signs things for all the girls and gives them hugs. After answering a few questions that I can't make out because I'm too far away, she gets the girls to go away. They run off, still in shock because they just met a famous person. She searches around for me, until finally finding me on the next isle over, sitting on the stool that people use to try on shoes. She plops down next to me and lets out a sigh.

"Hey, you. I was wondering where you went."
"I'm here." I say and hold up my hands for her to see
"Sorry about that, it happens quite often. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, just kind of.. shocked, I guess."
"It can be like that sometimes, other times, it can be a lot more people or maybe just one person. Why didn't you stay?"
"I wasn't sure if you wanted them to know about me, so I left."
"Of course I do." She say, rubbing my back. I give her a small smile which she returns.
"You're claustrophobic, aren't you?" I ask bluntly
She looks confused but nods "How did you know?"
"I pay attention to small details that other people don't."
"Small details?"
"Yeah, you got all frantic when they surrounded you, but when they backed up you were alright. You keep eyeing the elevator whenever we pass it, and rushed out of the bathroom earlier. After being in there for only a few minutes, it made you really tense."
"You noticed all that from two hours at the mall?" She says in astonishment
"I'm good at figuring things out, and reading people."
We sit there in silence, other than the noise of the people around us.
"That's how you figured out they were dentist." She says quietly
I nod
"No one even said anything, yet you still got it. You're very smart."
"It wasn't that hard. Once you put all the pieces together it's obvious." I say
"And just what we're those pieces?" She ask with a smirk
"Well, the biggest was how everyone got tense when I said I was afraid of dentist. You all kept looking to them and it wasn't good looks. The next was how Scott never helped Avi and Kevin with my exam thing. He had no idea what to do, that's why you made him get me clothes and not one of them."
"Yup, come on let's keep shopping." She says and stands up.

I follow and we pick out more clothes. My mind wanders back to this morning with Scott and her cuddling. A big smile spreads across my face and she looks at me weirdly.

"What are you smiling about?"
"I'm just thinking."
"About what?"
"You and Scott cuddling this morning."
She blushes and keeps shuffling through a rack of shirts, which only makes me smile bigger.

"Do you like him?" I call out to her
"Like who?"she ask
"Scott."
"Oh um, yes, I suppose."
"You suppose?" I ask with a raised eyebrow
"Okay, you got me. Yes I do, but it doesn't matter, he doesn't like me, and I don't want it to affect the group."
"Are you blind? He's totally head over heels for you!"
"What, no."
"Yes! The way he looks at you, god I wish I had someone look at me like that. It's like your the most beautiful thing in the world to him."
"Really?"she ask and tucks a piece of hair behind her ear
"Believe me, it's true."
She smiles the rest of the day. We shopped and talked as we went through the mall. I cringed when I heard our total at the cash register. We wanted to get something to eat but it was upstairs. As we near the elevator I notice she becomes tense and slows down a bit.

"Are you sure you want to eat here? I can wait until we get home."
"It's okay, and besides, I really want a pretzel." She says and hits the up button.

When it opens I step in. She takes a deep breath and forces herself in. I watch her cautiously as she rushes to hit the second floor button. She backs against the wall beside me and leans her head against it. When it starts to move she closes her eyes and grips the rail tightly. I scoot closer to her and gently pry one of her hands off the rail. I take it and squeeze it reassuringly. She opens her eyes and squeezes it back lightly. The door opens and I let her out first. She waits for me to step out. I walk beside her and we fall into step with each other.

Just like she said, she got a pretzel, I got one also. We sat at one of the tables in the food court, munching away on the soft, sweet, bread. We had bags full of clothes from multiple stores by our sides. She had gotten clothes too. I had found a cute turquoise top for her that she loved.

I look around the food court to see many people. All with smiles on their faces and bags in their hands. Some, like us have food or drinks. Others have children, tugging at their sleeves, begging them to get them a toy from the shop window. Kristin is tearing parts of pretzel off and making it into smaller pieces so she can eat it. She looks so happy and content, like this is something she does everyday.

She takes a picture of her pretzel and sends it to someone. She laughs at what they send back and takes a picture of me. I make a funny face in the next one which makes her laugh. We take picture after picture, each one making us laugh harder. The last one we take is of me hugging her with big smiles on both our faces.

"That's my favorite." She says
"Mine too."
"Are you ready to go?"
"Sure, we've been through every single store in the mall. I don't think we missed anything." I say jokingly, she laughs.
"No, I don't think we missed much." She says, motioning to all the bags. "Come on, lets go."

We throw away all our trash and gather up our bags. We walk side by side to the car.