The Lovely Ghost

Out of Balance

"Who's idea was it to come here on the fucking weekend any way?"

"Yours, Gabe..."

"That is true. And it's all for you, Trouble, don't you forget it."

"It's not all for her! We're getting food for everyone for the party tonight, aren't we?."

"Who'd you did you think we are having the party for, smart ass?"

I hid a laugh under my hand as Kota pulled into a car park, shaking his head and muttering half heartedly about Gabe being a pain in the neck. He met my gaze in the mirror and winked as he finally turned into a car park. Nerves had my stomach in knots, but just listening to the silly banter between the boys made my worries seem pointless.

"Don't worry, Meanie, I won't forget."

"Good. Now, remember, hold our hands at all times and if it gets too crowded, hold you elbows outwards and charge through. We've got places to be and I don't have time to deal with shitty crowds all day." He began to demonstrate this, swinging his elbows outwards every now and again. I would hate to get in the way of that.

"We aren't elbowing anyone, Gabe," sighed Kota as he hopped out of the car.

"That's what you'd like to think," Gabe huffed and then poked my ribs causing me to giggle. "Trust me, Trouble. Elbows out."

Before I could place my hand on the handle, my side door was open with a smiling Nathan holding a hand out towards me. Taking it gratefully, I slid off of the back seat and onto the pavement. "You'll soon see how shopping with Gabe is as chaotic as he is. Best not to encourage him too much."

Gabe chucked, not sounding offended at all by Nathan's comment. "Oy. I am strategically chaotic. Don't ruin my image."

...

Chaotic it was. Within a single hour, we had already made our way though 8 shops and bought at least 58 items of clothings after changing into countless outfits. Gabe complained about how we would have gotten more done if there weren't 15 people at "every single shitting cash register".

Walking around the mall was an incredibly exhilarating experience. I had to watch where I stepped, move around people to avoid crashing into them. I cling to the boys, worried that I would forget that people could see me and bump into me. It was incredible as it was nerve wreaking. I was in fear of messing up now, if I misstepped and fell, everyone would stare at me.

With the multiple bags put away into the car, we soon came to the food court. The smell of food hit me and I became incredibly thankful of Gabe relenting to hunger that put further shopping on hold...for now.

"So, what do you feel like eating, Trouble?" Gabe grinned, flashing Victor's fancy gold card. "You can pick what ever you like."

I shook my head. I didn't want to owe Victor more than I already did. He had been so kind to offer to pay for all my clothes. Surely I could hold off on food before getting home.

Kota caught onto my concerns. "It's my turn to pay for lunch, Gabe, you know the rules. Sang, feel free to pick what ever your hungry for."

They had a schedule for who was paying for lunch? Would I be included? No, that was a silly question. I didn't have any money and my situation was too complicated to get a job in the near future. It seemed like each one of them contributed to the happiness and fulfilment of the group, while just kept taking and taking... How frustrating.

We walked along the rows of fast food shops, cafes and restaurants before they spared me and made the decision for all of us. Burgers did sound nice - Nathan had been apparently craving a bun full of beef, bacon, cheese, lettuce, tomato and a special sauce, whatever that meant.