Unmasked

Chapter 22

I stared up at the clock and back to them, they normally sleep in late. It's weird for them to be up this early. "No breakfast today?" Finn pouted, showing his empty plate. I sighed, I just wanted a break. "I can make some if you want?" I asked walking over to the fridge and looking through it for something to cook.

Luke came up beside me, and put an arm on my shoulder making me jump. "You don't have to make breakfast." He reassured me, giving a pointed look to the rest of them. I sighed quietly and started making my way up to my room but Luke stopped me.

"Actually.. if you wanted, they were going to take you to the mall today. The weather is a lot better." Luke asked me for approval, I looked at them all seeing no problem with it until I remembered something. "Who would go?" I asked. Benji, Finn, and Andrew raised their hands, looking up from the cereal they were eating.

I nodded, I really didn't want Ryder going but I was comfortable with everyone else. I looked to Ryder questionably, wondering why he didn't want to go. "Why aren't you going?" I asked him, my brows furrowing. "Lots of work stuff to do. Bills, paychecks, I gotta hold the fort down." He smiled, patting my arms lightly and walking out of the room.

I nodded a bit and looked to the rest of them. "Aren't we leaving now?" I questioned. "Nah we have to get ready first, go get a shower and change. We'll be done in a bout 30 minutes." Finn said, plopping his bowl into the sink.

I walked up the stairs and hopped into the shower and then changed into some clothes. I put on a while, soft t-shirt with a beige light sweater. Then some blue jeans and a black belt. Something simple and comfortable. I put on my makeup, perfume and deodorant. I looked at my hair and played around with it with my fingers. I straightened it, even though I've never done that before, and ended up burning myself a little bit which hurt.

I took a deep breath and looked at my appearance, this was probably the best I ever looked in my whole life. I smiled warmly in the mirror, content with how much I liked this look. It was simple, but still matched me.

I walked down the stairs and met up with the boys and walked out the door with them and to the car. I would've been shocked to see a Tesla sitting there but I couldn't expect much less. I raced to hop into the front and laughed mockingly at Finn as he pressed his face up against the window, pretending to cry.

Andrew sat in the drivers seat since he was the oldest and most experienced driver. I switched through channels trying to find a good song until Miley Cyrus's song 'Party in the USA' came on. I almost switched passed it until Benji yelled abruptly. "Keep it on! Keep it on!" I rolled my eyes playfully and kept the song on, jamming out to it as well. All three of them were shouting out the lyrics now. I couldn't hold back my laugh any longer as I started cracking up.

"AND THE BRITTANY SONG WAS ON!" They all shouted simultaneously, their vocals were not good at all. I slapped my hand onto my knee, my stomach hurting from all the laughing. "NODDING MY HEAD LIKE YEAH!" They shouted, all smiling and happily singing along. "MOVING MY HIPS LIKE YEAH!" I joined in, surprising them all but they continued to sing. We all cheered happily when the song was over, pulling up to the mall. We all stepped out, smiling gleefully. That was the most fun I've had in awhile and it seemed it help me forget about everything.

Andrew and Finn made a bet to see who could run there fast enough, and soon they took off to the entrance of the mall. Benji and I stayed back, knowing I couldn't run with them. We chatted until we made it to the front of the store too. Andrew had won apparently, Finn blaming it on the fact he played football.

"What are we getting here?" I asked them, walking into the mall I've only been in once or twice when I was younger. I looked left and right to me, trying to remember everything from those times. "To get some clothes for you." Andrew casually stated, walking by a cute girl and winking at her. They giggled and walked off, leaving a smirk to stay on his face.

"For me?" I questioned, my voice becoming unusually high. I didn't want them to buy me anything. "Yup." Andrew stated, popping the p, checking out each store seeing what one to go into. "But I don't want you to buy me anything, I don't have any money to give you!" I talk frantically thinking about what would happened if Zach knew he owed people even more money.

Andrew looked at me, brows furrowed. "Your not paying us dumbass." He laughed, walking into a store called Rue 21. "I-I'm not?" I stammered, tripping over my words. "No we'll pay for it. Your a part of the family now." Andrew told me, looking through the rack of sweatpants. My breath hitched in my throat and I stopped, freezing in place. My heart hammered in my chest, though this time it wasn't because of nerves or being scared. My heart felt full, and happy hearing what he had just said. "You mean that?" I croaked my voice a bit quieter.

"Of course I mean that." He smiled, walking over to me and placing his hands on my shoulders carefully. I looked into his eyes and smiled too. A real smile. "Thank you." I whispered, as I placed my head on his shoulder, giving him a hug. It was very rare for me to do that, so he better appreciate it.

For the first time in what felt like forever I felt pure joy, I couldn't contain my smile as I laughed silently onto him. My heart felt full, happy though. It felt like I had a parental figure or guardian, or even someone I could look up to now. "Thank you, thank you, thank you." I repeated over and over to him, holding back my happy tears. He laughed and I felt the rumble of it on my back, it felt oddly comforting.

"No, thank you." Andrew told me, pulling me back from the hug and staring at me in the eyes, with his same goofy smile. "You know, I've always wanted a sister." He informed me, standing up and taking my hand as we walked around the store finding outfits for me.

Benji and Finn came in too, Finn and Andrew telling me what outfits would look good and Benji fake throwing up. I decided to listen to Benjis sense of style since Andrew and Finn were hopeless. Benji also had a very good sense of style.

I ended up walking out of all the stores with 10 bags in total from all different stores. We ended up getting hungry so we went to the food court and getting some pretzels and an Orange Julius. I never realized how much amazing stuff I was missing out on, being locked up in that house all the time.

We all did a cheers to having a successful shopping trip, and then a successful dinner. They even said it was better than my cooking, how rude. We walked out of the store, all of us carrying a couple bags in our hand, laughing amongst ourselves. I sat in the passenger seat again, listening to the music and finishing up my drink. I thought about everything that has happened today, smiling contently to myself.