summer

nineteen

      "Where are we going?" Laughs Dylan as Sawyer drives. He wasn't unsettled by being driven away from safety by some creep, surprisingly.

      "You'll see," he says with a grin. Dylan rolls his eyes and smiles, staring ahead. Sawyer turns left, then right. He pulls into the parking lot of..

      "The mall?" Exclaims Dylan with a laugh. Sawyer grins and nods.

       "That would be correct, yeah." Dylan looks at Sawyer, shocked. He steps out of the car and Dylan follows. They enter the mall, surrounded by all different people and little shops. Sawyer smiles and grabs Dylan's hand, dragging him towards the food court.

       "Of course your mind goes to food first," says Dylan with a shy smile. Sawyer grins and nods.

       "And yours doesn't? I'm shocked." The food court is pretty simple, a Dunkin' Donuts, McDonalds, Chinese food, Chick Fil' A, and Hawaiian food.

        "What are you getting?" Asks Dylan a bit skeptically. He gazes around the court, overwhelmed. He never leaves the house, let alone to go to a crowded mall.

        "Dunkin'," he responds without even a thought. They walk up to the restaurant, lazily glancing at the screens that display the different food. Dylan was a bit confused at Sawyer's choice- breakfast for lunch? "Trust me, they've got good food."

      "I've been to Dunkin' Donuts before, stupid." Sawyer laughs and orders a coffee and some sort of sandwich. Dylan gets coffee and a donut. They sit at a table and eat quietly, Dylan drinking his coffee calmly. He'd never really been to malls, he'd gone but not often. It was both peaceful and, well, not. The little order it had of everyone doing what they were supposed to was calming, whereas the chaos of yelling children and annoying teens was upsetting. Dylan nibbles his donut and looks at Sawyer to see that he was staring at him. "What?"

      "Nothing... I don't know. You just seem so peaceful and happy." Dylan blushes and stares at his hands in his lap.

       "I guess I am." Sawyer laughs quietly and grabs Dylan's hand, pulling him to his feet.

       "There's more to do here than drink coffee." Dylan laughs, throwing his donut into its bag and putting that bag in his backpack. He then shoulders that bag and grabs his coffee. "You've got a lot of bags."

      "Oh, shut up and show me around."

>><<

       "You don't want anything?" Sawyer exclaims, grabbing some shirts with a shocked look.

      "Nah. I've got enough black clothing already."

      "Emo," he says with a giggle, checking out his clothing.

       "Shush, surfer boy." They leave the store and head to a Five Below. Dylan buys some candy and new eyeliner and Sawyer gets another shirt. "What is it with you and shirts?"

      "I'm literally living with you for the summer. I didn't bring all my shirts!"

      "Why not?" Sawyer shrugs and they leave the store, walking through one of the long, wide halls of the mall.

       "Oh my god!" Sawyer and Dylan spin around to be basically jumped on by...

      "Lily!" Sawyer hugs her and Dylan can't help but smile. Lily was nice to him at the party and she just radiated happiness. She hugs Dylan as well, which was a bit surprising.

       "Do you know them?" Asks a girl from Lily's group. She was with three other girls, two blondes and one brunette.

       "Sawyer and I met when we were like, thirteen? Dylan and me just became friends but he's the best!" Dylan raises his eyebrows at Sawyer and smiles with a laugh.

       "Hey!" Says the brunette girl with a smile, blinking her big, green eyes. "I'm Emerald, probably because of my eyes, but you can call me Emmy!"

       "Hey! I'm Dylan," he responds. She smiles and gives him a high five.

      "I'm Lauren and she's Kathy," says one of the two blondes. They both smile and wave, walking over to join the group. Sawyer grabs Dylan's hand supportively, understanding that he gets stressed in social situations. Dylan was a bit surprised to realize that he wasn't actually that nervous with Lily, Emmy, Kathy and Lauren.

      "I'm Sawyer," says Sawyer with a nod at the three girls he didn't know. Lily glances down at their clasped hands and then to Dylan knowingly.

       "It was cool seeing you! Here's my number, you better call me," says Lily, grabbing Dylan's hand and scribbling down her number.

       "Send him ours," says Lauren, gesturing to Emmy and Kathy. Kathy looks a bit uncomfortable but nods.

       "Cool. I'll see you guys when school starts, or earlier." Lily smiles and waves, walking away with her friends.

       "They're cool, right?" Asks Sawyer with a grin.

       "Yeah, they actually are."

Did I just make friends?