Chapter 8

Evangeline

It is around ten in the morning when we stumble out of the supermarket, laden with tonnes of bags. "Are they heavy? Let me take those." Max offers his hand.

"I'll be fine. Thanks for helping me carry them, anyway." I flash a smile at all of them.

"Of course! How could we ever let our precious sister carry so many things?" Lucas rolls his eyes playfully. "Shut up, Chris."

We start walking out of the mall. At this hour, it is a little more crowded. Throngs of people mill the shopping mall. Most of them are teens, loitering around the various game shops, music stores, and cafés. I even spot an arcade upstairs on the third floor.

As we make our way past a cluster of teens, I hear one of them gasp. "Lucas, is that you?" An older preppy girl with shiny blonde hair in a pink miniskirt waves in our direction.

Lucas turns. "Oh, hey, Jessica. Fancy running into you here." He smiles, but it doesn't reach his eyes.

"Oh, no. I'm actually surprised you actually stepped out of the house!" Jessica giggles obnoxiously. Is that meant to be an insult? It doesn't escape my notice that Lucas's jaw tightens.

A girl in the back of the group whispers. 'Oh. My. Gosh. The Crestdale twins!"

"I'm gonna swoon," another replies in a breathy voice. "Holdup. Are those bags?"

I glance uneasily at Max and Christopher. Both have a slightly uncomfortable expression on their faces. "...and who's this little cutie?" Jessica coos, reaching out to pinch my cheek patronisingly. I frown a little. I look younger than my age, which often makes people assume I'm in elementary school. Urgh. A vein pops up on Lucas's neck.

Asher says nothing, which isn't unusual. The twins have stepped in front of their younger brother, as if to hide him from their sight. Probably because these people would say something mean about his hobby. I didn't get too many details on that, but from what I could tell, his fellow schoolmates aren't too accepting of it.

I have a feeling that if we remain here any longer, things will start to get ugly. I give Jessica a tight lipped smile. "Evangeline. Nice to meet you." Not.

"I'll see you around!" With that, I hike the bags up onto my shoulders and grab Asher's and Lucas's hands. It is a cue for them to leave right away before anything else happens, half-dragging them out the mall.

"Well, what was that about?" Christopher looks amused.

I freeze in horror at the realisation of what I just did.

"I, um, sorry!" I immediately release their hands like they're in fire, forgetting in the heat of the moment that I was still holding them. "I said all that and just dragged you out because it looked like you were gonna flip out if we stayed any longer. I shouldn't have done that. I'm really sorry."

I'm sure there's more to the incident, but I choose to remain silent. This is their business. If they wish to tell me, then they will.

"Nah, it's actually a relief that you did. Thanks for the help." Lucas grins at me and ruffles my hair affectionately. My cheeks heat. Sure, the guys are touchy with each other, but most of the time its like they're quite unsure about having physical contact with me, so this is the first time one of them has ever done it without hesitation.

I nod. "Shall we head home?"