"Woahh. What should we go to first?" Vida asked the rest of the group as she stared in awe at the options she could choose from.
"I want to go to that one." Akilah and Chase both said at the same time, yet different directions. They looked at each other with anger in their eyes as they silently decided how to persuade the other into choosing their store.
"Allllright then. How about we split up?" Akilah said as she rolled her eyes at Chase.
"I want to go to the bookstore over there. Who wants to come with me?" Akilah raised her hand as Amora and Vida raised theirs.
"Oh me!" Vida raised her hand excitedly.
"Ok then I'll join you Vi-" Hendrix was interrupted as Chase dragged him over to his side.
"Ok then if you girls want that then we'll just have a boys trip. Hendrix, Kai, Taro, you're with me. We're going to the geekstore!" Chase pointed his finger up in the air like a boy scouts pack leader as the other three groaned.
"Alright, see you guys later!" Vida waved goodbye to the boys as they parted ways.
"Do you think we could stop at the gift store on the way?" Kai pointed towards the gift store shyly, clearly branded towards gifts for your romantic partner.
"Ohh I see what you're doing there! Onward!" Kai once again pointed in the air as they walked towards the gift store. Taro let out an even bigger groan.
A voice came over the intercom.
"Good evening, citizens. Now time for the midday pledge of allegiance." The intercom said as everyone stopped in their tracks and bowed their heads.
"I forgot that people did this. It's felt like such a long time since we did it in school." Chase whispered.
"All glory to our sacred nation. Continue to protect us in good will as we would lay down our lives to protect yours. Protect this precious country as we would lay down our lives to protect it." The people around the kids all spoke the words in unison with the intercom.
The kids continued walking into the gift store as Chase once again started to speak.
"Don't worry my fair child. I will guide you through your journey of romance, as I have successfully grown a happy relationship!" Chase spoke like a knight from the medieval movies he used to watch on their broken VHS reader.
"Oh cool! Who is your girlfriend?" Kai asked.
"Amora…. Wasn't it obvious?" Chase slumped into a little depression as Hendrix chuckled.
"Just get what you need so we can leave, Kai." Taro sounded fed up with the conversation.
"Relax, man. We have the whole day here." Chase said.
"Why are you guys being so friendly? I didn't even want to be here and now you're asking me to be buddy buddy with you? Hell no. C'mon Kai." Taro tries to grab Kai's arm but he pulls it back.
"Wait, bro. I need to get what I came here for." Kai responded.
"Why are you so mean to them? That fight was our fault anyways. And they're trying to be nice to us now so-" Kai was interrupted by Taro.
"Why do you need any more friends?!" Taro exclaimed as his eyes began to water.
Hendrix and Chase quietly backed off and pretended to look at the items on the shelf.
"It's always just been me and you. Ever since we were born. We don't need anyone else. The whole purpose of roughing up that punk was to get them to leave so that we could be the only kids in the compound again, remember?!" Taro.
"Oh…" Kai paused for a second to think before continuing. "Y'know. It's only been you and me because we didn't have the chance to make any friends, Taro. We're finally in a place where we can make friends, and I'm so excited. But nobody will ever replace my brother. No matter when or where we are, it'll be you and me first. I think it would be cool if we could add some people to the list, though." Kai chuckled as he put his fist out for Taro to bump.
Taro, whose eyes were even more watery now, took a second to think.
"I love you, bro." Taro bumped Kai's fist.
"I love you too, bro." Kai smiled.
Kai turned around to see Chase holding something.
"Now, listen. I know Akilah better than anyone, and I know this will work." Chase said as he held out a stuffed animal holding a heart that said 'Be Mine'.
"Don't trust him. It's not gonna work." Hendrix said from behind his shoulder.
"I'll take it!" Kai said as Hendrix was surprised that Kai fell for Chase's stupidity.
Once Kai went through the checkout line, the group was back to walking towards the geek store.
"Onto the geeksto-" Chase's exclamation was interrupted by Hendrix.
"Body Mod shop?!" Hendrix exclaimed.
The group turned to see a very hidden store. It was smaller than the other shops, and on the top it said 'BODY MOD SHOP: Piercings and Tattoos'.
"What?" Taro said in confusion.
"I wouldn't mind a piercing or two. Maybe a tattoo." Hendrix said as he walked towards the shop.
"Ugghh, I just want to go to the geekstore!" Chase said as he reluctantly followed Hendrix.
Up on the second floor, the group of girls had chosen some books from the limited supply that the store had.
"This is way less than I thought they would have. Mrs. Frewin's collection had more going for it." Akilah muttered as to not offend the workers. Unfortunately, one of them heard her anyway.
"I'm sorry miss. But since the yearly censorship check just passed we always run low on supply this time of year." The worker used a polite and disappointed tone.
"Awe man." Amora said.
The girls looked at each other in a shared silent shock. They had always wondered why their local libraries back with the Frewins lost all of their books in the middle of June.
In spite of the low supply, the girls still found some interesting books. Amora sat down with her romance novel (she loved Mrs. Frewin's collection of pulp fiction, but the store didn't have any), Vida opened up her book on flora and fauna of the world, and Akilah opened up her book about the history of the country.
Akilah's book was quite different than Alex's telling of the story. The book had a lot of gaps in time where Alex's story filled them in. She began to notice the effects of the aforementioned censorship.
"That's gotta be him. The one with the pink hair." A voice came from behind Akilah, on the porch that overlooked the lower level of the mall.
Akilah turned around to see a correctional officer looking down over the porch while talking into his wrist. She quickly turned back around so as to not garner suspicion.
The pink hair matched only one person in this entire mall. Hendrix. Akilah began to get worried.
"Should I just confront him? Should I play the long game? Maybe he'll lead me back to the underground network of Spirit users." The correctional officer said into his watch.
Akilah looked around to see if anyone else was hearing this. Amora and Vida seemed to be unaware of the conversation being had. It was a good distance away, Akilah was surprised that she could even hear it.
A voice muttered from the device on the officer's watch.
"Alright. I'll just tail him and his friends. I'll see where that gets me." The officer started walking away.
"Guys, let's go meet up with the others. It's time we do some shopping for some actual clothes." Akilah shut her book and got up.
"Good idea. My legs were starting to fall asleep." Vida said as she got up as well.
The girls started making their way to the geekstore to meet up with the boys. On the way, Akilah began to notice how many cameras there were. They were plastered on each and every wall every couple of feet from each other. One of them even said "Remember: WE are watching." Akilah began to get shivers down her back.
The girls went into the geekstore and saw Chase mashing buttons in front of one of the test gaming consoles. The game appeared to be about playing as a correctional officer.
"Stupid fucking game. It's shit anyways." Chase said as he threw the controller at the 'You Died' message on the screen.
"Oh! You guys made it!" Chase said as he ran to hug Amora.
"I love you babe." Chase said as he hugged her even tighter.
"I love you too. Where is all this coming from? Haha… Ok now your suffocating me." Amora said as Chase let go and laughed.
"Hey, Hendrix! Did you see anything you li- Oh my god, what happened to your face?!" Vida put her hands on Hendrix's cheeks as she examined the five face piercings that now covered Hendrix's face.
"It's just like Mr. Frewin had in his younger photos, remember? Don't I look cool?" Hendrix smiled as Vida continued to turn Hendrix's face from side to side.
"Oh my god. You're such an idiot." Vida said as she let out a laugh.
"Oh my god. I can't believe I'm doing this." Taro whispered in a groan to himself as he walked up to Akilah. "Um. My brother has something for you."
Akilah's face turned to terror as Kai came from behind Taro with the teddy bear.
"It's for you." Kai said. Even though Akilah was repulsed by the brothers, Kai did make a sweet gesture.
"Ohh… Thank you…" Akilah said as she reluctantly took the bear into her hands.
"So?" Kai asked her.
"So what?" Akilah responded in confusion.
"Will you be mine? It says it on the bear." Kai pointed at the heart in the bear's hands.
"Uhhh… I'll think about it…" Akilah mustered up the strongest smile she could, which was not very strong at all.
She hated the way her stomach flipped when she realized how earnest he looked
"Here." Hendrix said, shyly, as he gave Vida a mini box of chocolates from the gift store. They both blushed.
"For… me?" Vida pointed at herself.
"Yeah… It's just for staying by my side when I was unconscious, or whatever." Hendrix said, stumbling over his words.
"Yeah, of course." Vida said, jokingly.
"Yeah… it's nothing, I just—" Hendrix stammered, and Vida cut him off.
"Thank you, anyways." Vida said as she hugged Hendrix, which made him blush even more.
"Onward! For some new clothes!" Chase once again did his boy scout bit as the rest of the group followed him.
The rest of the shopping went on without a hitch. Akilah didn't overhear the officer again, but she thought she saw him in the corner of her eye once or twice.
After the seven kids exited the mall, Bloom and Alex pulled up in Alex's old van. The group piled in, still chatting about their purchases, when Akilah noticed a black car lingering behind them a little too long.
"Uh, Alex… that black car behind us—" she started, grabbing Alex's attention.
"I know," Alex said, her voice tight. She began making random turns to confirm their suspicion. When the car followed each maneuver, the truth became clear.
"What's going on?" Taro asked, leaning forward anxiously.
"Alex, I overheard an officer in the mall. He said something… important," Akilah explained, her heart pounding.
Bloom's hand rested briefly on the wheel as she exchanged a quick glance with Alex. "We'll talk when we get back to the compound, honey," she said, though her usual calm smile didn't reach her eyes.
Suddenly, the black car's lights flashed blue and red. Alex cursed under her breath as she reluctantly pulled to the side of the road.
The van pulled to the side of a back road behind an office building. It was secluded, which made everyone in the car more terrified then they already were.
The van fell silent. Outside, an officer stepped from the car, moving toward them with measured, deliberate steps.
"That's him, Bloom," Akilah whispered.
Bloom and Alex's faces tightened, dread spreading across their features. The kids stiffened in their seats, every muscle tense, their fun day now shattered by the shadow of authority looming at the van's door.