Thursday morning I arose bright and early, forcing myself out of my bed. Today was the zoo trip. Groggily, I trudged my way to my door, ready to go take a shower. Before I could open it myself though, it suddenly burst open, nearly slamming me in my face. In my tired state, instead of having a startled reaction a normal person would, I just stared at it. It didn't register in my mind doors weren't supposed to open like that. Unless you had the force...

             Lance suddenly appeared in the doorway, his gaze on my bed. "Holl— huh? Holly's not here!"

             "What? She didn't say she was staying at Mr. Heywood's!"

             "Quick, get back in the car, we'll go there!"

             "She's not there," I interjected, covering a yawn.

             Lance's head snapped toward me. "Holly! There you are!"

             "Yep. Here I am."

             "Do you need to take a shower, or are you ready to go?"

             "I need to shower... Why are you here? And so early too?"

             A smirk spread across his lips. "Secret."

             "I take it Chris isn't driving us to the school then?"

             "Nope," Lance responded, putting his hands on my shoulders and steering me out of my room, toward the bathroom. "Now hurry and get ready."

             Frowning, I stumbled a bit from his pushing. It was too early in the morning to be forced to walk quickly. "Why hurry? We don't have to be at the school until eight... It's only six."

             "Just go!" Casey urged, opening the door for me. "I'm going to say hi to your mom."

             "Don't, she needs her sleep," I warned her, stopping at the threshold of the bathroom. "Just wait a little bit. She'll wake up at seven."

             Casey pouted. "Fine. I guess we can stay here until seven. We'll have breakfast, Lance."

             His eyes widened. "Good idea!"

             "Don't make a mess," I said, staring at Casey pointedly. "And don't burn the house down."

             She waved me off. "Just get ready. It's supposed to be kind of cold today, so make sure you wear a jacket or something."

             I nodded, slipping into the bathroom. It was nice not to have to shower quickly. The steaming water rid me of my weariness and by the time I was out, I was awake and alert. And pruned. Humming happily, I wrapped a towel around myself and hurried to my bedroom to pull on some warm clothes. After a few minutes of intense debate, I decided to wear a jean skirt with black leggings and a black v-neck sweatshirt. Warm enough to keep me content, but not enough to make me feel overheated.

             I emerged in the kitchen about twenty minutes later, my hair dry and straight, and my face done up my with my usual light makeup. Casey and Lance and my mom were at the table, chatting and eating. It gave me a sense of déjà vu.

             "Morning!" my mom greeted me cheerily. "You look cute today."

             "Thanks," I responded with a grin. "Why are you up so early?"            

             "So early? It's only twenty minutes earlier than usual. And I thought I heard my little Casey and Lance. They haven't been over in forever! I had to wake up early for them. Nowadays I see Chris more than them..."

             I scratched the back of my head awkwardly. "Right."

             "That's because Holly puts mister before sister," Casey told her.

             "I do not! We just never make plans," I defended, feeling my cheeks heat up. "You know I'd choose you over Chris. Depending on the situation."

             She rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Holly."

             "Well..."

             "It's okay. We get her all day today," Lance told my mom, another satisfied smile on his face. "Without any boyfriends."

             "Any?"

             "I started dating Jeremy," Casey told my mom with a wide smile, "so now you don't have to think you're daughter is the only one dating a teacher."

             Since my mom was abnormal, she was absolutely delighted with this news. "You're dating a teacher too? So it runs in our family and our friends! How wonderful!"

             "Mom... you shouldn't encourage this," I sighed lightly. "It's still wrong."

             "Not when the teacher is young!"

             "Well... Well yeah," I agreed, shrugging. "I don't think Chris and I dating is wrong, anyway. And Jeremy is younger. Just don't encourage any sophomores with crushes on their thirty year old teachers."

             My mom wrinkled her nose. "No, I won't. But what about you, Lance?"

             "What about me?"

             "Any hot, young teachers?"

             He snorted. "Sorry, but I'm not messed up, Lynn."

             "He's missing out," she told Casey in a carrying whisper.

             "I have a girlfriend though," he declared proudly. "Her name is Lexi. And her twin likes Chris and Holly."

             "Lance!" I cried.

             "What?"

             "Aaron doesn't like me!"

             Lance rolled his eyes. "You're dense, Holly. I bet you also don't know James likes you."

             My cheeks heated up. "I-I did know that..."

             Surprise crossed his face. "Really?"

             "He told me..."

             "My little girl is so popular," my mom cooed, wrapping her arms around my waist. "I feel jealous."

             I peeled her arms off me. "Popular? Ha, good one. But anyway, you guys are distracting me from my question. What do you mean by you have me all day without boyfriends?"

             "We mean exactly what we mean," Casey and Lance said simultaneously.

             My mom grinned. "Did you practice that?"

             They shook their heads. "Nope."

             "We're going to see them," I said, frowning. "They have to chaperone. And knowing Chris, we'll be in his group."

             "We're not going to the zoo," Casey informed me, her eyes twinkling mischievously.

             "We're not...?"

             "Nope," Lance stated. "We're just hanging out the three of us today."

             Part of me was excited for this, but another part was also realizing it meant no Chris.... I shook my head vehemently. What was I thinking? I could easily go a day without Chris! Simple. I'd been with him practically all week, anyway. This was totally doable. "Okay!" I said enthusiastically. "Let's do it!"

             Lance and Casey nodded eagerly. "Alright!"

             "We have to choose something to do though," Lance added after a second. "Casey and I had a few ideas, but eh."

             "What do you want to do?" Casey inquired.

             I pursed my lips, tapping my fingers on the wooden table. "Hmm... Well, I've been meaning to go to the mall to buy some lighter clothing since it's almost summer..."

             Casey's eyes widened. "And while we're there we can look at prom dresses!"

             "Ooh, prom!" my mom said excitedly, her blue eyes lighting up. "That's coming up soon, right?"

             "Yep," I told her, grinning. "So is graduation."

             "Holly is very sure of when those two dates are," Casey commented with a sly smirk.

             I shot her a warning look. "Case."

             "Of course she is! Her and Chris can be a normal couple after that."

             "Yeah, that's it," I responded quickly, seeing Casey start to open her mouth. "Can't wait."

             She rolled her eyes. "Fine. So we'll go to the mall then? Lance?"

             "You know I don't like shopping," Lance grumbled, "but since Holly wants to, I'll go."

             "Aww," Casey cooed. "How cute."

             "Not like that," he said, shaking his head at her. "It just feels like a once in a lifetime chance to hang out with Holly."

             Grimacing, I glanced at the British man. "Guys... you sure do like to rub that in, don't you? I'm sorry. I didn't realize you guys were feeling ignored."

             He snorted. "Ignored? Nah. More like put on the back burner. You talked to us, but not as much as to Heywood."

             "Still... Starting today, I'm going to make plans with you guys at least once a week. Yeah?"

             "Sure," Casey agreed easily. "The mall doesn't open until ten though, so... What do we do 'till then?"

             My mom batted her eyelashes innocently. "The house could use a bit of a cleanup..."

             "Done!" Lance said immediately. "We'll make this house clean as glass!"

             "Is that the right saying?"

             I laughed, shaking my head. "No, Mom. I think he was going for clean as a whistle."

             She chuckled. "Oh, I thought it sounded weird."

             "Whatever," Lance muttered, his eyes glued to the floor. "Where do you want us to start?"

             "The bathroom."

             "Satan," Casey whispered.

             "Hey, you guys offered," I retorted, sighing heavily.

             My mom stood from the table, looking extremely pleased with herself. "Well, I've got to go get ready for work. So actually, you should start in the living room. Holly, make sure you eat breakfast."

             "Okay." If it meant getting out of cleaning for a while, I was going to have a breakfast fit for a king.

             "Don't forget to dust," she told Casey and Lance with a wink. "If you do a good job, I'll bake you cookies."

             Lance's head whipped toward her, his eyes wide. "Your famous cookies? With the chocolate chips?"

             "Those are the ones."

             Determined, Lance rolled up the sleeves of his Hollister hoodie. "Okay. Let's do this."

             My mom laughed, waving and exiting the kitchen. "Have fun!" she called from around the corner.

             "I'm just going to eat breakfast," I said quietly, sliding out of my seat, "and then join you guys later..."

             Casey lifted an eyebrow. "You're going to eat breakfast now?"

             "Yeah, why?"

             "No reason," she said with a smirk. "It's just that you'll be able to join us in time to clean the bathroom."

             I wrinkled my nose. "Great."

                                                                 * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

             "Does it look like we're skipping school?" Casey asked in a whisper as we entered the mall.

             "Does it matter?" Lance countered loudly, confidently striding down the main strip. "We probably look like college students anyway."

             Casey didn't seem satisfied. "But..."

             "It's not like we can get in trouble," I told her, grinning at her worry. "No ones going to tattle on us. Unless somehow Chris— Chris!" I gasped suddenly.

             Lance and Casey scrutinized the area. "Where?"

             "No where! Did anyone tell him I wasn't showing up at school today?" I demanded worriedly, searching my pockets for my phone. "Oh no, I don't have my phone," I groaned.

             "Don't worry about him," Lance told me, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. "I texted him."

             "You did?"

             "Mhm."

             Relaxing a little, I nodded. "He didn't say anything?"

             "Nope. For once he was passive," Lance told me. "Now let's stop talking about him and go shopping."

             "Wait," Casey ordered, snatching the back of my sweater and pulling me to a stop. "There's a photo booth. That's never been there before."

             Following her gaze, my eyes landed on a tiny photo booth. It wasn't very tall, maybe around five and a half feet. The outside was made of reflective plastic, with a red curtain covering the cut out entrance. Needless to say, it gave off a cheap feeling.

             "So?" Lance replied, his eyes also on it.

             "Let's take pictures in it!" Casey suggested excitedly, yanking me toward it. "Let's go!"

             "That costs a lot though," Lance complained, following us anyway. "Five bucks for four pictures?"

             "I'll pay," I offered, turning around and grabbing his hand. "Come on! I want to do it too!"

             Groaning, Lance allowed me to lead him into the small, cramped photo area. It smelled a little like mothballs. Casey stood at the right and I stood at the left with Lance, being the tallest, behind us. Lance had to duck, being taller than Casey and I. In front of us with a square touch screen, giving us directions on how to work the booth. Casey pressed a few buttons, trying to get it started.

             "Holly has to put the money in, Idiot," Lance stated after a minute of watching her fruitless struggled.

             "Shut up. I knew that."

             Smirking, I pushed a five-dollar bill into the machine. "Where's the camera?"

             Casey frowned, feeling the area in front of us again. "I don't know—"

             Click. A bright flash came from right in front of her face, causing us all to squint. "Found it," Lance said after a moment.

             "Quick! Pose! The next one is coming in three seconds!"

             "Umm," I hesitated, trying to think of a pose. "I'm not good thinking under pressure— ack!" I choked as Lance threw his arms around Casey and my necks, squeezing tightly.

             Click. The camera flashed again, at the worst possible second. I knew at once that would be a horrible picture.

             "Something else," Casey urged.

             "Gangster pose!" Lance instructed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Like this!"

             I quickly followed his model, folding my arms and pursing my lips. "Yo!" I said for added effect.

             Click.

             "What about for the last one?"

             "I know!" I cried excitedly, twisting on my heel to face my two friends. As I did, my knees buckled from the sudden movement, causing me to fall on them. Lance put his hands under my arms and twirled me around like a ragdoll so that I was face the camera.

             "Say cheese!" he sang.

             Although my position was awkward, I put on my best grin, ready for the picture.

             Click.

             "Now let's grab them and see how they turned out," Casey said, pushing me aside so she could slip out of the photo booth.

             Lance slipped out next, leaving me alone. I glanced at the camera, an idea forming in my head. "Hey guys, do you mind if I take one more set? By myself?"

             "Just don't get naked," Casey responded. Right after, she burst out laughing. "Oh my God! Holly! You have to see these!"

             "One sec," I told her, shoving another five dollars into the machine. After quickly fixing my hair, I got into position.

             For the first picture, I hooked my thumbs toward my chest, smiling brightly. For the second, I made a heart by curing my hands and pressing the tips of my fingers together. For the third, I formed makeshift guns with my pointer fingers and thumbs with both hands, pointing them at the camera. I panicked a bit when it came to the last photo. I hadn't thought that far ahead.

             "Holly!" Lance randomly shouted, banging his fist on the outside of the photo booth.

             I let out a little shriek of surprise, just as the camera flashed. For a few seconds I stared at it in disbelief. Then scowled. "Lance!" I cried, nearly bringing the curtain off its rod as I whipped it open. "What the heck!"

             Both he and Casey were snickering. "I got you," he told me, now laughing loudly. "Did it get caught with the camera?"

             "Let's see," Casey said, snatching the photo strip before I could even climb out of the booth to get it.

             "H-hey! Don't look at that!"

             Ignoring my words, Casey stared down at the picture. After a moment she looked back up at me, her mouth forming a small o. "Holly..."

             "What?"

             "This is so adorable!" she gushed, her eyes dropping down to the strip again "I love you? Aww!"

             A blush blossomed on my cheeks. "It's not really..."

             "Chris is going to love it! You're so cute!" she continued. "Lance! Look at this!"

             He went over to her, his eyes scanning the picture as well. A grin appeared on his face after a few seconds. "I love you, huh?"

             "Guys, stop," I murmured, dropping my gaze. "I just... feel bad for ditching him today. I mean, I don't regret it. I like hanging out with you guys. But..."

             "I get it," Lance interjected quickly.

             "Me too," Casey added, offering me a warm smile. "You really love him."

             "Yeah."

             "He should feel lucky he got you," Lance declared. "You're too good for him."

             I laughed. "You have the backwards."

             "No, I don't," he responded seriously.

             My smile dropped from my face. "Lance..."

             His expression fell as well. "Did I say something wrong?"

             "No," I told him, taking a few steps forward and throwing my arms around him. "I just love you. You too, Casey. Come here."

             Grinning, she slipped under my arms and hugged Lance and myself. "I love you too, Holly."

             "You guys are great friends."

             "You are too, believe it or not," Lance informed me.

             I pulled away and grinned at him. "I know I am."

             He rolled his eyes. "Maybe Heywood's cockiness is rubbing off on you."

             Casey snorted.

             "What?"

             "Don't use Heywood, cockiness, and rub in the same sentence."

             "Casey!" I cried.

             She smirked. "What? We don't want anyone getting the wrong idea."

             I stared at her, flabbergasted. It was amazing what kind of things came out of her mouth. Especially how they never seemed to make her embarrassed.

             "Let's not talk about that and start shopping," Lance proposed, a look of disgust on his face. "Casey, give Holly the photo strips so you don't lose them. We can cut them up later."

             "Sure," Casey responded, handing the photos over to me. "I call the last one."

             I peeked at the pictures. It took all I had not to burst out laughing. The first three were expected, seeing as how we knew what kind of faces were making, but the last one was horrible. It featured Lance grinning widely while he held me up, Casey looking at us and laughing, and me, looking like a drunken person who couldn't stand.

             "Holly, keep up!"

             Shoving the pictures into my wallet, I hastened after my two friends. "I'm coming, I'm coming!"

             "Where do you want to go first?"

             "Hollister," I told them. "Let's see what's on sale."

             Lance grinned at me. "Still buying off the sale rack, I see."

             "I'd rather not pay forty dollars for one shirt, thanks," I responded dryly.

             "You can still get some good stuff from the sale racks," Casey let Lance know. "Come on, let's pick out some cute outfits."

             I watched Casey warily. "Oh no. I forgot how much of a stickler for style Casey is..."

             She gave me an evil smile. "Mr. Heywood will appreciate me after this— no, actually, all guys with appreciate me after this."

              "You can help me choose some things, but I won't show off my ass cheeks."

             "I'll suit Holly's style," Casey promised.

             I came to a stop in front of Hollister. "Stay cheap too."

             "And hurry," Lance added. "I know you two like to take forever to shop at each store. I rather not be here all night."

             "We won't take that long," Casey promised him.

             "You sure?"

             "Promise," we chorused.

             He didn't give the impression that he believed us. "Okay..."

             As is turned out, our promise wasn't kept. By the time we'd been to all of our usual stores and a few more, I was out of money, and it was dinnertime. Casey, Lance, and I all carried armfuls of bags as we made our way back to Lance's car. Most of it was mine, but Casey and Lance had ended up buying a few outfits as well. We dropped all the bags into the trunk before piling into his car and heading back to my house to eat.

             "Should we just pick up a pizza?" I inquired as we passed the downtown area. "Or order it? Or have something else?"

             "I want Chinese," Lance declared.

             "Me too," Casey agreed. "We already passed the place though, so let's order it."

             "Sure," I responded, nodding my head. "I've actually been wanting Chinese for awhile. We'll order it as soon as we get back."

             It only took about twenty minutes to return home from the mall. Luckily for us, there hadn't been as much traffic as there usually was. That and the fact Lance liked to drive ten miles over the speed limit. It surprised me that he lacked any speeding tickets.

             When we arrived at my house, a familiar black Eclipse was in my driveway. My heart skipped a beat at the sight of it. "Huh? Why's Chris here?"

             "Crap," Lance muttered.

             "L-look at that! Chris is here!" Casey observed unnecessarily. "You don't need us around, Holly. Go have fun!"

             "But—"

             "Yeah, go," Lance pressed. "It's fine. You've been with us all day."

             Suspicious now, I narrowed my eyes at him. "What did you say to him?"

             "Nothing!"

             "Lance!"

             "I didn't say anything!"

             Scowling, I unbuckled myself. "You better not have said anything bad. Like I was kidnapped or something."

             "I didn't," Lance assured me, a sheepish expression on his face. "I really didn't say anything."

             "Don't forget to cut those pictures up!" Casey reminded me.

             Sighing, I waved back at her. "Got it. See you guys tomorrow then. I may have to hit you though."

             Lance avoided my gaze. "Okay. Bye, Holly. I'll pop the trunk for you."

             "Thanks."

             After loading my arms with all my purchased products, I hastened up to my house. The front door was unlocked, so I slipped in, dropping my bags by the door before heading toward the kitchen. "Chris? Are you here?"

             He appeared at the kitchen doorway in three seconds flat. "Holly!"

             "Chris—"

             "Where were you?" he demanded before I could finish speaking. His grey eyes were smoldering with relief, anger, and worry. "Why didn't you answer your cell phone?"

             "I left it at home."

             He groaned. "That was stupid, Holly. I thought something happened. After all that has happened. Especially when I showed up here and your car was here and you weren't."

             My chest constricted. "Chris... I'm sorry," I apologized, closing the space between us and hugging him. "Didn't Lance text you saying that he, Casey, and I were all hanging out today?"

             "What? No. When I texted him asking where you were he told me he didn't know," Chris responded in a grumble. "That asshole."

             I sighed. "I should've known better than to trust him..."

             Chris pulled away from me so that he could give me a quick kiss. "Whatever. As long as I know that you're safe now."

             "Everyone that wants to harm me is in jail now, remember?"

             "Yeah, but I guess I'm a little paranoid," he admitted quietly.

             I smiled, standing on my tiptoes to kiss him. "Me too," I told him. "But we have to move on."

             "I know that."

             "It's nice to know though."

             "What?"

             "That you worry about me so much," I continued with a smirk.

             He frowned at me. "Didn't you already know that?"

             "Yeah, but it's nice to hear it more than once," I said honestly.

             Grinning, he shook his head. "If you ever want to hear it, just ask. Don't give me reason to worry about you. Where did you go today?"

             "Shopping. I needed to buy some summer clothing."

             He raised an eyebrow. "Summer as in... short-shorts?"

             Now I lifted an eyebrow. "You like short-shorts?"

             "On you, sure. I just want to make sure they're not too short. I don't want other guys staring at you."

             I laughed. "They're not, don't worry."

             He ruffled my hair. "I know that. So do I get to see these new clothes, or do I have to wait?"

             "You have to wait," I told him teasingly. "I have something else for you."

             "What?"

             I dug around in my purse for a few minutes before feeling the photostrip. I snatched it, handing it over to him proudly. "For you."

             He stared at it for a few minutes before chuckling. "Nice face, Holly."

             "I know, Lance—"

             "You wouldn't make a bad gangster."

             I blinked. "What? I didn't..." My eyes widened when I realized I gave him the wrong strip. "Wait! Give that back! That's wrong! Close your eyes!"

             He held it out of my reach as I grabbed for it. "I've already seen it, Holly. No reason to be embarrassed by it."

             In spite of myself, my cheeks were burning. "Give it back! Here, this one is for you!" Stuffing my hand back into my purse, I pulled out the other strip. "Here. Trade with me."

             Reluctantly, Chris gave me back the other strip with Casey and Lance. As his eyes scanned the new one, a smile spread across his face. "You're too cute, Holly."

             "I felt bad for ditching you today."

             "You should," he responded, grabbing my hand and leading me to the living room. "I think you emit some kind of force field around me."

             "Why's that?" I questioned as he pulled me down onto the couch next to him.

             He laid his arm over my shoulder. "Mr. Heywood, isn't that penguin cute? Mr. Heywood, take a picture with me! Mr. Heywood, do you want some ice cream? Those girls never shut up."

             I frowned. "Sorry."

             "If you're really sorry, you should kiss me."

             Smiling, I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his. "Like that?"

             "More like this," he responded, holding my face in his hands and kissing me deeply. After a few seconds he pulled away reluctantly. "Crap. As much as I want to stay here, I have to do the grocery shopping for the camping trip tomorrow."

             "I'll go with you," I volunteered.

             "You're going to make me drive a few towns over so you can come with me?"

             "Well... If you don't want to..."

             He chuckled, brushing the tips of his fingers against my jaw. "I'm joking, Holly. You can come with me."

             "I feel like grocery shopping is our thing," I told him.

             "Why's that?"

             "I go grocery shopping with you a lot."

             He shrugged. "Yeah. I guess it's a good thing for our thing to be."

             "It is?"

             "Yeah, 'cause we'll be grocery shopping out whole life," he informed me, flicking my nose. "Come on, let's go."

             I grabbed his hand. "Chris, I..."

             "Holly?"

             "I..."

             A concerned expression crossed his face and he squatted down next to me. "What's wrong?"

             From the corner of my eye, I could see his car keys on the table. Shoving him backwards, I leapt over his falling body and sprinted toward the table. "I'm driving!"

             "Holly!" he cried after me angrily.

             Snickering, I snagged his keys and mine before hurrying out to my car. "And we're taking my car!"

             "I'll get you back for this!" he warned.

             I ignored his threat. I was sure however he wanted to get me back for this was a way I wouldn't mind.

________________________

Okay! So this is finally up. This was a chapter for Casey, Lance, and Holly. Because they needed one before the story ended. Blarghh so soon. Probs like five more chapters...

Anyway. Enjoy! Vote! Ohh and leave a comment telling me what you did this weekend! I went to Six Flags yesterday. It was pretty fun, especially since I don't like rides. I like the Tomahawk though. And Mr. Six's Pand...whatever it's called haha.

Facebook in external link! :D