Ocean

I was greeted by a small pill bottle sitting on my desk. Not something surprising. this wasn't the first time I was forced to take diet pills. It was one of the other ways Lucas liked controlling me when he felt like I was getting too wild.

I understood why Lucas wanted me to work today despite it being Saturday. I had quite some work that I needed to catch up on it wasn't like any of it was after the deadline, but Lucas always expected my work at least a week early. With Hayden around, it was harder for me to spend time relaxing to recover from my concussion. I was doing much better now luckily.

the door of my office burst open. In the doorway, looking more upset then normal, was Lucas.

"Come on." His voice held the venom I wish I could inject him with.

Wow.

Where had that thought come from?

I never had thought like that before. I wasn't normally violent. This was not a good. I clearly needed to get back under control.

I needed to calm down. Hayden was making too much of an impression on me. I needed to get my head under control.

I got up and scrambled to get my things into my old bag. I followed Lucas out the door and into the parking lot.

To my great surprise, Vira and Nicola were sitting out in the parking lot.

"Ocean!" Vira called out before turning to Nicola. "I told you we wouldn't be to early."

"Hello." Lucas greeted them with a cold sharp nod. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Yes," Vira responded with a smile. "We are here to pick up Ocean."

"For what reason?" Luas looked at them. "She is perfectly capable of getting home on her own."

"Yes but we are taking her out to have some fun while the rest of the guys fool around at home." Nicola popped her head out too.

"And why should I trust you with her?" Lucas was trying to find a reason that I shouldn't go. I knew he would do something like that. I wanted to go and hang with them. I want to have friends.

"You're welcome to give Hayden a call and confirm if that makes you feel better." Vira spoke sweetly but you could tell she was getting annoyed.

"Alright. I guess she can join you." Lucas had realized it was a loosing battle and turned to walk away.

"Yes!" Vira and Nicola shared a high-five as I climbed into the backseat of Vira's car.

"Ok Ocean where to first?"

I shrugged feeling awkward having pressure put on me.

"I say the bookstore first." Vira volunteered. She turned to me and winked.

"Really?" Nicola rolled her eyes playfully. "Ok Nerds, Bookstore first."

The car ride was not silent, Vira and Nicola had the music cranked up and were singing along as I let myself relax and bopped along.

Pulling into the parking lot, Nicola and I hopped out of the car as it stopped ready to head into the shop. Vira followed us into the shop, and we all headed in different directions.

The book shop was small but had a cozy interior. There were a couple of beat-up pieces of furniture around. The scent of books was mixed a soft pine from the exposed wood beams. Trailing my fingers along the spines of the books, I paused on a couple that sounded interesting. Pulling them out, I scanned the back for a description. To my dismay it was on the inner jacket.

I was careful not to crack the spine of the book as I opened it. Opening a fresh book was always something I loved. Reading the summery, I nodded to myself. Something to look for in the library on campus.

I slid the book back on the shelf as carefully as I could. The books didn't have a speck of dirt on them. I continued walking through looking for some more reading material.

I check a couple more books that really piqued my interest that I would look into later before sliding them back on the shelf.

"So, Ocean," Nicola grinned as she reappeared with a large stack of book in her arms. "Any other books interesting?"

Glancing at the pile in her arms, I realized they were a bunch of books I had looked at. Vira joined us adding some others to her arms.

I looked up at Vira as she led the way to the counter. She wasn't seriously buying that many books.

"Alright, can you ring these as two separate transactions?" Vira grinned at the Lady behind the counter. She pulled the books I had looked out and set them on one pile.

Did she think I was going to buy them? I hesitantly reached out to take the books away.

Nicola stepped in the way and my path was cut off. Worry bubbled in my stomach as Vira completed the transaction for her books. There were 4 hard cover books and a soft cover, so this was way too expensive for me.

As the Kind sales lady rang up the books Nicola grinned at me and whispered, "Having a rich boyfriend is great."

I watched in fear as Vira pulled another card out and tapped to pay for my books.

She turned to me with a smile that faltered slightly as she saw my face. "Is something wrong?"

I tried to gesture to the books and then her hoping she would understand.

"You like my books?" Vira looked confused as Nicola took the bags and started heading towards the exit.

I shook my head and motioned to the books again.

It finally seemed to dawn on Vira what I meant. "Oh, don't worry, Hayden said to take his card so you could get some stuff too."

I stopped short trying to understand what she meant.

She had Hayden's card. To pay for me. to buy me stuff. That I wanted. Hayden wanted me to spend his money. On myself. Why?

Vira hooked my arm and grinned at me. "Come on, to our next stop."

As we piled into Vira's car again, Nicola took note of my bag. "That will be our next stop." She motioned to it.

Vira nodded in agreement. "The best place would be the Bentleys in the mall, so why don't we head there and wonder around for a bit?"