I woke up early, the sun was just barely peering into the skylight above us. As I replayed last night in my head, I tried to remember what had happened right before I fell asleep. You see, the strong over the counter sleeping pills kind of make me, I don't know, loopy? I'll say anything or do anything the last half a minute before I fall asleep. The bad part about this is that I can't remember it the next day. I could have said anything to Dyson last night... anything.

I sighed and sat up as I stretched. After I brushed my hair and my teeth, I got a pair of slippers, my walky talkie, and the keys before leaving the Macy’s where Dyson was still in a deep sleep. I made my to the music store on the second floor on the other side of the mall from the Macy’s and slid open the gate before walking inside. Guitars covered the left side wall and keyboards were on the other side. There were racks of sheet music throughout the store with music stands, instrument cleaning kits, and drum sticks. In the back, there was a large, L- shaped counter that was made out of glass for displays. Behind the counter, on the wall, they hung the trumpets and trombones. In the display case, they showed the flutes and clarinets. On the short side of the L, was where the tuners and metronomes were.

I sighed and went over to the acoustic guitars and gently picked up the cheapest one I could find. I strummed a few chords, seeing if I could still play since I haven’t played the guitar very often for a few years. And when I do play, it’s not in front of people. But it always seemed to make me feel better in bad situations when I used to play, so now I might as well try again.

I seemed to remember everything good enough, I decided to sing a song to myself to calm down my mind.

I mean, along with being locked inside of the mall, I’m with Dyson. Dyson, of all people. And then, I kissed him. Yeah, I knew what I was doing when I kissed him. I knew I had a plan, and luckily, I stuck to it all the way through. Even if it was a stupid and slutty plan. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I feel like a slut. But the fact that I liked it way more than I should have just bugs me to no end. Dyson is a jerk. A pervert. A child. I do not like Dyson Becker.  But it’s so easy to get lost in those big, ocean blue eyes and his light freckles that are sprinkled across his nose and cheeks are the most adorable thing I have ever seen. The way his hands felt on my skin. He was an insanely good kisser.

No! Stupid teenage hormones. Dyson is no better looking than most of guys in my school. I told myself. He’s nothing special and topping that off with his annoying personality… he’s not worth liking. Besides, it’s not like he stays with one girl for more than a few days, if that.

I shook those stupid thoughts out of my mind and landed on a random song that I remembered how to play and started strumming the guitar to the song.

“Where is the moment you needed the most? You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost. They tell me your blue skies fade to gray, they tell me your passion’s gone away. And I don’t need to carryin’ on. You stand in the line just to hit a new low, you’re faking a smile with a coffee to go. You tell me your life’s been way off line, you’re falling to pieces every time…” I kept singing Bad Day by Daniel Powter.

When I got almost through the second verse, I heard the walky talkie going off beside me. I stopped playing the music and listened to what Dyson was saying.

“Tyler, where are you?” He asked. He sounded like he just woke up. He cannot find me in the music store. Never the less playing the guitar or singing. My mom and Toni don’t even know that I still play the guitar.

I quickly put the guitar back up on the hook and grabbed the keys and walky talkie then started running down the hall of the mall as fast as I could while answering Dyson. I pushed the small rubber button on the walky talkie and put it up to my mouth.

“I’m uh, in the Cinnabon looking for something to eat. Want me to bring you something?” I asked. Damnit, I sounded way too nice. Nice means suspicious. Good thing he’s too stupid to put two and two together. Why did I say Cinnabon? Cinnabon is way closer to Macy’s than it is to the music store. I instantly wished that I brought the skateboard with me, but I just kept running.

“Nah, I’ll meet you there.” He finally responded. Ah, shit.

“Yeah, okay.” I said as I ran, trying to sound nonchalant about it. I was half way there, I can do this. He’ll probably take forever to get there anyway. Finally, I made it to the Cinnabon and sighed in relief when Dyson wasn’t there. I took a seat and tried to catch my breath before he got there. The smell of cinnamon hit my nose immediately and it smelled delicious. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a cinnamon roll after I could finally breathe.

However, less than a minute after I got there, Dyson turned the corner into the restaurant and looked at me like I had two heads.

“W-what?” I asked, still gasping for air.

“Why are you breathing heavy?” He asked, sitting across from me at the two person table I was sitting at. The restaurant was very thin. There was only one row of small tables against the wall, a foot of walking space, and then the counter that displayed all of the pastries.

Crap. Think fast, think think think, Tyler. I thought to myself.

“Oh, I, uh, I like to, uh, I run in the morning.” I said, seeming pretty happy with that answer. “Yeah, I just jogged around.”

He nodded and grinned like he didn’t believe me. “And you just decided to take a run in your fuzzy blue slippers?”

All I could do was nod. “Yup. That’s the best way to, uh, run.” Before I could make more of an ass out of myself, I stood up and forced a smile. “I’ll make a pot of hot chocolate.”

He chuckled. “No coffee?”

I scrunched my nose. “Nasty.”

“Alright. Well I’ll make those sausage burritos that they have here.” He said, getting up from the table as we made our way behind the counter.

“You can make those for you. I’ll make my own.” I said.

“Why? I don’t mind.”

“I’m not going to have sausage, I’m just going to have a cinnamon roll.” I said simply as I started on the hot chocolate.

“You’ve never had their burritos?” He asked.

I chuckled and shook my head. “I’m vegetarian.”

“Really?” He laughed. “Why?”

“Because eating something that used to breath and live and move and be alive just freaks me out.” I said, going into the back of the Cinnabon and getting a raw cinnamon roll from the fridge before putting it in the oven thingy that they have.

“You’re so weird.” He muttered.

I rolled my eyes but remained silent. While our food was cooking, there was an awkward silence.

“So, uh, last night.” I said slowly. “I probably said something really stupid right before I fell asleep. I don’t remember what I said but it was the sleeping pills messing with my head… if I did say anything.” I finally said.

“You don’t remember what you said last night?” He asked with raised eyebrows.

“No, what’d I say?” I asked, sipping my hot chocolate.

He smirked. “Nothing.”

I rolled my eyes. “So you’re not going to tell me?”

He shrugged. “I might tell you if you tell me where you were running from.”

“I told you I just went for a run.” I said, exasperated.

“Yeah, and you’re a terrible liar.” He chuckled.

“Fine.” I huffed, standing from the table and pulling my cinnamon roll out of the oven.

“So what are we going to do today?” He asked with a grin.

I shrugged. “Let’s spend today, away from each other.”

He feigned a hurt look. “You don’t want to spend time with me?”

I rolled my eyes. “Yesterday was enough.” I sat down at the table again and started nibbling at the cinnamon roll after I added the white frosting to it.

“I think I’ll hit up the video game store.” Dyson said through a mouth full of burrito. I didn’t say anything about how disgusting it was because I knew that it would just make him do it more.

“With what electricity?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

He sighed. “Fuck.” He muttered. “What do people do without electricity?”

Even I didn’t have an answer for this question. What were we going to do all day? “We’re in a mall. With no supervision. Surely you can find something to do.”

“What are you going to do?” He asked.

I shrugged. “Staying away from you.”

“Ouch, harsh.” He said with a slight smirk as he finished his food.

I took a sip of my hot chocolate. “Deal with it.” When I finished my cinnamon roll, I stood to my feet. “Later.” I mumbled before turning to leave.

“Wait.” Dyson said quickly before standing and coming towards me. In an instant, he had his hands on my waist and I was pinned against the wall. His lips brushed against my ear as he whispered, “No good morning kiss?”

I was too breathless and shocked to respond. His breath on my neck send shivers down my body, making my eyes snap shut and my breath to become short.

He pressed his body against mine and kept his hands on my waist, pulling me even closer to him as his lips traveled to my neck. I gasped when I felt him start delicately nipping and sucking on a place on my neck, no doubt leaving a hickey. But it felt too good to pull away, I couldn’t say no. After what felt like hours but I’m sure it was just a few minutes, he pulled his mouth away from my neck and smiled before putting his lips back on my neck only this time, instead of sucking on one spot, he peppered light kisses around my neck, up to my ear and then slowly down my jaw bone. When he reached the left side of my jaw, I let out another gasp and my whole body tensed up.

He chuckled, sensing the change and moved his lips back to my ear before whispering. “You can’t beat me at my own game, sweet heart.”

And with that, he walked out of sight and down the hallway of the mall. After I calmed myself down, I replayed what had just happened in my head.

He beat me! At a game that I started! I groaned before making my way down the hall, the opposite way that Dyson had gone, and finally landed on the sports store. I grabbed a soccer ball and then went back to the Macy’s where we were sleeping. After grabbing a change of clothes, a pink tank top and short athletic shorts with tennis shoes, I grabbed the stereo that I had already picked out and then walked down to the play place on the lower level.

The theme was space, so there were rubber planets, stars, and moons scattered around the area. There was a comet in the corner that the stupid kids try to slide down but end up breaking their ankles, and there was a huge space ship with seats and a steering wheel. Some of the planets had a tunnel to crawl through and other ones were just solid to climb on. I used to love this place when I was a kid.

I turned on the stereo and blasted Mayday Parade through the play place while I sang along and started kicking the ball around the obstacles as if they were an opposing team. I would spin around the planets and kick around the moons. I felt accomplished when I was able to kick the ball through one of the small tunnels in Neptune. I circled the ring on Saturn and kicked the ball over the biggest planet, Jupiter. I was surprised at how fun it was just to kick a soccer ball through space. It was good practice, too.

“Get up, get up! Sing it like you're screamin' at me! Get up, get up! I love the way you make it look so easy! East coast, west coast. Show me what you've got now, let's go, let's go!” I sang aloud as I kicked the ball around as fast as I could through the planets.

I kicked the ball high into the air and jumped up, bouncing it off of my head and sending it far across the play area. I smiled and jogged over to get it. I was breathing heavy and sweating just a bit, but it felt good to be playing again since I haven’t played in two days. I miss it and it always calms me down.

After about three hours of aimlessly kicking the ball around the play place, my stomach told me that it was time to eat with a very loud growl.

I sighed and turned off the stereo before making my way towards the food court. When I got there, Dyson was already eating at one of the tables. God, I did not want to see him right now.

However, I stifled a groan and kept walking.

When he saw me, he smiled. “I found some Chinese. Yours is on the counter over there.” He said, nudging towards one of the Chinese restaurants in the food court.

“Thanks.” I mumbled before hurrying over to the Chinese place and getting the plate that was full of noodles and rice. I, then, made my way across the food court to the opposite side of where Dyson was eating and sat down at another small table. Unfortunately, I could still see him and he could still see me. But at least we were far away from each other. That’s good enough for now, I guess.

“Are you seriously mad at me?” He whined with a small smirk playing on his lips.

I shrugged. “I didn’t say that I was mad.”

“Then why aren’t you eating with me?” He asked with raised eyebrows.

“Because I don’t like you.” I snapped, letting my words echo through the empty food court.

His smirk grew. “Then how do you explain the hickey on your neck?”

I instinctively put my hand up to where his lips were, even though I couldn’t feel anything. I raked my brain for a comeback or an explanation, or anything. “I was just surprised.” I muttered. Genius, Tyler. Just genius.

He chuckled, obviously not believing me. “Really? Just surprised? Because ten minutes is a long time to get over the shock.”

“It was not ten minutes.” I defended.

Again, he chuckled. “Yeah, it was, sweet heart. So don’t pretend you didn’t like it.”

“Not pretending.” I shot back, even though I knew it was a lie. Of course I enjoyed it or I wouldn't have let it happen.

“Right.” He said sarcastically. “Anyway, I saw you playing soccer over in the kids thing.”

“Yeah, so?” I asked as I watched him stand up from his seat and throw away his trash in one of the cans with the ‘thank you’ flaps on it.

“So you’re good. You should join the team.” He said casually, making his way over to me.

I raised my eyebrow at him. “A-are you kidding me? I’m the captain of the varsity team.”

He laughed. Like doubled over hysterical laughing. “You should have seen your face! You were so mad! I know you’re on the team, chill out.”

I rolled my eyes as he sat down across from me. “Yeah, whatever.” I muttered, stuffing my face with noodles.

“Somebody’s in a crabby mood.” He muttered, looking away from me.

“I’m sorry if being trapped in here with you puts my mood in a downward spiral. Of all people. It had to be you.” I muttered.

He grinned. “I’m glad that you think so much of me.” He said confidently.

I finished eating and reached over to the trash can and threw away the empty plate. “Sure.” I chirped sarcastically before standing to my feet and walking back towards the shopping portion of the mall.

“Where are you going?” Dyson called behind me.

“Getting as far away from you as possible.” I snapped, stopping next to the large fountain in the middle of the food court. It was brown marble with a large ball in the center that was always spinning around.

He chuckled and jogged over to where I was. “Just admit that you’re mad at me.” He said.

“I’m not mad.” I growled. “I just have better things to do than to spend time with you.”

“Because you’re mad.” He added.

“I am not mad!” I screeched.

Suddenly, Dyson grew his signature trouble making smirk. “Well, you’re about to be.”

“What’s that sup-“ Before I could finish my sentence, I was flying through the air. I finally landed with cold water slicing around my skin as I fumbled into the fountain, drenching my whole body. I let out a shriek and wiped my eyes clean from the cold water to glare at Dyson but he was already running down the hallway in a fit of laughter.

I growled as I stood to my feet and walked down the hallway, dripping water. I made my way to the Macy’s as I formulated a revenge plan in my head.

When I got back, I went into the clothes department and grabbed a pair of sweats and a tank top with a new pair of underwear before getting dressed and drying my hair out. Luckily, the walky talkies are water proof and that’s all I had with me. Now, I just have to gather supplies for my prank to get back at Dyson.

It took me about an hour to gather everything: Sharpies, whipped cream, pink bunny ears, and makeup. I wasn’t going into action until tonight, so I hid everything under my bed, out of sight.

Now it was two and I haven’t heard of or seen Dyson all day, which is a good thing. So now, I decided that I’ll wonder around the mall and find something to do. I grabbed the keys, my walky talkie and then headed out of the Macy’s and into the mall. I grabbed a Coke from the food court and picked up one of the Segways that we left in the hallway yesterday.

After driving around the lower level a few times, I stopped at a bakery and had a few cookies before going into the toy store. The toy store was filled with puzzles, board games, stuffed animals, dolls, and anything else a kid could dream of having. I instantly made my way to the pillow pets. I have one at home but I never sleep without him, so I need one temporarily. Maybe it sounds childish, but oh well. The only person that will see it is Dyson and he's in no way able to judge me for my lack of maturity. 

I picked out the killer whale because I love killer whales, I always have. After I had the killer whale tucked under my left arm, I wondered into the board game isle and grabbed a game of Sorry and Clue. Maybe if me and Dyson come to mutual terms I could beat him at those games. Just something to do to pass the time.

I looked at the time and realized it was probably time to start thinking about what to make for dinner. I couldn't carry the pillow and the board games with the Segway, so I decided to walk back to Macy’s without the Segway, it wasn’t that far anyway.

When I got back to the Macy’s, I plopped the stuff on my bed before laying sideways on the bed so that my legs dangled off of one side and my head off of the other side. I then started singing a Kesha song that I had stuck in my head, Crazy Beautiful Life and swaying my head to the beat.

“What on earth are you doing?” Dyson asked with a chuckle.

I quickly sat up and looked at him. “Nothing. I’m bored.” I defended.

He grinned. “Right.”

“What do you want?” I asked, changing the subject.

“Looking for you so we can eat. I’m hungry.”

“Okay. I’m going to Panera.” I said, standing to my feet.

“Without me?” He pouted.

“Look.” I said, glaring at him. “I didn’t sign up to be locked inside of the mall. Especially not with you. Just because we are locked in here does not mean that we need to spend time together. Come if you want, but really, I do not care.” I snapped, turning and walking towards the exit.

“But we’re stuck together. So you could stop being so negative and make the best of this.” He said, walking with me towards the Panera Bread on the other side of the mall.

“And you consider throwing me into the fountain ‘making the best of it’?” I asked.

He snickered. “It was funny.”

“No, it wasn’t. I smell like metal and that water is disgusting.” I complained.

“But your face was hilarious.”

“I’m glad you were entertained.” I mumbled.

“I’ll race you to Panera.” He said, wriggling his eyebrows at me.

I chuckled. “I’m definitely faster than you.”

He snorted. “You wish. Loser makes lunch tomorrow.” He said, holding out his hand for me to shake.

I looked down at his hand for a minute but instead of shaking it, I took off running towards the Panera. “Deal!” I squealed as I ran. I heard Dyson behind me but I didn’t slow down. I pushed myself as hard as I could down the hallway, racking my brain for a short cut.

I decided to look back and see where Dyson was and was pleased when I saw that there was a nice gap between us. However, as I turned back around to see where I was going, I tripped over the corner of a bench and went toppling over to the ground. I felt my head ricochet off of the tile floor with the pain of a thousand monkeys. If that doesn’t make sense, then that just tells you how bad it hurt.

I expected to hear Dyson’s childish victory laugh as he passed me by, but instead, I heard his worried ramble. “Shit, shit, shit. Tyler, are you okay?” He asked, rushing over to me.

I put my hand up to my head and tried to sit up, but my head wasn’t allowing me to raise it off of the ground. “I’m fine.” I croaked but it didn’t ease the worry on Dyson’s face. I must look pretty bad because it takes a lot for Dyson to be serious, let alone worried.

“Don’t try to get up, just relax.” He said, soothingly, leaning over me and running his hands through my hair.

“But it hurts.” I whined as my vision became blurrier and blurrier.

“I know but you just have to lay down.” The pain in my head was becoming overwhelming and it was all I could do not to burst out into tears. When I pulled my hand away from my head, all I could see was blood. Just a lot of blood. So much blood.

“Oh my gosh.” I gasped, now completely freaking out as I tried to sit up and squirm under Dyson’s grip.

“Calm down, it’s not that bad.” He whispered to me, continuing to kneel over me.

“Have I ever mentioned that I don’t handle blood too well?” I muttered right before the blurriness was replaced by a foggy black and then I was out.

(:   <3