Baby Just Say Yes

"Do you need any money to get anything?" Rayleigh's mother asked her three days later. Rayleigh, plotting in her mind, nodded her head.

"Yeah. I plan on doing some major shopping with Herald today." She lied, crossing her fingers. Her mother's face absolutely glowed, and for a minute, Rayleigh almost felt bad about what she was planning on doing. However, when she remembered why she was getting out of the house, and who her parents were trying to force her to see, any feelings of sympathy for her parents vanished, replaced again with a burning anger. Her mother walked out of the room, and Rayleigh practically ran to her closet. She pulled out a giant bag with a picture of the Misfits logo and threw it onto her bed. Next she ran over to her other closet and pulled out a few random shirts, and a pair of jeans. She tossed them on the bed and ran to her desk, where she pulled out her journal and placed it conspicuously on the top of the desk. She knew her parents would find it, and she knew they'd read it. And that's what she wanted. Then maybe they'd get it through her head that she was really in love with Brian, and that nothing would stop her from seeing him. She rummaged some more, and found her photo album, and tossed that onto her bed as well. She found more stuff, and threw it onto the pile. Then she put it all conspicuously in the giant bag. It didn't look as if it held very much in it, and she knew her parents would not see this coming, so they wouldn't check her bag. She put her cell phone and her Zune into her pocket, and walked out of the room, turning off the light. She took one last fleeting look around the bedroom, and then closed the door. She saw her mother sitting on a bench down the hall, evidently waiting for her daughter, and she walked over.

"I'll be home later tonight, 'kay?" She told her mom, forcing herself to hug her. Her mother shook her head.

"You're staying at Herald's tonight. He invited you." She said with a smile. Rayleigh tried not to gag, and managed to force a cracked smile.

"Kay. I'll see you sometime tomorrow then."

"Yes, sweetie. I love you." Her mother said. Her father walked out of their bedroom.

"Be careful." He said wisely. Rayleigh tried not to roll her eyes.

"Good Christian girls don't have sex, and good Christian boys don't try to get sex out of girls. I'm sure we'll just chit chat over tofu and The Passion." Rayleigh said, her voice thick with sarcasm. Apparently her parents didn't catch it, however, because they smiled at her.

"I'm so happy to see this change of attitude in you." Her mother brimmed. Her father placed his hand on Rayleigh's shoulder.

"Yeah. I kinda like it, too." Rayleigh spoke, trying not to burst into laughter. "Anyways, I better get going."

"Okay. See you tomorrow, sweetie." Her dad said. She walked down the staircase, not taking a look back at her parents. When she was in the foyer, she saw them walk into the bedroom, and she picked her orange and tan kitten up off the floor.

"Come on, Scuddle. You're coming with me." She told the little furball, placing him inside her pocket. She felt him nestle himself into a ball, and she walked out to her SUV, placing the bag in the backseat.

"Hey." She heard from the backseat. "That was my head!"

"Brian?" She asked, turning around so fast she nearly caught whip lash. He sat up, giving her his signature grin.

"Yep."

"Hey, don't forget me!" Johnny said from the very back of the SUV. Rayleigh laughed when she saw Jimmy back there too.

"So where's Matt and Zacky?" Rayleigh asked.

"At the mall staking out a spot. We figure your parents are going to be in contact to make sure you reach the destination." Jimmy said in his super-spy voice. Rayleigh tried not to laugh.

"So you'll go meet him so your parents won't think you lied." Johnny continued. "And then you'll go to that big bathroom with two entrances."

"And you'll exit on the south end, and we're busting you out." Brian told her. "Or the north end, whichever end Herald's not on."

"You guys are awesome." Rayleigh told them. They grinned sheepishly at her.

"Yeah, we know." Jimmy said.

"Get down again so the gate guard won't see you guys. Wait...how'd you manage to get past him?"

"You really don't want to know that." Brian grinned. Rayleigh smiled.

"Oh, yes. This should be interesting."

"Jimmy paid him off with a fifty." Johnny explained.

"Wow. That's all it takes for one of my parent's employees to jeopardize our safety?" Rayleigh asked sarcastically. "I wish I'd known that earlier."

"Come on. Before your parents realize you're still in the driveway." Brian told her, ducking again. She smiled and moved the vehicle. She drove down the driveway, and they exited the estate. Once they were well away from her home, everyone sat up and pulled on seatbelts, as Rayleigh insisted. Brian crawled into the front seat, and Jimmy and Johnny fought over seats until she threatened to throw them out if they didn't shut up. It took thirty minutes to reach the mall, and Rayleigh took a sigh as she parked the SUV. She looked at Brian, and grabbed his hand.

"So are you sure you wanna do this?" He asked her.

"Duh." She replied. "I've only wanted to get out of there since I met you."

"Well then come on. Because we've got a lot of stuff to get done." Johnny said. She got out of the car, handing Scuddle to Brian.

"A kitten?" He asked dubiously. She nodded.

"It's from a garbage can, okay? I couldn't just leave him to die." She told him. He smiled and ruffled her hair.

"It's go time." She whispered. "I got my cell."

"Kay. One of us will text you when we've got everything secured. Matt's wearing his green shirt, but because Herald knows what he looks like, we're using Val as your escort. She'll go into the bathroom, and will walk out one end of it, whichever we think Herald is on. When she does or does not see him, she'll find Matt, and tell him. Then he'll text one of us, and let us know which end is Herald-free." Brian told her.

"And then we'll secure that end, with the help of Leanna, Lacey, and Gena. Then we'll get you out." Jimmy told her.

"And if the worst happens--Herald finds out that you're running away, Matt will knock him out. Literally. And then we make a run for it."

"You guys are seriously the best friends a girl could have." Rayleigh told them. "But are we all going to fit in here?"

"No. The girls will go in Matt's car, and we'll ride with you." Brian told her. "Now go, so Herald doesn't think you ran already."

"Kay." Rayleigh said, walking away from her vehicle. She walked into the mile, and Herald practically ran to her.

"Rayleigh, what a pleasure it is you decided to come shopping with me." He said, a glint of something she didn't trust in his brown eyes. They were nothing like Brian's. She tried not to vomit inside her mouth, and nodded.

"Yeah, like, totally. I really need to ditch all this, like, morbid stuff." She told him, trying to get him to trust her. He smiled.

"I'm glad to hear that. Come on. First stop, American Eagle." He said, putting her arm through his elbow. She allowed him to lead her into the dreaded store, and let him pick outfits for her. She felt the phone vibrate in her pocket, and grabbed one of the outfits he'd decided he'd like to see her in.

"Um, Herald, I'm going to go try this on real quick, okay?" She asked him. He looked over at her from a rack of impossibly tiny shirts, and nodded.

"Okay." He told her, going back to his browsing. She stepped into one of the large dressing rooms, and pulled the phone out of her pocket. She saw a text from Matt, and smiled. She opened it and read it carefully to herself: It's go time.

She pulled on the shirt and pants quickly, stuffed the phone into her shoe, and stepped out of the dressing room to see Herald waiting for her.

"I don't like it." She told him. "It feels itchy."

"Okay. How about this one?" He asked, handing her another outfit. She shook her head.

"Um...maybe I'll try some more on later. I've really got to use the bathroom.''

"There's one right over across the walkway." He told her.

"I'll just change into my clothes and meet you at the Chinese place. I'm hungry." She told him. He nodded.

"Fair enough." He said, leaning in to kiss her cheek. It took all she had not to slap him, but she restrained herself and stepped back into the dressing room, pulling her clothes back on. Once she was sure he was no longer in the store, she walked rushedly over to the bathroom, seeming as if she really needed to go. Once inside, she saw Val leaning against the sink. The girl rushed over to her and hugged her.

"He said he'd meet me at the Chinese place." Rayleigh told her. "Thanks so much."

"Of course. We're all like one big family, right?" The girl asked her. "I'll go and make sure he's there, and then I'll go find Matt and let him know what's going on, okay? Wait here."

"Kay." She told her friend. She stepped into a bathroom stall and waited impatiently for a text from one of the guys. After what seemed like forever, she felt the phone vibrate in her shoe. She pulled it out and read "1 New Text from Jimmy." She flipped open her phone and read eagerly. "Hes in the Chinese place. Leave through the left."

She heard someone walk into the bathroom, and put her feet on the toilet so no one would see her in there incase Herald had sent someone in after her. It had been fifteen minutes since he'd seen her, after all.

"Ray? Are you in here?" She heard Zacky's girlfriend Gena ask quietly. She put her feet on the floor and opened the door to see the girl, who hugged her.

"It's so good to see you." Rayleigh told her. Gena nodded in the hug, then let her go.

"C'mon, let's get you out of here." She said, walking out of the hall. She scanned the area before letting Rayleigh out, and apparently seeing who she was looking for, Zacky, she nodded. The guys quickly surrounded her, and they exited the mall hastily. Once in the parking lot, they made a run for their respective vehicles. Rayleigh sat in the driver's seat, and she heard Brian get in next to her in the passenger's seat. She looked in the backseat and saw Jimmy sitting behind Brian, Zacky in the middle, and Matt behind her.

"Where's Johnny?" She asked.

"Right here!" He called from the very back of the SUV.

"Alright, let's go." Brian told her, squeezing her hand. She turned the car on and drove out of the mall, heading for the PCH, not taking a look back at Huntington Beach as they left.