Collide To The Sound Of Our Heartbeat.

“Whoa,” I muttered, as Mikey let out a low whistle.
“It’s quite… big, isn’t it?” Ani whispered to Sazzy, who nodded, her hand latching onto Frank’s.
“Don’t you dare loose me,” she whispered to him, making Ani chuckle.
“This place is amazing!” Mikey cried, grabbing April’s hand and pulling her into a nearby store.
“We’ll meet up at the entrance in an hour!” he called to the rest of us, disappearing into the record store.
“Well… we’ll meet up in an hour for lunch, then…” Bob said; his arm draped around Ani’s.
“I thought we came here to see where Dawn of the Dead was shot,” she said, shaking her head. There was a slight smile gracing her lips. Gerard shrugged.
“Mikey gets excited. But while we’re here, we might as well get stuff like clothes and that for the road. I’ll get mints and stuff like that, so just you guys just get whatever you need.”
“We’re gonna go… over there,” Sazzy said, waving her hand in the direction of JC Penney.
“…We are?” Frank said, with an apprehensive look on his face.
“Why not?” she said, her eyebrows furrowed, eyes narrowed.
“That’s where all the chick stuff is!”
She glared at him, making him bite his lip, and she stuck her free hand in her back pocket.
“I need underwear.”
“See you guys later,” Frank said; his eyes wide and bright. Gerard burst out laughing, as Sazzy grinned, Frank dragging her away, as she waved at us.
“Well, I’m gonna go and get some stuff… coming, Syd?” Gee said, touching her arm. She nodded, lacing her hand with his, smiling.
“Uh… Ani, where do you wanna go?” Bob asked, looking down at her, his arm still draped around her shoulders.
“Barnes and Noble…?”
“Yeah!” Bob cried, punching the air.
“Hey, come with us, because I wanna go too!” Gerard whined, pouting. Ani chuckled, nodding.
“What about you two?” Sydney asked, turning to me and Hannah.
“Uh… I dunno, I suppose I’ll just wonder around…” I mumbled, shrugging.
“I was going to do the same. Maybe get some shampoo and stuff,” Hannah said, waving a hand to her left.
“Well, we’ll meet you guys here in an hour,” Sydney said, as the four of them wondered off.
“Well… wanna stick together?” Hannah asked, turning to me. I shrugged nodding. She was quite cool.
“Yeah, sure.”

Frank’s Point of View
“Oh man, oh man!” I cried, jumping up and down.
“…What?” Sazzy said looking on at me, amused, her eyebrow cocked.
“That’s the escalator in Dawn of the Dead! I have to tell Mikey later!”
She laughed at me, shaking her head and dragging me away by my collar.
“C’mon, we haven’t got much time until we meet the others,” she said, leading me to the women’s clothing section.
“Hey! You’re not getting underwear!” I said, crossing my arms childishly. She sighed, shaking her head.
“I will, Frankie!”

Bob’s Point of View
“C’mon! You’re looking at all the boring books!” I cried; tugging at the hem of Ani’s blue and white striped t-shirt.
“They’re not boring!”
“They’re not fun!” I interjected, trying to pull her away again, but to no avail.
“Bob!” she said, in a hushed tone, trying to quieten me.
“Ani! C’mon, let’s check out the music books, music section, and the magazines and st-”
“Bob. I will rip out your guts if you do not let me try and find this book,” Ani said, sternly and quietly, her eyes scanning the shelves.
“What book is it, anyways?” I asked, crossing my arms. We were in the dusty, old forgotten corner of the store, where all the books that old people read were.
“1984, it’s a classic.”
“By who?”
“George Orwell,” she replied, her finger tracing over the spines of the books, which were tightly packed side by side.
“Never heard of it,” I said, leaning against the side of the shelf, “music section?”
She threw me a dirty look, shutting me up.

Gerard’s Point of View
Sydney had somehow dragged me to Macy’s, which was on the far west side of the mall.
“Oh my god, look at this dress! Gerard, what do you think?”
“Yeah, it’s lovely… listen, we better hurry, Syd, we don’t have much time until-”
“Oh my god! Look at that coat, that’s so-”
I sighed, drowning out her girlish cried, following like a lost puppy, until her shopping fever wore out.
Bad move.
After another twenty minutes of her rushing around the store, she had picked out a pair of grey-black skinny jeans, a bright blue coat and a pair of red denim shorts.
“Sydney! C’mon, we have to leave now,” I groaned, following her to yet another part of the store that held skirts. Oh god.
She checked her watch.
“Oh, shit! You’re right… Okay, let’s just pay for these,” she said, motioning at the three items of clothing she’d made me carry.
I followed her to the checkout.

Ray’s Point of View
We met up with the guys an hour later, which seemed to go by really quickly. I actually had a pretty good time with Hannie; she had quickly picked up a bottle of shampoo and conditioner, at The Body Shop Skin & Hair, that was kind of opposite JC Penney. She told me that she used to work there, and was anxious about going in – she didn’t want old friends to see her or recognise her.
After that, we pretty much just messed around for the whole hour. We went to Barnes and Noble, Gamestop, and Guitar Centre (which was actually just outside the mall) and then went back to the entrance we came from, meeting the rest of the group.
“…Why do you guys look so miserable?” Hannah asked, as Gerard looked disgruntled, black shades pulled over his eyes and his jet black hair dishevelled, Frank looked kind of put out, his lips pulled into a pout. He was like that when he was upset or annoyed, and Bob looked pissed or something, as did Mikey.
“Never go shopping with chicks,” Frank mumbled to me, crossing his arms over his chest, “what did Hannie make you do?”
“Nothing… I actually had pretty good fun,” I said, shrugging, my forehead creased, “what happened with you guys?”
“Sazzy said she’ll buy underwear, but she never did! And she just went ‘round JC Penney, looking at ordinary clothes, and shoes and shit… man, it was so boring, and so tiring!” he whined, looking at her over his shoulder. The girls were chatting with each other animatedly, showing each other their buys.
“God, I know what you mean, dude. Sydney was just messing around in Macy’s, and she made me carry all her shit, and I was so bummed, I didn’t get to get some stuff for the road, or go to any of the stores I wanted to!” Gerard moaned, complaining with Frank.
“Yeah, Ani was the same! We were in Barnes and Noble, and she was just in the old section, looking for some classic book or something, and she wouldn’t let me go to the music section or anything!” Bob groaned.
“April was kind of like that, too! We went into Portrait Innovations, and I was thinking, ‘alright, that’s cool, some art stuff’ but she was… I dunno, but it was so boring! I thought we were gonna be like, messing around and stuff, but she kept telling me to be quiet, and it was like she was my Mom!”
“…Am I the only guy that had a pretty good time?” I said, pretty shocked. Hannah was fun to go round the mall with, I thought. She was telling me where they shot what bits of Dawn of the Dead and stuff, and I recognised some of the interior and the setting myself, as well. It was just fun.
“You did? I’m going with Hannie next time,” Bob mumbled, “what did you guys do?”
“Well she just picked up some hair stuff and then she showed me around, where they shot Dawn of the Dead and she said that-”
“Oh, man!” Mikey cried, clutching at his hair, “that’s what I fucking came here for!”
“Hey, you guys, shall we go and get some lunch now...? Err, why are you looking at me like that?” Hannah said, taking a step towards me.
“Uh, Ray… why are the-”
“Hannah,” Gerard said, leaning in towards her, glancing over at the girls who were still talking to each other, “you have to show us around! The other girls, they just go and shop for clothes, or look for books, or look at the-”
Hannah cut him off, bursting out into laughter.
“Let’s just get some lunch.”