Empty Graves And Shallow Hearts

That night, a couple weeks ago, when I met Kylie’s brother and his friends, was great.
I had finally gotten Kylie and Brandon to shut up and stop teasing me. But as soon as the guys had finished their battle and came in from the other room, they teased me again.
The guys had no idea what was going on though, so it was ok.
I got to sit next to Matty on the couch when we ate Brandon’s frozen pizza. Everybody talked about random things, and all the guys were constantly asking me questions. Everybody but Oli…
I had asked Kylie about him when we got a second away from them. She only said that he was a bit quiet sometimes and kept to himself.
So I just let him be.
Or I tried.
I just couldn’t help looking.
Neither could he.

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“Ding dong! Ding ding DONG!”
Someone was banging on the door while screaming through it.

“Answer your door Raina! The doorbell is ringing!” They yelled more.

“Yeah! And it’s cold out here!”

I laughed and yelled toward the front door. “Shut up Curtis! Quit complaining! I’m almost done!”

“You shut up! Get your ass out here woman!”

I turned back to the mirror, finishing my makeup. It was simple today’ just skin toned eye shadow and the usual black liner. I shoved the pencil back in the makeup bag and turned off the light. Grabbing my purse, I slipped on my shoes and opened the front door.
Five mischievous men stumbled forward.

“What the hell guys? What were you all doing?”

“Nothin’.” Matt straightened up, brushing invisible dust off his puffy jacket.

Eyeing him, I stepped over the boys and headed toward Kylie’s SUV which was waiting.

I was about halfway there when a pair of arms wrapped around my waist and lifted me up. I giggled and kicked the air.
“Put me down!”

The person laughed and spun me around. Finally they set me down, facing towards the house. The yard was spinning and I couldn’t stand straight.

Laughing hysterically the rest of the boys ran past me to the car. I yelled a bit, cursing them for tricking me. I still didn’t know who had picked me up either.

Finally I could take a step without almost falling over. When I turned around I was greeted by two ecstatic smiles. I smirked in return.

“You guys suck.”

Oli laughed a little. I felt my face heat up and it was probably turning red.
I had hardly talked to him, and yet I liked him so much that he could make me blush just by laughing.

“C’mon Raina,” Matty grabbed my hand. “Let’s go.”

We all jumped at the sound of a horn blaring through the cold air.
Brandon stuck his head out the passenger window.
“Kylie says you guys better get in or we’re leaving your asses here!”

There was then a yelling in the car “TURN IT UP!”

From where I was I could make out three little figures - Lee, Matt, and Curtis - diving into the front of Kylie’s car, fighting to jam up the volume of the music. The bass was heavy and fast, though I couldn’t make out the lyrics.

“Man,” Oli suddenly perked up. “Let’s go!” He started moving forward shaking his hips to the beat. Oli grabbed my free hand, dragging me and Matty along.

It took a minute, but soon the three of us were dancing all-out towards the SUV.

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Before I knew it, the eight of us were waltzing through the mall, chatting and having a good time.

Kylie kept complaining and asking if we could get another pedicure.

“Please Rain-uuhhhh!”

“No woman! I don’t need another. Let’s go do something else!”

“Oh my goodness! Let’s go there!” Curtis squealed.

I whipped around to see where he was pointing. A few gasps escaped mouths. I just laughed. Curtis, being the weirdo he is, was stretching his finger out toward Victoria’s Secret.

“You have issues man,” Matt pushed Curtis’ hand down. “Quit pointing, it’s rude.”

“You all know you want to!” Curtis pouted.

Kylie smiled. “It does kinda sound like a good idea. I’d like to get some new stuff…”

Curtis jumped up and ran across the bridge leading to the store. “Yay! Let’s get new lady things!”

As we started heading over, Brandon came up from behind, draping his arm over my shoulder. “This is going to be interesting huh?”

“Yep,” I sighed. “Very much so.”