Break All Your Rules

The mall was relatively uncrowded for a Sunday afternoon. There were some kids milling around here and there, and older people were going in and out of the home stores. Mason’s hand gripped mine as we strolled towards the food court.

“Sorry I couldn’t think of anyplace better to take you,” he apologized for the hundredth time. I just glanced at him and sighed.

“You don’t have to keep apologizing. This is cool. I’m not usually a mall rat,” I told him.

He nodded and looked over towards a mall directory. “C’mon.” He dragged me to it, eyes quickly scanning the names of stores. He put his finger beneath one name, locating the number on the huge map. “Sweet, it’s close by.”

“What is?”

“You’ll see.”

He dragged me around a corner and down a corridor filled with vibrant storefronts – Spencer’s, Journeys, and other shops that looked like they’d be right up his alley. I noticed three guys walking towards us, and the guy in front waved. Mason waved back, and as we got closer, I noticed it was Scotty and two other guys I didn’t know.

“Hey, Scotty, what’s up?” Mason smiled and laughed. “I didn’t know you were gonna be here.”

“Not much, just chillin’ with some friends.” Scotty motioned to the two other guys who looked a lot alike. “This is Jack Mitrani,” he said, pointing to the taller of the two. “He’s our age. Goes to a private school. He’s brainy.”

I smiled. “Nice to meet you, Jack.” I held out my hand, and he shook it with a nice firm grip.

“Yeah, same here,” Mason said with a goofy grin.

“And this little kid here’s Luke.” Scotty pointed to the younger-looking boy with a curly mop of poodle-like brown hair.

“Squid,” Jack piped in.

“Yeah. He’s a couple years younger, but he’s coming to the high school in a few years. Figured since they’re both really cool, I’d hang out with them, then introduce them to the guys. Guys, this is my friend Mason and his girlfriend Fiona.”

After the awkward introductions were done – Luke blushing profusely when I told him I liked his hair – Mason wrapped his arm around my shoulder. “Well, we gotta go, but I’ll see you guys later. We should all hang out sometime.”

“Yeah, definitely.” Jack waved at us. “Have fun, you lovebirds!”

I rolled my eyes as we walked away. “He’s been hanging around Scotty too much,” I noted.

Mason laughed. “Yeah, absolutely.” He kissed the side of my head and my stomach twisted a little bit. I still hadn’t gotten used to this new part of our relationship. “This is the store I wanted to show you.”

He pulled me into a shop filled with lots of colorful clothes and shoes, pulling away from me and waving at all of the displays.

“Now, listen, I know you hate shopping, but today I’m giving you a makeover.”

I laughed. “A makeover, Mason? Really?”

“Yes, really. This whole rebelling-against-your-parents thing, you wanna do it right?”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “It’s fun.”

“Then we’re gonna turn you into a skater chick, and then we’ll tell them we’re dating.”

My jaw dropped. “Mason Singer Aguirre, you are nuts.”

“I am quite insane, thank you.” He bowed and held out his hand. “But are you in?”

I glanced at his hand, then looked at his eyes, then back down at his hand again. The cashiers were looking at us with odd expressions on their faces, and I got to feel increasingly uncomfortable.

“Yeah. I’m in.”