Bound To Happen

The mall was noisy and crowded, people of all ages littered around. Carley walked beside Jack, who was talking a mile a minute. She wasn’t paying much attention to him. Her eyes scanned over the stores they passed, the mannequins dressed up in carefully planned outfits of different styles depending on the store. Jack noticed Carley not paying him any attention and poked her cheek.

“Carley you’re not listening to my story! It’s really interesting!”

Alex scoffed. “No it isn’t.”

“Carleeeeeey, Alex is being a buttface.” Jack stuck out his lower lip in a pout; his eyes going wide in an attempt for have Carley on his side. She laughed and shook her head, turning to look at the store displays as they passed.

“Apple store time!” Jack ran past Carley and into the apple store. The rest followed, stepping into the air-conditioned room. There were some people on the computers, trying them out or messing around with photo booth. One of the workers walked up to the group and smiled. His nametag read ‘Andrew’.

“Welcome! Do you guys need any help with anything?” Zack nodded and spoke up.

“Yeah, she-“ He motioned to Carley. “Needs a new iPod. Her last one was… run over by a car.”

Andrew chuckled and led them to the iPod section. The different types and colors were aligned accordingly oldest to newest. “What kind were you looking for?”

“Uhh, one that’s at least 16 gigs?” Carley spoke up for the first time in the store. Andre nodded and pointed to a few different models.

“These ones are good. The nano, touch, and classic. The first two are touch screen.”

Alex shook his head in disapproval. He looked around the store and turned back to Andrew. “She’ll take an iPhone.”

Carley turned to Alex and gaped up at him. She couldn’t let them buy her an iPhone. She barely even let them buy her an iPod. “No Alex I can’t let you guys do that.”

“Too bad we’re doing it anyways.” Andrew came back with an iPhone box and led them to the checkout counter.

“Plus it’s kind of my fault you don’t have an iPod anymore. Which again, I’m REALLY sorry about.” Zack gave her a one-armed hug as he pulled his wallet out of his back pocket. The four boys split the payment, which made Carley feel a little bit better. At least it wasn’t just one of them paying for the whole thing.

~

“Carley, eat some food. You’ve barely touched it! It’s pizza, everyone loves pizza!” Jack picked up her pizza and waved it in her face. So far she had only taken two bites while the rest were almost done.

“I’m not that hungry right now, Jack.” Carley took her pizza back and set it on the plate. She wasn’t lying, she really wasn’t hungry. She felt too guilty to eat. “I shouldn’t have let you guys buy me a phone, that’s insane.”

“So the clothes were okay, but not the phone? We can take it back, the apple store is just downstairs…”

“No! No, I like it a lot, and I’m really thankful. I’ve just never really had anyone buy something for me and I feel bad about it.” Carley gave Rian a hug and took another bite of her pizza.

“Finally the girl eats! It’s a miracle!” The guys laughed as Carley checked the time. He phone read 6:12 in bright bold letters.

“Shit! I have to go!”

Jack got up and threw away his trash followed by everyone else. They ran back to the van and drove back to Carley’s house, asking for directions every once and a while. They were parked in front of her house in 10 minutes, thanks to Jack’s speeding.

“It was great meeting all of you guys. Thank you so so so much, you have no idea.” The boys smiled and the next minute was full of awkward car hugs and goodbyes, until Carley got out of the van and took out her keys. She walked up to the front door and looked through the window to check if her parents were home yet. There was a light on in the living room lick normal, but no signs of life inside. She let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding and unlocked the door, closing it behind her after walking in.

“Carley, is that you?” Her dad’s voiced boomed through the house. His words were slurred, indicating that he had been drinking after work.

She walked out into the living room and saw her dad standing there. His nostrils flared and he spoke softly, but harshly. “Why weren’t you home?”

“I was at the mall with some friends… I’m sorry I wasn’t home when I was supposed to be.”

“You’re damn right you’re sorry. You don’t even have friends, don’t lie to me Carley.”

“I-I’m not lying dad.”

“Don’t argue with me!” He stepped closer and she flinched back. He grabbed her wrists and held her in place. “I won’t have to hurt you if you would just fucking listen to me, Carley.” Her dad pushed her towards the stairs and walked off into the kitchen. The sound of glass bottles clinked as Carley ran upstairs and into her room, shutting the door. Tears pooled in her eyes and she paced around the room in a panic. Normally should walk around her room until she stopped crying, then lay in bed until she fell asleep, but instead she took out her phone and dialed the first number in her contacts. Alex picked up on the third ring.

“Carley?”

“Please can you come pick me back up? I-I can’t stay here tonight, I’m scared too.” The tears started to slowly fall down her cheeks and onto the floor. Her voice sounded panicked and Alex tapped on Jack’s shoulder in the car.

“Turn back around, we’re picking her back up.” Alex went back to the phone. “We’ll be there soon.” He hung up and Carley yelped when the sound of her door being slammed into scared her.

“Open up the door, you worthless little shit!” Her dad’s voice was loud and clear, even from behind the locked door. Carley slid down the wall and bright her knees to her chest, her arms wrapping around her legs as the pounding on the door grew louder and tears flowed out faster.