Stories Yet To Unfold

My eyes shimmered from the hot sun as all 7 of us walked down the streets of downtown Chicago. I smiled from ear to ear as I bent back my head as much as I could to see the skyscrapers right in front of me. I never knew something could be so tall.

“What are you staring at so intently? Your head has been up for a good 30 minutes,” Alex asked me, situating himself right next to me. “It’s like your eyes are glued to something and the only thing I can figure is the sky. If this is the case, I know a really good therapist for your troubles.”

I rolled my eyes and nudged him in the stomach. “I’m looking at the really tall buildings. I’ve never seen anything so big in my entire life.”

“You think this is big?” Alex scoffed as he put his arm around me and pointed to a building that towered just a bit lower than the last one I was looking at. “In New York City there are buildings the size of two of that one.”

My eyes widened with the idea as I responded. “Really? I want to go there, I always have – just not as much as I wanted to go to California.”

“Why California?” Matt questioned from his spot beside Alex. “By the way, stop guys, Rian needs a break.”

Rian sat down on the curb next to us as Alex spoke. “Butt out, Flyzik, Melissa and I were talking!”

“Oh, shut up, ya fuckhead,” he smirked. “I’m the one supposed to be watching her while Jeff is inside the café anyway.”

“Wait, where is Jeff?” I asked, my body suddenly becoming a bit frantic without his comforting presence.

“He went inside to get you and him a raspberry tea,” Matt explained calmly. “Don’t worry, he’ll be out in a minute.”

Once my old man did come out, he happily handed me my beverage and we began walking again. A smile came across my face as I took a sip of my favorite drink. “Thank you, Jeff.”

He smiled back at me as Jack butted in. “Why didn’t you buy me anything? I was always your favorite!”

“Because you aren’t my daughter,” Jeff state plainly. “You’re not the favorite anymore.”

Jack faked a deep sigh and tromped over to Jeff’s side. “I’ve always wanted a vagina anyway to be turned on by myself and just masturbate all the time, so we could make this work.”

“Jack!” my dad said as the rest of us chuckled , trying to stifle our laughter as much as I could. “Melissa is right there!”

“She’s laughing!” he argued as his big toothy grin came across his face. Jack then walked by me and hugged me awkwardly from the side. “She knows I love her.”

As the laughing continued, Jeff led us into a building called The Water Tour Place. Snooty people and little girls filled the main hallway in front of the escalator wildy, screaming and yelling about the American Girl store next door.

“Rian, I found the perfect store for you!” Zack noted as he pointed to the store designed for little girls. “I bet you have `15 of those at home in your closet.”

“Oh , yeah,” Rian responded, playing along. “They’re all on special stands and in pretty little dresses that I pick out in my free time.”

“The bitches are lining up to get a taste of you, Rian,” I said with a smirk as we walked onto the escalator and onto the next floor of the building.

Everyone laughed a bit as we made it to the floor filled with stores for teenagers; Billabong, Forever 21, Hollister, and many others were scattered around the floor. Jeff began to talk as each of us followed him into Forever 21. “It just kind of hit me the other day that Melissa hasn’t gotten any new clothes, and I think it’s about time. I went into here because it seems like it has the most
options, so Melissa, you can buy whatever you’d like here – my limit is $150.”

I gasped and my eyes widened at my dad. “Jeff, you can’t do that, thank you, but you can’t.”
“Oh, come on, Mel,” Flyzik complained as he got out his wallet. “I’ll even pitch in $20, you’ve helped out so much with the shows and never have gotten paid, you might as well get some new clothes out of it!”

“Come on, Melbell! I’ll go with you!” Jack exclaimed as he grabbed my hand and dragged me to a rack of clothes. “It’s going to be fun.”

“Okay, fine,” I agreed. “As long as I help around more for shows, I’ll let you guys pay.”

“Deal,” Jeff responded, shaking my hand and smiling. “I’m going to look at a watch for my dad, his birthday is coming up; you five stay here and help her out.”

I chuckled as Jack, Alex, and Rian put shirt after pants after shirt on my arms and pushed me into the dressing room within eight minutes – not giving me any time to actually look at clothes. I went through two outfits before finding one that I liked.

All five of the boys were laughing as I came out of the door. My eyebrows crinkled in confusion as I looked over to see Jack in a bikini top and green shorts that barely covered his junk. I soon began laughing along, my eyes tearing up and ruining my makeup as I did.

“You need to get that one, Melissa,” Zack told me, his eyes looking up and down at the outfit. Once the other four realized I was there, their eyes popped and all agreed that the outfit I had on was good.

I went back into the over-decorated dressing room and tried on another outfit. I looked in the
mirror and smiled at the pants, but once I looked at the shirt, I was confused. The shirt only covered half of my side and looked awkwardly big. “Matt! Come in and help me please.”

Flyzik snuck in the door and laughed at the way it was on. “Melissa, your head is in the sleeve hole, that’s why there’s an extra little space on your hip.”

I began to laugh along with him, taking my head out of the sleeve and into the hole meant for your head. The piece fell past my boobs, flashing my blue bra perfectly to the mirror and Matt both. “I don’t think this is the right shirt for me.”

Matt smiled and kissed my forehead. He handed me another shirt that seemed to be a lot more attractive and left the dressing room to laugh at Jack being stupid again, even though he seemed to do that quite a lot. If anything, he always knew how to cheer me up, even when I didn’t need it; all six of them did. I loved them, and I couldn't believe that one day I’d have to leave them.