Creatures

My eyes fluttered open. All I had in my vision was the corner that I was facing, including the posters on the wall and the nightstand. I was huddled underneath my blanket, realizing that it was freezing in my room. Much like ripping off a band-aid, I threw the sheets off, shivering. I remembered having fell asleep on the couch with Ricky, but now I was in my room, with my tank top and a pair of my shorts on.

Somebody must have carried my over and changed me. I smiled at the nice gesture, wishing I knew who had done it. I got out of bed, and turned to fold over the part of the blanket I was under, giving me a surprise that must have stopped my heart, sending me about five feet away from my bed in udder horror. Horror being the element of surprise. Ricky lay there on the other side of my bed, laughing, or crying, probably both.

"You're mean!" I sat down against the wall, and pouted. The wall was freezing against my back, but the carpet was warm, making me happy we didn't have hard wood floors. I crossed my arms, and put my head down, not being able to escape the giggles that erupted through my mouth.

"I like your laugh. Now get dressed, I want to go somewhere." He said.

"Where?" I asked.

"You'll see, but dress warmly, it's cold out." He warned.

"Alright." I noticed that he was in two hoodies and black skinny jeans. I got my own pair of black skinnies and a black v-neck and took them to the bathroom with me so I didn't have to go out into my room in a towel with Ricky there. Before I took a shower, I changed the barbell in my bridge, and the studs I had in my lips, I put in curved barbells. I put my hair up, so it wouldn't get wet, and I wouldn't have to mess around with drying it.

I got in my nice warm shower, and washed off the makeup I had on yesterday, and shaved where necessary. Once I got out, I dried off and put on my clothes. I walked out to my room, with my hair still up in a bun over my head. I put on socks, because my house was so cold, and I didn't want my toes to freeze.

"Hot." Ricky said, and went back to reading more of my stories. Did I mention I have a lot of notebooks filled with my writing? I giggled, and walked back into my bathroom. I re-straightened my hair, and put on my foundation and blush, lining my eyes with black makeup. I slipped on my razor necklace and went back out to my room. I put on a yellow hoodie, and a leather jacket over it, slipping the yellow hood half-way over my head. I slipped on a pair of black vans, and grabbed my phone.

"Will I need money for this?" I asked.

"If we end up going out to eat, I will pay for you." He offered. Just in case, I took a 20 out of my bag, and slipped it in my pocket along with my phone.

"Who's driving?" I kept questioning.

"Me. I want to show you some place I found. We're taking the SUV." He said. We walked out, and opened the passenger door for me, then closed it. Once he had the car started up, he put his wallet and phone in the center console, and turned up the heat, and HIM'S "Screamworks" album. He didn't put it on so loud, but we didn't talk. Not from it being awkward, but because we were both calm.

It had been about an hour of driving, our only stop had been Starbuck. We eventually ended up parking on the outskirts of a forest.

"Come on." He said, grabbing his wallet, phone, and keys. I followed behind him as we walked, and walked, and walked. Skylar and Hailey had been texting the hell out of me, asking me where I went, when was I going to be back, so on so forth. When I finally had them calm, I turned my phone to silent, so I wouldn't have to text anymore. I caught up with Ricky in order to walk beside him, instead of behind him.

"How much longer are we going to be walking, Ricky?" I huffed. It was really cold outside, and I wished my pants were a bit thicker.

"We're almost there. Don't worry." He smiled at me.

"I trust you." I sighed, not wanting to walk anymore. Eventually, I saw the other end of the forest, which led out to a field. It was surrounded by the forest, and the dark grass was high. Everything about this place was so amazing. It smelled fresh, it looked pretty, and it was silent.

"My cousin used to live in L.A., and he told me about this spot, so I checked it out yesterday while you were at work. I thought of you when I saw it." He smiled at me, causing me to blush all sorts of reds.

"Can I tell you a secret?" I asked him, stepping closer to him.

"Yeah." He said, showing all his teeth in a breath-taking smile.

"TAG!" I touched his shoulder, and ran towards the center of the field.

"Oh, you!" He said, and I could tell he was chasing after me. I looked behind me to see a tackling Ricky, ending up with him on top of me.

"I can't run." I admitted.

"Neither can I." He said, rolling off of me, so that he was laying next to me. The waist high grass surrounded us, so we couldn't see anything but the tops of the yellowing trees. Ricky laced his fingers through mine, causing me to blush harder. I have never been in a relationship, and I had never known what one was like. I built up all of my walls, because I was terrified of getting hurt. In order to avoid it more, I took this as a friendly gesture.

"This moment is perfect, Hali." He looked at me, showing off another big smile. I couldn't do anything but smile back. I had watched this on TV. Seen it in movies. Read it in books. Heard about it from friends. I let his hand go, and lifted myself onto my feet, before he had any chance to lean his head in. 'I don't want anything to do with him.' I told myself in my head, looking away from him. 'Not like that.'

It's sad that I had to keep convincing myself that. But I guess since I ended up walking away from him, it worked. A single teared slipped out, and I instantly wiped it away, nonchalantly. Ricky ran up behind me.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"I'm very cold." I said, not looking back at him. I was very cold. Not just physically, but as a person.

"I could hold you." He offered, and I could tell he stopped walking. He had said those four words so sweetly, and it made me want to let him. It made me melt, but I had come so far, I didn't want to give in.

Then I forgot that I had work today.

"FUCK!" I yelled, going straight for my phone, calling Liam.

"You're not at work." He stated first thing, when he answered his phone.

"I know. Liam, I can't lie to you, I have diarrhea. I'm so sorry, I'll come in." I lied to him, coming up with the first believable excuse I could think of.

"No, no. Why don't you stay home sick today? You haven't missed a day yet." He said.

"Okay. I'm so sorry." I exclaimed.

"It's no problem. I'll fill in for you. I never go, anyways." He chuckled.

"You're right, you don't." Then I faked a cough.

"Well, get better, Hal." I could hear him frowning.

"Thank you. Bye Liam." I said, and we both hung up.

"Who was that?" Ricky said, not with a jealous tone, though.

"My boss. I forgot I had work." I facepalmed.

"Oh my god! That's my fault!" He screetched.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure you heard the excuse I came up with. Plus, I got a cool boss." I smiled, forgetting about our awkward moment we had just had.

"If you say so." He grabbed my hand, and we started heading back towards the car. "So the boys should be back by now."

"Really?" I said. "I think there's one I didn't meet. You guys keep talking of a Ryan." I said.

"Oh, well, I'll have to introduce you when we get back. Maybe we can all go to the mall." He insisted.

"Okay, but we have to go to the one far from my work. Don't want to get caught in the act." I giggled.

"Okay, understandable. So, how's that diarrhea?" He teased, making me lightly punch him in the arm. I kept my distance this time, so I could avoid any hand holding offerings. I wasn't for that yet. I hadn't ever been in a relationship, lost my virginity, and much less, had a first kiss.

I was scared.

Ricky opened my door for me, closing it once he was sure I was in.

"Do you want to stop for food" he asked me before turning on the SUV.

"No thank you." I blushed feeling awkwardness everywhere. I started to get the feeling that he noticed how quickly I rushed off, making my stomach a nervous wreck, leaving me with a bad feeling. The whole ride from the forest to our houses was silent. The awkward was so thick, that you could cut it with a knife. When he turned off the ignition, he let out a sigh.

"Did I do something, Hali?" He looked at me with sad, expecting eyes.

"No, you just kind of seemed mad, so I didn't want to bother you." I said the first thing that had came to my mind.

"Ok." I could tell that he didn't buy it, yet didn't want to push it. For that, I was thankful. "So do you have work tomorrow?" He already had the rejected look on his face.

"No, but I think I'm doing something with the girls." Once I said that, he looked more sad, making me feel like crap. "If you'd like to come, I'm sure nobody would mind. Hey, aren't the other guys coming home? We can all go together. Get to know one each other." I offered.

"Alright. I'll definitely come, but I'll talk to the guys about it." He smiled sweetly, causing my hart to race. I had to get out of there before it got much hotter than it was supposed to be.

"Well, it's getting late, and I have to make dinner." I said, this time, being completely truthful. It was Tuesday, and my turn to make and/or buy dinner. He looked kind of sad that I was calling it a day. "So tomorrow's a date, then?" I asked, knowing that would make him happy.

"Yeah, man. Bet your ass it is." he chuckled.

"Okay, then. I'll text you." I smiled, and finally got out of the vehicle. He also stepped out.

"Bye, Hali." He stood by the hood of the SUV. I couldn't just leave him there, so I strode over to him, and give him a huge, tight hug.

"Thank you for today, Ricky. I had a lot of fun." I assured him.

"Anytime, Hal." he came out of the hug with a grin on his face. "I'll see you tomorrow." He brushed the hair out of my face, and then walked towards his front door. I looked down, and went towards my front door, as well.

"Who were you with? Where did you go? What did you do? Who did you do? What positions?" I was cornered with about a million questions about my unexpected day out.

"I was with Ricky." I'm thinking that maybe I should have worded that differently, with all of the inappropriate 'oohs' I received from Hailey and Skylar.

"What did you guys do?" Skylar asked, insinuation between ever letter of her sentence.

"We went to a field." I said, bluntly, already knowing what kind of response I was going to get.

"So you lost your v-card in a fucking field?" Hailey shrieked.

"We didn't do anything!" I shouted out, slapping Hailey on the arm. They both got really disappointed faces. "But if you must know," I started with a sigh. "He did hold my hand. When we were laying down in the grass, he held my hand." I couldn't stop myself from blushing at the memory.

"He so wants you." Skylar said with such an unbelievably serious face that I just had to laugh.

"I don't know, but I gout out of there as fast as possible before anything did happen." I said it like nothing was wrong, like I wouldn't have liked to to have found out what could have been. This is when both of them slapped me.

"Owuh! What the hell was that for?" I said, rubbing my arms where I was slapped.

"You guys would have been so cute together." Hailey said with dread, slapping her palm to her forehead.

"And you would have had your first kiss." Skylar said what everybody was thinking.

"I have kissed somebody before." I started getting defensive.

"Really? Who?" Skylar could see right through me, and I sure knew it.

"Somebody. Leave me alone. I'm going to go make dinner." I rushed out of that situation, fast walking towards the kitchen, knowing they would follow me.

"Halibell Drew! Do not walk away from us!" Hailey yelled sternly. I turned around on my heels, facing them.

"Do you want dinner or no?" I glared at them, watching them back down from me.

"We're sorry, Hal." Skylar said, both of them hugging me.

"Sorry for snapping at you." I said, hugging them back.

"Do you need help with cooking?" They offered.

"You guys don't have to, but that would be nice." I turned back towards the kitchen. "So, what do you guys say about going to the mall with all six of the boys next door tomorrow? You can meet the three you haven't yet." I said while getting out the Angel's Hair to make spaghetti.

"That sounds like a huge cluster-fuck." Skylar said.

"But yet fun." Hailey said, with a mesmerized look on her face.

"Awesome, so it's a plan?" I was making sure.

"Yeah." With that, I sent a text to Ricky, reminding him to make sure everybody on his part was okay to go. I set my phone on the counter and took out the grounded beef, and started to cook it. When it was done, I put it in a drainer and set it in the sink, while Skylar dealt with the noodles.

I got out the cans of tomato sauce and paste as Hailey finished dicing up the tomatoes. While the meat was draining, I checked my phone. I had gotten a reply from Ricky saying that all the boys wanted to go. I sent back an 'okay' with a smiley face.

I put the meat in the big pot, and finished making the sauce. We got out our bowls and silverware, and decided we'd all eat together in the dining room. I drank water with my dinner, and we all had a normal conversation. We rarely ever all ate together, so it made me happy when we did.

"I'll wash the dishes." Hailey said, picking up all of our dishes.

"Then I'm going to go shower." I started getting up and grabbing my phone. "Goodnight, girls." We all hugged and said our good nights. I went upstairs to go take my shower, mainly washing my hair so I didn't have to do it tomorrow. While in bed, I got out 'At the Mountains of Madness' and read about five chapters before officially calling it a night and going to bed.

..::NEXT DAY::..

I woke up the next day around 11 in the morning. I put my head back down for a few minutes, then rolled off of my bed. I stretched out, doing an arch, rising my belly to the ceiling, then rolled back on to my chest while my legs were stilled folded over me, and I rinished by pointing my toes. I got out of my awkward position, and walked to my bathroom to do my business, and then went down stairs.

I walked down to the smell of eggs, bacon, and coffee. On the counter lay a plate of food with a note on it, and a cup of Joe.

"We'll be next door until you're ready. Hope you like your food." The note had read in Hailey's neat hand writing, making me smile. I ate my food then went back upstairs to take my shower, not getting my hair wet, of course.

I decided on a pair of gray leopard skinny jeans, a black tank top, and a loose fitting gray sweatshirt. I slipped on my Iron Fist fang shoes, slipping in a pair of anchor gauges. I put on a red broken heart necklace and a fang necklaces, matching that with a fang ring. I slipped in a black and red beat belt. I left my hair in loose curls as it was when I woke up, and lined my eyes with black makeup.

When I was happy with my appearance, I grabbed my bag, slipping my phone and book into it, and I went next door.

"Come in!" somebody from inside yelled when I knocked on the door. With that, I opened the door and somebody wearing a hockey mask popped out, scaring me half to death. A scream erupted from my mouth, a symphony of laughter following behind it.

"I hate all of you." I said, walking back home. I was right out of the door when somebody caught up to me.

"Hal." Ricky put his hand on my shoulder. "I tried to stop them, but they all piled on me, covering my mouth. I couldn't stop them. I'm so sorry." He said, apologetic tones biting through his words. I could do nothing but hug him.

"It's okay." I giggled.

"C'mon." He smiled and we went back into the house.

"So, we're all piling up in the beast." TJ said.

"There's only room for 8." Chris said.

"Awuh, well Halibell will just have to sit in my lap, then, won't she?" TJ came and stood by me, putting his arm around my shoulders.

"Ha. No." I said shortly, stepping out of his reach.

"Ouch." Somebody whom I hadn't seen before teased.

"Oh, yeah." Ricky said. "Hal, this is Ryan." Awesome, another awkward introduction for me. "Ryan, this is our neighbor, Halibell." Ryan smiled at me and then we hugged.

"So shall we get this show on the road?" Angelo asked.

"Yeah, let's go!" Hailey got over exited. We all piled up in the car, and Hailey ended up sitting on Balz's lap. I'm sorry, but they looked cute together. There is no denying that fact, even though this is their second time seeing each other. I was sitting between Ricky and TJ in the third row. Hailey, Ryan, Balz, and Skylar sitting in the middle seat, with Angelo riding shotgun and Chris driving. The drive to the mall was short because Ryan and TJ were cracking me up the whole time. Ryan was turned around, with his arms over the seat.

"What's up?" Ryan smirked at me.

"What's up?" TJ repeated.

"Want us to take our shirts off?" Ryan joked.

"Have you ever been to a motel?" TJ followed behind. They went out of their way to make everybody laugh. We all seemed to be having a good time, but Ricky had been reading. I took the book from him, sure not to lose his place. He was reading a little book full of dark poetry.

"I would suggest this to you a thousand times over and over again." He played, putting the book back under his seat.

"Hali, you look gorgeous today. Sorry, but it must be said." TJ got my attention turned back to him. I heard Ricky huff loudly, taking his book back out.

"Thank you, TJ." I smiled widely at him.

"Would you like to be my mall girlfriend for the next few hours?" He asked, giving me a puppy dog look.

"What's that?" I asked, unsure.

"We go through the mall holding hands and stuff. We have to tell people we're together. But you know, we're not really dating." He instructed.

"Okay." I smiled.

"Yes!" He pumped his fist in the air.

"I'm not sucking your cock, by the way." I assured him.

"Yes, ma'am." He straightened out, with a hurt look on his face. When we got into the mall, TJ slipped his fingers through mine. We walked store to store like that, and I hadn't seen Ricky any where. We got many stares from little scene girls. When we reached Hot Topic, it's like we were attacked.

"Look! It's TJ from Motionless!" Everybody wanted signatures and pictures. I was starting to dread if that was going to happen every time I went out with the boys. I mean, they couldn't help it, they were famous. But this is the second time it's happened, and it was already starting to get annoying. While he was doing his business, I went to Barnes and Nobles. I was walking while looking at the top shelf of poetry, resulting in tripping over something. Something being Ricky.

"I've been wondering where you went, Ricky." I smiled at him, and he rolled his eyes at me. That hurt, and I didn't understand exactly what I did. "Ricky?" I asked.

"What?" He said shortly.

"Did I do something?" I felt myself getting nervous.

"I just want to be left alone." He had a harsh tone towards his voice. I got back up on my feet, and dragged them behind me as I walked away from him. I never knew Ricky as one who would get mad at something. The vibration of an incoming text interrupted my thoughts. It was TJ asking me where I was, and to come back to Hot Topic. When I was getting close, he sent me a text saying that the girls weren't leaving him alone.

He said for the good of humanity I had to go and kiss him, so the girls would go away. When I saw him, I walked straight up to him, and kissed him on the cheek.

"Hey babe." He looked at me and smiled, putting his hand back in mine.

"Sorry girls, this one's mine." I said to the group, getting hateful and jealous stares. Many faces saying 'what the fuck?'. The next thing I noticed was Ricky stomping past us once the group cleared up. He had his purchased items in a bag, and didn't stop. For another hour or so, me and the group, excluding Ricky, walked around together and had fun, and ate in the food court. I could see Hailey and Balz flirting to the extreme.

"Sorry, guys, but I think it's time to go." Chris said.

"Where's Rick?" Angelo asked as we got up and started to head for the doors.

"He's by the van." Chris said. Sure enough, there he was, leaning against the hood, smoking a cigarette. He sat in the front with Chris, while I sat in the back between TJ and Ryan, Hailey sitting on Bal'z lap, next to Angelo and Skylar. Ricky was mad at me.

I didn't know what I did.

(c)Creatcher.