Clueless

*Beau*

I sat alone, but I didn't really mind. And by alone, it actually meant surrounded by people that weren't talking to me, like being alone in a crowded room. Either way it was put, it was fine by me. I was content with just looking at the cars pass by and listening in on people's conversations.
I liked Alan's taste in music, that was probably the reason I was alright at the moment. 
I was actually really lonely most of the time, but since even my mother had left me I guess it was a given for me. 
She had been my role model, and I remembered how I'd sit by the window and stare out of it and wait for her to come home late at night and change out of her dress that barely covered her body, then she would pretend like everything was okay and she wasn't tired. She pushed everything that had happened that day aside to lay in bed with me and listen to music. She'd tell me stories about my dad and I'd listen. I'd ask her if he'd come back one day and she'd just smile sadly at me and pat my head. One day she didn't come back, and I waited by that window.

I sighed and rubbed my eyes to stop over-thinking.
I looked around and found that we were in a parking lot looking for a space. There were a lot of people milling about, heading toward the shops. I hadn't seen so many people just casually walking and spending time together since I'd been found and orphaned, then eventually sent to Gilds.
To them we probably looked normal, like a bunch of kids in a truck listening to loud music. Maybe they thought we were all stupid teenagers who were drunk troublemakers heading to our hangout at the shops. I wish.

We eventually found a parking space and I followed behind Ricky and Chris who were being quiet as usual. 
I wondered what store we would go to when Austin stopped us at a directory.

"Pick three places," he said. "You need shoes, socks, a shirt, pants and under, uh, stuff. And keep in mind we have a pretty little lady with us."

"Fuck off," Rebekah muttered. Oliver laughed.

"Do they have Hot Topic?" Max asked instantly. Ben snorted and Ronnie in turn smacked him on the back of the head.

After about five minutes of conversation, we decided on Pacsun, Journeys and Urban Outfitters. I didn't know of any of the shops as I'd gotten my clothes from my mother and I'd been at Gilds since a very young age, but everyone that did seemed to agree that they would suit all of our styles.

Austin apparently knew his way around and managed to get us into Journeys without much of a problem. 
It was a small shop with shoes on shelves and a few shirts here and there.
I was mesmerised by the shining, brand new shoes surrounding me. There wasn't a pair shoes in there under twenty dollars, and if each person got shoes, Austin would be spending a lot of money, and we hadn't even started on clothes yet.

I walked over to him standing there on his phone by the entrance and cleared my throat softly. He looked up and smiled at me, slipping his phone into his pocket.
"Find something, Beau?" he asked, flashing a smile.

"Um, not yet. I just wanted to make sure that you're okay with this. I mean, spending a good half thousand or more dollars on people you don't even know," I said, voicing my concern.

To my surprise, Austin just laughed and waved me off.
"It's fine, man. Like I said, I'm more than happy to spend as much of my father's money as possible. He left me on my own, after all. Haven't forgiven him yet."

I bit my lip at the casualness of that revelation and nodded.
"You'll forgive him one day," I said with a sad smile, then left to find low priced shoes.
Though I respected Austin's offer to buy anything, I didn't want to spend too much.

I grabbed some random converse that were on sale for fifteen bucks and handed them off to Austin, who looked at them with a shrug. I stood by him awkwardly and waited for everyone to finish up.
Everyone looked so happy and excited. They were trying on shoes, smiling and laughing at each other. 
After some ten minutes, Alan came over and grabbed Austin's hand and led him away to go watch him try a pair of shoes on. Austin shot me an apologetic look and I just shrugged. 
I sighed and walked over to Max and Ronnie. They'd stuck with me for the entire time they'd been at the institute- they were my friends. Maybe I could stick by them for a bit.

When they noticed me, the two of them looked up and smiled. I relaxed at that and smiled back. 
"Hey guys, find anything yet?" I asked.

"I'm getting Vans," Max replied, gesturing to a box on the floor next to Ronnie. "What about you?"

"I had converse. Gave them to Austin."

Max nodded and went back to browsing the shelves with Ronnie.
"Found them," Ronnie announced triumphantly as he picked up a box. 

"Finally," Max muttered and rolled his eyes.

"Plain black DCs," Ronnie said, holding the box protectively to his chest. He gave me a grin before turning and grabbing Max's shoes. "I'll give these to Austin."

He turned and walked to the other side of the store toward Austin.

After Austin spent a good two hundred dollars on shoes, we headed to the next store, which ended up being Pacsun. It was weird, but the clothes were alright.

I looked around at all the clothes and grinned when I neared the jeans. 
I could finally pick out my own clothes.
I ran my fingers over a few pairs and stopped on one that were plain black. I picked a pair up and walked over to the dressing room. I went in and tried them on, and surprisingly enough, they fit. Except they were a little loose on my legs, but I've always had chicken legs, so it didn't matter. 
I changed back into Austin's denim jeans and left the dressing room, impressed with the fact that it barely took me five minutes to get jeans that fit alright.
I gave them to Austin and thanked him again before going over to Oliver and Rebekah. Oliver was pointing things out to Rebekah and Rebekah in turn was rolling her eyes at the suggestions. 

"Find anything?" Oliver asked when he noticed me.

"Yeah, I got jeans. Didn't like any of the shirts," I said with a smile. "You guys?"

"I already got jeans and a shirt, now I'm trying to convince Bex that she'd look great in a dress," Oliver said playfully. 

"And I'm trying to convince Oli to lay off and actually help me," Rebekah said with a warning note in her voice.

"Well maybe you could get a skirt," I said with a shrug. "It's like a dress I suppose, and you'll still be able to get a shirt."

Rebekah pondered the idea for a moment before smiling and nodding. 
"Good idea, Beau. Better than Oliver's, anyway. Thank you."
She spun on her heel and walked to the skirts hanging on a few racks near the door and Oliver chuckled.

"Thanks," he addressed me, giving me a nod. "I just wanted to see her in a dress, to be honest. It'd make her look even more beautiful than she is now. It'd be cute to see her reaction."

We both laughed at that, then we sat and talked for awhile about nothing in particular. 

When Rebekah returned with a skirt and a tank top in hand, she actually smiled brightly and handed them to Oliver to give to Austin. Oliver sighed and got up, grabbed the clothes, then went off in search of Austin. When he was out of sight, Rebekah sat down next to me on the bench next to the dressing rooms.

"Thanks for making him bug off about the stupid dress," she said genuinely.

I laughed and nodded.
"It's no big deal. Oliver just wanted to show you how beautiful you'd be in a dress."

"Really?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

I nodded again and smiled.

We left that store not long after Rebekah and I spoke. It was only Daniel and I that were missing clothing, everyone else had their outfits.
Everyone except Daniel, Ben, Austin and I stayed outside of the store. I went toward the tanks, Ben and Daniel to the jeans, and Austin wandered over to the register and started talking to a tall guy with long hair.

I turned away and instead focused on the many shirts hanging in front of me. 
Shopping was a whole new experience for me and I kind of enjoyed it. I liked looking at all the clothes and styles. I was so busy running my hands over the soft material of the tanks that I didn't notice someone was next to me until they cleared their throat softly.

I looked up, already saying sorry, and felt my cheeks heat up when my eyes landed on her.
I repeated my apology and tried to peel my eyes from her, but found that I couldn't.
She had blonde hair that reached her mid-torso and light brown eyes that sparkled to match her smile. She was a lot shorter than me and it seemed like she was only fifteen, but somehow I knew she was older than that.

"Have you ever been to one of our stores before?" she asked in a bright voice.

"Um, no," I replied somewhat nervously.

She kept that wide smile on her face and laughed. It was a light, breathy sound and it made me smile.
"Well, did you have anything in mind you might be looking for?"

"A tank. Just a plain one I guess," I said. "I'm not very sure."

She got a concentrated look in her eyes as they scanned over me. I shifted uncomfortably.
"A plain tank?" she repeated. "I've got something in mind. Follow me."
She turned on her heel and walked a few paces before stopping to shuffle through some tanks hanging on the wall. She searched for a bit and I watched intently.
Her skin looked so soft and it had a light tan to it.
She pulled a shirt out, making a soft 'hah' in triumph. She twisted the hanger so I could look at the front of the shirt.

"'Stones World Tour'," I read out loud.
It was a light blue shirt with those words, then a red mouth with a tongue sticking out under it.
I glanced up at the girl and bit my lip.
"What does it mean?" I asked.

She laughed, but I just stared at her blankly and at a loss.

"Oh, you're serious," she said, calming down. "Um, The Rolling Stones. They're a band. It's just a shirt. That's their logo," she pointed to the mouth. "I can find you another..."

"No! I like it," I said quickly. "Um, thank you."

She smiled and handed the shirt over. I smiled back, then looked over at Austin. I walked over to him, and I could hear the girl's light footsteps trailing behind mine.
I quickened my pace a bit, paranoia making my heart beat a bit faster.
When I reached Austin I set the tank on the counter next to Daniel's rather than interrupt his conversation with the cashier.
Unfortunately for me, they both looked up and stopped talking. My eyes widened, but Austin and his friend smiled at me and I relaxed.

"Found a shirt already?" Austin asked. I nodded and smiled at him.
"Oh, hey Lights." 

I looked over my shoulder and saw the girl that had helped me.

"Austin, who's your friend?" she asked, moving behind the counter to stand next to the guy.

"I'm Beau," I said, glancing at Austin. 

"Yeah. Beau, this is Valerie," Austin said, not even looking up from his wallet.

"I prefer Lights, actually," Valerie said, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, Beau. How come I've never seen you before?"

I swallowed thickly and let the lie slip from my mouth as it formed.
"I just moved here. With a bunch of close friends. Yeah. And Austin offered us a place to stay while we got our plan figured out."

Lights seemed to find the story strange but she kept that to herself and instead smiled at me.
"That's cool. Where are your friends?" 

I jabbed my thumb toward the door and she nodded.

"Valerie is a pretty name," I blurted. "A-and so it Lights. You're pretty."
I blushed and mentally called myself an idiot over and over.

"Thank you," Lights giggled.

"Thanks, Phil," Austin said, grabbing the bag from his friend.

I turned to leave, but a light hand on my shoulder made me flinch and I jumped away from the touch. I looked behind me and Lights was retracting her hand quickly.

"Sorry Beau. I just wanted to know if maybe you wanted to hang out sometime? I can give you my number."

"Number?" I repeated.

She smiled and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.
"Yeah, my cell number. You could call me..."

"Oh, I don't have a phone," I said lamely.

Lights furrowed her eyebrows.
"Really?"

I nodded sheepishly, feeling a little more than stupid.

"Come to lunch with us," Austin offered. I turned to look at him and he winked at me.
"I'm buying and I'm sure if you bring something back for Phil he won't mind you taking a break."

"Cool," Lights said with a grin. She hopped over the counter and landed next to me.

"I think Phil will mind," Phil called.

We walked out of the store and I heard him yell, "Make it chinese!"

I had to stop myself from grabbing Lights's hand. We walked side by side out of the shop and I could tell there were quite a few sets of eyes on her.

"Who's this?" Ronnie purred, appearing at my other side with Max in tow.

"Lights," I said. She took a look at our company and smiled at them.

"Huh," Max said. "Interesting name."

"Guys," I hissed, glaring at them. They gave me twin evil grins and I sighed in defeat.
"This is Ronnie," I said, gesturing to him. "And that's Max." 
Lights nodded and I continued to point everyone out.
"That's Devin, James, Andy, Matt, Ricky, Chris, Daniel, Ben, Oliver, Alan, and Rebekah," I said, pointing as I went.

Lights nodded along, seemingly fascinated by how many people I was naming.
"And they all live with you?" she asked once I'd finished.

"Yeah," I laughed, realising how ridiculous it was. "They're basically my family, though." I shrugged. "The only family I've known."

"Oh," she said softly.

I stiffened when I felt Lights's fingers brush against mine, but calmed down enough to take the hint and lace our fingers together.
I glanced down at her shyly and saw she was smiling as we walked.

All of us got food from Burger King, and we headed out to Austin's car to sit down an eat.
Lights talked to Devin, James and Alan a bit, but otherwise she stuck by me. It was nice to have someone to talk to, and everyone seemed to like her. I knew I did.

After Austin hauled the shopping bags into the trunk and we all got in, he started the truck and Alan turned the music on. 
I said bye to Lights and she told Austin to let me use his phone once in awhile to call her.
I couldn't help but hope things would work out. I liked Lights a lot.

*Austin*

I made sure that the car was started and turned to Alan with a smile.
"I'll be right back, I have to say bye to Lights," I said.

Alan smiled and waved me off.
I got out of the truck and made sure Alan turned the music on before I walked over to Lights and smirked at her.
She tilted her head to the side and grinned at me.

"Someone has a little crush on Ginger," she tsked. 

"Someone has a little crush on wolf boy," I shot back.

"Touché," she replied, tossing her hair over her shoulder. 

She pursed her lips before wrapping her arms around me. I reciprocated, and as she pulled away she leaned into my ear.

"Don't fuck this up."

She walked away after that and I sighed. 
"Right," I muttered under my breath.
I got back into the truck and put on a smile for the adorable ginger that I might have developed a slight crush on.
I pulled out of the lot and thought about how it might turn out to be a slight problem in the near future.