Hollywood Hills and Suburban Thrills

I walked into the mall and looked around. It was a little after nine o'clock when I got there and the food court already had a few people in it. It didn't take long at all for me to spot William, however. The mob of girls around one of the tables in the food court was a dead giveaway.

I snickered to myself, walking around the outside rim of the tables, watching the swarm contract and relax like a muscle. I reached the outermost reaches of the food court and looked back to see the pack had not lessened. So, I pulled my phone out and called him, but unfortunately, he didn't pick up.

This calls for drastic measures, I think to myself. I pondered for a moment, trying to come up with a reason that would draw those girls away and finally, I came up with one that was worth a shot.

Taking a deep breath, I jumped up on the nearest bench and put my two index fingers in my mouth, whistling loudly and calling everyone's attention to me. With all the sudden concentration on me, I temporarily forgot what I was about to say, but I snapped out of it quickly. "Hey! Look! Pete Wentz!!" And for added effect, I leaped off the bench and took off in the direction in which I had pointed.

Like a swarm of bees to honey, the girls took off after me—I knew because I could hear their footsteps behind me like a pack of wild elephants. Taking a turn sharply, I rounded around a directory and darted into a store, watching through the window while behind a manikin as the mob sprinted by.

Pleased with myself, I waltzed back toward the food court to find it completely deserted, save for one boy that replaced the huge crowd. I zeroed in on him and walked up to him slowly, coming to a stop behind him and crossing my arms.

"I think you owe me," I say after a moment, grinning smugly when he turned to look up at me from where he was still seated.

"Yeah, uh, thank you for that." he says breathlessly, glancing behind me and smiling. "Do you want to go somewhere else?"

I quirked an eyebrow. "But you wanted to meet here,"

"Well, sooner or later they're going to figure out that there is no cocky bassist down there," he says, catching me and leaving me speechless.

I sighed. "You win,"

"You'll get used to that," he says and I gave him a look. "Just kidding." He paused. "Sort of."
"Whatever, Slim." I say as I headed through the door that I had walked in through. He was walking beside me in a heartbeat.

"Where to, princess?" he asks, smiling innocently when I looked to glare daggers at him.
Yeah, this was going to be a long day.

___________________________________

"What's with you?" he asks when we were in the parking lot. I glanced at him.

"What's with me?" I repeat sarcastically, cocking an eyebrow and glancing at him. "Well, I'm just a girl who happens to be hanging out with the lead singer of a rather large band," I say in a painfully lethargic voice before looking at him, "and what with you?"

He beamed at me. "I'm said lead singer of the so-called "huge" band," he used air quotes on my acclamation, "and I'm hanging out with a girl who caught my eye at a diner."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "I don't see what it was about me that caught your eye," I mumbled inaudibly, hoping he wouldn't hear as soon as it flowed out of my voice box.

"Why do you say that?" he asks, now interested, his eyes sparkling when I glanced at him.
I waved my hand. "Never mind," I wave away the dangerous topic as he and I came to the far edge of the mall parking lot.

"Where are we going?" he as we stepped onto a grassy median beside a freeway.
"I don't know," I confess, watching a red car zoom by. "Do you have any preferences?"

He shook his head. "Nope," he popped his lips on the P.

I sighed. "Well, I know we've been friends—acquaintances even—for a little more than fifteen minutes, but we could go back to my place for a while. Find something to do there,"

His eyes gleamed again and I noticed how cute it was when they did that. "That sounds good," he replies softly, "as long as it's alright with you, I mean." He adds quickly, his eyes suddenly wide with worry.

"Well if it wasn't, we wouldn't be going," I say with a one-shoulder shrug. He nodded reasonably as he and I started walking back towards my house.

"Did you drive here?" he asks after a couple strides.

"No," I say and I felt him look at me. "Walked."

He snorted. "I like you already,"

I smiled to myself.

I heard him humming a tune beside me and I recognized it right away. My lips spread into a smile as the lyrics ran through my head and soon enough, I was mouthing them silently.

"I see you know that song," he says finally, his face bright.

"Of course I do," I reply with a smile, although not as big a one as he.

"One of my favorite bands, you know," he says, bouncing on his toes and humming the chorus of another one of the band's songs.

"Well I would hope so. You've toured with them so much it makes it seem like you two are one big band family."

"Maybe we are." He gave me a sly grin.

"You wish you were related to Gabe Saporta," I smirk.

"You wish you could meet Gabe Saporta," He retorts, also sneering.

I sighed when the hollow feeling of having to miss yet another Warped Tour set into my heart. "Yeah, I do," I whisper, again hoping my words would go unheard, but to no such luck.

"I could arrange that," William says suddenly, looking hopeful.

"No, no, you don't have to do anything for me," I say. We were turning the corner onto my street now; almost half way there.

"What if I want to?" he counters.

"You shouldn't want to," I reply monotonously.

"And why shouldn't I?"

Danger. Danger. I think suddenly, digging for a new topic. I cleared my throat in an attempt to steer away from the spotlight that was suddenly on me.

"Because if you ask another question, I'm going to run away from you and leave you wishing you could catch up,"

He was silent for a moment. "I bet I could catch up. Maybe even find your house on my own," His self-righteous air was back.

"Keep telling yourself that, Slim," I say, quickening my stride. Sure enough, he stayed beside me the whole time.

I kinda like this kid already.