Chapter 7 Spencer #3
“No. I mean, can I just beat him up, and he will listen?” she asks, and for a moment, I wonder if maybe she does understand his joke after all.
One look at her face tells me she’s serious.
“Oh yeah, Doll, if you can beat me up, I’ll do whatever you say.” He winks at her, and a small smile tugs at the corner of her lips, excitement dancing in her eyes.
Does Jade know how to fight?
It seems like a ridiculous assumption, but something about the way she’s looking at him makes me think she’s being serious. She seems almost excited by the idea of beating his ass.
“The mall opens in thirty minutes, so let's get ready and head out. I want to get this done before it becomes overrun with teenagers and bimbos,” Rick says as he looks down at his watch, pulling me from my train of thought. Everyone heads back to their rooms to get ready.
Less than fifteen minutes later, everyone is ready and in the living room as we head out. Jade kept Zander's old shirt on but threw on a pair of leggings I’m pretty sure were once Clair’s, with shoes I’m sure were hers as well.
We pile into Rick’s SUV. He drives, and I ride shotgun with Jade and Zander in the backseat.
I expect them to talk nonstop on the ride.
At the very least, I expect Zander to flirt with her until he gets himself in trouble.
After a few minutes of silence, I turn around to make sure we hadn’t forgotten one of them.
Jade stares out the window, and Zander alternates between looking down at his phone and watching her.
It makes sense the moment I see the look on her face.
Jade’s probably never had this kind of freedom, to just sit in a car and take in the things around her.
Her eyes bounce around, trying to see everything, and I feel anger stir inside me, knowing something so simple has been kept from her.
I turn back around and slump against the seat with a huff. Rick cuts his eyes to me in silent question, but I just shake my head and let it go. We can’t do shit about it now, so why make a big deal about it, especially if she’s not.
The drive to the mall doesn’t take long since there's no traffic at this time of day. The look of wonder has yet to leave Jade’s face, and I swear it’s contagious to have someone be so happy with so little.
We all seem to be in a better mood than usual; even Rick looks content, and usually, he hates the mall the most.
A few hours later, I’m done with the mall.
Shopping with Jade is beyond frustrating, and surprisingly, it has nothing to do with her.
Over the years, we've gone to the mall many times with Clair. Seeing the way she can shop, it’s never quick or easy, and by the end, we’re all more than ready to leave and never come back.
The problem with shopping with Jade is that she has no idea how to shop or what to get.
She doesn’t know any of her sizes and doesn’t have her own style.
It takes a few stores and countless times in the changing rooms to see how things fit before she starts to get an idea of what sizes she needs.
We didn’t even buy anything in the first three stores.
And don't get me started on her lack of knowledge of prices and the overall concept of money.
Eventually, she starts to get it, but finding her own style takes more work. The number of times she asked if we liked something or what we thought genuinely starts to grate on my nerves.
“Who the fuck cares if we like it, Jade?” I yell after she asks for what feels like the millionth time. Her eyes flick up to meet mine before she looks down at her feet.
Great, now I feel like an ass.
Damn it.
I walk up to her without taking my eyes off her, waiting for her to meet my gaze again.
She doesn’t. Instead, she keeps her focus on the ground, as if afraid or ashamed.
I take a deep breath and let it out slowly to calm myself.
Reaching out, I grab her chin lightly, but sternly enough that she hopefully won't pull away, and tilt her face up to look at me.
“It doesn’t matter if we like it. The question here is, do you like it? If the answer is yes, then who gives a damn what we think?” Her eyes go wide at my words.
“You keep coming back to us with questions that put our opinion above your own. Stop it. If you want to know what we think, fine, ask, but don’t let it be a deciding factor here.
If you put something on and it makes you feel like a goddess or a badass, and I say I don't like it, oh well. We don’t get to decide.
We don’t own you! Nobody does.” I can’t keep the anger from my tone at the end, but from the look in her eyes, she understands it’s not directed at her.
“Okay?” I ask her, just to be sure.
She nods, and I release my grip on her chin before I turn and head back to the chairs where Rick still sits. He gives me a nod as I sit back down. The look on his face tells me he’s grateful for what I just did.
Zander’s nowhere in sight, but that’s not crazy. We would have to leash him to keep tabs on him, and even then, I’m sure he would find a way out of it. He’ll be back, eventually; he always comes back.
Thankfully, my words seem to get through to her. By the time we finish at a few more stores, I’m pretty sure she has at least a basic wardrobe, which is better than the hand-me-downs she started with.
Her style seems to be all over the place, from cute sundresses to combat boots and a leather jacket. The smile on her face when she tries on something on that she likes makes me hold my tongue. I’m sure she will figure it out on her own now.
One of our last stops is Victoria’s Secret. She gives us a backward glance when we stop outside the store with her bags, but she continues inside, and that’s progress, so I’ll take it.
I lean against the wall next to Rick. We stand silently for a while, still no Zander.
“This whole situation pisses me off the more I think about it,” Rick finally says and I don’t need to ask to know what he means.
Jade is grown, with little to no life skills, but has probably seen and been through shit that could make grown men cry. It’s disgusting.
I just nod because I really don’t want to talk about it in the middle of the mall, and he lets it drop, understanding like he always does.
Zander, Rick, and I may not be brothers by blood, but I would argue that we’re closer than most siblings who are actually related.
We’ve been through everything together. They are in just about every memory I have for as far back as I can remember, which makes for a level of understanding that’s hard to come by.
Add that to the fact that we run part of the city together, and you have a few guys who know each other more than they probably should.
Rick digs in his pocket for his phone. He doesn’t get to look at it before Zander comes flying around the corner, almost slamming into him.
He sidesteps Rick at the last second and takes off into the store in the blink of an eye, more than likely in search of Jade, with Rick left glaring after him.
I let my head fall against the wall and reach up to rub my temples.
Man, I wish I had his endless energy supply, but fuck is he exhausting.
Rick goes back to his phone after a moment. Movement catches my attention from the corner of my eye, and I look up to see Jade and Zander heading toward us.
Zander holds her bag. I’m glad she found something and seemed to handle paying all on her own.
They're still a bit further back in the store, so I can’t hear what they say, but they're smiling.
They stop for a moment, and Zander offers her something on a fork.
She leans forward and takes a bite, though she seems hesitant.
The moment her lips curl around the fork, her eyes widen, and I notice the small cup of food in Zander's hand for the first time.
He got her Cinnabon.
Judging by her reaction, I would bet money she’s never had anything like that before, and she seems to be enjoying it.
No wonder he was in such a rush to get to her. Everyone knows it’s best while it's warm, and since it’s on the other side of the mall, he was racing against the clock to get it to her.
“Fuck!” Rick’s voice carries to me, even though he hardly spoke louder than a whisper.
I turn to face him and find his eyes on his phone screen.
I’m sure I know even before I ask, but I ask all the same.
“What’s up?”
Instead of answering, he just turns his phone so that I can read the message.
Hoppers. One hour.
Short and sweet, I don’t need to look to know it came from Kratos.
As if drawn by a magnet, we both turn to look at Jade as she exits the store with Zander at her side. The cup of food is now in her hands, and she continues eating with a smile on her face.
Her smile drops as if sensing the tension when she sees us both.
“What’s wrong?” she asks, the fork halfway to her mouth, all but forgotten.
“Nothing, we just have to go. We have to meet a friend. I forgot, so you're going to have to come along for the ride,” Rick tells her. His voice is calm and collected even though we both know this could turn out bad.
“Okay, no big deal. You guys gave up your whole morning to help me, so I don’t mind,” she replies easily shoving another bite into her mouth.
Rick nods and pushes off the wall, headed for the exit. I lengthen my stride to catch up with him while Zander and Jade fall a few paces behind. Zander obviously decided to stay back with Jade’s shorter strides.
“We’re taking her with us?” I whisper shout at him when I’m close enough for him to hear me. This is a terrible idea.
He shoots a look over his shoulder as if to make sure they won’t overhear us, and I roll my eyes because does he really think I’m an idiot?
Seemingly satisfied with the distance, he continues to walk while he answers me.
“We don’t have time to drop her off at the house and make it to Hoppers in an hour,” he hisses.
“Just tell Kratos we have a stop first.”
He glares at me, and yeah, I know it’s a dumb idea because Kratos doesn’t like to wait. Froggie likes it even less, but in this situation, it’s necessary.
He’s shaking his head even before he answers, and I know I’ve already lost. I’m not sure I have ever met anyone as stubborn as Rick.
Well, maybe one other person…I turn to make sure Jade and Zander aren’t falling too far behind.
“I don’t exactly trust her at the house alone.
You’ve seen her. She can’t even do the most basic things.
What if she burns the fucking house down while we're gone?” He waves his hands around in a chaotic gesture as he says it.
Something is bothering him if he’s this wound up about it.
He’s usually calm and collected, so why would this be something that could get under his skin?
Connecting the dots takes me a second, but then I get it.
He doesn’t want to leave her alone.
Damn it.
I didn’t think about it like that until now, but I’ll be damned if I disagree.