-Hours later-

Seth’s alarm went off at 4:40 pm, only to be shut down by his arm blindly a second later. He thought to himself if he should actually keep his promise to the mall, but a thought of a dark silhouette of a figure punching left him shuddering. Instead, he decided, more sleep would be nice.

“Ahem. AHEM."

Seth didn't move an inch from Ken's constant nagging. Instead, he was regretting how close their friendship was to the point that Ken was able to enter so easily. He thought of some ingenius scanner that forced back those that didn't have his family's DNA. Then he realized he didn't have much money to afford such a thing.

Also the fact that those things don't exist.

"Dude, you're being rude.”

A grunt was Seth’s reply. His face was buried in his pillow, so he lazily waved off Ken’s approach. His best friend stood at the foot of the bed, dressed in casual jeans and shirt with a light green jacket. He sighed at Seth’s dead-state.

“We’re going to be late at this rate. Get up and get dressed,” Ken demanded.

Seth muffled through his pillow. “Did you set my alarm?”

“Yes, and I also set that boobie-trap next to you in case the alarm didn’t work.”

Curiosity took over and Seth's head twisted slightly to the right. A pair of emerald eyes stared back at him.

“AH!” He tumbled out of his bed in shock, recovered, and brought the blanket up to his chin.

Ken chuckled. “What kind of reaction is that? You’re not some naked woman found out suddenly, you know." he compared.

Why was that the first thing he compared...

The booby-trap, or boobie because Ken logics said so, got up and sat on her legs. “Hello!” Izzy waved. “Are you finally awake?”

Booby-trap...boobie-trap...dammit, Ken. That's what you meant. Seth thought as he shook his head. “Hello to you, too.” He noticed Izzy’s outfit consisted of a knee-length turquoise skirt with overalls clinging to her white blouse. “Nice outfit. It looks very cute on you.”

“Thanks!” she replied happily. “Ken gave me the outfit to wear.”

Seth’s eyebrows furrowed at the information. He took a more look and noticed her clothes weren't too tight or too loose. Kind of like…they were made for her.

“Ken, when did you-”

“I know that look. I‘ll tell you later if you want to know.”

“I don’t think I want to.”

Izzy tilted her head at them. “What are you guys talking about? I don‘t get it.”

“Hopefully you never do,” Seth warned.

"Hey! I heard that."

"I didn't whisper it. That was a warning to you, too." Seth pointed out.

"What did I do?"

"Does the phrase 'stop while you're ahead' ring a bell?"

"No..."

Seth sighed. "Then the problem's bigger than I thought."

"Alright Captain Sarcasm, why don't you get some casual clothes on? We don't want to keep the ladies waiting."

“Alright then. I’ll just be a couple minutes, then.”

“Let’s go, Izzy.” Ken gestured at her to leave, then they both left the room with the door shut behind.

Seth sighed to himself at what his friend had became. (Pedophile? No, they’re only two or three years apart. Pervert? Maybe. Clothing designer? That’s a possibility...and also the scariest outcome somehow.) He shook his head, raised himself up, and shuffled over to his closet. His clothes were still in his traveling suitcases for the most part, so changing outfits would be a first-see, first-wear basis.

-5:10 pm-

The two girls were waiting outside the mall's entrance for Seth's party

Selena had tapped her right foot for the past ten minutes, which annoyed Toni to tears.

“Pleeease, stop that,” Toni begged her. “You’ve been at it since five.”

Selena huffed. “Well, they’re late and you know how much I hate tardiness.”

“You didn’t even want to come!”

“What makes you say that,” Selena asked while placing a hand on her hip. “I could’ve been excited about this little get-together.”

Toni shook her head. “You had that look on your face.”

“What look?”

“The dark look,” Toni repeated. “I know your track record whenever you get that look.”

Selena crossed her arms. “And what, pray tell, is this track record?”

“You gave me the dark look when you were chosen to do the Freshman school parade planning.”

“That was annoying and unlucky. No sane person would choose to do that job.”

“And the time you were asked to reorganize the teacher’s seating charts for our Sophomore year.”

“Also unlucky.”

“Aaaand the time I cut my hair and started wearing guy clothes.”

“I’m not seeing where this is going,” Selena commented.

Toni sighed. “Every time you get the ‘dark look,’ you end up bitchin’ about it while you make me buy you dessert.”

“I do not!” Selena refuted.

“Honey, my wallet is empty because of you.”

“For the last time, stop calling me honey! You sound more and more like a guy by the minute! You have to go back to being a gir-"

“Yo, what‘s up,” Ken greeted. “Go back to what?”

Selena rubbed her temple as she groaned. “Ugh, never mind. New topic: why are you late?”

Izzy, as the innocent one and least likely to be yelled at, apologized for the group. “Sorry, but Seth was being a lazy boy and Ken decided to drive backwards.”

"I did not, you lier.” Ken corrected. Suddenly, his attention switched to the girls' outfits. “Did you coordinate your clothes?”

Selena looked down at her black jeans and dark green t-shirt…which was exactly what Toni was wearing, too. She frowned at Toni and whispered, “See, this is the last time you pick my outfit.”

“But you like jeans. Those were the only ones I could find clean,” Toni whispered back.

“Why is my shirt the same, then?”

“I dunno, it matched?”

Ken interrupted the private banter. “Ladies, ladies…” he started. “Uh, where are the other ladies?”

Selena momentarily stopped her current conversation, rubbed her eyes, then pointed at Izzy. “First of all, why is she here?”

“She’s with us?” Ken answered with a little confusion.

“I know but…why?”

“I don’t get the question.”

Seth understood right away. “She’s questioning why an innocent like Izzy is hanging out with you.”

And you! Selena mentally added.

“Are you saying I’m a manipulative man that feels empowered by conquering younger females?”

“First off, where did you learn all those words?” Seth questioned. “And second, that was way too detailed.”

Toni decided to barge in. “Hey, I like the ‘Evil or Perverted?’ guessing game just as much as the next person but can we get inside? The mall closes in five hours, ya know.”

“Ahahahaha not funny.” Ken said sarcastically. “My busted car is the reason why we’re late, you know.”

“I busted your rear light! How does that make you late?”

“Ken decided that his middle finger would make a fine new signal,” Seth said.” Let’s just say, it takes a lot of right turns to get here, and road rage still exists.”

“The traffic was unbearable! No one could move an inch!”

“Ken, we were at the front of the line.”

“I’m amazed we’re still aliiive,” Izzy chirped in.

“Oh you guys suck,” Ken pouted.

---

“This is Mae and Sky. Girls, this is Seth, Ken, and Izzy.”

The group stood in front of the newly opened Sam Goody, as Selena started introduction. Mae was a teammate of Toni on the softball team, but her slender form told no hint of sliding or swinging bats all day. Compared to Toni, who had the occasional bruise from practice day by day, she knew how to keep a female look. Her long, black hair matched the frilly green skirt and sweater.

Sky was a drama manager that also directed the last couple plays for the school. She also helped Selena get her second-in-command place in the school council. Today she had kaki shorts and a red t-shirt.

“I’m in love.”

“Ken, not now.”

When Ken wouldn’t stop staring at the pair, since Seth couldn’t figure which was the unlucky one, he slapped the back of his friend’s head.

“Ow! What was that for?!”

“Your mouth was open.”

“So you hit the back of my head?!”

“Will you two shut up?!”

Toni and the girls giggled at the circus act Selena and the boys were. However, despite the entertainment, Toni decided to end the little feud before security came over.

“Hey guys, how about we get inside before security shows up? Sounds like a good idea?”

A final glare-off and some grunts ended the round. The boys took the lead on the music section, while Selena pulled Toni back for a private chat.

“Toni, we need to discuss this arrangement.”

The two girls whispered behind a giant rapper cut-out board. The others were distracted by the rivalry that was male video gaming.

“First off, you were right. I hate this little get-together,” Selena admitted.

“Okay, I got that much. Now you wanna tell me why?”

“The boys.”

“Boys are always trouble! You know that.”

“There’s a difference between boys…and their level of perversity.”

“What, Ken? He’s a bit nutty but what can you do? Kids these days,” Toni shrugged off.

“Toni, he’s older than you by three months.”

“And who’s the real nut here?”

Selena suddenly feigned innocence. “I thought it was common knowledge.”

“Did you read people’s permanent records during break again?”

“Okay fine, I was bored.”

Toni waved off her strangeness. “I get bored, too. You know what I do? I nap.”

“Hey, if you don’t mind, the cashiers are getting frightened by you guys hiding...here,” The store manager humbly pointed out as he stood behind them.

“Oh shoot! Uh, sorry about that,” Selena apologized. “We’ll be on our way now.”

The store manager nodded and left the two alone. As they walked out of the store, Selena groaned at the mishap caused by their private conversation.

“This is not making the activity any easier,” she said, her spirit deflated.

“You’re so uptight,” Toni exclaimed. “Who calls this an activity? And how did we get kicked out of a Sam Goody for god’s sake?” A moment passed and not a sound came from her friend. “Selena? Are you listening to me?”

All of Selena’s senses froze when her eyes met with Seth’s. He had a bewildered expression, as if wondering why those two were out of the store. A second later, he shrugged it off and continued scanning the latest music videos.

(That bastard! That uncaring bastard!) Selena gave him the bird while he wasn’t looking.

Meanwhile, Seth whispered to Ken in the Xbox section, “I think we should distance a bit ourselves from Selena and Toni.”

“Eh? What’s with you?”

“Well I get the feeling Selena’s a bit of a jealous girlfriend. Maybe that’s why she wasn’t so thrilled with the trip, you know? Toni’s a nice guy.”

"Yeah, you're right. After all, it is quite hard to stay unattracted to these bad boys." Ken flexed his right arm a bit.

"...What are you doing?"

"I'm showing off my big boys!"

"I think they're hiding," Seth smirked.

"Well that's just you being an ass."