Infinite (Strange and Beautiful, Book 1) (40 page)

“Hey,
I was just saying . . .” She didn’t finish her thought as she looked over my
shoulder and cocked her head to the side.

“What?”
I glanced over my shoulder, but I couldn’t tell what she was looking at.

Her
brows furrowed with uncertainty as she asked, “Is that Mark over there?”

I
turned fully this time and stepped back so I was beside Tegan and looked in the
same direction she was staring. I saw the tall figure dressed all in black. His
head was bent, hiding his face from view, but when I saw the Slipknot patch on
the shoulder of his jacket, it confirmed Tegan’s suspicions.

I
bit my lip and glanced at Tegan. “Should we go say hi?”

She
looked reluctant. Mark had been sitting with us at lunch pretty much every day
for over three weeks, and Tegan was starting to warm up to him a bit, but she
was still a little hesitant. I couldn’t blame her because I was still, most
generally, freaked out by the change in the tide. However, when Mark wasn’t
being menacing, he was rather endearing. Then again, I might have only felt
that way because he didn’t seem to mind listening to me ramble stupidly about
meaningless things.

Tegan
squinted her eyes and didn’t answer my question. Just as I was about to repeat
it, Tegan cut me off, asking incredulously, “Is he holding a Britney Spears
CD?”

I
looked back at the mass of black that was Mark and squinted too. It occurred to
me I probably needed my eyes checked because, unlike Tegan, I couldn’t tell
what he was holding. However, if Mark was, in fact, holding a Britney CD, there
wasn’t a chance in hell I was going to overlook it, so I picked up my feet and
headed in his direction.

Tegan
reluctantly followed, hissing under her breath. “Silly, what are you doing? Are
sure we should go over there? What if he . . . ” but she couldn’t finish
because, as I approached him, Mark turned and caught sight of us.

“Hi,
we thought that was you,” I smiled, glancing at Tegan who fidgeted
uncomfortably.

“Oh,
hi,” Mark greeted. One side of his mouth twitched upward in what I had come to
know as Mark’s smile. Sometimes it was hard to tell the difference between his
smile and grimace, but I’d taken note of the subtle differences. I realized
maybe he was self-conscious about the condition of his teeth and didn’t want to
show them off.

If
I weren’t scared he’d turn on me and go back to making my life a living hell,
I’d have told him that it was too late to hide his teeth from me. I’d seen the
ugly yellow sneer up close, but for once the filter between my mind and mouth
was working and kept me from making the mean remark.

“What
are you up to?” I asked, eyeing the CD in his hand. I could see half of the
cover, and the half I could see showed a blonde clad in some feathery, poofy
black thing that didn’t look like much more than underwear. “I didn’t know you
were a Britney fan,” I commented, nodding toward the case.

Mark
looked down at the CD in his hand and his cheeks turn a pale shade of pink,
which was quite obvious against his near porcelain complexion. He placed his
hand fully over the cover, trying to hide it, and Tegan couldn’t suppress a
giggle.

When
I glanced at her, she covered her mouth and turned and looked the other way
while muttering, “Sorry.”

“It’s
for my sister,” Mark explained. “For Christmas.”

He
was so obviously embarrassed. I couldn’t keep the smile from my face. “Right.”

“It
is!” he exclaimed.

I
arched an eyebrow. “Are you sure you just don’t like looking at the cover?”

Mark
glanced down at the CD and shrugged a shoulder. “Eye candy, perhaps, but not
really my cup of tea.”

“I
didn’t take you for a tea drinker anyway,” I said, biting back a smile.

“Aren’t
we witty today?” he replied. “Seriously, it’s for my sister.”

“Okay,
okay,” I nodded. “So, you’re Christmas shopping today?”

“Yep,”
he nodded. He glanced from me to Tegan, who had managed to compose herself
enough to turn back toward us. “How about you two?”

“Same,”
Tegan answered.

“Speaking
of which, what CD do you suppose a seventeen-year-old guy would like?” I asked,
figuring he might be able to give me some insight.

He
scratched his chin thoughtfully. “Depends on the guy.”

“My
brother,” I answered.

He
rolled his eyes. “Ah, a jock.”

“He’s
not that bad,” I said, feeling oddly protective of Luke. “He likes rock music,
and he used to play guitar.”

“Really?
Never would have guessed that about Mr. Football Star,” Mark commented.

“He
doesn’t play football anymore,” I pointed out.

Mark
rolled his eyes. “I play drums.”

“Really?”
My eyes widened. “I’ve always wanted to learn, but my parents said they were
too loud.”

“My
set is out in the garage. It’s detached from the house, so that helps mute out
some of the noise,” Mark shrugged. “Haven’t played much lately.”

  “I’d
like to hear it sometime.” Mostly I just didn’t think I’d believe it until I
saw it. I had no idea why since Mark, obviously, liked to hit things.

“Yeah,
maybe sometime.” Mark shifted his eyes nervously before looking around. “Back
to the CD.”

I
glanced at Tegan to see if she’d caught the way he’d clammed up slightly before
changing the subject, but she was browsing through some of the nearby displays.
I thought she was probably still listening, though.

I
turned back to Mark and explained, “Luke mostly likes classic rock stuff, but
he’s into alternative rock too. I like some, but I really don’t know many of
the new bands, which is probably what Luke would want.”

“Me
either,” Tegan put in. “I need something for my ten-year-old brother.”

“I
don’t think I can help you there,” Mark said, looking at Tegan. “The stuff I
listen to isn’t exactly kid friendly.”

Tegan
smirked. “You could probably pick out something that would scare them away,
though, couldn’t you?”

“Like
Slipknot!” I exclaimed, thinking of the patch on his jacket. “Those guys are
creepy looking. What’s with the masks? Did they like Halloween so much they
thought they’d celebrate all year long?”

“Oh,
Silly,” Mark laughed and rolled his eyes, “you’re something else.”

I
was slightly taken aback by the way he’d said my name with such familiarity,
and his laugh was such an odd contrast to his usual dry sarcasm. I tucked that
away to consider later and grinned up at him, “That’s what everyone tells me,
but nobody says exactly what it is that I am.”

In
the end, I bought Bob Seger’s Greatest Hits album for Luke while Tegan
purchased Now 22 for Tanner. We were at a loss for appropriate music for a
ten-year-old, but since Tegan and I liked half of the songs on the CD, we
thought Tanner might like it too. Despite Tegan’s continuous bouts of giggles
every time it was brought up, Mark bought the Britney CD for his sister.

After
Sam Goody, I decided to check the Hallmark store for something for Mom. Tegan
and Mark were utterly useless. They got distracted reading ridiculously,
sickeningly sweet cards. I heard them laughing from across the store, and not
long after, I saw one of the women who worked in the store ushering them to the
exit. Mark called out, “We’ll wait for you outside, Silly!”

“You’re
the wind beneath my wings!” Tegan added.

I
rolled my eyes but couldn’t help but smile as I continued looking for the
perfect trinket for Mom. I couldn’t believe Tegan was acting so silly with Mark
of all people, but it seemed she’d gotten over her previous reservations about
him.

I
settled on a snow globe for Mom that had colorful butterflies on the inside. It
was the last one left, and I thought it was really pretty. I hoped Mom would
agree as I walked up to the counter to pay.

I
found Mark and Tegan seated on a bench outside the store. They both looked
bored and lazy. Tegan at least asked, “What did you find?”

I
showed them both the gift, and Tegan cooed over it while, in typical guy
fashion, Mark merely said, “That’s nice.”

After
that we went into several different stores, picking out random things for
different people. By noon our stomachs were grumbling, so we headed to the food
court. Naturally, it was buzzing with the swarm of people. We bought our lunch
from Johnny Rockets, and, of course, I managed to drip mustard and mayo on my
shirt.

Afterward,
we shopped around for a while, and when we passed by the mall Santa, there
were, surprisingly, no kids in line waiting to sit on his lap or have their
picture taken.

“I
bet Santa’s pretty bored,” I commented.

“Maybe
you should go keep him entertained,” Mark suggested.

 From
there I somehow wound up sitting on Santa’s lap as he asked me what I wanted
for Christmas while some woman dressed as an elf took our picture. Needless to
say, it was rather embarrassing, and Tegan and Mark couldn’t stop laughing.

 “You
two are just jealous you didn’t get your picture taken with St. Nick,” I
scoffed once I’d purchased an overpriced photograph with the man in the red
suit.

“That’s
exactly it,” Mark laughed.

Tegan
giggled, “Yes, so jealous.”

“What
did you tell him you wanted for Christmas?” Mark inquired.

I
blushed, remembering the first thing that popped out of my mouth.

“What?”
Tegan asked, noticing my rosy cheeks. “What did you say?”

I
rolled my eyes and muttered, “I said I wanted Jackson.”

“You
didn’t!” Tegan exclaimed before dissolving into another fit of giggles.

“I
didn’t know Santa granted those kind of wishes,” Mark commented. “Maybe I
should go back and ask for Jessica Simpson.”

“Oh,
so Jessica Simpson’s your type but Britney’s not, huh?” I questioned.

“What
can I say?” Mark shrugged. “I like my girls dumb, but not continually knocked
up.”

“Charming,”
Tegan smirked.

“I’m
kidding, I’m kidding,” Mark said, pushing his hands down toward Tegan as if to
tell her to calm down.

Tegan
and I glanced at each other and rolled our eyes. I turned back to Mark, shaking
my head disapprovingly. “Shall we continue shopping?”

“Certainly,”
Mark replied, trying to replicate a New York accent, so it sounded more like
“soitenly.”

As
we were heading for the elevators, we passed the movie theater, which happened
to be on the same floor as Santa. “Shit,” I muttered under my breath, as I
glanced at the ticket box.

Tegan
glanced around with wide eyes. “What?”

“Jackson’s
working,” I replied, walking around to the other side of Mark and using him as
a shield so Jackson wouldn’t see me.

“I
thought you wanted Jackson, though,” Mark commented. “Shouldn’t we call him
over and let you have your dirty ways with him.”

“First
of all, I have no dirty ways,” I said, shooting him a playful glare. “Second of
all, I had a fight with him a couple of weeks ago and we haven’t spoken since.”

“What’d
you fight about?” Mark asked.

“My
sister.”

“Your
sister?” The confusion was clear in Mark’s voice.

I
peeked around behind Mark’s back to look at the ticket box as Tegan clarified,
“She thinks he likes her sister instead of her.”

Jackson
was taking a couple’s money and handing them tickets. He looked a bit glum. A
couple of weeks ago I would have thought it served him right because maybe he
was getting a taste of how I’d felt for several weeks.  Of course, that was
assuming his glumness had anything to do with me, which I was sure it didn’t.

When
I decided to sneak a peek at Jackson, my feet, apparently, decided to quit
moving. Mark and Tegan were still walking, discussing why I thought Jackson
liked Skylar instead of me, though, which left me standing there in plain view.
If Jackson looked up, he would probably notice me. As soon as I came to this
realization, I made a mad dash for cover, which happened to be in a photo booth
just beyond Jackson’s line of vision.

I
peeked outside and whisper-yelled for Mark and Tegan, who were close to the
elevators, looking around—mostly likely for me. Tegan spotted me and tugged at
Mark’s sleeve before hurrying over.

Her
face was scrunched up in confusion as she asked, “What are you doing in there?”

“Hiding.
You two walked off and left me out in the open for Jackson to see.”

“So,
now you’re taking cover in a photo booth?” Mark grinned.

“I
wouldn’t have had to if you two hadn’t just walked off,” I glared.

Tegan
rolled her eyes. “We were talking. We thought you were with us.”

“Didn’t
you notice that there was a lack of clumsiness in your presence?” I asked.

“We
somehow overlooked that,” Mark smirked. “So, are we going to go or are you
going to hide in there all day?”

I
rolled my eyes with a sigh and started to climb out of the booth, but Tegan pushed
me back in. “Wait!”

I
fell back into the seat, sputtering and confused. I rubbed my elbow, where I’d
hit it on one of the buttons inside, as I glared at Tegan. “What did you do
that for?”

“Let’s
get our picture taken,” she exclaimed, gleefully.

I
looked from Tegan to Mark, who looked about as thrilled with this idea as I
did, but Tegan was already digging a couple of bills out of her purse and
climbing into the booth. She started inserting her money in the slot, and after
she had all three bills in it, a timer showed up on the screen.

“Get
your butt in here,” she said, grabbing Mark by the arm and pulling him inside
just as the camera took the first picture.

Needless
to say, it was cramped and we looked ridiculous. Mark wouldn’t stop complaining
that his butt was hanging out of the booth for everyone to see, and Tegan was
too busy telling us how to pose to care about his complaints.