I change into the dress gifted by Chelsea, loving the way the burgundy material hugs my body in all the right places. It's nothing like one of Connie's pageant dresses, with all the sparkling rhinestones and miles of colourful fabric and silk. It shows more skin and is far more sophisticated. With the dark but not gothic makeup that has been done with practiced hands, I look at least a few years older. I know this look will take a while to get used to, but I'm willing to dress up and play thief as long as it keeps me away from my home. After receiving those messages from my mother, I know I can't go back there.

I slip on Maeve's leather jacket which was also gifted to me and sneak a final look in the mirror, loving my outfit but disliking the painful reminder of the slap I received underneath the steri-strips on my cheekbone. I look away and quickly leave what now has become my bedroom in search of the others, remembering how they said they'd be in the garages at seven pm. It's ten to and I soon realize I have no idea where I'm going.

Thankfully, as I leave my room, I am greeted by Jayden who leans against the wall by my door.

"Looking good, Aurora," he compliments as he notices me exit the room.

I fight the blush making it's way onto my face. "You don't look too bad yourself."

He's wearing a white shirt tucked into dark trousers and fitted, black blazer. I don't miss the Gucci belt holding up his bottoms and his cologne smells expensive.

The two of us start making our way down to the garages when a question comes to mind. "Jayden?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do you guys dress all fancy before going to steal stuff?"

He chuckles as he fiddles with his cufflinks. "Well, if you think about it, who are you more likely to trust; the gang dressed in all black with masks that cover their faces and baseball bats and guns in their rucksacks, or a group of well-dressed people who look like they belong in a Prada store?"

"The well-dressed people, I guess."

"Exactly," he says. "It's one of the main reasons as to how we've never been caught. If you look and dress the part, no one will be watching you when you pick up something that costs more than five hundred pounds."

It makes sense. You have to be smart when part of a gang. If you make a big show of stealing things and terrorizing people, the police will be looking for you and none of these guys can risk going to jail. This gang is a group of street-wise, smart people who know what they're doing.

We soon get to the garages, where many sleek, expensive cars are sitting, and I notice Maeve, Blake, Colby and Zavier stood around one of them. All but Zavier are also dressed to the nines, clad in expensive brands and jewellery that I could imagine in the Kardashian's wardrobe. Maeve looks about five years older than she is and I have to admit that both Colby and Blake look incredibly attractive. I suck in a subtle, harsh breath as Blake takes a drag of his cigarette, his bad-boy appearance far too appealing to the eye.

"You guys ready?" Zavier asks us. We all nod and I push down my nerves. He turns to me. "Remember, Aurora, stay with Jayden at all times. Try not to look suspicious and just keep a low profile. Got it?"

I nod again. "Understood."

Then, he reaches into his back pocket and hands me two objects. A strap. And a gun.

"This is just a precaution," he tells me. "You'll be the only one with this and you must only use it if absolutely necessary. I know it sounds weird, but strap it to your thigh, under your dress. These things are easier to hide if you're a woman."

My eyebrows draw together and I exchange a look with Maeve, who just gives an encouraging smile. I tentatively take the pistol from him as if it's covered in pig's guts and try to do as I'm told, asking Maeve for help after a few minutes. We stand behind the car while the guys respectfully chatter among themselves, so that I can hold up my dress and Maeve can strap the gun to my leg. She manages it with ease and stands upright.

"Can I just ask something before we leave?" she asks.

I drop my dress, making sure it's covering the weapon, and reply with a distracted "sure."

She exhales. "Are you mad at me?"

My eyes meet hers. "Why would I be mad at you?"

"Because... I don't know. I just feel like, at school, you were mad at me because we came to your house."

"Well, being drugged and kidnapped wasn't exactly a pleasant experience for me," I tell her. "But, no, I'm not mad at you."

She smiles crookedly in relief, brushing a strand of curled, pink hair away from her forehead. "Oh, good. Because, I genuinely like you, and we all need to trust one another if you're going to be a part of this group. Do you think you can trust me?"

I sigh, putting everything into consideration. Yes, she did befriend me at school before getting the Thieves to kidnap me, but in the end, it was a good thing. If she didn't do that, the rumour that I had emailed the beauty pageant so that Connie was banned from the competition might have still happened, and I still would have been kicked out by my mother. Without the thieves, I would be on the streets.

"Yes, I can trust you," I say with a smile.

"Sorted?" Zavier asks over the car. "You guys really should get going."

"Yep, we're done," Maeve confirms. We each say goodbye to Zavier before climbing into the vehicle, Maeve, Colby and I in the back and Jayden in shotgun while Blake drives. He stomps out his cigarette and gets in, starting the engine with a press of a button.

He eyes us through the rear-view mirror. "Ready?"

"Ready."

With Blake heavy-footed on the gas, the drive isn't too long and we're soon at the mall. It's huge and modern with thousands of lights that contrast against the darkening skies. Fountains decorated with greenery surround the building, with palm trees littered around the vast parking lot. If it weren't for the rapid knocking of my heart against my chest at what we're about to do, I'd want to stay here for a while.

Blake locks up the car and starts to walk in the direction of the entrance, the rest of us following a step behind. Jayden sticks to my side, reassuring me with his presence, especially as the corners of his mouth twist up into a smile when he glances down at me.

We walk into the mall, stopping beside one of the indoor fountains and scanning the area in a way that hopefully doesn't look too suspicious, pretending to talk amongst ourselves like your average group of friends. The gun suddenly feels uncomfortable against my thigh as I wonder what on earth I've managed to get myself into.

"I see seven," Blake mutters to the others, who all nod in agreement after giving the place a once-over.

"Seven what?" I ask.

Maeve leans close to my ear. "Security guards." She nods pointedly in a particular direction and I follow the movement until I see two of them, wearing full police gear and strapped with guns.

"Not as many as last time," Colby states.

Jayden rolls back his shoulders, his looming height allowing him to see over the many people milling around to spot the guards. "Still, there might be some elsewhere. We should go."

"Where to?" Maeve asks. "Because I vote Pandora."

Blake rolls his eyes. "Of course you do."

"What about the Apple store?" Colby suggests.

Jayden shakes his head. "Too risky. Zavier, Enoch and I went there last week."

"There's a Rolex up there," I observe. I know I'm not meant to get involved, but I can't help but throw out the suggestion. They follow my line of sight, spotting the busy shop that seems to be glistening with lights on the second floor of the mall.

"It's a shout," Blake says. "Only Danielle has been in there in the last month."

"Rolex it is, then," Colby says. We all start to make our way over to the escalators, when Jayden clasps a hand around my wrist, stopping the group in their tracks.

"It's probably best if you three go up and search around the shop," he tells the others. "Aurora and I will go on the other escalators and enter a few minutes after you. We don't know you, okay?"

The three nod in agreement and continue on their way. Jayden waits for a few seconds, eyes shifting over to the guards who look as though they wish they could be anywhere else. His hand leaves my wrist and he starts walking off in a different direction as I follow close beside him, not wanting to lose him in the bustling areas of the mall.

We step onto the escalator and I feel like all eyes are on me, but when I try to locate the source of this uneasy feeling, I find no one to be wary of.

Jayden notices my discomfort. "We won't get caught; I promise."

"What if we do?"

His eyes soften. "Then our first priority will be to keep you out of it."

His words cause the butterflies in my stomach to start a party and I bite down on my lip to fight the smile. Bearing in mind he saw me at my lowest point last night and he comforted me while barely knowing a fraction of information about me, I feel like I can trust Jayden the most. It's strange how my feelings have changed in merely twenty-four hours.

We stroll over to the Rolex store, seeing Blake, Maeve and Colby casually browsing the selections of sparkling watches in the glass cabinets. We linger outside of the store for a moment, starting up a generic conversation about movies to seem like your average couple of teenagers, before entering the shop. Colby and I accidentally make eye contact with one another for a brief second and he is quick to look away. I quickly remember that we're not meant to know each other.

"What now?" I ask Jayden as we face away from the staff, pretending to be interested in a white gold watch with a purple clock face.

"They need to figure something out," he says under his breath. "All the watches are in cabinets. If you look over in two seconds, you'll see them silently communicating with each other about what they think they should do."

Sure enough, as I turn my head slightly to sneak a look, Maeve pretends to itch her nose before twitching her middle and index fingers towards one of the employees. Blake notices and gives the smallest nod of his head, which I guess means that whatever plan they had conjured up is going into action.

I watch as Maeve goes up to the employee, saying a polite "excuse me, can you help?" in a sickly sweet tone. The employee smiles and nods and Maeve leads him to a glass cabinet, pressing her finger against it to show whatever watch she's 'picked out'.

Meanwhile, Colby is approached by a staff member who asks if she can help him in any way, to which he nods and asks to try on one of the watches. The employee unlocks the cabinet and takes it out, allowing Colby to fit it around his wrist. Before I can see what happens next, Jayden pretends to stroke my hair while subtly moving my head back around.

"Don't stare."

"Sorry," I mutter.

He looks around for any prying eyes. "Okay, you can look again."

I turn my head slowly again, seeing Maeve finishing up with her employee and walking over to Blake, who has his hand in his blazer pocket. They laugh at something, presumably to convince whoever is watching that they're entirely innocent, before going over to Colby.

"I think they've done it," Jayden whispers, a trace of a bemused smile on his features.

"Already?"

He answers by ushering me out of the shop behind the other three, all of us continuing to pretend to not know one anther. My heart pounds in my chest as I wait for the alarm to ring out across the entire mall, but even when we're far from the shop, there is no alarm to be heard.

Jayden notices my confusion while we're on the escalator, many steps behind the other three who laugh together, clearly high off the adrenaline like I am. "What is it?" he asks.

"What about the alarm?" I ask. "Surely watches that expensive would have security tags?"

He shakes his head with a bemused smirk. "Only the cabinets do. If they had smashed them, the alarms would be going. But that's how you get caught."

I let out a sigh of bewilderment, running a hand through my hair. "Amazing."

"Oh honey," he chuckles. "You haven't even seen the best of it."

As soon as we're out of the mall and into the darkness of the car park, Maeve and Colby start to jump around, the heels of their posh shoes clipping against the concrete. Maeve then turns around, a huge smile all over her face as she rushes over and loops an arm through mine. Jayden chuckles warmly at her.

"Did you see all of that?"

I laugh breathlessly. "I'm not even sure what I just saw," I say as we reach the car. "You guys worked so fast. How did you... what did you even get?"

Maeve exchanges an excited look with Colby and Blake, who all reach into their pockets and bring them out in unison; three gorgeous, sparkling watches. Only three objects that must be worth a fortune each.

"How the hell..."

"It's easy when you know how," Blake winks.

Colby smiles, before reaching out his hand with the watch towards me. I give him a questioning look as I look at the beautiful, rose-gold design of the clock face.

"Take it," he says, prompting me to take it from him.

"I- I can't."

"Sure you can. Think of it as a souvenir from your first raid. We all have one."

I'm entirely shocked. I still think I must be trapped in some dream. "You deserve it more than me, I barely did anything."

Maeve chuckles. "Neither did we."

It's silent for a small moment, before Blake rolls his eyes, moving closer to the vehicle. "Just take the pretty watch, Aurora."

So, I grin and take it, thanking Colby as we all climb into the car and Blake speeds us out of the parking lot.