⌜ chapter fifteen ⌟

"Hey, Letty, what are you doing today after work?" Eric asks as he walks over to his best friend; he sits beside her on the bench that she often goes to when she wants to draw and avoid people.

"Danny and I are going to the mall." She tells him, and he tries to mask his annoyance.

"You've been spending a lot of time with him lately." He says, and she nods.

"He's a nice guy, I like hanging out with him. So what?" The brunette asks, and he shrugs.

"So, you're just hanging out then? Or...are you guys dating?"

"Um, I don't know. What difference does it make? It's only been a few days." She says, and he just nods before walking away from her. His abrupt departure takes her by surprise, and she sighs.

Letty and Danny go to the mall later that day and head straight to the food court to get some food. They're eating when Jason — Eric and Letty's other best friend — makes his way over to the two of them. The boy with the brown hair sits down and looks at her.

"So, Eric just ditched me for some chick. I just moved back to town, and he left me for a girl. A hot girl, but still..." Jason says, and Danny just looks at him.

"How is this any different from all the other times that he's gotten a girlfriend or a date? Or any other time that you have, for that matter?" The brunette questions. "And, you know what, it's karma, buddy. How long have you been back in Philly, and you never came to say hi to me?"

"I didn't want you to hurt me." He tells her, and she narrows her dark eyes at him. "You know, your dad doesn't like my dad."

"And? I have no problem with your dad." She says, and he shrugs.

"Hey, Scarlett. How are you?" The blue-eyed boy smiles, and she punches him in the arm. "That tickled." He mumbles as he looks back over at Eric, rubbing his bicep. "It's not fair. She's beautiful. She's perfect. Why'd she go for him and not me?" He questions.

"Ah, the eternal question." She says sarcastically, and Danny chuckles as he looks at her.

"You should probably take him home before his inflated ego makes him float away." Jason says as he points at Eric.

Letty turns and looks over at their best friend — Eric's smile is a mile wide and he's trying to flirt with the older woman. She's going along with it, but it's pretty obvious that she doesn't actually like him. She's too old for him, to begin with. He starts taking pictures in front of a blank backdrop, and Letty sighs. This isn't going to end well for anyone involved.

"Yeah, you're probably right." The brunette sighs. "I promised Morgan that I wouldn't let him get lost and never come home. And right now he definitely looks like a lost puppy."

"Who's Morgan?" Danny asks as he looks back at Letty from her best friend.

"Eric's five-year-old sister. She adores her brother, and I made a promise." She tells him. "I hope you don't mind."

He shakes his head. "No, you can't break a promise to a kid. I get it." He says, and she smiles as she gets up from her seat.

Letty walks over to her dopey best friend as Eric's saying goodbye and she looks at him. "She thinks I could be a model." He says with a huge smile on his face.

"Uh-huh. Let's go home now." Letty then grabs his jacket and pulls him behind her as they walk through the mall.

The two teenagers walk into the kitchen at the Matthews' house a little while later, and she sits down at the table beside her younger brother. Cory has Shawn, Minkus, and Topanga over, and they're all doing homework​ at the dining table.

Eric jumps up on the counter and lays down, resting his weight on his elbow, and all of the kids look at the older boy. "What's with him?" Shawn asks.

"A girl at the mall told him that he was​ pretty." Letty says sarcastically.

"Don't hate me because I'm beautiful." Eric says and then flips his hair as he leans his head back. He's suddenly on his feet again, doing some sort of odd performance. "He thought he felt her hot, mossy breath on his eye. He blinked. She was gone. The beating of wings — obsession."

Cory mimics the last movement his brother made, raising his right hand into the air and then pulling it down as he forms a fist. "Get help." The younger Matthews boy says, and Letty laughs at the brothers.

Eric clears his throat. "I was discovered today." He tells them.

"You get discovered at the mall?" Shawn asks him, and Letty smirks when her younger brother looks at her.

"How'd you know?"

"Did you pay ninety dollars to get photos taken?" Topanga asks, not bothering to look at him.

"Yeah, you can't model without a portfolio." Eric says as he leans over the island counter.

"You did what?" Letty questions.

"You were scammed." Shawn tells him.

"They get you to pay all this money—"

"And then you never hear from them."

"Completely untrue." Minkus argues. "It's not a scam."

"Yeah, listen to Minkus, guys. He's the smart one." Eric tells them.

"I, too, was discovered at the mall." The nerdy kid says, and Letty raises her eyebrows as she looks back at Eric.

"Doh!" He smacks his forehead and then falls forward, back onto the island.

Morgan and her parents walk into the kitchen then and they all look at the dope. "Eric, girls are gonna dump you all your life, so... Get over it." Morgan tells her older brother, and Letty laughs at her comment.

The tiny blonde walks away from him and goes upstairs. Cory then explains what's going on to his parents. "He got scammed at the mall."

"Scammed? How?" Their mom asks.

"Well, some girl told him that he was cute, and he forked over ninety dollars for modeling photos."

"Ninety dollars?" Mr. Matthews questions and then pulls Eric up by the collar of his jacket so that he's not slouched over anymore. "Ninety dollars?"

"Can I speak with you alone for a second?" Mrs. Matthews asks her husband.

"No."

"I would like to speak with you outside." She tells him as she walks toward the back door.

"I know you would, but my anger would still be here in the kitchen." He tells her, looking back at his son.

"Alan..." She opens the door.

"I'll be back." He tells Eric, imitating Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Eric falls back onto the counter then, and Letty stands up and walks over to him. She rests her hand on his shoulder to get his attention. "Come on, let's try to figure something out." She says, and he turns his head so that he can see her.

"You'll help me?" He asks.

"Of course." The brunette nods. "What are friends for, right?"

He sighs and stands up straight. The two of them go to the backyard so that he can talk to his parents. "Look, guys, I feel like a total jerk. You shouldn't let me manage my own money. I'm going back to the mall, see if I can get it back. Thanks for not jumping on my case." He says, and the teens leave, headed for the mall.

They get back to the food court and run into Jason again. "Hey, you're back." The blue-eyed boy says, and Letty hits him. "Ouch!" He glares at her as he rubs his arm again. "You know, I was kidding when I said that that tickles."

"You're not supposed to let Eric get scammed by a pretty face." She tells him.

"Have you met me?" He questions, and she pauses as she looks up at him.

"Yeah, point taken." She nods.

"Look at her," Eric says, and his friends follow his gaze. "That black widow spider​. I mean, she spun me into a web of deceit and hung me there like a dead fly. She thinks she can lure me in with her angelic eyes and swimsuit issue body. Yeah, well, she can't. I'm a rock on this."

"Eric!" The woman from before calls.

"Please don't let me give her any more of my money." He hands his wallet to Jason.

"I'm glad you're back."

"I bet you are. Now, look. I want—"

"A job?" She cuts him off.

"What?" He questions, taken by surprise.

"I got a modeling job for you here at the mall." She tells him.

"Oh, sure. What else do you want me to buy, huh? More modeling classes? How about a billboard, a big billboard with Eric Matthews Is An Idiot plastered all over Philadelphia?" He asks sarcastically.

"The job pays fifty dollars." She says as she picks up a contract from the counter next to her. "If they like you, I can get you more the next time."

"You're serious? This is a real modeling job?" He asks her.

"Hey, either you want it or you don't. You're not the only gorgeous guy with big hazel eyes here at the mall." She says, trying to bait him. And it's definitely working — it's Eric for crying out loud.

"He's gonna make this ten times worse, isn't he?" Jason asks Letty.

"Doesn't he always?" She nods.

"How are you gonna fix it?" His blue eyes move to her, and she looks up at him.

"What do I look like? A genie?" She questions. "I can't fix all his problems."

"Do something​ with him." Jason says.

"I can't, I have to go home. Which isn't any fun with Miller, at the moment." She tells him and then leaves the mall.

—

"And why are we here again?" Danny questions as he and Letty walk into the food court at the mall.

"I left Eric here with Jason while he was deciding that he wants to become a model. I want to see how exactly this is going to blow up in his face." The brunette tells him.

"Why are you so sure that it will?"

"Because it's Eric and Jason."

"Alright, well, there's that Jason guy." He points him out, and they then walk over to one of her best friends and the group that he's standing with.

"Hey, Jason, Cory, Shawn...girls that I don't know." The brunette greets their small group in the food court. "Where's Eric?"

Shawn starts busting up laughing as he and Cory both point. Letty looks up and sees Eric in a big, red lobster costume sitting above a tub that's​ full of something that looks a lot like melted butter. Letty tries not to laugh at her best friend and the pout on his lips.

"Okay, you were right. This is definitely worth coming here for." Danny laughs, and she puts her hand over her mouth as she looks up at him.

"I was just about to dunk him." Jason tells her.

"Oh! Scarlett!" Morgan yells as she runs over to the older girl. Letty picks her up and sets her on her hip; the two girls look up at Eric.

"Hey, come on. Don't throw that, Jason. I mean, we've been best friends since we were, what, three-years-old." Eric says, pleading with him. "Who are you going to listen to, some girls you don't even know or me?" He questions.

"What are you, new?" Letty questions as Jason looks back at the two pretty, blonde girls. He then looks back at the boy in the lobster costume.

"See ya." Eric waves his giant, red claw at them, and Jason then throws the ball that he's been holding at the button to drop the platform that lobster-boy's sitting on.

Eric falls into the tub, and Morgan immediately wants down. So Letty sets her back on her feet, and the tiny blonde then runs over to look at Eric in the large window of the dunk tank. They all start laughing as Eric struggles to get back up.

"Alright, show's over. We can go do something​ else now. Movie?" Letty asks as she then looks up at Danny, and he nods before the two of them then go to hang out elsewhere.