POV Nicholas

As I drive down the highway toward the mall, Rick and Emmett argue over which song to play.

"It's my phone, so I should play what I want," Rick argues.

"You said I could choose the song if I sat in the back," Emmett shoots back. "Plus, the songs you choose are so boring."

"That's because you don't know good music even if it hits you," Rick says, smacking his head.

"Oww, Nick, he just hit me!" Emmett cries.

I glance at them both in the rearview mirror before letting out a laugh. "Children, no fighting in the car," I say, giving them the only smile I can manage. I need to appear normal.

"Fine, pick whatever you want," Rick hisses.

"That's more like it!" Emmett cheered as he grabbed the phone.

With that, we have a peaceful drive with the bubble pop songs Emmett chooses to play. Although Rick had a look of annoyance on his face.

It did not take long for me to reach the parking lot of the Phoenix Premium Outlets shopping mall. As soon as I turned off the car, Emmett was already running out. Rick and I looked at each other before following along.

"Do you know where you're going?" I ask, making Emmett stop.

"I guess that's a no," Rick says. "Why don't you think about what you want to get for him first?"

"That's a good idea," Emmett says. "What are you guys getting for him?"

"No idea," I say.

"Don't know," Rick says at the same time as me.

Emmett looked at us both. "And yet you judge me."

We simply shrug at him. As we enter the mall, we are greeted by the sight of numerous stores.

"You guys have known him longer, so there must be something he likes or wants, right?" I ask them, but they just look at me.

"If there's something he needs, he just gets it," Rick says.

"That's the problem with rich kids," Emmett adds, looking around. "I say we should look around first or something."

"Then I'm off," Rick says, walking off. "We'll meet at the food court in two hours."

As they appear to be of no help, I begin walking around while trying to recall Evan's preferences. However, given my limited knowledge, the only responses that come to mind are food and clothing. This is because of his ability to consume a mountain of food in seconds and his outfits that look like he's about to walk down the runway.

As I strolled around the shopping area, I noticed a store called Mike Sports (a fictitious name). What particularly drew my attention was the section showcasing their latest limited arrivals of clothing, bags, and shoes. Interestingly, some of these items featured unique and eye-catching tiny food prints.

Without giving it much thought, I entered the store and headed toward the section. I am grateful to Ray for providing me with Evan's measurements for shoes and clothing, as this information will be invaluable if I decide to purchase something here for him. Otherwise, I would be at a loss as to what to do.

"Excuse me, is there anything I can assist you with? I'd be more than happy to help," one of the store's employees politely inquired.

Before looking at the item with the tiny food print of fries, burgers, and chicken, I glanced at him. The items appear to come in black or white options with the print on top. Considering Evan's preference for vibrant colors, white seems to be the most suitable choice. "I am simply searching for items for a birthday gift and am hoping to get the white-themed items with the food print in these sizes," I stated, displaying the measurements I had written on my phone.

"Since there are limited additions, there are very few sizes available. However, I can check and bring what is available."

"That sounds wonderful." I say as I walk towards the counter to wait for him.

It didn't take long for him to return and bring some items with him. "These are the things we have," he says, placing everything on the counter for me to examine.

Upon inspecting the items, I observed a belt, leather jacket, shoes, jeans, T-shirt, shirt, phone case, backpack, hats, key chain, and a beanie. "Could I have the phone case, shoes, beanie, leather jacket, backpack, and key chain, please?"

"We could package it in a gift box for you if you would like," he said.

"That would be nice," I respond, not giving it much thought.

It took me about 10 minutes to finish everything. As expected, I ended up spending around $1,600.

Look at my watch; it reads 5:15 p.m., which means I still have 30 minutes until I need to meet up with the guys. With that in mind, I head to the car first to put away the things because it will be too much of a bother to carry them around with me.

After I had finished loading everything into the back of my car, I noticed Emmett and Rick standing at one of the entrances, each of them carrying something. I walked towards them.

"Would you all prefer to place everything in the car?" I inquire.

"You are here as well. I suppose great minds do indeed think alike." Emmett states.

"Don't lie. Ray texted, saying he couldn't hold Evan back, and they're on their way here. I was about to call you, like I did him, so we can put everything away before they get here." Rick says.

"Whatever," Emmett mutters.

With that, we returned to my car and placed everything away before Emmett's phone began ringing with Evan's name displayed on the screen.

"Hey," Emmett said as he answered the call.

"We're at the southeast entrance," the voice on the other end informed. With that, the call was concluded.

"It seems that they have arrived," Rick stated as he noticed a red Porsche Cayenne entering the parking lot. As the vehicle came to a halt, Evan emerged from the passenger seat while Ray exited from the driver's side.

"Where did you all go?" Evan inquired as he approached us.

"As you can clearly see, we're at the mall," Rick responded sarcastically.

"I mean, where did the guys go when Ray grabbed one of them for the biology lecture after school?" he said, looking pissed off.

We all turned to Ray, but he merely shrugged. Nevertheless, I noticed a slight smirk on his face.

"With the grade you received on the weekly biology test, you clearly need the lecture," I told him, which only made him glare at me.

"That test wasn't fair; it included things from as far back as freshman year," he complains.

"You do know that next term we are sitting for the SATs, or are you planning to retake them in your senior year?" Ray says.

"Wait, you can take the SATs twice?" Emmett asks in shock. I look at him only to see that he is actually serious.

"And you guys think I'm the one who needs help?" Evan questions in disbelief.

"So we have two idiots, not one. Can we go eat now?" Rick says, as he walks away with Evan behind him, still complaining, and Ray, who trails behind with a contented expression.

I look at Emmett, who still appears to be confused. "We have to take the SATs during our junior year, but if we fail or wish to improve our scores, we can retake them as seniors. However, retaking them is not mandatory if you achieve your desired score," I explain.

"How come I didn't know this?" he says.

I just smile at him. "Let's go before we're left behind." With that, I started walking toward the other guys.

It didn't take long for us to reach the food court.

"What should we get?" Ray asked.

"I want McDonald's," Emmett said, leaving no room for arguments. With that, we each ordered something, with me only taking large fries and a strawberry milkshake.

"You should eat more," Evan mentioned, glancing at my food tray and noticing the others' drinks, large fries, burgers, and chicken nuggets.

"Not really hungry," I say, looking down.

"Anyway, did you hear that next week on Friday, Brianne is throwing a back-to-school party?" Emmett says, cutting off our conversation, which I was thankful for.

With that, everyone became distracted by the talk about the party. As I ate, Emmett took three of my fries and gave me three chicken nuggets. I wasn't really shocked by his actions since he started doing this on the second day we met. Seeing as I always had fries, he took some and then replaced them with something else. Which was odd because instead of questioning my eating habits, he did this instead-and for whatever reason, it wasn't annoying. Perhaps this is friendship, I thought as Emmett smiled at me.

After we finished eating, I had to part ways with the guys since they all lived in different neighborhoods from me. That's how I ended up taking all the gifts in the end.

***********************

"You need to take Anne with you to your friend's birthday party," my mother demanded.

I didn't understand how things had ended up this way. I was just finishing my homework on a Saturday night when my mother walked into my room, telling me how depressed Anne felt because she didn't know anyone at school since she had missed her chances to make friends by being sick the first two weeks. Yet, somehow, it had ended up with me having to take her to Evan's birthday party.

"But they don't even know her," I tried to explain.

"If you don't want to go, that's fine too," she says, leaving the room.

Do I even have a choice: either take her or do not go at all. I am unsure whether to laugh or cry. A single word from her, and they would drop everything and even move mountains, but what about me?'No one cares about you.'

I pick up my phone and call Ray. I should check first before giving up.

"Hi," I hear his voice say from the other side of the phone.

"Hey, something came up," I say, feeling nervous.

"Don't say you can't make it," Ray says.

"What do you mean he can't come?" I hear Rick's voice in the background.

"That's not it. My mother wants me to bring my sister."

"Tell her to f**k off," Rick shouts.

"Don't swear," I hear an unfamiliar voice say.

"How old is she?" Ray says.

"She's 14."

"So she's a freshman. Wait, do you mean the sister that was sick before?" he asks.

"Yeah, that's her."

"I think it's okay. There are going to be people her age, so it's fine," Ray says.

"The f*ck, I don't want some -"

"What did I say about swearing, Richard Collins?" I hear a man's angry voice say.

"I have to go, and you can bring her," Ray says, ending the call abruptly.

I guess I can bring her with me.

After that, I proceeded downstairs and made my way to the living room, where I found Anne seated between my parents. She had a large bowl of caramel popcorn resting on her lap. It appeared that they were watching an animated movie. The scene resembled a picture-perfect family, with my parents having two cups of coffee placed in front of them on the table and Anne's soda positioned in between, mirroring their seating arrangement. They all wore broad smiles as they laughed at something on the screen.

I found myself glancing around the living room, taking note of the various family photographs on display. I was only present in two of them, both of which happened to be formal family portraits. The remaining photographs depicted the three of them on various holidays, such as going to some resort to surf at the beach or skiing on a snowy mountain. These were trips that I was never invited to join, with the excuse given being summer school, even though I had skipped a grade.

There were also photographs of Anne receiving awards and some childhood pictures of her playing around or making mud pies.

If someone were to visit this house, I doubt they would even consider me as one of their children, given my lack of presence in it.

"What do you want, boy?" My father says, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"I wanted to say that Anne can come with me tomorrow."

"That sounds wonderful," my mother replies with a smile.

"Where am I going?" Anne inquires, appearing puzzled.

"You're going to a birthday celebration for one of Nicholas's friends," my mother explains.

"Is that okay?" she asks, looking at me with concern.

"Absolutely," my father assures her.

"Don't be concerned; they will adore you," my mother adds.

Realizing that they have completely forgotten about me, I quietly return to my room.

*****************************

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