No. 7: Suspicion

No. 7: Suspicion

"So, you saw the sparks?"
"Yeah. It was more obvious to me because...well...you know."
"Hmm...I didn't expect this to happen so soon."
Brandon shifted nervously as the Professor starred out the window.
"What do we do? Just....wait? or tell her?"
"No, lets wait. She still has a lot of adjusting to do. We don't need to add to that. She is strong. But even the strongest crack."
Brandon nodded in understanding.
"Where...where is she now?" He asked hesitantly.
Wallace smiled gently.
"She and her brothers are out shopping at the mall."

.:+++:.

He watched from a safe distance. The two brothers had walked into a men's clothing store, while the sister walked lazily past the windows. She stopped short when she came to an old camera store.
He moved closer, weaving into the crowd, trying not to draw attention to himself.
She bent down a little lower to look at a vintage camera sitting on a stack of books.
She looked down at her new purse she had just bought, before walking into the store.
He walked up to the window and pretended to be interested in the vintage cinema camera.
The shopkeeper came up and took the smaller camera out of the window and handed it to her. She smiled and paid for several rolls of film as well. She asked a question, and from his position at the window, he was able to read her lips.
"Do you have a dark room?"
The shopkeeper nodded.
"Feel free to drop in any time and we'll develop the film for you."
She nodded and said 'thank you' before leaving with her new treasure clutched in her hands.
He tried to back off, but he accidentally rammed into someone.
The shop bell rang and she came out, stopping short when he had to stagger forward and almost hit her.
Her arm brushed his when she turned slightly. He could smell the faint sent of strawberries in her hair as some of it got swept into his face.
"Oh." She said quietly. He moved back and shoved his hands in his pockets.
"Sorry, I didn't see you there." She said with an embarrassed chuckle. "You okay?"
He nodded. He wasn't suppose to engage with them! His job was just to watch them.
"Yeah I'm fine. I've got to go, bye."
"Uh, bye."
He brushed past her and melted into the crowd once more.

"Well that was weird." Kaleigh muttered to herself. She had noticed the boy through the window in the shop, but she assumed he was just window shopping.
There was something about him though. She couldn't put her finger on it, but his face was familiar, the dark curls, but she had no idea where from.

She found her brothers trying on a bunch of jeans and shirts. But she almost screamed when she saw that Venn had on.
"No! No! No!" She muttered shaking her head as she crossed her arms.
"Camouflage and plaid do not go together!" She stated sternly. Venn looked down at his outfit.
"Why not?"
She frowned.
"They just don't. It looks like you have no style. Just like no plaids and stripes. Unless you are a complete dork. Now, it's prints, and solids So you can have the camo pants with a plain t-shirt, or keep the plaid over shirt and get a pait of plain shorts."
Venn looked confused, but he went with it.
Kaleigh gazed off as she stepped back and let the boys look for their own clothes.
She found her thoughts went back to the strange boy she had bumped into a few minutes ago.
Why did he look so familiar? Where on earth could she have seen him before?
Who was he anyway? She was slightly frustrated that she couldn't fure out any answers.
"...Kaleigh?"
She looked up. Startled that both boys were looking at her with confusion plain on their faces.
"Huh?"
"What's up? You're somewhere far, far away." Cliff asked as he picked up a dark green t-shirt.
"Blue looks better on you by the way." She interjected. Her mind still mulling over things, and now she sounded like a saleswoman. Awesome.
"Uh-oh." Venn muttered.
"What?" Cliff turned to him as he set the shirt back on teh rack.
"She has 'the look'."
"What look?!" She asked, alarmed.
"Christie used to get that look on her face." Venn explained. "It means two things. One, she just saw a 'hot' guy. Or two, she's thinking of one. Now of course when she was looking at me but that's besides the point."
Kaleigh scoffed and shook her head.
"No...I'm not thinking of a guy. DC is the most bizarre place anyways. There's - there's not decent guys to be seen...or at least that would spark my interest." She had no clue why she was lying.
"You are a horrible liar Kaleigh. So who is it?"
She bit down on her bottom lip and sighed.
"I don't really know who he is. I just ran into him on my way out of the camera shop." She explained. "literally. He bumped into me."
"Did you get a name? Phone number? Address?" Cliff asked. She shook her head.
"No. But I couldn't help....but feel that I had seen him from some where before."
She replayed the scene in her head.
He had been wearing a black beanie on his head, but his dark curly hair peaked out from underneath it. He wore a dark t-shirt with  grey writing on it, but she hadn't been able to make out what it said, and baggy jeans with black runners.
She sighed and shook her head.
"Never mind. Have you guys gotten all the stuff you need, want?"
"Yeah, we're good."

.:+++:.

After they had let Kaleigh have her turn at shopping. She didn't want to drag the boys through much so she only grabbed a few of the necessities. Then they decided to stop at Starbucks.

"Hello, what can I get you?" The waitress at the counter asked. Kaleigh smiled at her and ordered her usual. The woman looked at her peculiarly, but she paid no mind.
The boys ordered and they found a seat at the window.
Kale looked around noticing the couple in the corner cuddling, the family just walking in with a little child, and the boy in the dark corner watching her.
Her eyes moved away not wanting to tell him she noticed his gaze. But she was screaming in her head.
What was he doing here?! She yelled.
"Hey I'll be right back." She said, giving Venn and Cliff a reassuring smile.
"Uh okay." They gave her a weird look, but didn't say anything.
She walked over to the counter and smiled at the lady.
"Hey, um do you know who that boy is? sitting over there in the corner?"
"Oh that's Stryder. He's...uh a very interesting character. I would stay away from him if I were you. He's kind of creepy. Like, stalker creepy."
Kaleigh nodded and returned to her seat.
"So...what was that all about?" Venn asked, as he swirled his mocha around.
Kale shrugged innocently and pulled out her new camera.
"Nothin'. I just asked if they were hiring."
"And...?"
"Oh, they weren't."
Venn nodded and looked at her funny but let it go.

.:+++:.

Kaleigh's stomach told her something was wrong, and the hairs standing up strait on the back of her neck told her someone was watching her.
She turned around and scanned the street of everyone passing by, huddling deeper in their coats.
Her mind was absent mindedly looking for a black beanie, and it freaked her out when she spotted it several paces behind her.
"Hey guys!" She cried, turning to her brothers. "Pose for a picture for me?" She asked, pulling out her new camera.
"Uh..."
"Sure." Cliff dragged Venn in a head lock and grinned up at her. Kaleigh chuckled as she caught it with a familiar click of the camera shutter.
She took several others but of focusing on crowd behind the boys. When she decided she had enough she put the camera back in her purse.
"Thanks guys." She smiled at them and linked her arms between the two of them.
"Anything to make our baby sister happy." Venn stated.
Kaleigh rolled her eyes.
"We're all the same age! No one's younger, or older."
"Well technically -"
"Oh shut up."
For the first time, they all wondered if, maybe things would actually turn out okay.