The bus seems a bit emptier than usual, maybe people are worried about the attack. Still, I don’t think they’re gonna try again right away. It doesn’t take long to get to the mall from school, by the time we had a talk about school and the terrorists we were already there.

Inside the mall we’re greeted with the delicious smell of delicious food, with students and people who work nearby getting ready to order their lunch. Some people wearing the mall’s staff uniform are putting on some cardboard on the glass that surrounds the main entrance of the mall, the one that brings right into the lobby, since the others are smaller and connect the mall to the sides of the parking. I wonder what they’re for.
Mina quickly tries to get rid of Ari. “Alright, bye Ari. Don’t follow us.”
He grabs my jacket. “Aw, come on, we could at least grab a burger together!”
We look at each other, Mina is about to give up and accept, but I won’t let him take our time alone. “I don’t feel like eating fast food, my stomach isn’t in great shape so Mina and I already agreed to go to the family restaurant” - this time I’m not even lying, he knows I suffer from acid reflux. He won’t follow us, he loves fast food too much.
“Alright, fine, go do your thing.”
“I might not leave until dinner, so feel free to go whenever you want.”
“Yeah, right, I guess I’ll send you a message then. Have fun without me.”
We wave at him and turn around. I know it was hard for Mina to stop herself from saying “we will”, and she knows that I appreciate it.

We walk towards the restaurant and, as soon as we’re sure that Ari can’t see us, we start holding hands. Mina lets out a sigh of relief, “I’ve been waiting for hours, good grief.”
“Hehe, me too!”
Finally we get some time by ourselves. The mall is far from empty, but there aren’t as many people as I normally see, especially outside of the restaurants. We haven’t heard of christian terrorism in a long while, I guess it’s normal for people to get worried. Anyway, I don’t think they’re gonna try again right away, some of them just got arrested and people got cautious. If anything, it means that there are fewer chances of meeting people that know us, which is great.
We sit at a table for two and order some food, and we start reminiscing about the past as we wait. We’ve known each other since kindergarten, and the three of us have been friends since then, but I clicked with her way more than Ari did. We’ve always told each other everything, even when it comes to girl stuff since she never had many friends, especially not many girls.
Something started to change inside me when we started high school, and even though I didn’t pay much attention to these new feelings in the first year, as we were all struggling with the change from middle school, last year I finally realized that she had started to look less like a friend and more like a girl to me. I started noticing every move of her straight dark brown hair, every emotion in her grey eyes that shine every time she’s happy, the softness of her fair skin, the way she’s been blushing so easily when she’s with me since when we started dating, and her friendly and soft voice that can get ruthless, although I feel like in the last years she’s been having more mercy of her interlocutors.
Our food arrived, and with it ended our talks about the past. What came next, though, was the future. We’re nearing the end of our fourth year of high school, we’ll soon be in our fifth and last, and we’re starting to think about what is it that we want for our future.
“You know, I don’t think I ever asked you what your plans for the future are.”
“Hmm, that’s something I’m still trying to figure out. I still feel like caring about people, helping them relax and wind down makes me happy.”
I still remember the time she went on a vacation with her parents and wouldn’t stop telling me how much she liked the care of the staff at the inn, and even now whenever she goes on vacation she tells me everything about the hospitality she received. Nowadays, in the very rare moments we get some time alone, she likes to give me massages and help me get rid of my stress. She’s a perfect caretaker. “It might contrast with some of your behaviors, but I know you always loved this.”
She looks away, aware of the way she acts. “I’ve been cutting down on the vitriol, I’m sure you noticed. I’ll be fine”, then she looks back at me, “what about you? When you were a kid you often talked about becoming a surgeon just like your mom.”
“Yeah, she’s still like a hero to me, she saves many lives every day, but I don’t know if that’s what I want to do for the rest of my life. It’s a huge responsibility, I can’t do a job like that if I’m not sure that I want to fully commit myself to it.”
She smiles kindly, “that sounds very much like you, you’ve always been so mature. Do you have something else in mind, then?”
I shrug, “I haven’t been thinking much about it, being honest. But lately I’ve been playing my bass a lot and I’ve been feeling a deeper connection to music. I wonder if that’s a sign.”
“We still have some time before we need to make a decision, that’s a very valid choice too. You know you have my support.”
She makes me so happy. “Thank you.”

After lunch we go shopping for a bit, as I feel like I’ve been cycling through the same clothes for a while now. Mina loves when I pick clothes for her, and this time I found a cute blue shirt with polka dots and puffy sleeves that looks perfect on her and pairs perfectly with this pair of brown pegged pants. She has a very nice silhouette and looks great no matter what she wears, and I don’t say this just because she’s my lover.
I got myself a pair of black jeans, and she picked a grey-blue shirt with a tiny paisley pattern, they look great together. We got changed since we came here in hour school clothes, and kept wandering around the mall. I got a novel that one of our friends recommended, and she got herself a new cover for her phone.
We’ve been having a lot of fun together, I wish we could get to be alone more often, but… I just can’t shake the feeling that someone has been watching us the whole time. “Mina, have you been feeling… actually, don’t mind it. It’s probably just me.”
She tilts her head, so damn cute. “What is it? Tell me.”
“Ah, no, I just feel like someone has been watching us the whole time.”
She looks around but doesn’t seem to spot anyone we know. “Don’t think so. Do you think it might be Ari?”
Nah, there’s no way. “He’s never been good at hide and seek, we would spot him right away. Oh well.”
“Hehe~ hey, wanna go play a bit at the arcade?”
I haven’t been there in ages. “Sure, let’s go!”

The place is empty, probably because of the parents that told their kids to stay home. The manager looks surprised too. “You’re the first people who entered this place in the whole day, nobody even tried skip school this morning! Aren’t you two worried about the terrorists?”
“Can’t say we aren’t, but I don’t think they’re gonna try again right away. We already had plans.”
“Hmm, I see, I see… well, I hope you’re having a nice date!”
Mina and I look at each other, and she nods at me. “Thank you” - I love it when we don’t try to hide it.
We hit the racing simulator first, we always have a blast there, and it’s amusing to see her become a toxic angry gamer. Except this time I didn’t score a single win.
While I was getting up from the chair, I saw someone moving in the dark, but they moved as soon as I tried looking. Maybe I’m getting obsessed, it’s probably some kid that came after us.
We move to the rhythm games, I love the one with the drums. I play the bass, so I’m naturally better at keeping the rhythm and timing than her, and I finally got my revenge and her mad reactions. Again, though, I still feel like being watched. I know it for sure this time, I feel the intensity of the gaze. “Mina, stay still.”
“Hmm? Why is that?”
“Just stay still.”
This time I’ll catch them. I stand still for a couple of seconds to make them lower their guard, then turn my back as fast as I can, and jump towards the shape of a man that was hiding behind one of the cabinets. I see a pair of bear ears.
“I KNEW IT! Mina, look who we have here!”
I pinch one of his ears and drag him in front of her. “Ow ow ow ow ow! Shit, this hurts, Kolten! Let me go!”
Mina is furious, her gaze could kill everyone in the room, her fists are fully charged. “Your mom is getting a surprise visit today, if they can find all the pieces.”
I don’t know if I should stop her, I kinda want to punch him too, but she might actually kill him if I let her.
I was about to tell her to calm down, but Ari spoke before I could, panicking. “P-please, stop! I heard something real fucking bad!”
But Mina is unstoppable. “Yeah, and so will the dude at the entrance.”
“The terrorists are here!”
She freezes before she could punch him. I froze too. His voice is full of terror, in more ways than one. This can’t be real. She grabs him by the neck of his shirt. “You gotta be fucking kidding me. How do you even know!?”
He points at his bear ears. “I heard everything. I can hear every smallest whisper, every tiny sound!”
Wait, don’t tell me… “Did you… did you hear us at school?”
He nods. “I did. I couldn’t believe it.”
Mina looks at me. “What did he hear?”
I let out a very loud sigh. “I think he knows about us, and he followed us for that reason.”
Mina turns her killing gaze back on again towards Ari. “Is that true? What do you know?”
Ari is about to piss his pants, “y-you two are dating. I don’t know the details, only what you two said at school today.”
Now that makes sense. “Is that why you looked so embarrassed twice today?”
“It is, I just can’t picture you two like that! And… I got jealous too…”
Mina calms down, lets go of his shirt and helps him get up from the floor. “Jealous about what, you dummy?! We’ll still gonna hang out with you and the whole gang!”
He looks away with a sad look on his face. He really does get lonely easily. “I can’t be too sure about that, though.”
We were getting carried away by our emotions, but I couldn’t stop thinking about what he said. “Look, let’s talk about this another moment. Ari, what did you say about the terrorists?”
He takes a deep breath. “We have to get out of there right now. They have a bomb.”
As soon as he spoke those words, a bloodcurdling alarm started resonating through the whole place.
The manager came rushing in our direction. “Guys, we have to leave!”
We grabbed him by his arm, “no, we have to hide. It’s them!”

We hid inside the storage room. Ari is focused on hearing what’s going on. “They’re patrolling the area, I can hear them walk. They’re making sure that the shops are empty. People passed by the arcade, running and screaming, followed by someone with a gun, I heard gunshots. We can’t let them find us.”
We made sure not to make any noise, waiting until Ari didn’t hear anyone anymore, and we sneaked out, keeping our guard high.
We got close to the lobby, thankfully the corridors aren’t straight and we managed to walk by the sides so that they couldn’t see us. Every person in the mall, from the visitors to the shop clerks and the managers, is gathered here, the doors are locked down like the others.
We can’t see what’s outside. I get a feeling that the staff people putting up the cardboard weren’t actually from the staff.
A man and a woman dressed in black were pointing their guns against the crowd. Right behind them a man with a cross on his neck, pointing a gun at a young kid’s head, shouting crazy words full of hatred.
“You disgusting pagan fools who sold their souls to fake idols who call themselves gods, prepare to face punishment for your sins! There we will hold your final ritual of purification, as we enlighten you with the word of our God, the true creator of man! Convert yourself through prayer and beg for God’s forgiveness, or brace yourself as you’ll surely walk through the gates of hell! Try to do anything to oppose us, and this kid will be leading the way!”
We’re hidden behind a column as we witness this madness. Mina is gripping my hand. The arcade manager is about to panic, but Ari is keeping his mouth shut with his hand. I don’t seem to spot any bomb, though. We know the other entrances are blocked, and the emergency exits might be blocked too or, even worse, patrolled by other terrorists. I take a deep breath and try to calm down. I turn to face the others and whisper, “what do we do now?”
Mina doesn’t know what to say. Ari looks determined. “These ears might be a sign, we should try to do something.”
Mina nods in agreement, “they seem intentioned to kill everyone no matter what. We might as well try.”
We look at the arcade manager, he’s petrified, but he understands the situation. Ari frees his mouth. “I’ll… I’ll try to help!”
I nod. “Alright. Let’s go somewhere else and think about a plan.”

Licensed under Yozakura BY-NC-SA-NoAI 1.0