“So… were you working here when it all happened?”

Bobby seemed to know exactly what I was referring to. An unfamiliar shadow came over his features as he nodded.

“Yeah. I was here.”

I lowered my voice. “So it’s true then? The entire place got cleared out?”

Bobby’s expression darkened as he kept nodding. “No alarms were tripped. Cameras didn’t pick up anything.”

I shook my head. “How is that even possible?”

Bobby leaned back in his chair and leveled his dark eyes with mine. “When there’s no tape, the cameras can’t record anything. That’s how.”

Something told me that Bobby probably wasn’t supposed to know this much about the report. But if he had been working here long enough, I could see how he might hear things that leaked from the investigation.

“And get this,” Bobby sat forward, the legs of his chair hammering against the tile. “This was one day before the store was supposed to open. Apparently it stocked a bunch of activewear merchandise. Like a sports and beach store combined. The seller was pretty pissed.”

Together we speculated whether they might try to sue. And then Bobby dished the dirt on the other main department stores that closed up shop and ran for the hills. 

Now the only businesses keeping the mall afloat were all crowded in one wing on the second floor.

“Don’t know if a mall this big can survive off of arcade and movie ticket sales,” Bobby sighed right before getting up. He asked me when my runway show was going to happen. During our conversation I had mentioned that I was here for modeling, but I honestly hadn’t expected him to care enough to support my show.

“Don’t look so shocked,” Bobby said while accepting my flyer. “Don’t you need people to show up?”

My skin was getting warm again. “Yeah, but–”

“Then I’ll be there.” Bobby leaned over the table and gently tugged on one of my teal curls. He used to do the same kind of stuff in middle school too. Just to irk me.

But for reasons I couldn’t explain, I didn’t find it annoying this time. Bobby lingered a little, looking me over one last time with something I would describe as fondness. Then he pushed off, said “Later, gator” and sauntered back to the Grape Grill. 

I waited for the warm feeling in my body to get over whatever the hell this was before standing up. My mind was still on Bobby as I was piling all of my trash onto my tray. Like an idiot, I walked over to the nearest trash can and turned the tray over, totally forgetting that I wanted to keep my Grape Cola.

“Shit! No, no! I didn’t mean to do that.”

At least I wasn’t thinking about Bobby anymore.

There was no one around to see my little meltdown. I had barely gotten to enjoy my drink and I craved the promise of more caffeine.

If it landed upright and didn’t touch anything, then maybe–

Was I actually thinking about fishing my fountain drink out of the trash because I wanted it that bad?

Like I said, there wasn’t anyone watching.

There was nothing stealthy about the way I tried to play it cool while I freed the hostage (my drink) from the kidnapper (the mall garbage). But what did any of that matter when there was nothing there for me to grab?

When my hand grasped at nothing, I had to go armpit-deep into the receptacle. Still, all I felt was air. I pulled my arm out and looked inside, but there was only darkness. Like some kind of black abyss.

At this point I was sure someone would notice me poking around in the garbage. I wasn’t about to turn the damn thing upside down, so I decided to leave.

Knowing that Elliot wouldn’t need me back so soon, I wandered the mall, edging closer and closer to the wing where the big department stores had shut down.

Before I knew it, I was standing just a few feet away from Pacifico, the scene of the robbery. 

Every look you need for the beach and beyond!

The logo above the store slogan was the silhouette of a tie-dye killer whale. Even though all the shelves and manikins were empty, there were posters of models having fun on a sunny boulevard. Pacifico clothes came in crisp whites with tiny splashes of the colorful logo. That or an explosion of color with the inverted full tie-dye looks. It seemed that the reversible quality of the outfits was the store’s main bragging point.

I could easily see how a concept like this would be popular with a younger crowd. We were nowhere near the coast, but dressing like you just came from the beach was the next best thing.

I rested my hand on one of the glass panes, still thinking about how the inside of this mall would have looked had this store gotten its grand opening. Not so empty was my guess.

Would the people from my school have hounded their parents to bring them all the way over here? Would I have had something to promise one of my friends if they agreed to pay me a visit?

Would I be alone right now?

I stood there with that question. I felt stupid for asking it, but at the same time I didn’t. Because I knew why my friends didn’t want to be here with me. I saw the way they dressed. I had been to their houses. Swam in their pools. I knew what kind of jobs their parents had.

Nothing that my friends came from reflected what I had. 

I knew exactly why none of them were willing to make the trip. I just didn’t want to say all that.

I bit back a groan as I closed my eyes and leaned forward. As soon as my forehead pressed up against the glass, I felt vibrations.

“What the–” I pushed off from the window and looked around. What I felt just then… it took over my whole body. Like a gong that went off somewhere inside my stomach. Even though I wasn’t touching the glass anymore, I could still feel those deep vibrations passing over the muscles in my arms and legs like a wave.

“You can hear them too.”

I screamed that time.

Sean Mori didn’t apologize for scaring the shit out of me. He was wearing what I assumed to be his uniform for the arcade – just a black polo and faded denims.

I swallowed thickly. “Hear what?”

Sean glanced up at the Pacifico logo above my head. “Not sure yet.” 

He approached the store and rested his fingertips on the glass.

“But they sound like a family.”