Awake at Dawn (Shadow Falls #2)(50)

"No time now," she muttered, and shut the door and left, but as she took off in a run down the trail she could almost hear Holiday:

"Avoidance isn't a very good coping method."

Yeah, yeah, yeah, Kylie thought. One thing at a time.

"Hey," Miranda called from the dressing room three hours later. "You two still out there?"

Kylie and Della, both checking out some tops on a nearby rack, walked back to the dressing room area. "Yeah, we're here," Kylie answered. They were two hours into their shopping spree, and were having a great day so far. The only negative blemish had been seeing the sidewalk where she'd watched her dad and his slutty intern getting it on. Miranda stepped out of the dressing room modeling a pair of jeans. "Okay, tell the truth. Do these make my butt look good?"

"Turn around," Kylie said.

"Did you say good or big?" Della asked, and grinned.

Kylie would admit the few downtown Fallen stores didn't offer the same experience that shopping at her mall back home did, but it hadn't stopped them from having a blast. Kylie would even admit the town had a certain quaint charm about it. Obviously, she had really needed some time away from the camp.

"Is that a slam because I don't have much of an ass?" Miranda looked over her shoulder as if to see her butt.

"They look great," Kylie interjected.

"Hey," Della said. "Considering I'm lacking in one department," she glanced down at her chest, "I don't pick on body parts. Unless they're really bloody and then-"

"Shh," Kylie said, realizing a couple of other teens were lurking nearby.

Della, not appreciating being hushed, frowned. The frown added to the overall intimidating don't-screw-with-me air she carried on her shoulders all day. Not that the air was intended for her and Miranda. Nope. Rumor had it that the homegrown teens, as well as some of the campers in the area, had it out for all the Shadow Falls teens. Kylie hadn't experienced it the few times she'd come into town, but Holiday had mentioned it at their last camp meeting, so Kylie knew the stories had merit. "Shh, why?" Della asked.

Kylie cut her eyes to the two girls. Della's frown deepened to a fullblown scowl.

Kylie wondered if Della hadn't picked her all-black outfit on purpose, as if dressing like trouble would keep trouble away. In truth, Kylie wasn't sure the outfit didn't do more harm than good, but arguing with Della was useless, so Kylie hadn't said a thing.

One of the girls started moving closer, and Kylie sent up a quick prayer that this wasn't going to spoil their day.

"Hi, my name's Amber Logan," the cute redhead said, looking at Kylie. "Are you new in town or here with one of the ... camps?" The way she said camps led Kylie to believe this wasn't going to end well.

"A camp." Kylie put a bit of extra nice into her voice, hoping to ward off any trouble.

"Which one?" the tall blonde standing behind Amber asked, and she cut Della a cold look.

Nope, this wasn't going to end well.

"Shadow Falls," Della answered with attitude, and her dark eyes grew a little golden. Kylie just hoped the girls didn't notice "Boners," the blonde whispered to Amber.

"What did you say?" asked Della, her shoulders coming back as she took a defensive step forward.

Blondie grinned. "The camp used to be named Bone Creek Camp. So they call you guys ... boners. It's not personal."

"It feels personal," Della growled.

Both Amber and Blondie took a step back.

Kylie saw Miranda stick out her little pinky as if ready to cast a spell. Kylie shot her a warning glance, but it wasn't Miranda who Kylie worried about.

"Nice to meet you," Kylie told the girls, and latched a hand on Della's elbow, hoping the touch would help her see reason. She couldn't go vampire badass on these girls. She couldn't even threaten to kill them without stirring up a whole big pot of trouble.

"'Bye," Kylie added, and motioned for them to leave with her free hand.

Amber shot Della another calculating look. From the spark of fear in her eyes, Kylie figured the girl wasn't all that stupid. She turned around, nudged her blond friend, and the two went their own way.

"You better tuck your tails and run," Della muttered, pulling away from Kylie.

"I could have given them the worse case of pimples you've ever seen," Miranda snapped.

"Oh, I could have done much worse," Della snarled.

"But you didn't." Kylie latched a hand around each girl's arm, just in case they changed their minds. "You both showed an amazing amount of restraint. I'm very proud of you."

Della shot Kylie a huge frown. "Don't you ever just lose it? I mean, don't you ever just wanna rip somebody's heart out and beat them over the head with it?"

"I get mad, yes," Kylie said, and grinned. "Don't know if I've ever wanted to bludgeon someone to death with their own heart, but I have my moments."

"Yeah, what do you do when you're really pissed? Frown at someone?" Della chuckled.

"Yeah," Miranda piped in. "But have you seen her frown? It's very effective."

They all laughed.

An hour later, after shoe shopping and trying on a few more pairs of jeans, they moved to the lingerie section. Because she'd already spent close to a hundred dollars, Kylie headed to the clearance rack. They all dropped their packages and browsed through the array of underwear.