Bab 80: Chapter 75: An accidental meeting

Erick was lying on his bed, with Luka beside him.

He felt like he had no life; eating, sleeping, doing homework, training, eating and repeating. It has been a few days since he last saw Amber and he was missing her badly.

He tried very hard not to go over to her house because he knows that she still needs space. But it didn't stop him from texting her. Yet, it wasn't the same.

He wanted to ask her out but worried that she might be busy. Though, deep down, he was most afraid of her rejection.

He sighed as he rolled around on his bed, ignoring Luka's growling.

Erick sat up and growled back at Luka. Apparently, the latter liked Amber so much that whenever he walked in his room, Luka would have that sad look on its face when it realized that it was just him.

He then narrowed his eyes at the reclining wolf as a thought materialized in his mind. 'Why don't I use an excuse to walk Luka to meet up with Amber?' he thought excitedly.

'Lame,' commented Dane in his mind.

Erick ignored the jibe as he thought of a plan.

Just then a text message came in. He picked up his phone and grinned as he read the text message.

He then grabbed his light jacket and went out of his room. Before he walked out of the door, he turned to Luka, who raised its head and said, "I'll be right back, Luka. Be good." He then left the door ajar as there might be a possibility that Luka might want to get out of his room.

His mother was outside the house, watering the plants on the front porch when he walked out of the house. "Hey, mom. I'm going out!" he yelled out as he ran towards his car.

Luella nodded as she watched him run. "Be careful and don't be late for dinner," she yelled back.

Half an hour later, after picking Hamish up from his house, the two young shifters found themselves at the mall.

Erick stretched his arms up after he had parked his car at the designated parking lot. "So, what are we doing here again?" he asked, turning to Hamish, who had just gotten out of the car.

Hamish took off his glasses and cleaned the lens before putting them back on. "I need to buy a new pair of glasses."

Erick frowned. "What's wrong with the one you're wearing now?" he asked, tilting his head in question.

Hamish let out a sigh. "My degrees just decreased so the change is giving me quite a headache," he replied.

Erick's eyebrows shot up in surprise. He had never heard of degrees going down. But then again, it was probably because of Hamish being a shifter. The longer you bonded with your wolf, the more your soul will merge with theirs, sharing abilities and characteristics. Hence, Hamish probably must have been bonding well with Kaius, improving his eyesight.

"I'm just going to pick it up and then we can go wherever you want," Hamish continued, leading the way to the optics store.

Shortly after, the two went out of the optics store and began to walk around the mall. They really do not have any plan so they were just wandering around aimlessly.

They mostly window-shop, looking at the sports equipment being displayed on the window. Ignoring the excited chatter from a group of girls behind them, Erick told Hamish of his plans to replace his gear since it's getting worn out.

Hamish was about to head over to one of the bookstores when he realized that Erick had stopped following him.

He turned around and saw Erick standing still with his eyes widened. It seemed that he was oblivious to the girls who had surrounded him, asking for his phone number.

Hamish then frowned when he saw Erick started to sniff around discreetly, still ignoring the girls.

He walked over, giving a quick glare at the girls, who immediately fled from fear. He turned to Erick and asked, "What's up?"

Without answering, Erick immediately set off in another direction.

Hamish let out a sigh and followed him from behind.

-----

Amber looked up and was surprised to see Dana, walking in the restaurant and was heading towards her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, looking happy to see her friend.

Dana chuckled as she took a seat next to Amber. She said thank you to the waitress who handed her a menu before turning back again. "I came by to your house earlier to surprise you. I wanted to bring you out. But then your mother told me that you were heading to the mall

So here I am," she finished, flashing Amber a huge grin.

Amber giggled.

Dana then looked around her. "Though, why am I not surprised to see you here?" she commented jokingly.

Amber shrugged. "I saw the menu outside and thought to give it a try."

Dana placed her chin on her palm with her elbow on the table. She then looked at Amber quietly, her eyes squinting.

Amber looked at her and frowned. "What's wrong?" she asked, feeling uncomfortable because of the stare.

"Why didn't you invite me?"

Amber began to squirm in her seat as she looked down on her hands. "I'm not sure whether you would be busy or not. I didn't want to disturb you."

Dana smacked Amber on the arm playfully. "Silly girl. We're friends. And besides, I'm not really that busy. I wouldn't have come over to your house to invite you, would I?" she said.

Amber smiled awkwardly.

Dana then turned to look at the menu. "Well, enough about that. Let's check out the menu. What will you be having?" she asked while beckoning a waitress to come over.

"I think I'll have this and this and this..." Amber answered, pointing at several of the food items in the menu to the awaiting waitress.

After awhile, the waitress had already taken their orders and walked away to process them.

Dana looked at Amber again and shook her head in resignation. "Why am I not surprised to hear the amount of food you just ordered?" she murmured, letting out a soft chuckle.

Just then, a thought dawned on Amber. She turned to Dana excitedly and asked, "Hey, remember when Erick's parents invited me to dinner? You should see the amount of food they were having!"

Amber then began to talk about what had happened at Erick's house as Dana listened. The two giggled at some of the stories Amber had talked about, especially the part where she spilled her juice.

Just as they were talking, a shadow loomed over them.

The two girls looked up and were surprised to see Erick grinning down at them.

"What are you doing here?" Amber asked, watching as he took a seat beside her.

"I sme-- saw you from outside the restaurant and invited myself here," he answered unshamelessly. He then grabbed the menu with his left hand and began to study the food items inside.

He then took her left hand with his right, unconsciously rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb.

"What did you girls order?" he asked, his eyes still on the menu.

Dana smirked cheekily, noticing the little touches he made on Amber.

Amber began to tell him the list of foods that she and Dana had ordered.

A frown appeared on his face and he shook his head. "It's not enough. Let me add more," he said, signalling to the waitress.

The waitress arrived just as Hamish did. He immediately took a seat next to Erick. Since they were sitting on a round table, he was also sitting next to Dana.

Erick then began his chant of orders, making both girls listen with wide eyes.

After the waitress left, looking haggard due to the long list. Dana turned to Hamish, "How come you didn't order?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I'll eat whatever Erick eats."

Dana just smiled in bemusement.

When their orders had finally arrived, it seemed that they had to pull another extra table to accommodate their dishes.

Amber watched as the waitresses began to rearrange their tables and dishes and felt like deja vu. It was like being back at the diner when they had to grab an extra table. She sighed.

Shortly after, there were four plates of pancake souffles; vanilla and matcha flavoured, two red velvet croissants, three plates of chocolate lava, three huge bowls of fried noodles with beef strips and a huge bowl filled with fried chicken wings on the table near the two young shifters.

Whereas for the girls, they looked down on their dishes and sighed.

Dana had ordered a burger and fries while Amber, although it seems a lot for her, had ordered three pieces of fried chicken, a small plate of shepherd's pie and a slice of carrot cake. Yet, she glanced at the boys' dishes, it seems funny to say that hers was a lot.

She knew that she should have expected this since she had seen them eat but she got even more surprised when she overheard Hamish say, "This is it?"

"Nah, I'm planning to order more later. I had to order only these because I was worried that there wouldn't be enough space to fit them all," Erick answered.

Both Amber and Dana could only shake their heads in stupefaction.