Victor nodded slowly. He knew the same psychology they had all learned while in the Academy. He reached for the buttons on his white shirt and fiddled with them. After it was straight, he combed his fingers through his hair, brushing some of it to one side of his face neatly. “She needs help. Before anything else...”
“Right,” Silas said, “but we need to open up. Make the effort.”
“Let’s not scare her off too soon,” Victor said. “We can’t talk about the Academy, but let’s not throw all of our problems in on her.”
Silas wasn’t sure if that was a good idea. Sometimes when someone was in a bad situation, they needed someone who had been there, who could relate to them.
Maybe Victor meant himself, since he was still dealing with his father.
But they didn’t know her situation. So maybe he was right. Maybe not throwing their problems on her was better.
It wasn’t like Sang could relate to anything Silas had been through.
5
Kota returned to let them know they could leave. Silas and Victor followed Kota out to the hallway and back into the main part of the store.
Kota stopped at a cashier station to give the attendant a payment and thank him for helping.
Victor pulled away and trailed through the store, surveying the space over the top of the racks of clothing. He finally settled on a direction. Silas assumed he’d found Sang and was heading toward her.
Silas wanted to wait for Kota, but he was a little too curious for his own good.
He needed to put in an effort, too. What if she didn’t relate to Kota? Or to Victor? It was a long shot, but if for some reason she connected with him, he had to be there for her.
As he approached, Victor seemed to be blushing. He was shoving his phone back into his pocket. Silas thought he heard something about Angry Birds.
“He’s just twitterpated,” Silas said. He grinned, wanting to laugh at his own joke. Birds. Twitterpated. Victor blushing. It was all funny to him.
Victor punched Silas in the arm. “Shut up, or I’m leaving you here.”
Silas kept his grin but didn’t say anything else. He knew Victor wasn’t going to leave him. Whatever he had said, it had embarrassed Victor a lot. It was funny because Victor rarely was flustered, but he didn’t want to keep it going.
Kota appeared next to Silas. “Come on. Let’s do something else.”
About time. “Where do you want to go, Sang?” Silas asked.
She was quiet for a moment. “Is it bad if I say can we just walk around? I’d like to see what’s here.”
“A sensible request,” Kota said.
Silas turned his head and looked directly at Victor, widening his eyes. Kota talked like a robot sometimes.
Victor shrugged and followed Kota and Sang as they left the department store.
Somehow, Silas ended up walking next to Sang with Victor and Kota on his other side. He didn’t mind it, but he felt he mostly blocked Sang’s view of the others and gave her little chance to talk to them.
For that reason, he tried to talk to her. Silas would read off the names of the stores they were passing. Victor would identify the clothing styles, or if the store was stylish or casual. Kota would point out the discount signs. He made observations on what was actually a good deal or not.
Silas occasionally looked at Sang, trying not to stare but also wanting to get a feel for what she might be interested in.
She didn’t look back at him but kept her eyes on the stores and everything going on around them. Silas wasn’t even sure she was listening. She was sort of hard to read. Perhaps because she was new and he didn’t have a good feel for her expressions. Maybe it was just because she was shy, but she didn’t seem to understand they were talking for her so they could find out what she liked.
Still, her eyes didn’t linger very long on any particular store.
Getting to know her was going to be more difficult than he thought, especially if she was shy.
There was a courtyard area in the middle of the mall with a few benches in the middle and some potted ferns and trees. The corridor split off in several different directions.
Kota and Victor slowed down, discussing which concourse to follow.
Three teens going the opposite direction approached, taking to the left side, Sang’s side. At first, Silas was dismissive of them, like everyone else they had passed, but he was aware enough to give Sang room to scoot in closer to avoid bumping into them.
Suddenly, one of them angled himself at Sang with his elbow out and collided hard with her.
The move was quick, too fast for Silas to react and tug her out of the way.
She took a full step backward, jutting her hands out at first to balance herself. Then she brought her wounded hand to her chest and covered it with her good hand protectively.
“Hey!” Silas barked. He spun around and reached out for Sang, checking to make sure she wasn’t going to fall. He instinctively brought her closer to him but yelled over her at the guy who had run into her. “Watch where you’re going.”
The guy was thin, with a goatee, but he appeared to be about their age. He wore an oversized t-shirt, and his pants were low, hanging off of his thighs almost.
“Dude, she bumped into me,” he said, his arms out and a smirk on his face.
His friends remained behind him, dressed similarly, only with different sport teams on their shirts.
Silas was ready to ignore them and walk away when the main guy stuck his chin out at Sang. “Hey, girl.” His tone was thick, as if he was interested in her.
That spurred all sorts of anger from Silas that he didn’t know he had in him. “I saw you lean into her,” Silas said sharply. He didn’t believe it was an accident. He stepped in front of Sang to block his view of her. He was willing to let it go if the guy walked away.
Silas heard Sang gasp a little behind him and then mumble something, but he couldn’t hear it, or even if it was words at all.
“Just stay behind me,” he said. It was better if she didn’t say anything right now.
“Dude, fuck you. You don’t know shit,” the goatee guy said.
“Come on, Silas,” Kota said.
Silas wanted to go. Only, he didn’t want to take his eyes off the guy. He seemed ready for a fight, and so did his friends. Silas wasn’t even sure if this was about Sang, or if they had been looking for a fight and this was simply the perfect opportunity.
And that just made him angry. He didn’t care for a testosterone check via a fist fight in a mall.
The silence lingered as Silas kept his eyes on the guys. They were waiting for Silas to make the first move. They weren’t going to throw the first punch. But they weren’t going to back down either. However, Silas was worried if he turned, they might try something.
Suddenly, he felt Sang’s hand on his back. It shook like she was trembling.
They couldn’t do this to her.
Silas turned. If they were going to back off, they had to do so quickly and become uninteresting.
He urged Sang down the concourse. He didn’t care which direction, they just needed to make space between their group and the guys behind them.
Mumbling emanated from behind them as they walked. He was pretty sure there were insults, just loud enough to try to catch Silas’s attention. But they were too chicken to shout at him.
They might even have been congratulating themselves on making a guy like Silas back down.
Silas didn’t really care what they thought. However, he didn’t like that they assumed they could do things like that, like forcefully bumping girls and getting away with it. He wished there was something he could do just so they wouldn’t try it again on anyone else.
Sang glanced once over her shoulder and then at Silas. “Should I—”
“Just keep moving,” Silas said. His teeth clenched. He didn’t want to give the guys behind them any fuel to use. Sometimes, deescalating a situation meant being strong enough to ignore and walk awa
y. Silas switched Sang to walk between him and Victor.
A bookstore was positioned not far from the courtyard, and Silas pointed to it. It had wide front windows and would give them a chance to duck in and wait out the guys following them.
Kota and Victor understood without Silas having to say anything.
The moment they were inside the bookstore, they split up. Silas and Kota remained near the front. Victor took Sang by the elbow and pulled her further into the store, disappearing amid the shelves of books.
Silas pulled a random book off of the racks near the front. He thumbed through it, but he wasn’t reading.
After a couple minutes of pretending to read, he looked up, checking out the windows into the mall.
He didn’t see them. If they had been lingering, he was considering getting Kota to go with him and see if they’d follow and leave Sang out of this... whatever they were wanting.
After several minutes, there was still no sign of the goatee guy or any of his friends.
“Maybe they lost interest,” Silas said under his breath.
“How much longer should we give them?” Kota said. “Just in case?”
Silas shrugged. “We should stay here a little while longer, for sure. We should probably make sure Sang isn’t too rattled.”
Kota was about to say something else when he glanced at the book in Silas’s hand. His face brightened, and he chuckled.
Silas flipped the book over, checking the cover. It was a thick romance, with the bare man chest on the cover. He rolled his eyes and put the book back on the shelf. “It’s probably good.”
Kota nodded and then looked over the racks of books toward the back of the store. “Maybe I should go check on her.”
“Maybe you should find out if she likes books.” Silas was hoping he hadn’t scared Sang with the almost-fight. This was not a great first impression of any of them.
Kota nodded and left Silas in the new book section. Silas pulled different books off the shelf and pretended to go through them. He didn’t care which ones, romances or thrillers.
Kota should have canceled. The mall, this whole day was a bad idea. Kota could have just called him and said he needed to do something else.
Or did Kota want Victor and Silas to meet her? Three chances for Sang to make a connection with someone?
Silas glanced out into the concourse and monitored the bookstore in general. People came in and out of the shop, but when it was pretty clear the guys who had followed them weren’t around, Silas pulled away from the new book racks. He shoved his hands into his pockets and walked through the narrow aisles. He scanned for the others.
Silas eventually found Kota. He was partially crouched over Sang, who was on one knee, looking at some books on the shelf.
No Victor. Silas slowed as he approached, hesitating. If Kota had chased Victor off to talk to her, Silas didn’t need to come along and interrupt.
Kota must have sensed him because he partially turned toward him. Silas stepped up. “I’m pretty sure they’re gone.”
“Good,” Kota said. He took a step back. Sang stood after Kota backed away. Kota looked beyond Silas’s shoulder and around the bookstore. “The last thing we need right now is an altercation.”
Silas nodded, agreeing with him.
He glanced once at Sang. She seemed pretty calm. At least, she didn’t appear shaken by what happened.
Silas scanned over the shelves. “Where’d Vic go?”
“We’ll get him,” Kota said. There was a sharpness to his tone. The following wasn’t a suggestion. “Meet you in the front.”
Silas got the meaning: Go away.
Silas nodded and turned around. He walked away slowly. He didn’t want to interfere, but he was curious about what they were talking about. Was Kota just getting to know her? Or was she starting to talk to him about her home life?
In any case, Sang wasn’t like other girls he had been around. She had waited for them patiently while they were trying on suits, without complaining about being bored. Even after the fight, or almost fight, she seemed very comfortable sticking with them. She didn’t ask to go home. She didn’t seem uncomfortable with them.
Silas returned to the front of the store. He leaned out the doorway and peered down one end of the concourse and into the other, looking for those guys. There was no sign of them. They must have moved on.
Maybe they should take her somewhere else. It wasn’t that big of a mall, and they could run into them again.
It wasn’t long before Kota and Sang reappeared. Victor followed behind them, and he had a bookstore bag in his hands. Whatever was inside was a flat book, something like a notebook. Or maybe it was one of his songbooks. Victor was known to pick those up on occasion.
When they got back out into the hall, Silas walked next to Sang, keeping her between himself and Victor so no one else had a chance to bump into her.
Kota walked on the other side of Victor.
Silas found it odd, again, that Kota didn’t offer to walk next to her. He was being so casual with her. He didn’t really understand. Giving her space? Did she need space?
As they walked, they passed other people, and rather than bump into them, Silas leaned into Sang until they passed.
At first, Sang pulled away. Silas assumed she was just giving him room. After a while, or perhaps because there were more people now walking through the concourses, she relaxed a little bit. When he would lean into her, she just let it happen, allowing Silas’s arm to meet hers. On occasion, Victor would bump into her on the opposite side. And then it was her bumping into Silas.
Victor seem to be teasing her. She seemed amused. That was good at least. After everything this morning, she was still in a good mood.
Yet, Silas stole glances at Sang. Again, she was hard to read, but every time their arms touched, her cheeks turned a little more pink.
But she didn’t pull away.
And to Silas, it meant something. Although he wasn’t sure what. A budding trust?
Did she like him?
He didn’t even want to ask the question, but he couldn’t help it. There was no reason for her to.
But she was bumping into his arm...
6
Eventually, they turned down a corridor that led to the food court. Most of the food stands were open. There were clusters of tables surrounding a running carousel in the middle. The music of the carousel couldn’t be heard over the voices, the noises from the kitchens, and the mall music overhead. The lights from it were a little dazzling, and the dancing horses drew attention to it.
It was getting on 11 o’clock. The smell of pizza, pretzels, and Chinese food overtook Silas’s senses. He hadn’t eaten breakfast, something he probably would have asked for that morning on the way to the mall if Sang hadn’t distracted him.
He felt the rumble begin and dropped his hand to his stomach, covering it. It didn’t do any good. His stomach growled loudly.
Sang looked up at him, and her face lit up. She pressed her lips together, like she wanted to laugh but didn’t dare.
He liked that. He nodded at her. “I think it’s time for some lunch.”
“How about sushi?” Victor said. “Do you like fish, Sang?”
“No fish,” Kota said. “Not after last time.”
“I wasn’t going to take her there,” he said.
Silas shot Victor a look. He certainly hoped he wouldn’t think to take Sang to that place. It had been a new venue, a real ritzy place, and exclusive. Victor’s dad had mentioned it, and they should’ve figured that if Victor’s father has suggested that, there was something weird about it.
While they had been allowed in because Victor was part of the Morgan family, they shouldn’t legally have been. There were partially naked girls on tables... Actually, the girls were the tables. Men ate sushi off of them.
Their group had been completely disgusted and walked out.
A place like that probably wouldn’t last long in Charleston, anyway. It wasn??
?t the sort of spot for that.
Victor sighed. “Sang, what do you want?”
“I didn’t bring any money, guys,” she said, her cheeks turning pink again. “You all pick something you like. I’m still kind of full from breakfast anyway.”
While she was saying that, her eyes turned toward the food stands. Silas didn’t quite believe her and assumed she was just being polite. “You’re getting something,” Silas said. “Besides, Victor’s paying.” He didn’t like to pressure anyone, but when it came to things like food, he didn’t mind insisting. It was in his Greek genes perhaps, but everyone needed to eat.
She seemed surprised by this. Didn’t anybody ever offer to pay for her lunch before?
Victor nodded, seeming eager to go along with it. “It’s my turn anyway.” Victor often paid. It wasn’t that Kota or Silas didn’t carry money with them. Sometimes, it was just easier for Victor to use his card.
Victor offered to take them all somewhere else, but Kota said the hamburger place there at the food court would do fine. Silas wasn’t sure why Kota wasn’t eager to take Sang anywhere else besides the mall.
Was she not allowed to go anywhere else? Was that why they were staying for so long with her here?
They all filed into line at the hamburger stand to place an order. Victor approached the cashier first, announcing he was paying. He put in an order for one of the more expensive hamburgers, getting specific about condiments. Silas tried to keep it easy with a few double cheeseburgers and a large fry. Kota placed an order for a chicken sandwich and medium fries, and then turned to Sang.
She simply said she wanted the same thing.
Silas hoped she was getting what she really wanted. She was so shy. He wasn’t so sure she would speak up if she wanted anything different. Only, he didn’t want to point out she should get what she really wanted. No reason to embarrass her. Maybe after he got to know her more, he’d encourage her then.