Hannah had been making herself feel better, and in the absence of comfort food, that required shopping. Venturing out on her own, perhaps her weakness was less of it's own invention and more of her caretaker's concerns, she had only an hour or so before the stores would close and shut her out from their wares.

Her hair was in a ponytail, high on her head, which meant her nervous hands had nothing to play with. They made do with the strap of her purse, but felt somehow cheated they couldn't wrap themselves about her hair.

She wore a black sleeveless t-shirt with a floral design, and very comfortable looking lavender warm up pants. Although her outfit seemed suited to shopping with ease and comfort, she seemed to be out of place. She was now standing in front of The Gap, looking in past the piles of sweaters and tank tops, wondering if she should just abandon modern trends for the crop of vintage goods stuffed in her closets.

OOC| Reserved for Skirr! My brain is apparently refusing to allow me to come up with anything decent. Well.. ye be warned.. |

The last show for the night had let out, and Codi, her friend, and Colton had attended. The trio unanimously voted the Day After Tomorrow purely corny, and they spent the five minutes walking from the movie theatre to the entrance arguing over what was the corniest part.

Codi, the family person, said that when the father finally come to rescue his son and the friends, the son could have said any other line and have it be less corny. "'That's my Father!' was the corniest line. You two can't disagree." Sonia, or Sasha or Sylvia or whoever, was romantic. She seemed to find the part in which the girl and the bad guy are talking, and the good guy seems all left out super corny, "especially since you can totally tell they are going to hook up." Colton, as usual, got technical. "The graphic for the wolves were horrible. And, why the heck did they use animated wolves anyway? Why not get some wolf-looking attack dogs in there or something? Chasing the people around was horrible..."

After a few minutes of this, they all came to the conclusion that the movie was corny as a whole. With one topic over, the next topic started. Shopping. Sssss… Whoever wanted to look over at shoes. Codi wanted to get a hat. They took off, leaving Colton standing in the middle of the mall with one eyebrow arched and hands shoved in the pockets of his jeans. Whatever. He wanted ice cream.

As of now, Codi and Sarah (That was her name) had disappeared into the Gap, and Colton was sitting on one of those convenience benches located every three feet, licking a chocolate ice cream. There was nothing like ice cream at 11:45.

OOC| *tentatively replies* Love me still...? *smiles endearingly* I'm so sorry, finals are sucking the life force from me.. And like I said, my computer's been crappy. |

Hannah had been successful in dodging the eternally helpful salesgirls, hiding behind racks of jeans when they neared. She resented them in a way, their false kindness that was propelled by commission. Besides, she barely understood them, with their hyphenated vocabulary of 'straight-cut', 'boot-leg', and 'relaxed-fit'.

She had managed to gather together a small armload of jeans, pants and tops. She clutched them to herself as she now went to hunt for the change rooms. She realized that perhaps this was less relaxing than she had hoped. But she wanted to slowly regain her independence, and the last time this little plan had worked. She hoped it would again.

Locking herself into one of the little cubicles, and sighed with relief before changing into one of the outfits. It was then Hannah knew she would have to exit the tiny room in order to view herself, it having no mirrors. She lifted the latch quietly and shuffled from the room, almost tripping on the hems of her too-long pants.

((How could I not love you? *Glomps* Get A's on those finals!))

Sarah had been at that rack just before Hannah arrived, and pulled out a pair of way too tight jeans, which she showed to Codi. Codi was looking through the shirts, when they both spotted the skirts and formal dresses. Both had no money on them to buy anything, but that was of no importance. It was, 'Let's see who can doll themselves up the most before we get kicked out' night. Within seconds, they had both found two of the most flattering dresses, and went to try them on.

"Mine's so much prettier than yours."

"No way. That dress is pink. No one likes pink these days."

"And blue-violet is any better? No one KNOWS that colour, save for art freaks!"

"No. And, anyway. Mine is more elegant."

"No, MINE is."

After about a minute or two of bickering they both gave up. Those same overly helpful sales girls offered their opinions. It seemed everyone was bored out of their minds at this hour. Finally, when Codi sensed a loss on her part, she came up with a brilliant idea that was sure to get her the last vote.

"You see that guy out there? The one who's throwing away the ice-cream bowl? Go grab him."

"Oh, c'mon, Codi. That's so cheep. You KNOW Colton is going to say your dress is nicer. He's your BROTHER for god's sake."

"No. Not true."

Yes, true, thought Codi. Colton had made his way inside, casting a suspicious glance to the clump of sale's girls and the two young women in dresses. And he was supposed to judge them? His sister and his sister's friend? His attention was diverted to someone coming out of the dressing room, and he stopped cold. Hannah. No, he couldn't talk to Hannah. She didn't want him to see her again. But Lily told him that he was being stupid. He should... But he shouldn't. But he had to.

"Uhhh... Hold on a sec..." Colton scooted around the congregation of girls and into the changing room area. He couldn't say anything, and didn't. She could see him, if she looked in the mirror. He leaned against the wall of the room quietly, just watching.

OOC| I'm trying.. Very hard! Most likely I shall fail math. I hate math. I wish math would die. And I'm going to have the French level of a second grader. She's going to start asking desperate questions during my interview.. I hate speaking.. |

Hannah didn't look in the mirror, she was too absorbed in staring down at herself. She adjusted the shirt she was wearing, although it didn't need adjusting. It was a lovely pale shade of blue which she really should wear more often. It complimented her dark eyes and hair, made her {currently} pink complexion that much more rosy.

She frowned at the extra length of material which fell over her feet. She wondered if it would look alright if she put those pointy heels of hers back on. She stepped back to get a longer view in her mirror, and as she regarded herself, she noticed something familiar in the reflection's background.

Someone familiar.

She watched Colton in the mirror for a moment, studied the way he leaned against the wall and watched her. She blinked then, and looked down, a smile forming over her former expression.

She moved towards him, avoiding the other patrons of the changing rooms. She positioned herself in front of him, a few feet away from him.

"Bo left town." She said simply, whispering though it was a secret no one else should hear.

The smile faded from her face as another thought entered her mind to shift the one she was currently entertaining.

((Don't fail math! Ewww! And, French is utter yuck. So meh.))


Colton caught a hint of a smile by looking in the mirror, and was immediately confused. So she was happy to see him? She was supposed to yell at him, and tell him not to see her any more. Instead, she moved close and spoke to him. Spoke. How long had he waited to hear her speak to him again?

"Where did he go? And, Lily... Is she gone too?" He, too, whispered. This seemed to be a very inclusive conversation, to which Codi wanted to be in. She could see someone, a girl, and Colton was speaking with her. Who was it? Codi and Sarah exchanged glances, and the sale's girls dismissed themselves as the duo took to the changing rooms to dress again.

Colton let his eyes wander over Hannah's apparel. The blue of the shirt was rather nice on her, if Colton's vote counted as anything. "You look... Nice." It was one of those things that you promised yourself you would never say, because it was just such a horrid line, but you said it anyway. To break those silences that always followed.

Codi and Sarah reappeared, both making their way over into the conversation. No, Codi didn't have any care for moral values. "Hey Colt. And, oh surprise. Hello, Hannah." Her tone with Hannah was somewhat colder than it had been in previous conversations. Actually, much colder. This was the girl that had left her brother in a state of, what. Depression? No, not that far, but definite angst. He had done something wrong, and hadn't had the chance to apologize for it. And he never said what that wrong thing was.

"Codi, could you give us a moment?"

"No, Colt. I don't think so."

"... Codi. Please." Colton's turn to direct a cold voice to someone. Codi shook her head, but Sarah moved away. This was enough of a reason for Codi to shoot one more dirty glance at Hannah, then sulk off out the store with Sarah. Colton sighed, and stared down at the floor. What to do, what to do.

Hannah smiled again when Colton complimented her, a refreshingly innocent smile that had no ulterior meaning underneath it. It didn't last long, however. Like it's predecessor, it too faded in the face of her train of thought. She was trying to form her sentences, trying to decided just what to tell him, when Codi and a strange girl interrupted them.

"Hello, Codi." Hannah responded to Codi's greeting, her tone flat. She didn't look at whom she spoke to, her gaze finding a spot near the corner to settle on. She felt the animosity Codi had for her, but did nothing to tempt or soothe it.

She was quite as Sarah left, not bothering to invade the mortal's thoughts to gain an appreciation of who she was to the twins. She did not look as Codi shot her another ugly look, and left. She only looked up again when Colton sighed.

"Well.. to answer you.. I don't know where he went. I last saw him two nights ago, the three of us were riled up and arguin'. He had been layin' out all night, and Lily went at him when he came home. He.. He said some things.." She paused here for a second, which would indicate that those things were not very nice things. "And then he left, said he wouldn't come back. I've been looking for him since but he's nowhere to be found."

She was quiet again for a moment, then spoke again, even softer than before. "I don't know where Lily is, either. I've never, ever seen anybody as angry as she was. Maybe she's gone back to New York, but.. I don't know."

OOC| Math is over with.. I've never been so happy.. Must implant knowledge of the French language in my brain before 12:40.. Je ne sais pas que je vais faire.. :( |

Colton nodded some, and looked back up at her. "So, really, he could be right outside. Just, no one knows where he is, but everyone assumed he left because he said he wouldn't come back?" Now that was discomforting. He had almost been happy to hear that Bo left. Happy. When was the last time he had been happy?

Codi was pacing around just outside the store, and Sarah sitting on a bench nearby. Sarah was trying her hardest to understand why Codi was so infuriated that Colton was talking to some girl. "She's a bitch. And she's dangerous." These were the only two responses given to her. From what Sarah could gather, the woman seemed neither. She had know Codi and Colton for years, and one thing she knew best about them was that Colton was the more sensible of the pair. She trusted Colton's judgment. But she did worry about why Codi said things as such.

"And Lily went back home, too." He tried really hard to picture Lily angry. Furious, even. He had been yelled at by her, but it was nothing more that a Codi level of anger. He decided that he never wanted to know how angry she could be. "Well, that's great. So Lily and Bo are in a fight. You know, I shouldn't be here. He's going to want one of his two girls by his side, and if that isn't Lily, then it is you." He said this with a bit of distaste, because to him, it was a sad, disgusting truth.

Colton stood back up again, removing his weight from the wall, and took a step away from her. "Nice talking to you." He turned quickly, and walked away more slowly. Now this was a pickle. Codi was furious, and Hannah meant trouble. Now, which way did one go? Colton stood somewhere near the middle of the store, hidden from Codi behind a display of jeans, lest she charge him.

Hannah watched Colton walk away from her, the motion causing more distress than it should have. After a moment, whatever pain had been driven into her was washed away in a tidal wave of anger. She turned and returned to her dressing room, pulling on the clothing she had worn to the mall in the first place. She gathered up the armload of fabrics and left the little room.

She didn't even bother to sort the things, she simply dropped them in a pile on the glass counter of the cash. A black dress, the blue shirt, jeans.. It didn't matter, she wanted to leave. The woman tending the cash was agonizingly slow at checking it all in, but Hannah made up for it by swiftly swiping the plastic credit card through the debit machine. The pen she was handed flew across the small slip of paper, the 'Marilyn Halloway' of her alias barely legible. Hannah took three large bags she was handed, curtly thanking the store clerk and ignoring her request to 'Please come again.'

She blew by the display Colton was behind, buoyed on the charge of anger which followed in her wake. She had taken two steps away from it when she turned and found him on the other side of it.

"If I told you I can't find him here, it means he's no where in the city or beyond, I'm insulted you think I'd make such a stupid mistake. I may be crazy, but I am still capable of placing someone! And don't you dare think that he owns me, Colton. Stop being so weak and face your sister. And while you're at it, tell her I'm not the bitchy or dangerous one!" She didn't pause for a breath, but hissed out her words at a pitch to avoid attention from the other shoppers.

She didn't wait for a reply, either. When she had said all she could think of to say, she turned and quickly left the store, weaving her way around the displays.

Colton loved a good fight as much as the next person, and Hannah had just pushed all the wrong buttons. All of them. He exploded past the display, and caught up to Hannah, nearly knocking someone down in the process. Codi let her jaw drop slightly, forgetting about her previous anger. Oh, that little twit was finally going to get it. This would be amusing. Sarah, on the other hand, began to worry. She had seen too many of Codi and Colton's fights to think this would turn out well.

"You know what, Hannah." Colton had since slammed himself smack down in front of her, positively glaring beneath his overgrown bangs. "You told me to leave. You did, so don't blame ME for this. Lily told me that you decided not to see me again for my own protection. So, I'm used to being pushed away by now. Just felt RIGHT to push MYSELF away before someone had to do it FOR ME." He hadn't been so nice. His voice was audible, not booming, but not whispered like hers. No one bothered to look, anyhow. Be it that they couldn't hear, or didn't want to hear... That was up to them. "And Bo ACTS like he owns you, and you let him. That's enough for me." It was enough. Too much, perhaps. He shook his head, and turned away. And walked away. Codi made no attempt to go to him, and Sarah just watched Hannah. Poor girl.

Colton wasn't storming anywhere anymore. Walking, now, and towards anything he felt he could go. Shoe store? No. Department store? No. Furniture store? No... No, wait. Yes. He could sit in those. He seated himself in the very back of the store, on the junky furniture that cost so little it was embarrassing to put anywhere near the front to be seen by the masses. No one cared if you were back there, anyway. Colton rested his elbows on his knees, and his head in his hands. He shouldn't have done that. Did he care? Kinda. No, that was the wrong answer. He did care. Just... Not right now, Right now he was too angry to care.

Hannah did nothing as Colton chewed her out. She borrowed from Lily's bag of tricks, and refused to give a reaction on the surface, either negative or positive. She simply stared at him, occasionally blinking those kohl-rimmed, hazel eyes of hers.

Underneath her skin, however, she was erased. Her anger was gone, as was the strength it had brought her. She was utterly embaressed, the proper lady portion of her being was shocked at both of their actions. She was embaressed at the volume of his voice, knew it was too loud for both a public place and private subject matter. And in front of Codi and this unknown Sarah!

When Colton turned away, she did as well. She did not see him walking away, because she was doing the same. Towards the door, towards freedom and the protection of a cab, then the shell of her apartment.

Codi muttered something unaudiable, and took off after Colton. Where the fuck does he think he's going! What the hell is his problem, anyway! Probably that horrendious girl... Sarah was left with blinking dully as the girl, whoever she was, and deciding what to do. Approach her and tell her she saw everything, and wanted to know what was going on? She could barely hear Colton over the noise of the few people left in the store, and the girl herself had been too quiet to understand. But Sarah felt she had to do something. Besides, Colton had bough their tickets...

"Ummm... Miss? You dropped this." She had. It had been the light blue shirt she was trying on in the fitting room earlier. In her flee, the bag must have spilled the shirt onto the floor, and was left untouched and unoticed. Sarah picked it up and walked towards Hannah, offering it carefully. She didn't know whether the girl was going to snap at her or start crying. She looked flustered, be it from anger, embarrassment, or both. "Sorry about.... About Colton. He;s not been feeling well lately." As if that explained anything.

Hannah whirled around at the sound of Sarah's voice. She stared at her for a moment before looking down at the shirt. "Thank you," She said finally as she reached out and took the shirt from Sarah. She shoved it down into the depths of one of her shopping bags, then returned to looking at Sarah.

"It's fine. About Colton. It's fine. I don't care anymore. It makes no difference.. He can say whatever he wants." She realized she was blabbering, and promptly shut up.

"You're welcome... It's a nice shirt." And attepmt to a warm conversation, perhaps? Or, maybe people were just warmer when spoken to with compliments. Besides, this girl seemed to have had a bad enough night already, so what did a little compliment do for her? Besides. It was a nice shirt.

Sarah nodded in responce to Hannah's babling. Yes, he could say whatever, but that didn't make it right. "... He didn't seem to be acting very nice." There could be a reason for that, she reminded herself. He and... Whoever-this-was could have... Well, who was she? "I'm Sarah. And you are...?" Maybe a name would help clarify things. Maybe a name could give her insight that might remedy the situation, if not on Colton's end or her end, but on Codi's end of things.

“My name is Hannah Holloway. I can’t really say whether or not Colton was acting out of character, because from the moment I met him he’s either been moody or terrified. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a flight to catch.”

She didn’t really. She had no tickets bought; no destination in mind. But those seemed like minor inconveniences compared to her desire to get the hell out of Demaitre. She had never taken care of travel details before and the task seemed daunting, but if Colton wanted to be distanced from her, the distance would be monumental.

Hannah? So this was Hannah, the girl that Codi hated so much? Sarah nodded. Oh, a flight. And, thank god. Because if Codi saw them talking, she's get an earful. "Nice talking with you, then..." She backed away, and turned away. Now, to re-find Colton and Codi.

Codi had found Colton. Don't ask her how, but it seems she has a homing device that could track Colton from a mile away. Of course, they started yelling at each other at first glance, and Colton managed to get out of the store without getting yelled at by any manager or anything. Out of the store, and if he could, out of the mall. Away from Codi.

"COLTON, LISTEN TO ME RI--" The door cut her off for a minute as he stepped out onto the sidewalk. God, it never seemed to cool down anymore, now that summer had arrived. Codi shoved the door open, and looked down the street after Colton, who had decided to start walking home. "COLTON! SHE'S NO GOOD FOR YOU ANYWAY!" Colton was effectively ignoring her. It was his fault this time, but he wasn't going to tell Codi that. No, that was his little secret for the moment.

OOC| I coulda sworn I replied to this! :S Anyways, I think that’s about it for this Rp, as I can’t see Hannah interacting with anymore of your characters right now, so.. Your turn to make the board! |

OOC: Woo!