Home (Finding My Home Book 1)

by Nikita Parmenter

  Whilst I’m practically gaping in shock, Cash takes advantage and picks me up, carrying me towards the school. We have gained a fair amount of attention already, even though we were still stood by Trick’s truck when they all greeted me. It’s not really surprising though, these guys run this school, there are always eyes on them.

  “Dude you can’t carry me into school, put me down” I chuckle patting Cash’s chest.

  “Fine” he sighs exaggeratedly as he lowers me to the floor and tucks a piece of hair behind my ear.

  “Hey girl, we’re still on for shopping after school yeah?” Rylie asks without preamble as she bounces up to us.

  I didn’t even see her coming.

  “Well hello to you too, my mornings been great thanks yours?” I say sarcastically.

  “Fuck off, I said hello” she grins.

  Rylie links her arm through mine and pulls me through the school doors and off to our first class. I shoot a wave over my shoulder to the guys and they all chuckle as they make their way to their own classes. As we walk down the hallway, I take note of all the Winter Formal posters on nearly every wall. Holy fuck, how did I miss them last week?

  “Yeah of course, I’m really looking forward to it, but pre-warning I’ve got quite a big list and I have no idea what I’m going to get a couple of the guys” I frown as we take our seats.

  “They’re coming?” she asks.

  “Yeah, the cop said I shouldn’t go anywhere alone, and they need to do Christmas shopping too. They aren’t coming round with us though; they’re just going to be close in case something happens. I hope that’s ok?” I ask.

  “Yeah of course. It has given me an idea though!” she grins.

  “What?” I ask cautiously.

  She has that look on her pixie like face, like she’s about to suggest something a bit crazy.

  “Well, the guys are shopping too right?”

  I nod.

  “So why don’t we follow the ones you don’t have an idea for? All ninja like” she grins excitedly, making me chuckle, “they’re bound to look at things they like and that way you’ll know roughly what they want?”

  “Actually, that’s not a bad idea” I muse, “and I don’t have a better one so sure, we will get the rest of it out of the way and then ninja stalk them” I chuckle.

  ~~~~~~

  Thankfully the rest of the day goes fairly quickly and with little drama, apart from a small run in with Selena where I told her I wasn’t up for her shit today and if she carried on I’d play my favourite game of smack a bitch. I must have given off an aura of being deadly serious because she just glared at me and turned back around, I was surprised but grateful. Of course, it might’ve had something to do with the fact that I said it in front of the entire gym, and everyone found it hilarious.

  I send a quick message to the guys to tell them that I’m meeting Rylie at her car and we will meet them later at the food court. I haven’t really seen them much today, just a few shared looks. A couple of hugs and one chaste kiss Jensen gave me. He literally ran up kissed me once, then sprinted off again and left me standing in the corridor with Rylie cracking up laughing at the shocked look on my face and several people staring at me.

  Winter break can’t come quick enough.

  “Hey girl, you ready to go?” Rylie asks as I plonk my ass in her car and she starts it, pulling out of her parking space.

  “Hell yeah, I am so done with school” I chuckle.

  “I hear ya, do you have any idea what sort of dress you want?”

  “Nope. This’ll be the first dress I’ve worn since I was a kid and I only wore them when I was made to back then” I chuckle. “I’ve never been a dress sort of girl” I admit.

  “Well in that case we’ll get that done first. Winter Formal is on Friday so we won’t have a lot of time to come again if you can’t find one. I’m working most of the week, I mean you could come with one of the guys?” she shoots me a questioning look.

  “Is it weird that I don’t want them to see my dress until I’m wearing it at the formal?”

  “Nope not at all but in that case, we definitely need to make sure you get one today” she says as she pulls into a drive through coffee place, “do you want a coffee?”

  “Oh god yes, I haven’t had nearly enough today” I chuckle.

  We order our coffees and are soon back on the way to the mall.

  “So, are you going with that Josh guy?” I ask suddenly. Just because I haven’t been to a dance before doesn’t mean I don’t know how they work; everyone knows how dances work.

  “Yeah he asked me on Sunday” she blushes as she smiles dreamily, “speaking of, I’ve had a few guys ask if you’ve got a date” she smirks.

  “Seriously?” I ask incredulously and she nods.

  I think for a second, trying to work out how to put into words what I’m wanting to say.

  “I think I’m just going to go stag. It would be unfair of me to go with a guy when I’m already into six others” I frown.

  “Good point, but if you change your mind let me know.”

  “I will,” I reply, as we pull into the parking lot of the mall and Rylie finds a parking space.

  I pull out my phone to text the guys.

  Me: Just got to the mall, see you guys later.

  Cash: Ok, we’re about ten minutes behind you.

  I smile as I get out the car, put my phone in my coat pocket and decide to leave my bag in the car, its only got school stuff in it anyway. My card is in my bra again and one of my knives is in the sheath I stitched into my jeans. Like fuck was I coming here without at least one. I drain the last of my coffee and dump the cup in a trashcan near the door to the mall.

  “Ok I have no Idea where to start” I state looking around the cavernous mall.

  “No worries. Come on” Rylie grins as she leads me towards a dress shop, a few stores away from the front entrance.

  We step into the store and are instantly surrounded by lace, silk, tulle and fabrics that I don’t even know the name of. Dresses of all styles and colours adorn every surface in the store and I just stare wide eyed at it all wondering where the fuck I begin to find a dress.

  “Don’t worry Ever, just start looking until you find one you like!” Rylie exclaims chuckling at the look on my face.

  I look at her sceptically, but she just shrugs and disappears through the racks of dresses.

  So much for sticking together, I think slightly perturbed. Shaking that thought off, I take a deep breath for courage and dive right in. Starting near the door, I rifle through the dresses, it takes me about ten seconds to realise that the store is actually colour coded. The section I’m searching in is full of dresses in various shades of pink and no offence to those girls that love it but pink really isn’t me. I decide the first step in my plan of attack needs to be deciding what colour dress I want and then when I find the right colour section, I can decide the style from there.

  So, with that plan in mind, what colour do I want my dress to be for my first dance?

  Something dark probably, like black, dark blue or dark purple, that’s much more my style. Looking around, I spot a section of dark coloured dresses right at the back of the store and quickly make my way over to it. I’m really grateful that there aren’t many people shopping in here right now. That would have made this process even more difficult than I’m already finding it.

  I wave at Rylie who is in the blue section of the store, a light blue dress would look beautiful on her, especially with her blue eyes and blonde pixie cut hair. She’d look like an ice queen with the right accessories. Which would be appropriate for the Winter Formal.

  When I get to the section of dark coloured dresses, I search through the racks with more interest than I did with the pinks. I find a dark purple halter neck dress that’s simple in its design but made of the softest silk I’ve ever felt. Not that, that’s saying much though considering I’ve never really felt silk before. I drape it over my arm as a possibility. I th
ink it’s a good idea to get a dress in black and a dark blue too, then I can try them on and see which colour suits me best. At least I think that would be a good idea, I honestly have no clue what I’m doing. I have never put this much thought into my appearance before.

  With the second part of my plan of attack decided, I snort out loud earning myself odd looks from the few people that are actually in the store.

  Only I would turn a shopping trip into a battle plan.

  I start searching for a black dress next and it takes me no time at all to find one I like. It has a strapless bodice top with a silver filigree design curling up from the bottom of the full skirt, the design then thins out until only small tendrils of the design curl up onto the bodice, it’s my favourite out of the two that I’ve found so far.

  Apparently, I like that sort of design on everything considering I bought those long sleeve tops that had a similar design but less fancy on the sleeves.

  I still stick to my plan, even though the black one is my favourite because they might look completely different once I have them on. I continue to search for a dark blue one. I’ve almost given up finding one that I actually like, they’re either too blue or too girly (I’m aware that doesn’t make much sense, they’re dresses of course they’re girly but I stick by the description) or too poufy, is poufy a word? It sounds like a word. I’m gonna say it’s a word.

  “Hey, are you ready to try some on?” Rylie asks from behind me making me jump.

  “Yeah sure let’s go, only two?” I ask her.

  For some reason I thought she would have a few more than that. With one last glance at the blue dresses in front of me I officially give up on trying to find one.

  “Yeah, I didn’t like the rest of them” she shrugs.

  As I start to follow Rylie towards the changing room shimmering fabric catches my eye. I leave Rylie walking towards the other side of the store and wander over to the rack, moving the other dresses to the side so I can inspect the one that caught my eye and holy fuck nuggets, I am not disappointed.

  The material is a beautiful soft and draping silk, a similar fabric to the first dark purple dress but this one is a deep, dark, navy blue. Starting from the bottom of the dress it has teeny tiny crystal beads stitched into it, and like the black one, they slowly thin out as they get to the bodice of the dress where only a few crystal beads are dotted on the fabric. The crystals start black at the bottom, gradually turning into a navy blue a similar colour to the dress before turning silver on the bodice. They make the dress feel surprisingly heavy but not so heavy that it would be uncomfortable to wear.

  The bodice part of the dress is stunning.

  It plunges into a deep ‘V’ that will show off some major cleavage and means that I won’t be able to wear a bra with it. With a bit of tit tape though the girls won’t be going anywhere. Turning the dress around I study the back, the entire back is one giant lace panel in black, when on it would go from the bottom of my neck, covers the entirety of the back of the bodice and then finishes just above my ass.

  Do I dare wear it though?

  It is so beautiful; the lace panel should hide my scars unless someone is standing super close to me and the only people I let get that close are the guys and Rylie. The guys already know about them and Rylie’s awesome enough that she won’t ask any questions about them. Plus, I really, really want this dress, badly enough that I’m willing to risk someone else seeing my scars. I clutch a hold of the dress tightly, irrationally worried that now I’ve found the dress I want it will disappear. Fairly sure there’s some underlying issue there that a therapist would have a field day with but whatever.

  I quickly put the other two back where they belong, there’s no point in me trying them on now and rush to catch up to Rylie, as I step into the changing room, I call out to her to see which changing cubicle she’s in.

  “Rylie?”

  “Yeah I’m in here” she says popping her head out around the changing room door.

  I walk to the one next to hers and hold up my find.

  “Oh my fuck, that is absolutely beautiful. Get in there and try it on” she says as she gently pushes me into the changing room next to hers.

  The changing rooms are empty for which I’m grateful. The entire time I’m changing I just keep reminding myself that it’s just like changing at school, at least these changing rooms have doors that lock and not curtains.

  All of my nerves fly out of my mind as soon as I pull the dress over my head, it clings to my curves and fits as if it was made for me. The hem line as a bit long as it pools on the floor completely covering my feet. So, I’m going to have to wear heels but that was sort of a given away. I step out of the changing room to show Rylie and as I move I notice a split in the side of the dress that goes right up to my mid-thigh. Damn, in my limited experience with dresses I’d say that this one is elegantly daring.

  “You look stunning Ever,” Rylie compliments.

  I glance down at my boobs, “I’m going to need tit tape” I chuckle, one false move and the girls are going to come out to play.

  “They’ve got some up by the till don’t worry” she chuckles before spinning around and making her dress flare out. “What do you think?”

  She’s wearing an ice blue halter neck dress with white and silver crystals on the bodice and a full tulle skirt it’s beautiful.

  “You look beautiful, the blue makes your eyes pop, do you like it?” I ask because at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter if I like it or not, only what she thinks, she is the one who will be wearing it after all.

  “I love it, we found our dresses surprisingly quickly. I’m impressed with us” she chuckles.

  “Me too, I always thought shopping trips were supposed to take crazy long” I giggle. “But come on I’ve still got to shop for Christmas presents for the guys and I have a feeling that’s going to take quite a bit longer” I grimace.

  We quickly get changed back into our normal clothes and then make our way to the checkout where we pay for our dresses and I chuck in some tit tape too. Now to shop for my guys. Then ninja stalk the ones that I don’t know what to buy.

  “I need to find shoes as well, but let’s get the guys presents done first.” I tell Rylie as we step out of the dress store.

  The sales lady in the store put our dresses in garment bags with hanger tops sticking out of a little hole in the top of the bags so we can hang them up when we get home. I drape mine over my arm as I wait for Rylie’s reply.

  “Sounds good to me, so where to first?” she asks, and I take a moment to think.

  “Well I need to replace Riot’s hoody, I stole his and he’s not getting it back so I thought I could get him a new one” I grin as she bursts out laughing, “I also need to get myself some sweatpants and leggings, so if we can find a store that kills two birds with one stone that would be amazing.”

  “I know just the place, this way” she says leading me further into the mall.

  I manage to find a dark red hoody that I think would look great on Riot, some grey and purple sweatpants, another pair in khaki green for me and some plain black leggings in no time at all.

  “Well that one was easy” I chuckle, “I want to get them all super cheesy Christmas jumpers as well, I know they probably won’t wear them. Well, Jensen most likely will, not sure about the others though” I smirk.

  “Good idea. I’m pretty sure I saw some back here” Rylie says. “If you do manage to convince them all to wear cheesy Christmas jumpers though I want pictures” she smirks.

  “Oh absolutely, I was planning on taking photo evidence anyway” I grin as we arrive at the back corner of the store.

  They have a surprisingly good selection of cheesy Christmas jumpers and I spend the next ten minutes choosing the perfect design for each one of my guys. I get Rafe a red festively patterned one that says festive as fuck on it, Cash has a red one that says jingle my bells. I snicker as I pick it up, he’s going to get a kick out of that. Jensen has a
dark red one that has a snow man on it and says I’m sexy and I snow it, he’s going to love it. For Trick I get a blue one with a festive pattern and three snowmen on it saying chillin with my snowmies. Riot gets a bright red one with a drunk Rudolf on it with Christmas lights wrapped around his antlers and I get Luc a blue and red one that has a picture of a drunk elf on it with a bottle of beer in one hand, saying let’s get elfed up. It makes me giggle.

  Whilst Rylie is facing the other way, I pick up a bright blue one that says merry Christmas ya filthy animal with a festive pattern all over it, for Atlas. I don’t know him, and I don’t expect him to wear it, but the guys want us to exchange our presents on the trip to the cabin and I refuse to leave him out.

  Finally, I find a bright red and gold one that flashes and says merry Christmas bitches for me, I love it.

  “Did you find one for all of them?” Rylie asks.

  “Yeah” I snicker as we walk up to the till and pay for everything.

  Rylie carries on talking telling me all about Josh so she thankfully doesn’t notice that I’ve got one more jumper than I should have.

  This time I take the lead and bring Rylie over to the music store just across the way from the clothing place we were just in. I’m nervous about this present but the guys said he wanted it and like I said I refuse to leave him out, so he gets presents like the rest of them. If it’s not right then Atlas can just chuck it.

  “Excuse me?” I ask as I walk up to the counter, leaving Rylie to wander around the store, so she doesn’t hear me.

  “Yes, how can I help you?” a kindly, older gentleman asks from behind the counter.

  “I’m looking for some really complicated music books, my friend is an exceptional musician and can replicate any music he hears but he’d like to try reading some more complicated music” I explain and then continue as I get an idea. “Maybe some of that lined music paper too so he can write his own?”

  “Your friend has an exceedingly rare gift indeed, to be able to replicate music like that is truly amazing. There aren’t many people who can do that. The more complicated music books are back here. If you follow me, I’ll show you where they are and we will grab some blank music paper too.” He says smiling kindly.