Tuesday, August 27th 3:02 pm Westchester Outdoor Mall

                                    

                                          
The group stepped out of the smoothie shop, organic drinks in hand, and strolled along the sidewalk past the other shops. Massie breathed in the warm air. Soon enough it would turn crisp and cool with the change of seasons and they wouldn't want to visit their outdoor spots anymore. 
                          
"Hey a photobooth," Derrick pulled her out of her daydream and towards the small structure next to the movie theater. "C'mon let's do one!" 
                          
Massie smiled at his childlike nature and followed him into the box, pulling the curtain shut behind them. 
                          
The others waited outside and watched as two strips of the pictures were printed out. The first was Derrick pulling a face and Massie rolling her eyes, then it was the two of them smiling their matching 100-watt smiles and making peace signs with their hands. Next, Derrick was kissing Massie's cheek, and the last showed Derrick's hand reaching out towards the camera lens attempting to hide them. From between his fingers they could make out Derrick and Massie making out. 
                          
Josh snatched the photos out of the slot as the couple emerged from the booth. "Oooh what's this???" He teased. 
                          
Derrick punched him in the side and grabbed the photos back when Josh bent over in pretend pain. "For you," he said handing one of the copies to Massie. He took out his wallet and tucked his copy inside while Massie placed hers in the back of her see-through sparkly phone case. 
                          
"You're next!" Dylan joked to Alicia and nudged her towards the box. Josh held out his hand and Alicia took it, following him into the booth.
                          
"C'mon I wanna see the new Chanel store over there and there's a Supreme on the way!" Massie said, leading the others down the sidewalk and giving Josh and Alicia their privacy. As they continued down towards the shops she noticed Kristen and Cam had hardly been saying a word to each other since they got out of the car, despite him buying her drink. Before she could think of something to re-break the ice Alicia and Josh caught back up to them and Josh pulled the other guys into the Supreme store while the girls continued toward Chanel. 
                          
"Well?" Dylan poked Alicia. 
                          
"He asked me out!" She admitted, "we're ah-ficial!" 
                          
The girls cheered for her and Kristen linked their arms, "Good! Now you can help me with Cam!" 
                          
"Why did you stop talking?" Massie questioned. 
                          
"It was when we got the drinks! I asked for the birthday cake flavor and we joked that it was too sweet for him. Then he mentioned how Claire always liked things that were too sour for him and he got all quiet... Ugh!"
                          
"It might not be a bad thing!" Dylan tried to comfort her, "I mean it shows that you're not the same!" 
                          
"Point!" Alicia agreed, "And you guys were hitting it off before so just keep being yourself. Talk about what you have in common!" 
                          
"Easy for you to say, you're a girlfriend," Kristen countered. Before anyone could object they were greeted by the employee inside Chanel and got swept away with shopping. 
                          
* * * 
                          
"So what's the damage?" Derrick asked his girlfriend as they walked back towards the car after shopping
                          
"Not bad..." She peeked inside her bag and recounted the items back to him, "A few new pairs of sunglasses from the fall collection, a bag for the weekend... oh and Kristen convinced me to get this jewel encrusted watch. You know... to keep time during midterms!" 
                          
Derrick chuckled knowing Massie didn't care about exams. Behind them Chris and Dylan had slowed down to put space between them and the rest of the group. 
                          
"Hey uhh..." Chris hesitated. "I got you this." He shoved a small teal-blue box towards Dylan and she gasped. 
                          
"You guys went into a Tiffany's? I would pay to see that." She joked. 
                          
Chris rolled his eyes and smiled, "Just open it!" She did, and gasped again. Inside were two 24 karat gold and emerald earrings. "They uh... reminded me of your eyes. Y'know. Green!" 
                          
Dylan bit her lower lip and looked at him. "They're beautiful!" She grinned and wrapped her arms around him. After a second of shock he hugged her back and they laughed as their friends noticed them. 
                          
"Wooo!" Josh cheered. 
                          
"Looks like we have another couple?" Massie jested. Sure enough, by the end of the evening the two were walking hand in hand as boyfriend and girlfriend. 
                          
The group met back with the car at the opposite end of the road and Josh instructed the driver to drop them each off at home. Dylan and Alicia were the first to go, both upset that they had to leave their new boyfriends. Next were Derrick and Chris who lived in the same area, though it could hardly be called a neighborhood since the houses were so huge it spanned more than a few blocks. 
                          
Left in the front seat were Massie and Josh who were politely making small talk while Kristen and Cam sat close together in the backseat. 
                          
"Just a second, I think I felt my phone vibrate," Massie lied and held her phone out in front of her. She quickly opened snapchat and adjusted herself slightly so Kristen and Cam could be seen by the lens. She snapped the picture and turned off her phone. "Nope, my imagination!" She smiled and left the phone in her bag until she got home. 
                          
Once safely inside the iPad she rushed across the plush carpet and flopped onto her bed, phone in hand. She unlocked the screen and opened to the picture of Kristen and Cam. They were sitting side by side in backseat, Kristen smiling and Cam actually laughing. Massie swiped the screen a few times to add a cute filter and found a heart sticker to place around the couple. Once it looked perfectly cute and casual she clicked to send it to the pretty committee group chat and to her story.
                          
SexySportsBabe: OMG thank u, cutest pic eva
HolaGurl: now he'll C how good U 2 look 2gether
BigRedHead: ah-greed, and it will give every1 something 2 talk about
Massiekur: 211 ppl already viewed it ;)
                          
Massie smiled and rolled over onto her back, clutching her phone to her chest. The best part of being an alpha was having the power to make everything go her way, whether Cam was ready or not.