Between Love and Admiration

Chapter 5

I had started to think Alana was only kidding about the date and that was truly fine with me. I didn't actually want to go out with some Edward guy. To be honest, dating was the last thing on my mind. A few days have passed and I heard nothing from Alana. I wasn't waiting for her to text me... it was just something that I took note of. Then one day, I was tossing my jacket on the couch, preparing to fall into the couch to show just how draining those eight hours were after school when my phone vibrated are you busy? I didn't recognize the numbers so I hesitated before finally responding, no... who is this? Sitting my phone back down, I threw off my shirt and was wearing just a tank top and the jeans that I wore to school when I realized the person never responded. Reaching for my phone again, I saw that I had 2 missed calls and another text that simply said, Alana. I felt like I had messed up so immediately I dialed the number back curious to what made her finally text me out of the blue. We had spoken to each other every day in class this week. Some days we talked and walked in the halls together but mostly we just were cordial. The days we would talk would mostly consist of her venting about Nick and I was really glad that she trusted me enough to confide to me about her relationship. Dani wasn't on board but this was what friends did. They confided in one another and they would help each other out whenever possible. To Dani, it was almost like Alana was playing a victim but I knew better... she was dealing with things that we had never experienced yet and that was why I had to be there for her more. The phone rang twice before she answered. "Yo! You made me worried, thought you were ignoring me!" she yelled into my ear but it just made me smile, "Sorry, my phone was on vibrate. What's up?" It sounded like she was eating something as she took a moment to clear her throat before she spoke, "I'm at the mall... I wanted you to come hang out." She said, I could hear her shaking the ice in her cup as I thought about it, disappointed when I remembered my sister wouldn't be home until later. "I would but I don't have a ride." There was a loud smack in response, "If I have my car... you have a ride freshie. Are you ready?" More excited then I let on, I calmly told her I was and sent my location. Once we got off the phone I thought about what I could put on, running to my closest.

Since it was cold out, I had settled on something basic, a long sleeve sweater and I kept my jeans one because I didn't want it to look like I was trying too hard. *ding* I think that I'm outside. I peeked out the window looking for her car and realized she was one house down which made me yell out to her but she couldn't hear me. I grabbed the few things I carried on me and headed out to greet her.

"Wrong house but close!" I yelled as I approached, opening the door to her 2012 Mazda, "I'm just glad that I got the right side of the street because Siri be lying." I put my stuff down, taking in the smell of vanilla that clung to her and everything that she had and we laughed as she pulled off. "Why don't you get a purse?" She asked me, "Instead of carrying your stuff around like a guy." I looked down at my wallet, phone, lip gloss, keys and hand sanitizer, "For what? Most of these fit in my pocket and I don't have anything to put in a purse." She looked at me with pity, "Oh honey... but you do. Let's fix this today, I love a project!" she had that super happy smile on her face which made me more nervous, she must have been able to see the apprehension on my face because she shook her head before pulling off, "Calm down Kai, it's just a purse."

It was not just a purse.

By the time we left the mall, I had a Michael Kors vanilla and gold tone cross body purse. It was cute and I knew that I could convince my sister that I needed this since I was growing up, Dad was never mad when we splurged but sis always looked out for our family finances. I thought that we were going to go grab some food since I had appeased her and got the purse but I was wrong. Since she had already eaten, she wanted to go shopping and we went to every store in the mall. In addition to the purse, I purchased some Michael Kors shoes that we half off and told her that I was done. She laughed and dragged me along, things that I was iffy on but she liked for me, she would buy and give it to me. I wanted to tell her that most of this stuff was too frilly for me but she was so happy, it was like she was in the zone. She spotted the best deals before we entered the store. I'm not sure if that was her talent or if I was just that hungry and tired. Eventually, we separated because I just couldn't keep going without stopping by the food court. I got me a slice of pizza and fries with a large icy freeze to help cool down, "Who knew that shopping was such a workout."