Breaking Free

Chapter 21: Present

My mom and I pick Anna up right on time Saturday morning.

Anna comes bounding out of the house, skipping towards the car. Her smile reflects my own as I watch her get closer to the car.

I was hoping to catch a glimpse of Seth, but to my disappointment, I don't.

Anna enters the car, breathless and excited. "Good morning! I hardly slept last night! Where are we going first?"

My mom laughs as the slides the car in reverse. "There is a new dress shop in town that I want to check out."

Anna and I both nod eagerly.

"So, Anna. Is there anyone special you are going with to homecoming?"

"No," Anna says a little too quickly.

I look over to see Anna's cheeks have become shockingly red. "There's someone?! How come I don't know about this?"

Anna looks down at her lap. "It's not important."

I nudge her with my shoulder. "Who is it?"

Anna mumbles something under her breath, but I can't hear her. "Who?"

"Just this guy in my homeroom. It's the only time we see each other. He doesn't even know I exist," Anna rushes out quickly before hiding her face in her hands.

"What's his name?"

"George..." she says quietly.

George. The name sounds familiar, but I can't place a face to it.

"What does he look like?"

"Short brown hair and gorgeous brown eyes. I have seen him talking to that girl Beth during class, and he hangs out with her at lunch. They are probably together or something," Anna answers sadly.

I feel the air rush out of me as Anna talks. George is one of the people I used to hang out with last year at lunch until Beth stopped talking to me.

"Beth? The Beth that I haven't seen around the house in ages?" my mom asks.

Anna turns to me, wide-eyed. "Beth used to come to your house?"

This conversation has suddenly taken a dangerous turn, and I am not sure what to say to steer it in a different direction.

"Beth and Paige were best friends, but she hasn't come to the house in a while," my mom says from the front seat.

Anna gapes at me. "You never told me this."

I shift uncomfortably in the back seat. "We just went our separate ways... can we talk about George again? I might be able to talk to him if you want me to. I used to hang out with him. I mean, we barely talked, but I can at least see if he has noticed you."

This gets the conversation on a different track, but I can still feel my mom's eyes on me.

Even though Anna says she doesn't want to talk to George, I am going to try to convince her to do it anyway.

We arrive at a store named Flower Dresses. It has a ton of windows so people can see in the shop.

When we get inside my mom heads right for the rack that has a clearance sign on the top.

"Oh, this is so pretty," Anna says, pointing to a sparkly, yellow dress on one mannequin.

"Of course, you think so," I say with a giggle.

"So, when were you going to tell me about Beth?" Anna says as she riffles through the racks of dresses.

I am thankful she waits until my mom is out of earshot to ask.