Lovers of Yesterday

Chapter 2 • Ice Cream

We pulled into a spot in the busy parking lot of the small ice cream shop. Alexandria climbed out first and Ember and I followed, letting her lead us inside. Shire stood close to Ember while we stood in line. We all huddled close together in the crowded space, moving forward every few minutes. When we got close enough, we started deciding on flavors. Dria went with chocolate chip cookie dough. E went with mint chocolate chip. I went with plain vanilla.

"I can take the next customer," one of the workers called and we stepped forward.

Dria listed off our choices and sizes and the worker started scooping them into cups. She stuck plastic spoons in them and handed them to us. Dria paid and we walked out, choosing to sit in her car while we ate. I ate slowly with Ember while Dria stuffed her face. A few large bites and she had to set her cup down while she suffered a massive brain freeze.

I couldn't help but let out a loud laugh as she suffered through her brain freeze. She was pressing her fingers to her temples like it would help. Ember was sitting back and chuckling while she took small bites.

Finally, I relented and offered my advice, "Push your thumb up against the roof of your mouth. It should help some."

She did as I said and stuck her thumb in her mouth. I watched her relax, then pull her thumb out when the brain freeze was gone.

"Thanks, girl. I was dying," she exaggerated, taking another big spoonful of ice cream.

I shook my head, watching her, "You're going to get another with those big spoonfuls."

She shrugged and Ember sat forward, "Do y'all wanna, like, go shopping or something after this? I don't know what you two do together."

No sooner than she finished her sentence, Alexandria was squealing, "We need to get Ry some new outfits! She needs to look and feel sexy."

"Oh no. We are not playing dress up. I love you, but no," I shook my head.

"Pretty please with a cherry on top?" she begged, pouting her lips and giving me her best puppy dog eyes.

Before I responded, I saw a couple out of the corner of my eye and glanced over. My chest tightened and my eyes stung with tears. Liam was leaning against the brick wall of the ice cream shop with a girl playing with his hair.

Still staring at them, I choked out, "Ok, we'll go shopping."

Both girls followed my line of sight and saw the same thing I was seeing. I took a deep breath, holding back the tears as I turned my head away. Dria reached over the console and gave me a tight and ressuring hug.

"Fucking bastard," Ember seethed, still staring him down.

I pulled away and rubbed my eyes, "It's fine. I'm fine. Let's just go."

Dria nodded and turned the car on, backing out of her spot and driving past the two. I finished eating my ice cream on the way there and took our trash to throw away when we got to whichever store Dria chose. It ended up being Downtown Cheapstop. At least she chose something that I could afford. She's always like on-brand clothing so she would get what she wanted while I would be able to afford it. She pulled into a spot and we all climbed out.

I took our trash to the trash can outside before following the girls inside. Ember immediately started looking around while she crossed her arms. Dria left us behind to start searching for clothes. I walked up to her and wraped an arm around her shoulders, giving her a side hug. She looked at me but didn't say anything. Shire sat next to her, waiting for a command.

"We'll find something for you. I know you like more conservative clothing. They sell pretty much everything clothing wise so we should be able to find something that fits your style," I assured her, pulling away from the hug.

"We're here for you," she reminded, "I don't care about finding me something. I just wanna make you feel good in your own skin."

"I know, but if I focus on y'all, then I'll forget my own problems," I started walking with her to find Dria.

Alexandria was digging through the racks, looking through shorts. She looked up and beckoned us over.

"You're a size two, right?" she asked me, to which I nodded.

She pulled out a few pairs of shorts, all which looked too short to wear in public but I went with it. She handed them to me and I looked them over. The pockets of most of them were sticking out of the leg openings and some were ripped. They were different shades of blue and some were high-waisted. There were already six pair in my arms and she was still searching for more.

"Uh, Dria, I think this is enough for now. We don't even know if these'll fit right. Why don't we try these on and then come back and look for some shirts?" I suggested, shooting Ember a worried look.

She looked up and at my full arms before groaning, "Fine, let's find a changing room."

She led us to the back of the store where the changing rooms were and ushered me into an open one. I locked the door behind me and hung the shorts on one of the hooks. Shimmying out of my jeans, I folded them neatly and set them on the chair in the corner before taking the first pair of shorts and slipping them on.

Like I thought, they were short. Shorter than I would like but I didn't have much of a choice with Alexandra. When I looked in the mirror, I was shocked at how much I actually liked them. I pulled them off and put them back on their hanger before trying the next pair.

By the end of it, only two didn't fit right. I stepped out of the dressing room with everything in my hands. Dria took he ones that didn't fit up to the return counter while Ember hung back with me. She kept a watchful eye on Dria to make sure she didn't grab anything too extreme but stayed with me.

"Are you fine with crop tops?" Dria called back to me.

I walked over to her to see what she was holding. It was an off the shoulder cropped shirt that was flowy. It was simple and wasn't over-the-top.

I nodded, "I like that. I'll try it."

She handed it to me and started digging for more. Most of the shirts she handed me were cropped and a good portion of them were more revealing than I would like. Once I had around eight shirts in my hands, she took us back to the changing rooms.

"E, go look at stuff. I gotta help her with some of these," she told Ember while pushing me into a changing room.

She shrugged, "I'll stay here. I don't like shopping like you do, Alex."

Dria huffed, "Fine, be boring. We'll be back."

Alexandria stepped into the tight space and locked the door behind her before hanging up the shirts she chose. She took the shorts form my hands and hung them up as well, stepping back to study them. I waited awkwardly off to the side while she decided what went together.

Finally, she turned to me with a top and a pair of shorts in hand, "Ok, strip. Let's try these two together."

I did as she said, taking the clothes and pulling them on. Once they were on with a little help from Dria to adjust them properly, she stepped back and studied me. She gave me a firm nod of approval and I turned to look at myself in the mirror.

I did a double take, unsure if it was really me the first time, "It's... different. Very different."

"Do you not like it?" Dria walked up next to me to see what I was seeing.

I shook my head, "No, I like it. I just, I've never seen myself like this so it's taking a minute."

"What do you mean by that?" She inquired.

"You know what I mean," I began, "I've never looked this good."

She gave me an incredulous look, "Babes, you've always looked this good, the clothes are just accentuating it. Remember that beach trip we went on a few years back? Every guy that walked by was looking at you."

I blushed and rolled my eyes, "You're exaggerating. Let's try on something else."