The Opposite Of Good

[10] Keep up with the façade.

"No Way!" Kate squealed excitedly and Leah laughed beside her.

"You are acting like it's the first time you see Henry Waters with his shirt off." Leah said and Kate rolled her eyes.

"Whatever."

"And why are you busy stalking him on Instagram?" Leah asked, biting her Bar One.

"I'm crushing on him okay? He is the hottest guy in this school. Oohhh check out this picture by the beach... Totally drool worthy." Kate replied, smiling from ear to ear as she continued to scroll down her phone.

"Actually the hottest guy in school is Justin Hazard but he's scary so I guess Henry can take that spot."

I gulped at the name of Justin. I haven't seen him or heard from him since Saturday when he came into my room. More like broke into my room. A part of me was feeling rueful about chasing him out. I keep on wondering what would've happened if I had confided in him, told him everything. Would he have helped me escape Ben? Or would he choose to go away? All this is just making me have a headache!

Today was Monday and he wasn't even in class before the lunch hour. He skipped school again, like he always did.

"Amara, you okay?" I looked up at the mention of my name. I found two pairs of eyes gawking at me in a concerned way and I smiled softly.

"Yeah, I'm okay."

Kate and Leah shared a look before looking at me again. And there it goes...

"Am...you know you can always tell us anything right?"

"Guys seriously, I'm okay." I reassured them and they nodded. I had a feeling that it's not because they understood but they didn't want to push it.

"Anyway girls, I've got the greatest news in the history of all great news." Leah exclaimed. "You both are gonna choose my birthday party dress for me."

"What, really?" Kate and I spoke simultaneously and Leah nodded, a huge grin on her face.

"Yeah like why the hell not? I trust you guys with that and I won't see it until the night of the party."

"You won't be disappointed." I smiled and she let out a chuckle.

"I better not."

****

"Are you sure that this will work?" I asked as I felt the material of the dress in front of me.

Kate nodded, her eyes twinkling.

School ended an hour ago and Kate and I decided to start looking for Leah's birthday party dress. The party is in a month's time and we wanted to view as many dresses as possible.

"She'll love it." Kate said and I smiled. At least this managed to take my mind off things, including Ben, Justin...it's just too much for me to take in.

"But isn't the color too...bright?" Kate asked unsure and I chuckled. The dress was a bright shade of orange. Orange was her favorite color...but the dress looked maybe a little too orange.

"Its Leah we are talking about, she loves bright colors. I think this color will suit her perfectly." I replied and Kate frowned a little.

"I think its maybe a little too orange"

"Yeah, me too." I said and we both laughed, discarding the dress. We walked around the shop seeing some very beautiful dresses but not the one that screamed out Leah's name.

About an hour later, Kate and I exited the shop, heading to her car.

"Too bad we didn't find the right dress today." She spoke as we both hopped in the car.