I Like Your Shoes | ✓

Chapter 45 | It's a Fine, Fine Day

Double shit with cherry on top.

"CRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPCRAP!" I moan and jump out from under my blanket. I pick up my phone without even checking the name and say,"I'm on my way!" hastily and cut the call before Neave can shout at me.

I put on a black t-shirt and my blue jeans, brushing my teeth and hair at the same time. Patting Mr Cadwallader on the head, I dash downstairs where Freida is slumped on the couch, snoring.

"I'll be back if I'm not dead," I scream before closing the door behind me.

I hear Freida say something like,"Go slay the dragons!" but I can't be sure.

The traffic is thin, surprisingly and I make it to Charlotte's exquisite wedding dresses in the nick of time. I rush out of my car and into the shop with excuses on the tip of my tongue but the door won't budge.

It takes me a minute to realise that the shop is closed.

"What?"

In fact, every shop in the block is closed. And the streets are deserted.

"How?"

Did the world end while I was asleep? Am I the only one alive?

Confused, I click on my phone and the clock screams that it's six thirty in the morning.

Oh.

No.

Almost on the verge of crying, I slump back into my car seat. This shouldn't have happened, I'm too young to suffer like this. Why does this always happen to me?!

Groaning into my palm, I bash my head into the steering wheel. The car gives an angry honk and it echoes through the empty block.
I sigh and start playing a game on my phone, which doesn't last long because my phone dies after five minutes.

"I better get a bungalow in Heaven, God." I mutter irritably.

Two hours of agony later, Neave and my mother arrive. Neave's eyes grow wide with surprise upon seeing me and my mother grunts in disappointment.

"Thank you for coming, Am." Neave says earnestly as we walk into the shop. I smile back, my tiredness ebbing away a little.

Charlotte's is a small place and extremely warm and cozy, which makes me want to curl up in one of the racks and sleep. Charlotte is a busty, kind woman who welcomes us with a wide smile on her face and escorts Neave into the dressing room immediately. My mother sits on the couch stiffly and I lean on one of the glass windows, admiring an emerald gown with little sequins glittering on it.

Fifteen minutes later, Neave emerges out of the room in a Victorian style full length gown with a stiff collar and full sleeves. She walks stiffly, almost like she's frozen over.

"It's beautiful," My mother says at the same time that I say,"It's horrid."

Neave and Charlotte seem to agree with me, much to my mother's dismay, and walk into the dressing room again.

I go back to daydreaming, where Calum and I are dancing in a field filled with sunflowers. Calum is a pro at dancing now, and I'm in the beautiful emerald dress, twirling and laughing and kissing...