Chasing Possibility

Eli Wesley - F I F T E E N

 Preston tossed a bag of streamers into the cart. "It's not entirely true though. You do like Lana, that's why you were with her. Look, did you think Landon ever knew that Haley was dating you before breaking it off? Think about it, Eli… she was fooling around with Landon!"

 "So, Haley and I are practically the same, huh?" My eyes fell to the floor, hearing Preston's explanation.

 "Not helping, Preston." Coops jumped in before he landed his hazel eyes at me.

 Coops then nudged my side. "Eli, you're not like Haley. You never did follow through with the plan. Yes, you did ask Lana out because of wrong intentions at first, but you grew to like her in the end. We saw it coming — heck, even Haley noticed it too. Haley's happy with Landon and she told you that she's moved on. She's not going to say anything. No one's going to speak up about it. You need to stop worrying and focus on Lana and her upcoming birthday."

 "Yeah! That's what I meant to say!" Preston nodded in agreement. "It just didn't come out right."

 "Uh huh. Right." Coops made us laugh.

 Coops' words were reassuring which made me finally let the thought go right now. He was right after all. I shouldn't worry about Haley spilling the beans. Instead, I needed to focus on Lana. Everything would be okay. There were only a few more things left to get. As I glanced up, I overheard Coops and Preston ranting to one another.

 "You see that girl right there? Talk about looking her best." Coops murmured sarcastically.

 Preston was chuckling. "For real. I don't understand why girls have to dress up to go to a store. This isn't the place to be picking up guys. Look at the girl right next to her. She's just wearing a shirt and shorts, and she's looking good!"

 "Well, most girls don't realize it," Coops stated a matter of fact.

 Figures. They would be checking out girls.

 When I pushed the cart closer to them, I took a look at whoever they were observing. The girls were a blonde and a brunette. The blonde was wearing a pink haltered dress with nude heels and had her hair curled. On the other hand, the brunette looked comfortable with a t-shirt and shorts with flip flops on. Even if their faces weren't visible, the guys were right. Sometimes, girls who didn't even try could outshine those who actually do.

 The more I unconsciously stared, the more the t-shirt the brunette was wearing looked familiar — I just couldn't pinpoint where exactly. Suddenly, I heard Preston gasped, but I didn't think any of it.

 As the two girls turned to face each other, their side profiles revealed Lana and Haley.

 "That's Lana." I said it like reading a book out loud.

 It was that moment where my mind was obviously not working at the time.

 Preston and Coops gave me the weirdest stare.

 My eyes widened and realization hit me — that's why Preston gasped.

 "Oh crap. It's Lana! What are we going to do?"

 What were they doing here?

 Preston did an air clap. "Wonderful observation, Captain Obvious."

 Giving them a glare, they stifled their laughs before motioning to quiet down. We huddled around each other, facing the opposite direction. Maybe they would walk the other way, and we wouldn't have to bump into them. Talk about coincidence! Olette chose the wrong time to make us do the shopping. The three of us gazed at each other with frantic expressions.