Cool Girl

6: Dress Shopping

Exam week flies by and soon I'm walking out of my last exam on Friday. Adam is waiting for me outside the exam hall.

"We're done!" He exclaims and wraps his arms around my waist, laughing.

I place a hand behind his neck and give him a kiss.

"I actually have to go. I have plans with Claire." When I see Adam start to protest, I add, "I need to buy a new dress for tomorrow night."

"I won't keep you then." He says, making me laugh as he kisses my cheek and pulls away his arms from my waist. We part ways and I head for my dorm room. There I drop off my stationary from the exam and grab my credit card before heading to the parking to meet Claire.

But instead of Claire I find someone else waiting for me.

"Ben?" I ask, confused. "Where's Claire?"

"She won't be meeting you." He says.

"What do you...Oh?" I trail off as I realize what he's implying.

"Yeah, I broke it off with her." He sighs.

I watch him closely and as I expected there's no sign of grief on his face. He's relieved that he's no longer with her. Must have been a tougher relationship than he let on to me.

"Do you still need to go dress shopping?" He asks.

"Yes!" I exclaim, "Care to join me? I need someone's opinion and since you're the reason Claire will no longer be able to do that, the responsibility falls to you."

"You should've told me, I would've put off the dumping until after you got back from your shopping spree." He pouts.

I grab his arm and tug on it, "You've been shopping with me plenty. It's fun!"

"I'm pretty sure the last time I went shopping with you was when I was eleven and mom had to leave city for a meeting so I tagged along on your and your mom's shopping trip." He rolls his eyes.

"You're joining me anyways." I tell him and he groans but doesn't pull away his arm as I march him out of the parking, off campus and towards the nearest mall, a ten minute walk from University.

"Where to?" Ben asks as we step into the cool, air conditioned mall.

"Nordstrom!" I reply, "I already have my eyes on a few dresses that I want to try."

When we get to the shop, Ben wanders off to the men's section to look at some ties. He no longer has to color coordinate with Claire since he's going solo with Liam and Ash has a date. I make my to the section where the dresses are and start taking the ones I liked on their website, off the racks.

With three dresses in my arms, I head to the try rooms to see which suits me the best.

I first try a red mini halter dress and really like the fit. Next I try a blue sequenced skater dress and immediately discard it because I don't like how it fits me. But the last one, wins my heart. It's a breathtaking mini dress and I immediately have my heart set on it. I change back into my jeans and shirt and hand the other two dresses back to the saleslady who was assisting, then carry the one I decided on to the counter. I've just paid for the dress when Ben joins me.

"What have you been up to?" I ask, eyeing the two blue ties on the counter.

As the lady rings them up, he replies, "I thought why shouldn't Liam and I match too?"

I laugh at this, "You two might end up matching with me too."

"Is this is the same color as your dress?" He asks, taking the paper bag with the ties from the lady and picking up my garment bag from the counter top.

"You'll have to wait and see." I smirk at him, he's smiling too until he sees something behind me and it fades away.

I turn around to find Claire with her body half turned towards us as she giggles and lets the boy with her kiss her.

"Who is he?" I ask as I turn away to face Ben again.

"He's on UCLA's soccer team." He sighs and then he pouts, "Not even a day to grieve me?"

I burst out laughing, "It is sad indeed that the fantastic Ben Higgins wasn't grieved."

Filler chapter! But I hope you liked it :)

-T