Alone

Chapter 29

I think I signed my own death-wish.

Presently, Ani was speeding down the street clearly going over the speed limit. I tightly clutched onto my seat to keep myself from flying out the car when she braked.

"Elizabeth, stop overreacting and just let loose once in a while." Ani casually said with mischief twinkling in her eyes.

"Oh my God, eyes on the goddamn road."
She just rolled her eyes and muttered something about me being no fun.

Once we reached the highway, it was smooth sailing from there and I could relax just a little. I double-checked to see if my seatbelt was secure before 'letting loose'.

She chuckled at my obvious discomfort, but I ignored her. I wasn't going to take risks with her manic driving; I valued my life.

We had a carpool karaoke session, the both of us laughing at each other's attempt to sing and I don't think I've laughed so hard in a long time.

After a while when our throats gave out, Ani asked me with a smirk on her face, "So, we know that you need help in the clothing department, but is there is any help required in other departments?"

"Oh yeah, I need new shoes." I answered.

"What else?" She urged on.

"Ani. Stop beating around the bush and spit it out."

She sighed dramatically, "The lingerie department, Elizabeth."

"Oh God, no please."

"Elizabeth, you have to. I'm sure Greyson would appreciate it."

Ani nagged me to know more about the mysterious 'hunk' and I ended up telling her otherwise she threatened that she wouldn't leave me alone. That girl was extremely persistent.

"What's the deal between the both of you anyway?" She asked, glancing at me for a second before setting her eyes on the road.

"He asked me out on a date which I'm looking forward to. And, oh yeah, he asked me to be his girlfriend."

"He asked you to be his girlfriend?" The car swerved a bit at her loud exclamation.

"Jesus, Ani. Calm down. Yes, he asked me and I said yes."

"Then you will definitely need something sexy for that date of yours." She smiled evilly.

"Also, did I hear you correctly? You'll have not been on a date yet?" She asked with surprise lacing her voice.

"Believe me, we've tried, but something always came up. Why?"

"Well, from what I've seen which was only once, to be fair, he was totally smitten when he dropped you off. I thought you were kidding when you said that you weren't together."

"Okay, drama queen. I get it." I said sarcastically.

"No, I'm being serious." She said as she parked the car and turned off the ignition. And the conversation was stopped there, for now.

Turning to me with an evil smile on her face, she said, "Get ready cause it's going to be long day."

I should have taken her seriously because it was indeed a long day.

____________________

It had been approximately five hours and Ani's mission to help me have a wardrobe makeover had been successful.

She had also been successful in sucking every last bit of my energy too. For the first two hours, I tried on a lot of clothes and bought whatever I liked with Ani's approval, of course. The next two hours, I had given up, but Ani the Cyborg was far from being done. She made me try on tons of lingerie and wouldn't leave the store until I bought something.

The last hour, Ani had to drag me to the last bit of stores that she wanted to check out while I just grumbled and complained about how it was a waste of time and that we had gotten everything we needed and more, but all the protesting fell on deaf ears.

Now we were currently sitting in the food court, Ani was devouring her burger and I was sipping on my drink sending her death glares. Turns out, she loved food just as much as me.

"Oh come on, don't be dramatic. It wasn't that bad."

"You don't know what my poor legs had to go through." They felt like jello at the end.

"It was a good workout for today." She countered.

I had informed Ani about my sad attempts of trying to workout, and she suggested that working out together would be fun. I wholeheartedly agreed, I had a workout buddy now.

"I'm never going shopping with you again." I grumbled under my breath, but loud enough for her to hear. My phone buzzed beside me.

Glancing at the caller ID, I let out a huff and shut it off. I couldn't understand why he didn't get the message.

Sensing my obvious distress, Ani asked, "What's up?"

"Someone I know keeps calling me even after I told them not to. It's pissing me the fuck off now." I told her.

My mood deflated after receiving the call and I hated him for ruining a good day.

"Are you going to report that person?" She asked, concern lacing her voice.

"I know he doesn't mean harm, but if he keeps calling then I might."

"Just be careful."

"I will." I said, giving her a reassuring smile.

As the both of us were done eating, we decided that it would be a good time to leave. We collected all of our stuff, both of us surrounded by bags on either side. Ani was walking ahead while I walked behind her with my focus on my phone.

"Elizabeth, hurry up." Ani said, turning around to look at me and a second later I heard a loud 'oomph' and the sound of bags falling down.

I looked up to see the bags on the floor, a very shocked looking Caleb was holding Ani's waist which I assumed was to save her from falling on her ass while Ani just stood there, dumbfounded. Jacob, who stood behind them looked on with amusement.

His eyes wandered from them and fell on me. A torrent of emotions went through them, the most prominent being remorse and a little bit of anger.

I dropped my bags down and brought my attention back to Caleb and Ani who were still looking at each other, I cleared my throat which brought them out of their daze making Ani stepped back with a blush on her face while Caleb just rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. 

I chuckled inwardly at the obvious 'moment' both of them had. Caleb's eyes met mine and a look of shock washed over his face. They knew I wasn't into shopping.

"Hi, I'm Ani." She said sweetly and held out her hand, trying to break the awkward tension.