“How is this?” Tami asked, emerging from the changing room in a baby pink dress with white laced bodice.
“It looks totes great on you!” gushed Kylie with a nod in agreement from Monica and the rest of the girls.
The only one that stayed quiet though was Michelle, mentally hoping that her friend won’t ask for her opinion. She honestly didn’t like the skimpy dress her friend picked. It was too tight, too small. She could even see a small portion of her underwear and she was standing up, leaning against the wall.
“What do you think, Elle?”
She mentally cringed at the question and forced a fake smile to her face while all the girls turned to her. “It’s... cute,” she managed to choke out the lie. She didn’t make it sound like she was lying; it just sounded like she was thinking of the right word to say.
Tami beamed at her compliment. “Really? Do you think I should buy it?”
She screamed the word ‘no’ in the back of her mind, but knowing that her friend really liked the dress. “Sure,” she answered, lifting and dropping her shoulders. “Why not?”
Usually, whenever they went shopping, Michelle would be in a different store just so that she wouldn’t have to lie to her friends about their choices in outfits. But it seemed like either faith was against her or that she just had a stalker in general, because she caught sight of Mickey with a group of his druggy friends and Ronnie in the mall. She didn’t want to deal with them and she also didn’t want to see Mickey after that embarrassing Friday night at Briar’s. She probably seemed like a complete loser to him for crying about Logan. So, she decided to just join her girl friends and lie.
Ronnie wasn’t wrong when he said lying is like your best friend. It definitely is.
“Now, what about you, Michelle?” inquired Stacy, who sat beside Monica.
She looked over at her and raised an eyebrow. “What about me?” she retorted, folding her arms over her chest.
“Don’t you want to buy something sexy to show off to your man?”
Michelle practically did a facepalm. How she didn’t expect this question coming? She had no clue. “Uh.” She tried looking over at Tami for help, but she was already back in the changing room. “What is there to show off to Mickey? He already thinks I’m sexy,” she choked out yet another lie. “What more to do?”
The girls giggled and she found herself fighting back a blush.
“Sweetheart, you do realize who you’re talking about, right?” Monica chimed with the flip of her hair. “Mickey Varsity. He likes new and exciting things. You think if you wear the same old, same old attire that he’d still be interested in you?”
Well, seeing as he was currently in a deal with me, I’d think so, Michelle thought bitterly to herself. She released a sigh and just decided that the easier route was to go along with her friends. “Oh, fine. I’ll find something, but after we eat. Deal?” she bargained.
“Deal,” Monica and Stacy responded simultaneously while everyone else nodded.
That was when Tami decided to step out of the changing room. She was wearing her regular outfit; a white, tunic tank top with black vertical lines and a black pocket over her right breast and a pair of black leggings with black wedges. Her pink dress was slung on her arm and she smiled at us. “Let’s get going,” she declared. “I’m hungry, so I’ll just pay for this after food.”
Michelle almost groaned at her friend. She didn’t want to go back to this store after food. It was filled with slutty dresses that she’s surprised Tami even agreed to. But she didn’t voice her thoughts as Tami went to the cashier and asked him to put it on hold, which he agreed. Michelle wasn’t honestly surprised that the cashier here was a male, because why wouldn’t you want to take the chance of watching women walk around in slutty outfits.
“C’mon, Elle,” Tami cheered, slipping her arm into hers. They were the leaders of the pack from the looks of it as everyone else followed behind. “Do you have any idea where the twins went?” Yes, they brought the twins to their trip to the mall as well. Though, the moment they stepped into the mall, they completely ditched the girls.
“They should be in the food court by now,” Michelle answered. “They usually go to GameStop for about an hour then to American Eagle and Aeropostale for ten minutes each. By now, they should be starving.”
“How do you know their shopping schedule?” Kylie asked curiously, appearing next to the brunette.
She opened her mouth to answer, but Tami already beat her to it. “Because Elle would always ditch me to go with them.”
“They’re amusing,” Michelle lied with a shrug when Kylie shot her a confused look. I’m on a roll today! She mentally grimaced. I don’t think I should be so proud of this. Once they entered the food court, she immediately spotted the twins in the back with three trays. And knowing Tyler’s debt, one of them was hers. “I’ll meet you guys back there. Seems like Tyler got my food.”
They just muttered an ‘okay’.
She walked over to the guys and was forced to sit in between them with a tray pushed right up to her. Michelle chuckled and said, “Thanks, guys.” Analyzing the tray, she was relieved to see that it was filled with food that she actually liked. There was two boxes of four-piece, chicken nuggets, medium fries, and a medium chocolate frosty.
“How was shopping with them?” Tyler asked before taking a big bite out of his hamburger that always surprised Michelle whenever he could fit it in his mouth. The twins always enjoyed getting big, fat hamburgers filled with everything possible.
“Terrible,” she admitted, popping a fry in her mouth. “I had to lie to Tami about a skimpy dress she bought.”
He nodded while Trevor inquired, “So, why didn’t you just go with us?”
“She’s avoiding Mickey,” his twin answered through a mouthful of food.
“Swallow then talk!”
“Why would you avoid your boyfriend?” Trevor asked curiously, raising an eyebrow at her.
Thankfully, Tyler swallowed his food then answered, “They’re not actually dating.”
Michelle’s eyes grew in surprise as did Trevor’s and she asked, “How did you know that?”
“I know you, Mich. You wouldn’t just get over Logan so quick and move to Mickey,” he explained, shrugging. “Hell, you two must be in a deal. ‘Cause you just wouldn’t date Mickey in general.”
“Don’t tell anyone,” Michelle warned, “both of you. No one at all.”
Tyler nodded and Trevor responded, “Sure. I wouldn’t want to mess with a secret involving Mickey Varsity.” She cracked a smile when the twins shivered at the thought of messing with Mickey.
“Did you guys see him wherever you went?” she inquired curiously. “I want to ditch the girls.”
“Nopes, but then again, we were too busy arguing to notice,” replied Tyler. “We decided to go to GameStop after eating.”
“Oh! A change,” she teased and ate the rest of her chickn.
Soon, the rest of the girls joined them and Michelle managed to slip away with the twins, skipping out on buying “sexy clothes” for Mickey. She followed closely behind Tyler and Trevor, listening to them chat about what games they were planning to get. But suddenly, they were stopped by a group of guys– more specifically, a group of Mickey and his guys.
“Hey, Buttercup,” Mickey greeted, taking a step towards her and wrapping an arm around her waist. He pressed his lips against hers then pulled his head away. “Where are you going?”
Her blue orbs flickered to the twins that stood on either side of her fake boyfriend with disappoint looks on their faces. “Uh, GameStop,” she answered, looking back at Mickey. Gosh! Does he ever look even a tad ugly? Today, he wore a black t-shirt with the Batman logo across the chest and a pair of baggy, dark-washed jeans. Instead of his usual beanie, he wore a plain, black snapback. The t-shirt did his muscles justice by hugging his chest perfectly.
“Oh, really? I’ll join you guys.”
She snapped her eyes to his beautiful amber pair and frowned. “No. You’re hanging out with your friends and I’m hanging out with mine,” she declared, pulling out of his arms. “I’ll, uh, see you later.” She walked around him and smiled when she saw Ronnie. “Hey, Ron.”
“Hey, Minnie!” Ronnie greeted cheerfully, grinning at her.
“Minnie?” one of the guys in the group repeated confusedly.
“You know, since she’s dating Mickey, her nickname should be Minnie!”
A soft snort came from behind Michelle and she looked over to see Tyler rolling his eyes. She gave his arm a light smack and nodded towards the direction they were walking before starting to walk off. “See ya, boys,” she called over her shoulder, combing her fingers through her hair and pushing the strands over her head.
Not hearing their responses, Tyler wrapped an arm around her shoulders while Trevor draped an arm around her waist. She laughed and allowed them to pull her towards and into GameStop, which was across the mall. The moment they stepped into the store, they dropped their arms and separated.
Tyler went to the Xbox section while Trevor went to the PS4 section, leaving Michelle alone at the entrance. Nothing new.
“Hey, Buttercup,” Mickey greeted as an arm suddenly wrapped around her waist.
She looked over at him to see him smiling down at her. “I thought I told you to go hang out with your friends,” she stated questionably, raising an eyebrow.
“Oh, I was supposed to pay attention to what you were saying?” he asked innocently, but his grin wasn’t as innocent. “I didn’t know. Which, speaking of, lesson six–”
“Mickey–”
“Wanna know how to pay attention?” he inquired, pulling her against his side, grinning down at her. “You don’t.”
Michelle paused and pursed her lips. “So, that explains your lack of listening to instructions,” she murmured.
His grin grew and he nodded his head rapidly. “Duh.” His hand slipped into hers and intertwined their fingers together, pulling her towards the Xbox section. “Now, come and help me find a game,” he announced. “Ronnie and I grew bored of playing Halo.”
“Oh, you guys play Halo 5?” she inquired out of curiosity. “So does Tyler and Trevor.”
He shook his head and sent her a wicked grin. “Nah. We still play the first version.”
Disbelief filled her voice when she responded, “Really?”
“Yeah. We just never got sick of playing it together,” he stated nonchalantly, pulling her in front of the Xbox 360 rack besides Tyler.
“You came?” Tyler voiced when he noticed the couple beside him.
“Problem?” Mickey chimed in a daring tone, raising an eyebrow.
He just sent a glare, snatched a game, and walked off to the cashier.
“What’s his problem?” Mickey asked Michelle with the roll of his eyes. He dropped his arm from her waist and searched the games on the rack.
“Uh, he just doesn’t really like you,” she murmured in response, scratching the back of her head. She watched Mickey as he scanned each game and even crouching on the ground to look at more of them. Her lips turned up into a small smile. He actually looked cute at the moment, intently looking for his game like a kid looking for the toy they’ve been wanting so badly.
“I’m not surprised,” Mickey suddenly replied, standing up with a game in hand. “I’m not liked that much. You like me, right, Michelle?” He glanced over at her with his lips lifted into a tiny smile.
Well, she didn’t expect that. Michelle’s lips suddenly went dry and she stammered, “Uh, s-sure.”
He cracked a larger smile. “I meant in a friend way, so that’s good.”
Her face reddened as he slipped his hand into hers again and pulled her towards the cashier, where the Malone twins were waiting for her, each with a pointed look. “I, uh, have to go,” Michelle announced, offering Mickey a sad smile. “I’ll see you, uh, later, I guess.”
“Bye,” he bidded, leaning in and swiftly pecking her lips then dropping her hand. He turned to the twins and his smile switched into a cocky smirk. “See ya, fellas.”
They each grabbed one of Michelle’s wrist and dragged her out of the GameStop.
“Let’s go before he follows us again,” Trevor hissed as they pretty much ran away, much to Michelle’s disbelief.
*
Mickey stepped out of GameStop, his eyes following after the fading figures of Michelle and the Malone twins. He bit his lower lip, resisting the urge to frown.
Why does she always have to be friends with guys?
His lips lifted into a snarl. The way they wrapped their arms around her before when bringing her to GameStop; one arm around her shoulders and another around her waist. They shouldn’t be doing that! He should–
Wait. His face dropped. What was he thinking? Michelle’s not his actual girlfriend and yet, he’s getting jealous? He snorted. He’s not jealous of Trevor or Tyler Malone– They got nothing on him!
Mickey picked up his snapback hat and ran his hand over his hair quickly.
The things that made him go after his “girlfriend” were his friends in the first place. Their stupid wandering eyes were practically eye raping poor, innocent Michelle. Her top was fine, because it didn’t revealed anything since she was just wearing a white sweater with a cross around her neck. But her bottom part– the skirt. It was a black skirt that just covered her butt. Knowing her though, she was probably forced into that skirt. Don’t get Mickey wrong. He was immensely turned on by it, mentally wishing he could just take it off for her, but seeing his friends with those same, lustful looks– He just wanted to take off his pants and force them on her.
Again with the jealous thoughts? Mickey shook his head at himself, pulling out his phone. He secretly knew why he was jealous, why he felt these emotions, but he chose to ignore them. He needed some alcohol and he knew just the friend to drink with.
Ronnie.