Slayter took me all around the mall to all the stores he liked. Most of them were dark and emo looking but the others were alright. I told him my feet were killing me so he said we would go sit after one last store.
“Why are we going into Bloomingdales?” I asked Slayter.
“Lizzie wanted me to get her sunglasses,” He answered as he pulled out a page ripped out of a catalogue from his pocket.
“Oh,” I replied as I watched him study the page. I didn’t want to stop looking at him.
“Do you need any help?” A female shop assistant asked Slayter and I with a big grin on her face.
She had long wavy black hair with slightly tanned skin and green eyes.
“Yeah, do you know where I can find these?” Slayter asked.
“They’re right over here.” She motioned us to follow.
She led us through a few aisles, then finally we reached the sunglasses.
“These are the glasses from the catalogue.” She picked up a pair and handed them to Slayter.
“Thanks,” Slayer smiled and looked at her name badge, “Mia.”
“You’re welcome,” She smiled at Slayer with a look of interest.
I could feel myself heating up with anger.
“I’m guessing those aren’t for you.” Mia seemed to flirt with Slayter.
“They’re for his sister.” I cut Slayter off from talking.
“Oh, is she younger?” She asked.
“Yeah, she’s fourteen.” Slayter looked at me before he talked to make sure I wouldn’t cut in again.
“Cool,” Mia grinned. “So how old does that make you?” She sounded seductive and it made me clench my fists.
“Seventeen.” Slayter sounded amused.
“Me too,” Mia took a little step towards Slayter.
Without thinking twice I grabbed onto Slayter’s arm to grab his full attention.
“Slayter, my feet hurt. Can we go?” I put on my sweet voice. Slayter looked at me like I had gone crazy.
“There are benches at the front of the store if you want to wait there.” Mia gave me a fake smile.
“We’ve got the sunglasses so we can go right?” I looked Slayter in the eyes with a pleading look hoping that he would cave in to me.
“Okay,” He sighed.
I grinned at Mia before letting go of Slayter’s arm.
“Can I give you my number before you go?” She smiled at Slayter.
“Um, yeah sure.” Slayter handed her his phone and she entered in her number.
“Call me,” Mia winked at Slayter as she handed his phone back to him.
Slayter smiled back at her with a bit of interest which made me feel anger and hurt at the same time.
“Do you like her?” I asked Slayter as we made our way to the checkout.
“Why do you want to know if I like her?” He asked trying to hide his curiosity.
“I’m just wondering. You looked like you were kind of flirting back.” I explained. “So do you?” I pressed on.
“She seems cool.” He said as he gave the sunglasses to the cashier.
“Is that it?” I asked him. “Detail, I want to know exactly what you’re thinking.
“Aren’t your feet hurting?” Slayter replied with a bit of attitude as he payed for the glasses.
“Slayter, stop avoiding the question! Do you like her?” I yelled. People around us turned around but I didn’t care.
“No Brooke.” Slayter looked me dead in the eyes with a serious face.
“I think she likes you.” The cashier whispered to Slayter as she handed him the receipt but it was loud enough for me to hear.
Slayter gave me a look I couldn’t understand before he walked off without me.
“Hey!” I fast walked trying to catch up to him.
“Are you mad at me?” I jumped in front of him so he wouldn’t walk away from me.
“Should I be mad at you?” He had a bored look on his face.
“No.” I whispered looking down.
“Brooke what’s going on?” Slayter asked.
“Nothing, are you done shopping?” I wanted to avoid that conversation. I didn’t want Slayter to know I like him. I wanted to tell him when he didn’t hate me.
“Yeah,” Slayter said.
“Can you give me a ride home? I don’t want to take public transport again.” I cut him off before he could say anything else.
“Okay,” He studied me for a second before walking to the mall exit.
The ride home was silent. I didn’t want to say anything because I was scared Slayter would just bring up what happened in the store.
“Is this it?” Slayter stopped in front on my house.
“Yeah,” I spoke with a bit of relief.
Slayter then moved the car into the long driveway. Once he stopped I reached for the door but he locked it before I could open.
“We need to talk.” He said when I turned to look at him.
“What happened back in Bloomingdales?” He asked me seriously.
“Honestly?” I asked him quietly.
“Yeah,” He replied as he got comfortable.
“I guess I got a bit jealous because we were meant to be spending time to get to know each other and then Mia came along. It seemed like you liked her more than me.” I explained.
“Brooke, I’m not just going to forget what you did to me in the past and become best friends with you like you want me to. It probably seems like I like Mia more because I just met her and she has a clean slate with me. I just can’t forget. You need to earn my friendship and I have a feeling you’re only sticking around me because no one else at school can stand you.” Slayter looked a little bit frustrated as he spoke.
“I’m sorry. I want you to know that I’m not just sticking around you because I have no one else. You can be mean at times but that’s my fault because I always seem to set you off and I’m sorry for that too. I think you’re a really cool person if that counts for something and I really want to be friends if you give me a chance.” I tried to open up to him as much as I could without making it seem I was in love with him.
Slayter just stared at me for a while as if trying to see what I was thinking.
“Please say something.” I practically begged.
“Don’t be so desperate Brooke, it kind of creeps me out.” He spoke bluntly.
I felt myself die a little bit inside. What would I do without Slayter?
“I’ll leave you alone if that’s what you want.” An involuntary tear ran from my eye.
I grabbed my bags ready to jump out of his car without looking back.
“There was a reason I was friends with you before.” Slayter blurted out just as I grabbed the door handle.
I turned to face him.
“Yeah?” I motioned for him to continue.
“You used to stand up for people who didn’t have anyone to stand up for them and I was impressed by that. You were actually funny and nice at times.” Slayter gave me a small smile.
I wiped away my tear and smiled back at him.
“You get one chance, don’t waste it.” Slayter reached into his pocket and handed me his phone.
I couldn’t help but grin. I pulled my phone from my bag and gave it to him. I entered my number into his phone as he did into mine.
Our fingers touched as we swapped back phones and it sent tingles down my spine.
“So should I call you or will you call me?” I asked him, trying to hide the big smile that wanted to hijack my face.
“Don’t make me regret giving you my number and don’t blow up my phone with calls and texts.” He warned playfully.
“So you’ll call me” I giggled a bit.
“Yeah Brooke,” He smiled and I melted inside.
I loved seeing the soft side of Slayter. It always seemed on and off so I would never get long to enjoy the moment. With one last glance at his smile, I forced myself out of his car.
“Bye,” I said before I shut the door.
I watched Slayter drive off out of the drive way and down the street.
“I’ve got Slayter’s number.” I smiled to myself.
I searched through my contacts from his name and there it was. I let out a loud squeal as I jumped up into the air and skipped to the front door. I searched my bag for my keys then I opened the door. I closed the door behind me and danced my way to the kitchen.
“Brooke!” My dad yelled out.
“In the kitchen!” I called out to him.
I could hear heavy footsteps approaching me as I danced around the kitchen.
“Who was that?” My dad gave me a serious look.
“It was the boy I was telling you about a while ago.” I told him.
My dad just looked at me with disgust before walking out of the kitchen.
I ignored him. I didn’t want anyone ruining the mood Slayter got me in.
Grabbing an apple, I ran up to my room with a handful of shopping bags. I turned on my radio and I danced as I sorted my new clothes out.
For the first time in a long time, I decided to write in my diary. I had no one to talk to and my diary looked appealing.
I wrote down every single detail of the day, including the bad. I filled out six pages of my diary in one entry. It felt good getting everything out of my system. I danced around a bit more until the pain in my stomach took away my strength. I grabbed my apple and ate away at it as fast as I could to get rid of the pain.
“Brooke!” My mum yelled from the other side of my bedroom door.
“Yeah,” I opened the door slightly.
“Should I warm up some dinner for you?” She asked.
“No thanks, I already ate.” I smiled at her.
“An apple doesn’t count as dinner.” She gave me her worried look.
“I ate dinner with Slayter right before we left the mall. We had nachos.” I assured her.
“Okay, love you.” She kissed my forehead.
“Love you too.” I smiled before closing the door.
My stomach rumbled with hunger. I walked over to my closet and pulled out a weight loss milkshake from my secret stash. I used to hate lying to my mum but over the months it got easier.
I fell asleep that night with a smile plastered on my face.
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