Chapter Fourteen
Repetition is important for a lot of things, like emphasizing a point or for stylistic purposes in a piece of literature, just not for making me relive the worst experiences of my life. You guessed it, I was dragged back to shop with the troublesome trio.
I was unwillingly dragged against my will to the car to be their chauffeur and drive them to the mall. Then I had to suffer through the sound of obnoxious teen pop songs in the car as they sing off pitch during bumper to bumper traffic.
There was no escape except jumping out of the car and the thought became more appealing by the moment.
Also, I was unsure if they were doing it intensiously or if they thought they were any good.
Either way it made me want to plug my ears until I could never hear again.
The second I pulled into the parking lot, their mindless chatter turned to Derric's big birthday bash as they put it
"What color would look best on me?"
"What neckline makes my waist look the smallest?"
"How low cut should I go?"
This continued getting progressively worse as the stores came into view and I was once again dragged like a rag doll. Then they started throwing clothes at me, until I resembled a human shopping cart.
The load in my arms was getting heavier and there were times I thought I was going to collapse. This may have been in part to the clothes blocking my face, it was becoming harder to breathe.
I was about to drop all the clothes and find a place to hide, (although my brain was telling me to ditch them and take the car home) when I heard something familiar.
"Derric!" Harper exclaimed, probably dinging her sharp nails into him.
"Hey girls." He says shyly trying to be polite. "I'm just about to head out now so I'll see you l-" They wouldn't even let him finish.
"You have to help us out." Emma says trying to guilt trip him, probably with her seductive smile.
"We need someone to help us pick out our dresses." I could just see her twirling her hair between her finger in an attempt to be charming.
"I'm actually quite busy." Derric mentions before trailing off. Something porobay captured his attention. I heard footsteps getting closer.
"Are you ok, do you need me to help you?" I feel a hand on my arm and knew he was talking to me. I'm surprised I was able to feel anything underneath all of the layers of clothing.
"She's fine." Sophia brushes off before diverting his sole attention to her. " Now how do I look in this?"
"Umm" I could hear the hesitation in his voice, and by shifting around, I could see his eyes lingering on me. He couldn't see who I was underneath this mountain of clothes, ignored my step-sisters and still offered to help me, this nameless girl that's he doesn't know (or doesn't think he knows).
My heart swells up in pride, and I can't help it. He's come so far from being that arrogant jerk months ago.
Soon enough Derric makes up an excuse and escapes their clutches. I'm sure he'll be traumatized by this whole encounter. But when the she-devils were at the register I managed to sneak away for a few minutes.
If I was going to go to the party, I should look into buying a dress. I browse through the rack, some of these were actually pretty cute for a store they picked out. And then I looked at the price tag.
My eyes widened at the $150 price tag. That much for one item of clothing was insane, and I could never be able to afford it. I would waste a good portion of my my paycheck on something I was going to wear once.
It just wasn't practical.
I tore my gaze away from the long blue dress and forced myself to think wisely. Sure the dark midnight dress looked silky soft, and the off-shoulder sleeves were appealing, but I needed to clear my head.
I could afford it if I take away from my college savings that I've been working on for years, but the face remains that it would only be for a night's use.
It just couldn't be.
"Get over here Adira, my hands are getting tired." Harper shouted huffing with that twisted scowl on her face. Despite the appearance of annoyance, she was quite pleased with herself.
I sigh and follow along ready to take my place as a human shopping cart.
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I drop them off at home and say I'm going grocery shopping. It wasn't a lie because I was planning on doing it anyway, I just failed to mention one of my pit stops.
One of my last-ditch solutions was to go to the thrift store and see what I could find there. Who knows, maybe I'll find a treasure. I make it just before it closes and frantically began searching through the clothing section.
There was nothing there, and that's not an exaggeration. There was no dress in sight, it was like they all vanished or something.
"Excuse me, do you know what happened to the dresses?" I approach an employee.
"Moth infestation, we had to get rid of all of them immediately." They tell me before walking off.
Something was off about this whole situation, but I was in too much of a hurry to dwell on it.
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"What's on your mind Blondie?"
"Nothing too interesting." I answer back vaguely.
"I always knew there was nothing up there." He taps my forehead playfully. I swat his hands away with a satisfying slapping sound. Derric pulls his hand away in pain, and frowns. His pout almost made me give in, almost.
It wasn't that cute.
"Remind me to never get on your bad side." He whines.
"I barely hit you." I roll my eyes. 'Besides, you're just abnormally weak."
"Do you see these muscles?" He asked practically shoving his biscep in my face. "Feel it and tell me how soft it is."
"You're all flab Mr Sweaty." I push him away from me before the smell nauseates me any further.
"First of all your sweaty too Blondie, it's natural. And I worked hard for these muscles, and you won't even acknowledge them." He begins to tear up, turning his head to the side to make sure I was still watching when it came to the waterworks.
When he saw my frown he sighed. "Not even a smile? I was acting my heart out."
"Maybe next try" I say patting his arm in sympathy.
"So onto more cheerful news, I'm more excited about my birthday knowing you're going to be there. I'll get you a mask so I can easily pick you out." His blue eyes lit up, practically sparkling with elation.
I look at him and instantly smirk. "I'm not making this easy for you, you are going to have to pick me out of a crowd." I see his hesitation. "If you're up for the challenge."
"I thought this was my birthday present."
"It is, but you're going to have to work for it Derric."
"We'll race for it, the first one to park bench wins." He laid out the rules, the bench was about 100 meters away, fairly straight-forward.
I can do this.
One the count of three we rush off, and he takes a small lead. Not wanting to lose, I push my legs as hard as they could until my lungs were burning and I moved past Derric just in time to see his shocked face.
"I win." My victory speech was less satisfactory with my voice coming out in ragged breaths.
"Fine, but I can pick you out of crowd easily." He perks up with a newfound confidence. I smile holding my tongue to point out we were just passing faces in the halls until 5 months ago.
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"Where are you going?" I asked curiously looking up at my mother.
"Go to your room Adira." She snaps, pulling a suitcase out of the closet. I shrink back slightly but don't move.
"I want to come too." I hugged my teddy bear closer, as a comfort device.
"Go to your room now!" She raises her voice at me, and I scurry away to my room, closing the door behind me. I listen at the door for a second, my curiosity getting the better of me.
I heard rambling and mumbling of how I was driving her crazy, and a painful reminder of a past she didn't want anymore. Unaware of her meaning I run to my room, knowing enough to be worried.
No one else was home then, just me and her.
I sat in my room counting the glow in the dark stars my dad put for me. He lifted me up on his shoulders as he stood on the bed joking that he was going to drop me if I took any longer.
On my nightstand was a snowglobe he gave me, he gave it to me on my 5th birthday to celebrate my love for Disney. The outside had miniature princess figurines and the inside had a picture of the two of us, my favorite picture of us.
I heard the door slam close and instantly rushed to the door. I saw my mother get into her car, suitcase and all.
"Mom! Mommy!" I yelled, begging her to come back. I saw her head lift up in the car, stare directly at me before shaking her head and starting the car.
I watched the car drive away with tears streaming down my face in the doorway of a home that no longer felt like anything.
I wasn't sure how long I stood there, but eventually Kenneth and the girls came home. They had ice cream in their hands and smiles on their faces that made me want to shrink up into a ball and cry even harder.
They walk past me, and a few moments later my step-father comes back.
"Where is Stella?" His guess was as good as mine.
"Gone." I whispered feeling absolutely numb all over.