Chapter 5: Shopping and Friends?
UNEDITED!!!
"Well? Do you kids have anything to say for yourselves?"
I don't think I've ever seen Jacklen as mad as she is right now. I mean, yeah, there was the time when we had the giant taco food fight, and another time when Grant and Quinn came running through the house with muddy shoes on, but not this mad. Her blue eyes were narrowed down on each and every one of us, and I shrunk further back in my seat of the couch.
"Hhm? Anyone?"
There was a cough sound made from the other end of the couch, and Jacklen whipped her head around to find Eli who was attempting to contain a smile. This is not a smiling moment!
"Is something funny that you'd like to share with the family Eli?"
Eli's smile dropped from his face, then he ducked his head down and sulked his shoulders. A second later, his head rose back up and he looked at Jacklen with big, pleading eyes. Oh my god, what is he playing at? He's totally up to something.
"Sorry mom. It's just, Cleo came to us and said she wanted to have a fun night out, so that's what we tried to do. You know, family bonding time. Together. For Cleo."
Freaking Eli! What the heck? Why in the world would he choose me to throw under the bus, oh wait, it's Eli, of course he would do that to me. I watched as Jacklen's eyes softened just a fraction, then she turned her face to me. Oh god, I'm scared. Dear lord Jesus, please-
"Cleo. Is this true?"
Behind Jacklen, I could see Eli and Dillian urging me with their eyes to just go with it, and quite frankly, I think I should. Sighing, I replied
"Yes Jacklen. I'm very sorry, I didn't intend for any of this to happen. It won't happen again."
Jacklen sighed, rubbed her face, then turned to the majority of the family and said
"It's ok. But that doesn't mean I am not initiating any consequences. Other than Jack, Chad, Quinn, Grant and Drake, you are all grounded."
There was a ripple of groans throughout the room, including me. I mean, I only have one week in California, why do I have to be grounded?
"Dallas, you're old enough to realize that sneaking out of the house while your father and I are out is a stupid idea. Blake and Colton, you too" she waved her hand as a sign of dismissal "You may all go now. The kids who are grounded, just go up to your rooms."
We all stood up, and within a minute, we were all rushing to get to our rooms. I feel so bad. Honestly, I really do. Jacklen trusts me, and she seemed so disappointed in everyone. I flopped onto my bed dramatically, but not a minute later, Jacklen's voice came on over the intercom.
"Cleo, can you please come up to my office please."
I guess you can say it was more of an order, rather than a command. Nervously, I made my way up to her office, taking the stairs slowly until I finally made it to the third floor of the house. I reluctantly placed my hand on the door nob, hesitant to walk into her office. With an ounce of courage, I walked in and took a seat in the chair in front of her desk. Jacklen's hands were folded in front of her on the desk, but then, she surprised me when her face pulled up into a wild looking grin. I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion.
"Oh Cleo, don't look so scared of me babydoll, I know for certain that you never went up to Eli and Dillian and actually asked to sneak out! That's absurd! You and I both know that Eli and Dillian are pranksters, especially Eli, and they'll do anything to get out of a 'sit and talk' situation with me."
She laughed. So I laughed. The tension was broken, and a whole weight was lifted off of my shoulders.
"So tomorrow I was thinking I would take you out to the mall so we could buy an outfit for Thanksgiving for you since it is sort of a formal event for my family. I have a lot of people come over, as you already know."
"I would love too. Thank you Jacklen."
She just smiled at me in response, then ducked her head so I couldn't see her face. When her head rose back up, her big blue eyes were glossy.
"You look so much like your mother, I can't get over it. She was so care free and always put everyone first, just like you."
I was not at all prepared for Jacklen's comment whatsoever. I guess all this time I thought I was the only one who was hurting, but I completely forgot that Jacklen was my mothers best friend, she grew up with her, shared countless of memories with her, Jacklen has been hurting too. In an act of comfort, I stood up, walked around her desk, then hugged Jacklen from behind her desk chair.
"I'm so sorry you lost your best friend Jacklen. You are such a strong person."
I hugged her for almost a full minute when I decided to pull away. She snatched a tissue up from her desk, blew her nose, then said
"Thank you Cleo, that really meant a lot to me."
After that, I walked out of her office and back down to my room where I proceeded to write in my journal about the crazy events that happened tonight.
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The next day I woke up with a smile on my face, happy that I was to be going shopping with Jacklen. After breakfast, I went on a quick morning jog, only running about a mile or so, then went up to my room to take a shower.
Turning off the shower, I stepped out, looking into the fogged up mirror, then reaching and wrapping my towel around me. I squeezed my hair out, making sure it wasn't going to drip down my back, then opened the bathroom door to my room.
"Oh my god Colton, really? Get out."
I completely forgot how many gazillion times I always find Colton laying on my bed with his arms crossed behind his head, waiting for me once I was finished taking a shower. His brown hair was rumpled up I a messy but cute way, and it made my heart ache so much. It's still hard to believe that we aren't together anymore. He pushed himself off my bed and said
"You know we're leaving in like ten minutes, right?"
I rose my eyebrows, then crossed my arms over my chest.
"We? Who said anything about we? I have plans to go shopping with your mom today, sorry."
"Yeah, those plans include me. I need new clothes for the Thanksgiving dinner party."
Dear lord, you have got to be kidding me! Can I ever catch one stupid break in life? All I want is to get away from Colton and to move on, but how am I suppose to do that if he is literally right by my side? Sighing dramatically out loud, I just replied
"Well, if you get out of my room, then I can get ready."
<<<<<<>>>>>>
I smirked slyly at her, then stalked out of her room and into my own. That was the only other way I knew I could spend some sort of time with her. I may have sort of eavesdropped on her and my mom when she got called upstairs to the office. Well, the main reason was so I could save her from getting in trouble if my mom was mad at her for any reason, but then when I heard they were going shopping today, I had to come up with some excuse as to why I needed to go with them.
So, I spoke to my mom, who was really reluctant to agree to take me shopping with her, but she hates it when my brothers and I don't meet up to her standards when it comes down to impressing her side of the family at dinner parties, so she agreed. To be honest, I don't even need new clothes, I just needed an excuse to get close to Cleo. God I miss her so much. The saying 'you don't realize what you have until it's gone' is completely true, and I regret everything I ever said to Cleo that made us break up, I don't know what the hell was wrong with me, all I know is that I love her so much, and I need her back in my life.
Ten minutes later, Cleo and I piled into the back of my moms black Porsche. I guess you could say that the ride over to the mall was sort of awkward. Cleo and my mom attempted at small talk, but the tension in the backseat was as thick as mercury. Thankfully, ten minutes later, we arrived at Sunset Mall. After we parked, we all hopped out and began our trek to the double door entrance of the mall.
"Let's find you some clothes first, Colton, then we will find an outfit for you Cleo."
I normally just let my mom pick out the formal clothes for me, but I input my opinion every once in a while if I really hate what she chooses. Walking into Macy's, my mom immediately walked over to the men's section and picked out a buttoned down collared shirt, dark denim skinny jeans, white vans...and a bow tie. Every time! She knows I hate bow ties, but every Thanksgiving, she just keeps insisting that I wear one. Throwing the clothes into my arms, she dragged me over to the dressing rooms and shoved me in a stall, mumbling for me to hurry and try the clothes on. Once they were on, I rolled my eyes at the way the garbage green bow tie looked on me. Stepping out, I placed the most ugliest look on my face.
"Oh Colton, quite with the sulking face, you look adorable in that bow tie!"
"Are you kidding mom, it looks like a baby barfed on my neck and produced this bow tie!"
I was actually surprised when I heard Cleo giggle a small laugh in the chair in front of me. I watched as she attempted to cover it up with her hand, but I saw it anyways.
"Come on Colton, please just wear the bow tie!"
"No mom. I hate them, you know that."
"Alright, alright, fine, no bow tie. As for the rest of the outfit, it looks great, but I'm not exactly sold on the plain grey shirt. Hhm. What do you think Cleo? What other shirt?"
Cleo but her lip in concentration, looking way too adorably cute, then responded
"A blue one. Um, it brings out his blue eyes" her response was quiet, almost like she was too afraid to say what she said.
"Perfect! Alright Colton, get dressed back into your other clothes, I'll just buy you that same shirt in blue instead of grey."
I got dressed, then we left Macy's to go find Cleo an outfit. We ended up walking into Abercrombie and Fitch. I just sat at one of the chairs by the fitting rooms, until ten minutes later, Cleo came walking by me with my mom. My mom sat next to me as Cleo went into one of the stalls. Leaning over, my mom whispered
"Your welcome."
Turning to look at her, I questionably raised my eyebrows and said
"For what exactly?"
"For making sure she picked only blue dresses to try on so she could secretly be matching you at the dinner party."
I just rolled my eyes, but secretly, I wanted to kiss my mother on both cheeks for how sneaky she was. A minute later, Cleo hesitantly stepped out of the stall in a beautiful knee length summer dress. It was the same blue color as my shirt, but the way it fit on her looked so good.
"I'm not sure about this one. Do you like it?"
"It's perfect."
I know the question was actually intended for my mom to answer, but I couldn't help myself, she just looked so beautiful in it. She looked shocked that I responded first.
"Well Cleo, Colton spoke my mind, you look amazing. I don't even think you should try on the other dresses."
"Ok, I agree, I guess the more I look at it, the more I end up liking it."
I watched amusedly as Cleo twisted her hips from side to side, watching the bottom of the dress twirl around her. She walked back I to the changing room. My mom bought the dress, the stated that it was a must that Cleo got new shoes, so we ended up going into Charlotte Russe looking for heels. Eventually, they finally found a pair of tan wedges that made her look much taller than her petite frame of body, but her legs looked so good in them, I didn't complain.
"Ok well, I think that's all the shopping we need for now, right?"
My stomach growled right in the middle of her sentence.
"Mom?"
"Yes Colton?"
"I'm hungry."
"How did I know you were going to say that? Can't you just wait until we get back to the house?"
"Nooo, please?"
I smiled as my mom swung her purse over her shoulder and began walking towards the food court. About halfway there, I saw from my peripheral vision, Cleo stopped walking and approached the window of a store. Curious, I followed her and noticed that her face showed one of confusion, then she perked up and practically ran into the store. She approached a guy, probably about my age and went up to him and hugged him! Whoa whoa whoa, what just happened? Narrowing my eyes down, I rushed into the store and stood right next to Cleo who was in the middle of talking to the guy who actually looked quite familiar.
"I didn't know you would be here in California the same time as me."
"Yeah, for Thanksgiving."
They continued on with their little chit chat, and I was beginning to get annoyed. I cleared my throat, cause Cleo's head to whip over to me, almost seeming like she didn't even know I was standing next to her in the first place.
"Oh! Colton, you remember Kale, right? From camping?"
Oh, that's where he is from, now I remember him. I curtly nodded my head, which resulted in a really awkward silence before Kale said
"Alright, well, it was nice seeing you Cleo. I'll see you in Florida?"
"Yeah, yeah, see you then."
My temper rose when she leaned in for another hug, this one lasting a bit too long for my liking, so I grabbed onto her arm muttering
"Okay, time to go now."
I dragged her out of the store and around the side of a corner.
<<<<<<>>>>>>
Colton's strong hand grabbed onto my arm, and the next thing I know, he was dragging me out of the store and up against a wall. His hand was still gripped on my arm, and it irritated me, so I yanked it out of his grasp making him narrow his eyes at me.
"What the hell was that Cleo?!"
He was fuming. Literally. His hands were curled into fists by his sides, and his cheeks were tinted pink with anger. Crossing my arms over my chest, I said
"What?"
"Don't bullshit me! He was all over you Cleo, and he goes to the same college as you?"
Rolling my eyes at his possessiveness, I snapped
"Oh get over it Colton. We're just friends, and even if he did like me, it shouldn't worry you because we aren't together anymore, so it doesn't matter, I can do what I want with other guys now."
His blue eyes intensified, and then his arm came crashing into the wall next to my face, making me flinch. I know it was just a reaction to what I said, and I know Colton would never, ever lay a hand on me, he's just angry. He leaned down so we were both eye level, and I could smell his minty breath as he said
"Don't. Ever. Say. That. Again. Just the thought of another guy touching you, or you doing other things with guys makes me want to punch everyone of those guys in the goddamn face."
I but my lip as I watched him push off of his hand and stormed away. My breathing was ragged and hard, and I felt flustered in an uncomfortable way. The effects Colton has on me is just way too intense. Pushing off of the wall, I made my way towards the food court.
******************************************
After we got home from the mall, I went up to my room and hung up my dress. The lunch we had at the mall was awkward because Colton did not once look at me. Currently laying on my bed, there was a sudden knock on my door.
"Come in."
I was surprised to see Colton walk through looking hesitant.
"Wow, I'm actually surprised you knocked on the door instead of just rudely barging in here" I sat up on my bed, sitting criss cross.
Colton sighed a small sigh, then sat sort of next to me on the bed, but not too close. He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck for a couple seconds, a sure sign that he felt slightly uncomfortable.
"I want to apologize for the way I acted earlier...it was wrong of me and outright wrong. I'm sorry. I know we aren't together anymore, so I have no control over what you do with other people."
He hung his head in shame, and he really surprised me. I never imagined he would apologize for what happened earlier, so in a way, I'm actually impressed. But the next thing he said surprised me even more.
"Can we just start over? Not relationship wise, just friendship wise. Can we at least act like good friends and be friends again?"
My eyebrows rose so high, I actually thought they disappeared. What do I say to that? Should I agree? Should I not agree? Without even thinking, I blurted
"Okay."
Colton's head snapped up so fast, it looked like he could have gotten whiplash.
"Okay? Really?"
I shrugged my shoulders in a casual manner and replied
"Yeah. As long as we're just friends. I can't deal with anything more at the moment."
"Okay, I promise."
Colton's grin after was so large and filled with happiness, I couldn't help but not return it.
"Hey, do you want to go jump on the trampoline?"
"Colton, it's ten o'clock at night."
"So? Come on, YOLO."
Rolling my eyes, I jumped off my bed.
"Why not. Let's go."
Once we got outside, we both sprinted to the trampoline and crawled through the net opening. We jumped for a long time, it was actually very calming, but then after a while, I got tired, so I jumped onto my butt and just kept bouncing until I eventually slowed down and laid all the way down. Colton flopped down next to me and he said
"So how's the college life?"
And that's how the conversation started. I told him everything that's been happening and how I like the college but don't exactly love it. It's weird though, because earlier today I really disliked Colton and did everything I could to avoid him, and now we are gossiping about out college life. After an hour, I think Colton could tell that I was getting tired, so he hopped up and reached his hand out to me.
"Come on, let's go back inside."
I grabbed onto his hand, and he helped me up. We made our way inside, but Colton stopped walking when we entered the kitchen.
"I want a snack. Let's eat Nutella."
He grabbed two spoons, then walked towards the food cabinet. I tried to follow him, but he stopped me.
"Ah ah ah, you don't get to see where I hide my hidden stash of Nutella. You're lucky I'm even letting you have some."
I laughed at his remark, then waited for him to return with the chocolate hazelnut goodness. He opened the lid, then we both dug right in. A minute later, I felt gooey stuff land on my nose, and I crossed my eyes to see Nutella on it. I brought my spoon up and swiped it on his cheek in a playful manner, giggling when he made a pouty face. Then, he tilted his head back and sneezed so loud I swear the whole house shook! I laughed, throwing my head back because it was just too darn funny.we both were laughing our head off when the lights to the kitchen flicked on, and Jacklen's body stepped into our view.
"What is going on in here? It's almost one o'clock in the morning!"
Colton and I both snapped our mouths shut, but we were still grinning. She must have just realized it was us because her eyes widened a fraction and then she splurged
"Oops, never mind, I'll go back to bed now. Clean up when you're done."
The lights flicked off, and she scurried away. Colton looked at me and said
"I have no idea what in the world just happened."
We laughed again, then decided to clean up our mess. After that, we both went up to bed.
I crawled into my bed, for once I was actually happy and content. Colton and I are on good terms for now, and I hope it stays that way.
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Weeeeeeeeeee-eeeeeeeeee! There you guys go, chapter 5! I hope you enjoyed it, I tried to make it some what interesting. Thanksgiving is next, that chapter will be uploaded this Sunday, so stay tuned :)))
What do you guys think so far?? Are you still upset about Cleo and Colton not being together? Do you like Kale or nah? What do you want to happen? Comment!!!--->>>>
This chapter is unedited!!!
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