I'd finally bought into Emily's constant pestering and let her take us dress shopping for the winter gala after school.It was a Friday night and going to the mall would probably be one of the most stereotypical teenage things to do.But then again it was better then being at 'crazy,wild party'.
"This one would look great on you."Emily says pushing minty green dress my way.
"This and the other seven you've practically thrown at me."I retort taking in just how many dresses I already had resting on my forearm.
"Meanwhile,I still haven't found a single dress that makes me look good."She sighs her shoulders sulking not before they perk up again when she moves to another rack full of colorful dresses.
Her fingers work on sliding down the fabric of a light lilac colored dress.The silk slid down her fingers smoothly and the lustful look coated on her face told me she'd found it.But if you were in my shoes and had to watch her go through six stores for the past three hours trying to find the one dress.You'd know that she's made that face for practically every other dress she's seen today.
"Is this pretty?"She asks me taking the hanger off the rack and holding the dress in front of her.
I nod my head praying to the stars this was the dress that she'd buy.
"I'm gonna go try it on."She says before running to the dressing rooms.I follow after her before plopping down on one of the seats they had in front of the dressing room.I take this time to go through my phone.
Freddie had made the mistake of leaving his bedroom door open when he went to take a shower after he came home from practice and I'd taken the opportunity to sneak in and snatch my phone back from him.And since then I haven't been away from my phone.
I start scrolling through a few messages seeing two from Alex and the rest from a few classmates asking for what the homework was.
"Well?"Emily steps out of the dressing room.She'd worn the floor length dress over her jeans and even then it made her look flawless.
"It looks great on you."just like every other dress you've tried on.I hold my tongue back smiling at her.
"Are you sure?"She asks.
"Do you like it?"I ask her.
"Yeah,I like it."She shrugs spinning around in a circle.
"Good cause I'm tired,"I groan standing from my seat.She walks back into the he dressing room and changes back into her regular clothing.
"Let's go,it's getting late."
"We aren't done yet!"She tells me.
"What do you mean?"My eyebrows crinkle up in confusion.
"We still haven't found a dress for you."She explains and my eyes go wide.
"How about.."I pause for a second my eyes scampering the dresses we were surrounded by before landing on a certain one in the distance."that one."I say briefly before dropping the dresses I was previously holding onto the vacant chair and making my way over to what caught my gaze.
"It's black."Emily immediately responds.
"It matches my soul."I say without thinking to dazed by how the gold rhinestones embroidered on the waist ban of the dress.It's sleeves were long and detailed with the golden gems again.The dress flowed between my fingertips and the softness and the silky material captivated my emotions.
"You look like your eye fucking that dress."Emily infers from my side.I don't respond but instead bring my face to the neck line.The curved neck line didn't show up much of much of the skin underneath.And it was perfect.I turn the dress around and gaze at the deep cut back that without a doubt would bring attention to the skin underneath.
"I want it."I think out loud letting. My thoughts be heard.
"The cash registers this way,child."And with that I let Emily guide me to the check out line.
After leaving the shop with neutral tones pink shopping bags containing not our dresses in our hands I was ready to sprint to the food court when Emily went rambling about how amazing the gala was going to be.
"I'll probably be running around the whole time cause in part of the committee."Emily goes on.
"Then who am I supposed to be with when your not near?"I ask,Emily and I were both dateless and had a plan to go together but if she's going to just ditch me I don't want to look like a loser.
"You've got a mouth,use it."She says briskly before stopping in her tracks."I almost forgot."She nearly shrieks.I stop along side her glancing at her in confusion.
"What's wrong?"I ask still unsure why she stopped us from walking.
"Shoes."Emily breathes out."we forgot to get shoes."
"You have enough heels to last you a life time."I pull at her sleeve heading towards the escalator.
We head doesn't the flight of moving stairs and land on the first floor.My eyes almost immediately land on the food court.
"I'm starving lets go."Emily whines and this time it was her who grabbed my sleeve.
After finishing a bowl full of nachos and slurping down a slushy the same size as my head the only thing I wanted was a nap.
"Hey,"Emily whispers ducking her head down slightly.I look at her moving my line of sight from my phone to her face."do you know those guys?"She asks me nodding her head in the direction behind me.I turn around slowly before meeting eye to eye with two buff men.They kept a cold and crucial look on they're faces but didn't bother looking away when I caught them watching me.
"yeah,"I whisper softly feeling like I swallowed needles.The two men were at the last booth at the diner last time I saw them.I look away from them and turn back to Emily.
"I've been seeing them all day."She says slurping at her drink.My heart begins to fasten is pace.
"What do you mean?"I ask my voice still a whisper.
"When we were walking around earlier,"She begins to explain,"I saw them walking on the the other side,they kept staring at our direction and I didn't think much,but then I saw them again when we were at the shop they kept passing by but wouldn't walk in."She admits before taking a bite from her pizza."it's kinda creepy."She says quickly after swallowing.
"We should get going."I tell her still feeling their eyes on my back and with Emily continuing to gaze in the direction behind me I could tell they were still there.
We throw away the scraps and carry the remainder of our drinks with us as we walk out of the shopping mall and head towards the parking lot.
I don't glance in the direction the two men were watching but made a mental note to ask Alex of it the next time I see him.
Speaking of Alex,I haven't seen him at all today,he wasn't in the cafeteria this morning when I went to go work on the props for the play and he wasn't in chemistry either.
We enter my car which I had parked a good distance away from the mall.Slipping our bags into the back seats and then putting our drinks into the coasters before I finally pull out of the parking spot.
The radio played as background music while I drove and Emily continued to type letters into her phone at rapid speed.
"Who are you texting?"Ask her slowing down at a red light.I take this time to acknowledge the smile she had beaming on her face as her eyesight remained locked on the phone screen.
"You know Mavin?"She asks me looking at me for a good second before going back to her phone,"He's part of student government."She goes on.
"Are guys gone be a thing?"I asks wiggling my shoulders in a playful motion.
"Probably not,"She sighs finally looking up from her phone."But I do think he might want to take me to the gala."She says looking out her window.
"Wait,we were supposed to go together."I remind her.
"Well whether you go with me or not I'll still be running around the whole time."She reminds me.
"Okay,but if he does ask you out;I don't wanna go with you too as some weird third wheel."I inform her before making a left and landing on her street.
"Then you better start looking for a date."She breaths.
"And where exactly am I supposed to find one?"I ask her my eyes rolling without me even controlling it.
"Maybe you could go with Dylan."She offers.
"Dylan dumped me for Samantha;why would he ask me to the gala?"I stop in front of the car in front of her home.
"Well you know,"She paused briefly and grabs her bag."Stranger things have happened."and with that she opened the passenger side door and exits my vehicle."I'll call you later."She says before closing the door.
"Bye Em"I give her a small wave before driving off into the direction of my home.I luckily only lived a block down from Emily's place which made it quite quick for me to park my car and grab my bag and get into my home.
🐢
I'd hooked the dress on a hanger and left it in the side of my closet door.Id be lying if I said I didn't catch myself staring at it every other second.I was practically obsessed with the dress and yet I still haven't tried it on.
"I over heard Dylan and Samantha today during lunch."Emily speaks through the phone.Shed called a good five minutes ago and it had been a good three hours since I got home."they were like fighting and stuff."She goes on.
"All couples fight."I tell her,I was lying on my bed my body thrown over my blankets with my left leg bent and resting against the wall that my bed was pushed against.
"Yeah,but they were sounding like they were going to take a break."She continues on."O think Dylan might want to come crawling back to you."She theorizes.
"What if I went blonde?"I ask quickly not wanting to talk about Dylan anymore.
"How do you get the idea of going blonde from me talking about Dylan?"She asks her voice flooding with suspicion.
"It was just a random idea that popped in my head."I explain when in all honestly I had no intention of dying my hair blond.
"Well,don't do that your eyebrows won't match."She explains.
"I mean,"I pause before deciding to go on with the conversation."I could dye my eyebrows too."I ponder.I hear a gain gasp from Emily before she disagrees.
"Dying eyebrows is the leading cause of no eyebrows."She overdramatizes,"do you want your eyebrows to fall off?!"She exclaims before I nearly burst out laughing at how serious she was taking this.
"You're right Em,"I call out,"hey I'll talk to you later."I finish feeling like my arm was about to cramp if this conversation continues.
"Alright I'll talk to you later."She says before we hang up.
i lay there for a moment before finally taking in a deep breath and shuffling off my bed.
"Guess I won't be wearing you after all."I breath ready to place the dress in my closet along with the rest of my clothes.
I can't help but let my fingers slide down the fabric.Emily and Mavin had decided to officially go together making me dateless which also meant I probably wouldn't be attending the gala either.
With one last overview of the dress I begin to remove its hanger from the hook on my closet door to put it inside of my rack.But instead I hear a knock at my window.
My whole body freezes up.My eyes going wide as I immediately halt at the sound.I turn around slowly leaving the dress on my closet door.
I nearly let out a sigh in relief when I catch Alex's reflection through the window.I walk over to the window and open it up and let him in.
"I stopped by the coffee shop and you weren't there."He says closing the window behind him.
"I don't work Friday's."I tell him just as he turns around.My eyes glazing over his face before locking on his lips.
"What happened to your lip?"The words spew out of my mouth before I can register what I'm saying.He stands in my room taking a overview like he did the last time he was here.I take in the bruise around his lips and the part on his lip right next to the bruise where his lip was bleeding,not enough for blood to be dripping out of it but enough for a flash of red to be seen.
"Don't worry,I'm still kissable."He chuckles walking deeper into my room.
"That's not what I asked."I roll my eyes turning around to face him again only to find his back turned towards me.
"Is that for the homecoming dance?"Alex asks me turning to face me while his thumb pointed behind him to the dress.
"It was supposed to be."I tell him my eyes still locked on his bruise."was it the guys from the diner?"I ask him bringing the question back to how he got hurt.
"No,"he says briskly."are you not going anymore?"He asks steering the conversation back to the gala.
"I was supposed to go with Emily but she ended up getting a date."I explain walking forward not sure of what to do with myself.
"Mavin."He mutters under his breath.
"How'd you know?"I ask,I hadn't told him who Emily's date was and unless he was stalking Emily he shouldn't know either."is he the one that-"He stops me from going on.
"No,he's not."He interjects before going on"I was with Mavin when he asked her."He tells me"it was over text message,how classy?"He snickers rolling his eyes.
"Are you going to tell me who did this to you?"I ask him my shoulders real easing the Renton they held.
"Go to the Gala with me."He ignored my question and instead spits out and order.
"Why would I do that?"I ask raising a brown at him.He turns to face my finally and when out eyes meet I feel a thousand butterflies burst inside my stomach.
"Because you were planning on going anyway."He says.
"Plans can change."I argue smirking.He takes this as a gesture to continue on.
"The world should be able to witness you in that dress."He argues again.
"I could always save it for junior prom."I feel my smirk turn deeper taking a more playful aspect.
"Prom is next year."He fires back."Let me take you to the dance."He offers again."we can go as just friends if that helps you sleep at night."He continues a twinkle in his eyes telling me he was desperate for a yes.
"Fine."I finally cave,my that I didn't want to say yes at the very thought of the idea."but just friends."I confirm.
"Just friends."He nods his head in agreement.
Just friends.Always just friends.Always.
"Where is everyone?"He finally asks as a silence begins to settle I tot he room.He moves back and takes a seat at the chair by my desk.I follow his actions resting myself on the side of my bed before answering.
"My moms working late and Freddie's as some house party or something."I allow him to know.
"She's overworks herself."Alex thinks out loud telling me what I already now to well."it's a trait you've picked up from her."He continues I look up at him moving my gaze from my carpet,only to find he'd already been looking at me.
"What does that mean?"I ask confused I didn't work nearly as much or as hard as my mother did.
"Do you really think I don't notice?"He asks as if I were hiding something from him.I go to ask what he was talking about but instead he just continues keeping eye contact.
"You work nearly every day of the week."He starts.
"I only work five days."I tell him but he only ignores my words.
"And you stay till closing and when you aren't supposed to stay till closing you still stay beyond the hours of your shift."He goes on.
"Sometimes I need to cover for others,it's not my fault."I argue.
"Your still overworking yourself."He exclaims.
"I have time on my hands,"I try to defend."Consuming myself in my job is probably the best thing for me right now."I go on still not sure what the point of this argument was.
"You could do so many other things in the time you don't spend working extra."He goes on.
"What are you going at?"I finally ask him.
"I'm trying to figure you out."He finally admits.
"By nagging about my job?"I ask him cocking my head to the right.
"You look tired."Alex acknowledges his voice soothing.His eyes moving from one side of my face to the other.
"It's been a long week."I murmur throwing my head back.
"And it's not over yet."He reminds me.To which I let out a groan of disapproval.
"Don't remind me."I whine.
"To late,I already did."Alex jokes and in reply I throw one of my throw pillows in his direction.
He moves his head to the side and the pillow lands lazily on my desk before tipping over and falling.With it fell my chemistry worksheets that were meant for homework.
Alex bends over picking up the papers and the pillow.He throws the pillow back at me but keeps the papers in his hands.His hands looking over the markings on it.
"You still have the same bad habits."He says softly.Before he turns the papers around so I can see it.
"What are you talking about?"I ask all I saw was the questions written in times new roman and my handwriting along with it.
"The doodles along the sides."He says bluntly before putting the papers back on my desk.
"Well you know what they say."I start."Some bad habits never change."
~•~
GUYS!
This chapter is over 3000 words long,so if you ever feel like you aren't loved then fuck you cause I work hard to update daily for you and if that isn't love then I don't know what is.
Anyways!
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Hope you enjoyed and be sure to keep an eye out for more updates.
I might be updating less frequently because I have school starting again soon so sorry in advance!
With love,
-anj