Both Liz and I were out celebrating. Why? Because we had now entered the big bad adult world and had landed jobs.
"We're officially adults" Liz shouted out as we walked about the shopping mall.
I passed by a window which displayed a dazzling red dress, a slit at one side, looking elegant as it sat atop the mannequin. "I'm so going to buy that when I get my first pay cheque" I sighed, walking past it longingly. "I won't leave you" I whispered as I passed by.
"I can't wait to finally have loads of money and buy whatever I want" Liz squealed with delight. Liz had landed a job with the local newspaper as a journalist. It was a trainee job, but it was better than nothing.
"I'm don't think we'll have enough money to buy everything"
"But we'll have actual money to spend on actual things. Like fancy meals"
I raised an eyebrow at her "Do you think we'll give up our McDonald's trips in exchange for something fancier"
Liz pursed her lips before erupting into laughter "You're right, I don't think our tastes will change"
I shook my head at her craziness. It was nice to have a bit of extra money to spend. I was hoping to save some now for my own place eventually. Liz and I decided to celebrate by shopping for work clothes. We now needed a whole new wardrobe to accommodate our new lifestyle.
"What do you think of this?" Liz asked as she picked up a red polka dot dress.
I nodded, "That suits you. It's very smart casual"
Liz smiled, happy with my answer, and held on to the dress. "Has anything caught your eye yet?"
I shook my head "Nothing yet. I'm sure I'll come across something. I literally have no clothes at home suitable for work"
Liz smiled "Can you believe that this is actually happening? We're shopping for work clothes! For work! For our adult jobs"
"It's crazy. I'm not sure I'm ready to be an adult yet" I shuddered.
"Remember when we were kids and all we wanted to do was grow up? Now I wish I told that little girl to never grow up. It's really not that fun" she laughed.
"I think I'll always be a big kid on the inside. I refuse to grow up" I joked.
We slumped down at the table on the food court, finally glad to relieve ourselves from our shopping bags, as we relaxed and ate our food. I had managed to pick out a few pieces of clothing, which were approved by Liz of course.
"So, what's happening with you and Ian? Have you heard from him?" I asked Liz, slurping my milkshake.
"Nothing is happening. The last I saw of him was our night out at the club. We've been messaging but he hasn't asked me out" she sighed, looking to the ground.
It had been a couple of weeks since our night out and to be honest, I was still feeling the effects of that night. It was safe to say, that I would not be going out again for the foreseeable future. My partying days were truly behind me. Jeez, I really was becoming an adult.
I hated seeing Liz like this. She was normally upbeat and happy, especially when Ian was mentioned. There was a chemistry between them, it was so obvious. I believed Liz when she said she had found 'her one'. I just hoped Ian felt the same way.
"Why don't you ask him out instead?" I suggested.
Liz dropped the panini that she was about to take a bite of "Huh?"
"Why not?" I shrugged "It's the twenty first century, you should take charge and ask him out on a date"
Liz pursed her lips as she pondered over this, then nodded her head slowly "You know what, you're right. I am a fearless brave woman. I'm going to ask him out. I'm going to do this." she said as she whipped her phone out of her bag, a huge smile on her face. She stayed frozen like that for what felt like ages with her phone held in her hands looking down at her screen.
"What's the matter? Are you okay?"
"I don't think I can do this. What if he says no? I don't think I'll be able to take that kind of rejection"
"Hey. What happened to being a strong fearless woman? I don't think much has changed in the last few seconds"
Liz just shook her head and was about to put her phone back in her bag, before I threw my hands out to stop her. "You can do this. I don't think he's going to say no. I've seen the way he looks at you and he's absolutely crazy about you and if he says no, I will march over to his house and whack him on the head". That brought a smile to her face.
"He'd be stupid to reject you. I've seen the chemistry between you two and I've never seen chemistry like that except in Disney movies. You've found your Prince Charming but unlike the Disney movies you're going to have to make the first move. You're a strong independent woman who don't need no man, except in this case you want Ian, so I guess that last part doesn't apply"
Liz nodded her head as I was giving her the pep talk. "You're right, I'm going to do this". And before I could even blink, she had already sent the text.
"Wow that was fast"
"I just wanted to get it over and done with before I lost the courage to ask him out"
"I don't think you have anything to worry about" I assured her.
Liz placed her phone on the table, biting her nails as she took quick glances every two seconds at the phone screen.
"Will you stop looking at that phone" I almost screamed out and snatched the phone from her.
"Hey, give that back"
"Nope. I'll take care of this. You just make sure you finish your panini and I'll let you know if he texts back"
Liz huffed and took a bite off her food "There, happy now"
I smiled and took another sip of my milkshake. "Yes, very"
Liz kept glancing at the phone in my hand. I needed to distract her. "You've picked out some amazing clothes for your work. You're going to be the talk of the office". I knew talk of fashion would get her mind off things.
Liz rolled her eyes "I better be. I take my fashion very seriously"
Indeed, she did. Whenever we went out, she would always criticise my clothing and very rarely would I get good remarks. Liz looked me up and down, as if forgetting to criticise my clothing for today "and speaking of fashion, I'm pretty sure I remember you wearing that in high school"
"Hey "I defended, looking down at my pink flowery top. "I haven't grown much since high school, so it still fits me. And this is super comfy, it's one of my favourite tops". At least I was distracting her.
Liz just shook her head "I can't believe I'm friends with you. How did my fashion knowledge never pass onto you?"
I glared at her. "You're lucky you're my best friend, otherwise I don't think you'd be sitting here right now". Liz was about to respond until I stopped her, trying to change the subject. "How are you feeling about starting a new job? I'm feeling kind of nervous"
Liz smiled, "I'm really looking forward to it. I know it's not exactly what I wanted to do, but I know it's a step in the right direction before I start my career in fashion journalism. I know it's so tough to find jobs right now so I'm just glad that I've got something. I'm glad to get the experience before I move up in my career"
I nodded in agreement "I feel the same way. I'm still not sure what I want to do, but I'm hoping to get great experience out of this, and it will hopefully give me time to figure out what I want to do with my life career wise"
"And think of all the holidays we can go on now that we have the money" Liz grinned "This is something we've talked about since we were kids and now our dreams are finally coming true"
"To be fair, we discussed going to Disneyland when we were five" I said, raising an eyebrow.
"And I'm still up for that. A holiday is a holiday. Maybe that can be our holiday when we get our first pay check"
I laughed "Again, I don't think we'll be making that much money, especially for our first pay check, but I'm more than willing to save up for a holiday. Especially if we get to meet Mickey Mouse"
"Deal "Liz nodded. "I still can't believe this is happening to us. We are actually real working woman now" I shook my head, not quite believing this was our life now. I don't think I was ready to enter the adult world, but it had to happen at some point, didn't it? "And then, we'll be getting married, and having kids, and living happily ever after"
I rolled my eyes at Liz "That scenario seems more likely for you right now than it is for me. There is not much happening with my love life right now"
"Aww" Liz pouted "You never know, you might meet someone at work. Don't give up just yet"
I rolled my eyes "You're only saying that because you're loved up right now"
"Well, that's if Ian replies back". As if Ian was listening in that moment, her phone pinged. Her eyes widened and went to grab for the phone in my hands but I pulled it back from her so I could see the message. "Is it him? Is it Ian?"
I smiled as I saw his name flash up on the screen and nodded. I took a quick glance at the message and smiled, happy with his response before handing the phone happily back to Liz.
"Ah" Liz almost screamed "He said yes. I can't believe it"
"Well I can. I knew he would say yes, so I don't know why you were worrying"
Liz just smiled as she stared at the text. I don't think she even heard me talking. Great, it was now going to be really difficult to grab her attention. But, on the plus side, she would no longer criticise me for my fashion choices, which I didn't think was that terrible.
The text message had said yes, and he even suggested a restaurant that they could go to for their first date. She sent him a text back, her grin getting wider with every word, and placed the phone down on the table, grinning at me.
"What did you reply back?" I asked eagerly, wanting to know all the gossip.
"I said the restaurant sounded like a great idea. And that I was excited to see him again"
"Aww" I cooed. "You're so lucky to have found Ian. Now I'm just reminded of how single and lonely I am. I think I saw a pet store around the corner, I might just buy myself a cat"
"Oh, stop being so dramatic" Liz said, the grin not leaving her face. "You'll find someone, we're still young" and then proceeded to message on her phone again, probably texting Ian.
I had never been as confident as Liz when it came to relationships. Liz had had a few boyfriends in high school and a couple when we were in college, but they were nothing serious. I only had the one boyfriend in high school and the one in college which I thought, at that time, would be long term relationships but that was just my naivety playing.
"Hey" Liz looked up from her phone, her eyes wide as if she just had a light bulb moment. "How about Max? "
I shook my head "What about him? "
"Why don't you message him and ask him out on a date?"
This time I shook my head ferociously "No way. I haven't spoken to him all summer. If he wanted to message me, he would have already"
"That's exactly like Ian and me. As much as I wanted him to ask me out, he didn't, but now we're going out thanks to you, and now I think you should do the same"
"Except that you and Ian have been texting for the past few weeks, whereas I have not heard from Max whatsoever. I think he's moved on with his life, and to be honest so have I. I haven't even thought about him in the past few weeks."
Liz nodded in understanding "That's fair enough, it was just an idea. Plus, I was just trying to stop you from getting a cat, you know how much I hate cats"
I laughed, remembering her fear of cats. The memory playing in the back of my mind of the one time she came up to my house and the neighbour's cat strolled into our garden, her screams echoing throughout the neighbourhood as she ran all over the garden while the cat chased her just wanting to play.
She then gasped, as if remembering something "What about Jason? He's not going to be too happy when he finds out I'm going out with his best friend."
I had momentarily forgotten about Jason and the predicament Liz would be in. Liz really liked Ian; I could see it. I furrowed my eyebrows as I thought of a plan.
"How about you keep it quiet for now" I suggested "that way, you can determine if what you and Ian have is serious. If it doesn't end up being a serious thing, then you won't need to tell Jason and he'll be none the wiser. But if it is, then you'll tell him eventually when the time is right. But for now, I think you should take this time to get to know Ian and see how you two get along. "
Liz purse her lips as she thought this through "That makes sense. But I still feel bad about sneaking around behind Jason's back"
"But like you said, you know he's not going to be happy with both you and Ian if he finds out that you are dating. If he knows it's a serious thing and you two are happy together, then he may be happy with it. But until then, you should try to get to know Ian a lot more and see how you get on without Jason being there. I don't think you guys have ever gone out without Jason being around have you?"
"Nope" Liz shook her head "This would be the first time we would be seeing each other without Jason's presence. I think this is going to be really weird"
I laughed "That will definitely take some time to get used to"
"I really hope this works out" Liz said as if finally realising this was happening.
"I suppose you'll never know until you get there"
"I suppose so" Liz sighed. "You're right, it's no fun being an adult "
"And we've only just started" I laughed.
"Oh no" Liz gasped
"What is it?"
"This means I'm going to have to buy a new outfit for our date" she gasped, scoffing the last of her panini before shuffling out of her seat, picking up her bags. She glared at me once she realised I was not moving.
"What?" I said casually, drinking the last of my milkshake. I tried to hold in my laughter as she continued to glare at me, knowing that I was purposefully annoying her. She continued to frown at me, her attention not leaving mine. I rolled my eyes "Fine, I'm done now" I huffed as I went to follow her.
My feet ached as we trudged through one store after another. Liz had probably tried every clothing at every store and still she couldn't find anything for her first date.
"Surely there's something you can use from your wardrobe"
She scowled at me as she picked up her millionth dress. Her glare was enough to shut me up. I sat outside each dressing room, having to rate each outfit out of ten. I had to be honest, otherwise, she would know that I was lying. Each outfit she tried on looked great on her, she would even look great in a garbage bag, I would always give her outfits a nine out of ten. But she was looking for that ten out of ten outfit. So, we trudged every store, and even went back to a few, to find the perfect outfit.
As I sat waiting for her to try on her latest outfit, I played with my phone, not minding all the busy shoppers who passed me by. I eventually got bored and placed my phone down, deciding to people watch instead.
A mother was running after her child, who thought it would be fun to play hide and seek in between the clothes racks. There were a group of teenage girls, all smiling and giggling as they ooheed and ahhhed at each outfit. The staff fin the store all had smiles plastered on their faces as they ran around helping their customers.
I stared around lazily, looking around at all the pretty clothes, when a dress caught my eye. It was a red knee length dress, a flower design pattered at the bottom, with a bardot neckline, perfect for showing off Liz's shoulders. It flowed long at the back and short at the front. I smiled, thinking it was the exact dress for Liz. The closer I got to it, the more I could imagine Liz in that dress, she would look absolutely stunning in it.
I picked up the dress, really hoping she'd like it. It felt soft in my hands and I was tempted to buy it myself. But seeing as Liz needed it more, and I wanted to go home to my bed, I decided not to. Just as I turned around to head back to the dressing room, I noticed a familiar tuft of dark hair. As I moved closer, I instantly recognised him and ran to the dressing room.
"Liz" I shouted, knocking rapidly on the dressing room door.
"What? I'm almost ready, give me a second" Liz opened the door, fully dressed without the zip on her dress done up. "Oh, that's a nice dress" she pointed. I had momentarily forgotten about the dress and threw it at Liz, as I entered the room and closed the door behind me.
"What's wrong. You look like you've seen a ghost" Liz said, eyeing the dress I picked out for her.
"That's one way to put it. I've just seen Max" I screeched out.
Liz furrowed her eyebrows "Max? As in, your college boyfriend Max?"
"Yep, the one and only"
"That's so strange, considering we were just talking about him earlier on today"
I nodded "So, you can see why I am freaked out to see him here"
"I wonder if today is 'mention a boy and you shall get him' day" Liz smirked, ignoring my plea for help. "I really like Zac Efron" she spoke aloud, opened the door and looked around her "Well, that was disappointing"
"Forget Zac Efron" I screeched, pulling her back in. "I have bigger problems here. My ex is out there, and I have no idea what to do"
"Okay, first of all, breathe" she said, trying to calm me down, whilst trying on her new dress at the same time. I took a deep breath, instantly feeling lighter, and sat down on the little seat.
"What do I do?"
"Do you want to see him?" she asked.
I pondered over this. Did I want to see him? My curious side wanted to know why he was here of all places but really, I didn't want to see him again. I just knew if I did, it would be awkward. And there was nothing more I hated than awkward encounters. I shook my head "No, I definitely do not want to see him"
Liz nodded "Okay then. We'll need to get you out of here before he sees you. Is he still out there?"
I opened the door and peered out, disappointed to see him still in the store. I groaned "What is he doing in here anyway? This is so not his kind of store" I huffed and turned to Liz "Oh, that dress is amazing on you" I smiled at a now fully clothed Liz.
"It's perfect" Liz grinned, trying to twirl about in our tiny cubicle.
"Oh, don't do that. I don't want a bruised eye, thanks"
"Fine" she rolled her eyes and took off the dress "So, here's the plan. While I'm going to pay for the dress, you make a quick run for it out the store. I'll just meet you outside"
"I was hoping for something a little better than that" I mumbled.
"Beggars can't be choosers, so get out there and I'll see you outside" Liz opened the door and pushed me outside. I wasn't expecting it and stumbled out of the changing room and fell to the floor with a thump.
"Rosie, what-"with Liz tumbling behind me.
"Are you ladies okay?" a voice said from above us. I peered up to see the employee who looked at us with concern on his face, his name tag reading 'Max'.
I could feel my face heat up with embarrassment "Hey Max". So much for getting out of here undetected.
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The pic at the top is the inspiration for Liz's new dress. It's so pretty, I want it myself 😂