Birthday

3:12 p.m.

3:12 p.m.

She's a little annoyed that she and Hartley had been on their feet since literally 8:30 a.m., but she doesn't particularly feel like spoiling Hartley's mood now, even if she is the birthday girl. She glances at her phone, and just on cue, her stomach rumbles. "Are we done yet?" she grumbles to Hartley, who's comparing two pairs of jeans that look exactly the same.

"Of course not," Hartley says, rolling her eyes. "Shopping trips always take over three hours. Thought you knew."

"Yeah." Mila fiddles with a shirt hanging on a rack nearby. "Yeah, it would have been a little less boring if we were shopping for me and you, not just you."

"Sorry, Mi." Hartley places the jeans back down on the display. "I know this isn't exactly your dream birthday." She sighs. "I wish I could get you something better, but..."

"Yeah, it's my birthday, whatever." Mila resists the urge to roll her eyes. "Don't worry about it. Although you should at least feed the birthday girl so she doesn't starve to death."

Hartley rolls her eyes now. "Yeah, this birthday girl has no patience whatsoever. But fine, I'll take both and we'll head by the food court. I thought I bought you a smoothie already."

Mila grabs the shirt off the rack. Why not? The two head toward the checkout counter, where, thankfully, there isn't a line. "Yeah, you bought me that smoothie at ten. Five hours ago. I'm not trying to be anorexic, you know, although losing weight was one of my New Year's resolutions."

"That didn't end up well. It's way over half-way through the year and you've made, like, no progress," Hartley remarks as they move a spot up in line. Mila scowls playfully at her. With a shrug, Hartley adds quickly, balancing her clothes over her arm, "I mean, at least your cousin Hailey ended up with her boyfriend again. I heard from her recently; is it true that they're getting married soon?"

"You text my family members more than I text them." Mila steps in front of Hartley in line when the clerk signals for them to move forward to checkout. "What?" she says when Hartley sends her a dirty look. "Anyway, those are just rumors. Half the family hasn't even met the guy yet although Hailey tells me he's hot."

Hartley shrugs. "Well, I'd love to meet him. You know I go for the older guys."

"Yeah," Mila says although her mind is drifting off. I certainly don't go for the older guys, she thinks vaguely. Luke...

So far, Luke's wrong. Mila and Hartley haven't stumbled upon anyone from their school yet, and Mila intends for matters to stay that way. Something inside her wants to see him after that stupid perverted comment, but maybe it isn't wise. After all, Hartley isn't blind, and Mila doesn't want her to make a scene on her birthday, out of all days. And with school coming up in just a few weeks, Mila can't stand any drama that she can avoid in the first place.

"Hey, where's your head today?" Hartley taps Mila's shoulder as they're steadily approaching the food court on the third floor of the mall. They push past the other giggling teenagers, whom Mila doesn't recognize. Hartley glances at their bags. "Abercrombie and Fitch, ugh."

"On my shoulders, thank you very much. I don't think I'll be executed any time soon." Mila plays with her phone in her pocket. She thinks someone has texted her—or maybe she's just hearing phantom phone notification noises. She can't really tell anymore.

"Oh, shut up." Hartley glances by the movie theater. "Some good movies are out right now. Wanna see one after we grab some lunch?"

Mila pushes past her best friend. "Some food is long overdue."