Written in the Stars *EDITING*

Chapter 6: A Girl's Trip

On Saturday, Mia and Hazel decided to go on a mini road trip. They were going to drive an hour away and shop at the cute boutiques and eat from whatever restaurant they could at Harrisburg, the nearby town. First, they stopped at 7/11 and grabbed snacks.

"Ooh, should we get these Hazel?" Mia questioned, pointing to the Slurpee machine.

"That's a must. What about chips? It'll be hard to eat while driving but I could manage."

"Or I could just feed them to you."

"True, true. Oh, what the hell. Let's get chips, cookies, and candy," Hazel exclaimed.

At the counter, their total came to $27.45, including the gas they purchased for the trip. They spent the first half of the drive jamming to Hazel's playlist with the windows down. Avril Lavigne was turned up to full volume as the two girls screamed the lyrics. At the end of What the Hell, Hazel turned down the volume so it was background noise.

"Ok, let's spill about our dates now," Hazel squealed.

Mia rolled her eyes. "Nathan and I weren't on a date. Anyways, you start."

"Oh it was the absolute best," Hazel sighed. "We spent two hours longer on the date than what we had scheduled. I mean after the restaurant kicked us out, we sat on playground swings and talked for what seemed like forever."

"Hazel I'm so happy for you. Tell me how the night ended because I think I have an idea," Mia said in a sing-song tone.

"We kissed before parting ways," Hazel beamed, the biggest smile on her face. Both girls squealed in excitement. "Ok spill. How was football night?"

"Redwood won, which wasn't surprising. When Nathan picked me up, he said my outfit was cute and then we just talked on the way to school."

"Wait he called you cute? Can we talk about that?" Hazel hurriedly asked.

Mia held back her eye roll. Hazel read into things too much. "No girl. He called my outfit cute, not me. We pulled up to school, uh, oh he almost paid but then I reminded him about the deal. I think he cared more about Briar losing than Redwood winning."

One of Hazel's perfectly arched black eyebrows raised, "Why did he try to pay? Did he view it as a legitimate date?"

"No, I think he's just used to paying for stuff. It wasn't a real date. He did give me his leather jacket because I was cold. He was very nice. I'm going to make him my second best friend even if he doesn't want to be, just you wait."

"His leather jacket, Mia? Do you not realize the symbolism of leather jackets for bad boys?"

Mia groaned in frustration. "Hazel seriously? He's helping me out because I hired him. He's also just a genuinely nice person."

Now Hazel rolled her eyes. "Whatever, I'll drop it. For now. But I better be the maid of honor at y'all's wedding."

"I am not marrying Nathan Caldwell. You would be my maid of honor no matter who I marry though."

Hazel nodded once as she parked, "That's what I like to hear. I better be." Their conversation had the duration of the car ride to Harrisburg.

"First order of business, shopping as much as possible without our cards being frozen."

Slipping on the chunky sunglasses that she had bought because she claimed they made her look like an undercover celebrity, Hazel dramatically uttered, "Let's get this mission started."

The girls spent the next few hours entering as many boutiques and mom-and-pop shops as possible. Hazel had purchased a cute short-sleeved red dress that would "look perfect on Violet's floor" and some gold jewelry. Normally, Mia had trouble when shopping and left an entire day of shopping with only one shirt or pair of jeans. But this time, she couldn't help but think about the next few weeks. She would see a top that would work great for combatting her fears or a killer pair of shoes that she was sure would boost her confidence. After this day, she would not be using her debit card for another few weeks. Possibly even a few months.

"Ugh," Hazel groaned as she threw the newly purchased bags into the backseat of her car. Mia replicated her, being careful with the shoes, claiming they were too precious to throw around all willy nilly. "Fast food or actual restaurant?" she asked as she started the car.

Mia thought for a moment, her hand on her chin. "Let's go to an actual restaurant, I think I'm craving pasta or something," she finally decided.

At the restaurant, the two sat in a corner booth. Looking over the menu with wide eyes, Hazel excitedly traced some of the options. "Can we just order one of everything?" she begged.

Giggling, Mia shook her head. "No way, just order one thing and we can share fries."

After the young blond waiter who looked to be their age brought their food to them, the two slowly entered into a new conversation.

"I'm so tired of school," Mia whined. "I shouldn't have taken so many AP classes, I should have just taken regular classes."

"As if you would be able to function in regular classes," Hazel said with an eye roll. Continuing, she clarified, "you wouldn't be able to deal with the frustrating kids in those classes. Most of them goof off or skip. Besides, you would do the work so fast you would have nothing else to do."

"Well, that would give me more time to watch Netflix shows."

"Maybe you should spend your time making friends or doing something productive." Hazel pointed out.

Mia pouted, hurt her friend was calling her out like usual. "You and Nathan are the only friends I need."

"Speaking of him, when are you two going to go to a party." High school parties were always hotspots for information, gossip, and drama. If the two of them showed up together, danced, maybe kissed, it would lead to Mia solidifying her status as being off-limits to bullying.

Mia shrugged and took another bite of her pasta. With a sigh, she remarked that she "Still wasn't comfortable going to a party."

With a slight gasp, Hazel reached out to grasp Mia's hand that wasn't holding her fork. "Girl. Have you two kissed yet? You would have told me if you have, right?"

"No actually, we haven't. I don't think I'm ready for that yet, even though I know we need to. Enough about Nathan, when do I get to meet Violet? I have to threaten her in case she hurts you."

Retracting her hand, Hazel sipped her ice-cold Pepsi. "I'm going to be honest with you. You wouldn't be able to scare anyone. Not even a five-year-old."

"Hey!" Mia shouted. "I can be scary. In fact, I can be downright intimidating," she said while crossing her arms and putting on an angry face.

"You look like a little kid who just got told they couldn't buy a toy from the store, not scary," Hazel pointed out without hesitation.

"Whatever. Should we ask for the check now?"

When the waiter came to give them the check, he gave Mia a big smile, his green eyes shining. "Omg, he thinks you're cute!" Hazel squealed.

"No he doesn't, he was just being nice," she said while putting her card into the black check presenter.

The waiter placed a small note on the table as he took the check presenter, giving Mia and Hazel a final smile as they slid out of the booth. It was only when they were in the car that Mia glanced down at it. The note was written in black ink and said "You're cute, my name is Chris. Here's my number, feel free to text me anytime :)" with his number written below that.

"Oh, he was just being nice right Mia?" Hazel teased, starting the drive home. "Hey," she suddenly pouted, "why didn't he give me his number? Do you think he could sense that I'm a lesbian?"

Mia laughed at her friend and put the card into her wallet. Maybe she would text him but for now, she wanted to jam out to boybands with her best friend. Mia turned the volume knob and their perfectly crafted playlist full of One Direction, PRETTYMUCH, Big Time Rush, and more boybands started to play. The two girls screamed the lyrics as they drove home after a long and happy day.