Off Limits [c.h.]

Car radio

Leaving school grounds is probably one of the best feelings in the world. Don't get me wrong, getting an education and learning is great, but school ... sucks. Sure, I have friends and I don't get teased or bullied. But school still doesn't appeal to me.

The time has just passed 3:15pm and I'm heading out to the school parking lot with my friends Kelly and Jonathan to get a ride downtown. Even though all three of us has a driver's licence, Jonathan's the only one with a car.

"Are you sure you can't join me?" I ask Kelly as I get into the middle of the back seat, pouting slightly at her.

"I wish I could," Kelly sighs, running a hand through her short, dark hair. "But I need to work on my history paper, and I've got rehearsals at six." You can tell that Kelly's a dancer from just looking at her. Even though she's not very tall, she's still slim and smooth, and she's probably stronger than most people I know.

"Yeah, good luck by the way. Not that you'll need it." I wink at her and turn my head to look at Jonathan. "Jon, what about you? Can't you join me?"

"And be your fashion advisor? No thanks." Jonathan laughs and starts the car, leaving the parking lot. Kelly turns up the volume on the radio and we start singing along to the familiar tunes of Ed Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud".

After a ten minute drive, Jonathan stops the car outside one of the many malls in the area so I can get out. It's one of the only days I can shop (or, as I also like to call it, drool over clothes and cry over the price), so I'd rather do it alone than not do it at all.

I wave as the car drives away before going inside the cool building. I catch a glimpse of myself in the window of a toy store just as I enter. My uniform is hidden under my thin coat and my thick, light brown hair is braided in a French braid. Having my hair pulled back fits me, I'd rather have it braided or in a ponytail than loose around my head.

The mall isn't too crowded, but there's still a lot of people in every clothing store I enter. Even though I love shopping, I'm not very good at it. I walk around the shop a bit, running my hands over the clothes and checking the price tags and then walking out. I don't spend a lot of time in every shop, which is effective in the long run. In less than 20 minutes I've gone through three shops, and I'm already getting slightly bored. i find a cute top at Topshop, which brightens my mood a bit.

I'm about to get up the escalator to the second floor of the mall when I see a familiar figure in one of the shops. Calum is walking around in there, carrying what seems to be a box of old vinyls. I look up and look at the logo of what must be the music store where he works.

After a minute of hesitation, I change my direction and enter the shop. It's bigger than it looks from the outside, but not much. There's a handful of people in there, the majority of them in their late twenties or early thirties. I can't imagine a lot of teens or young people in general coming here, since most of us have the music we need in our phones or other technological devices.

I try to act natural and not like I went in there just because Calum works here, more like I'm actually looking for an album or a vinyl. I head over to the rock section, looking at the number of albums and EPs on the shelves.

As I shuffle through a bunch of albums with my fingers, I glance up and notice Calum looking over at me. The realisation that he's noticed me sends shivers of nervosity through my body and makes me lose control of my muscles. I draw my hand away from the shelf, accidentally knocking down a few records in the process. They hit the floor with a loud, crashing sound, and everyone stops what they're doing to look over at me.

I blush furiously and dive down behind the shelf to pick up the albums from the floor and put them back in their original position. I'm too budy trying to become invisible that I don't notice the figure coming towards me until he crouches next to me and says "hi Nina".