The rest of my week played out like the repetitive, boring, endless cycle it always does and now I'm faced with a wonderful Saturday choice to make. I can either go to the mall with Safiya for a couple hours or I can sit at home and study all day and night until Sunday Night. Going with Safiya will help kill her boredom, give me a reason to get out of the house and 'socialize,' and it will add maybe a thing or two to my wardrobe. It will also give me less time to study, I'll have to 'socialize', I might meet someone interesting that will just distract me from being a veterinarian, and it will also give me less time to just be a temporarily happy procrastinator. On the other hand, if I study I'll just stay stuck in this same old boring routine, get little to no sunlight, and probably still fail a test somewhere because I got distracted by my thoughts.
With that, I grabbed a black tank top, a white knitted throw, a pair of white bootcut jeans that fit snugly on my waist, and a pair of black off brand sneakers. I staggered into the bathroom with my clothes and a towel balled up in my arms and sat my cloth ball down on the small counter. I pulled my hair down and sighed a little when I felt it release the pressure from my head and hit the top of my butt.
After I showered and got dressed, I was going through my notes while I waited on Safiya to pull up. Her bright yellow Volkswagen Beetle pulled into the driveway with a soft hum, making me smile from ear to ear as I closed my books and shoved them back into my bag. I zipped my bag up and threw it over my shoulder before I charged out the door and into the passenger seat of her car like a deranged maniac. "Alex! You slam my door like that again and I will-" she was cut off by the sound of my window slowly rolling down. "I'm sorry, okay? I was too excited to see you and you took forever. I mean... you're half an hour late, Carol."
She rolled her eyes. "Will you stop calling me Carol?"
"Why? So you can live without having the experience of someone calling you the wrong name every single day of your life?" She put the car in reverse and backed on out into the road before she started the drive to the mall. "Okay, it only lasted six years and that was only because you never called me out on it." Nostalgia. "I had a problem with confrontation." She laughed. "You still do, just not with me."
I rubbed my hands together and looked over at her, glancing back at the road every couple of seconds. "That's not true, I snapped back at Angelica after she was unbelievably rude to me." After Safiya asking for more details, we spent the entire time driving to the mall talking about Angelica and the Stephen's Diner incident.
"I'm telling you, you're going to fall in love with a guy so hard the first time you get with one." I laughed at her remark. "I don't believe you've had your screws tightened in a long time." I shoveled a few French fries into my mouth while Safiya just stared at me with an annoyed expression plastered across her face.
"I just don't believe in true love. Even if it did exist, I'm not interested at all. Boyfriends take way too much time out of your life and every single one of them want something better than me."
She just sighed and dipped her French fry into the bowl of ketchup we had sitting between us, pointing the ketchup covered fry at me as she spoke. "That's so not true, you're absolutely beautiful and you've got a good head on your shoulders." She tossed the fry into her mouth before continuing. "Plus, any guy that is worth anything will understand that you have work and school to take care of before you worry about them." I sighed and rested my cheek against the palm of my hand. "Safiya, that just seems like it would be inconsi-."
I saw him. Sitting on a bench, holding onto four shopping bags in each hand. He had the same hazel eyes and full lips that he'd had that day in History. He wore a white polo and a pair of Levi's that hugged his hips like I wanted to hug... "Alexandria!" His head snapped in my direction and I'd be lying if I said that my breath didn't hitch in my throat.
What the hell is going on!? Is this a late double shot of puberty. I need to see a doctor. He smiled at me as soon as he had locked eyes with me and boy did it send me straight back into my trance... he started chuckling and pointing to my right. I followed where he was pointing with my eyes and my heart instantly sunk when I had come to the realization that my best friend, who I was just declaring that relationships were gross to, has just caught me drooling over a guy in the mall.
I turned around and slouched down into my chair, preparing for the absolute lecture I was about to get. I waited, and waited, then waited some more, and some more, and I'll be damned... nothing happened.
Then she just got up, grabbed our bags, and motioned for me to follow her all the way to the car. We drove all the way to my house with the music blaring... she's avoiding something... and then she stopped the car in my driveway and turned off the ignition.
We sat there quietly for a while, her hands glued to the steering wheel.
"No."
I sat motionless for a moment before I looked over at her pale face. "Why? What are you talking about?" She just stared forward, looking like she had seen the most horrifying thing in her life. There wasn't any chance of success in denying it now... "Why Safiya?" She finally broke her blank forward stare, looking me right in the eyes.
"He's Angelica's brother."
