The Framing

Twenty Eight.

February 15th, 2:30pm. The mall.

I was out at the mall going shopping with my mom. Originally I was supposed to do homework today, but she came into my room this morning and asked if we could have a girls day. We got our nails a few hours ago, then we got lunch, and now we're here.

"What do you think of this?" She asked and held a top over what I was wearing.

"I like it, but this isn't my size," I said and put it back.

"Okay well I need to get shoes so you can go walk around and pick out whatever you want," she said. We went our separate ways, and I continued looking at the tops they were selling. After I grabbed a few that I thought were cute, I realized just how badly I had to pee. I went over to the bathroom and hid all the stuff I had picked out behind a shelf.

After I washed my hands, I left the bathroom to get my stuff back. When I bent down to get it, I bumped into someone on the way up. I stood up straight to apologize, but then I realized it was just Thomas.

"Oh hey," he said, "what are you doing here?" He asked.

"Uhm, going shopping since this is a woman's clothing store. What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I'm here with my mom but I have no idea where she went."

"Yeah I'm here with my mom too but she's somewhere looking for shoes," I told him.

"Oh nice," he said and then paused for a moment, "... so... what's going on with you and Alex?"

"Well we both told each other that we liked each other, but that was really it. I'm honestly not sure how to take these next few steps."

"I don't think Alex knows what he's doing either," he said, "you should just ask him our point blank. He'll say yes."

"How do you know?" I asked.

"Cause he's liked you now for almost two months."

"Wait, really?"

"Yeah," he said, "you're all he ever talks about when you're not around. I'm surprised it took this long for you to find out."

"Damn," I said, "I guess I'll call him later."

"Yeah you do that," he said, "and I'll see you in school on Monday. I see my mom over there and I think she's about ready to check out."

Thomas walked away and then I took my clothing to the shoe section. I saw my mom trying a pair on, and I told her I was ready to go home whenever she was.

"Are you sure that's all you want?" She asked, looking at the clothes I was carrying.

"Yeah I'm sure," I said. She had me help her pick out a pair of shoes and then we were on our way.

I didn't say much on the ride home because I was focusing on what I wanted to say to Alex over the phone. When my mom pulled into the driveway, I helped her carry in our bags, and then I went upstairs to my room to have some privacy. I stared at Alex's contact on my phone for a few minutes because I was scared, but eventually I gathered enough courage to call him.

It rang a few times, and then I heard a click. "Hello?" He said.

"Hey what's up?" I asked.

"Not much," he said, "I was taking a nap just now."

"Oh I'm sorry is now a bad time?" I asked.

"No you're fine," he said, "I forgot to set an alarm so I'm glad you called. What's going on?"

"I wanted to talk about the note you wrote me," I said.

"Okay... what about it?"

"Well I'm honestly not sure how to say this because I've never asked anyone before, but would you want to like, go out or something?"

The next couple of seconds felt like they lasted an eternity, but finally he answered. "Yeah, sure."

"Cool," I said, "I have no idea what to say now."

"It's fine," he said, "we'll figure it out when we see each other on Monday. I don't want you to stress about it."

"Okay I won't," I said. We spoke for a few more minutes, but eventually I heard my mom calling me downstairs so I hung up and went downstairs.

"Can you put all of that away for me?" She asked and pointed to all our bags from the mall. I grabbed them and brought them up to my room. I thought about telling her about Alex and I, but I figured I should wait.

It took me a while, but eventually I was able to put all my new clothes away. I sat on my bed until it got dark outside and I started watching Netflix. I planned on doing that until I went to bed, but then my phone rang. I looked and saw it was John.

"Hey," I said.

"Hey did I get you at a bad time?" He asked.

"No I'm just chilling in my room," I told him, "what's going on?"

"It's Nate," he said.

"What's he doing this time?"

"He just sent me this long ass message and then blocked my number," he said, "check your phone I just sent it to you." I opened up iMessage and clicked on John's contact. He sent me screenshot of some long ass message that Nate must have sent to him.

Dude I can't believe you fucking told Ally that I'm telling people we slept together. I thought I could trust that you would keep that a secret, but I guess I was wrong. She's a terrible person, and I have no idea why you would choose her over me when I've been there for you more than she ever has. All I know is that one day you're both going to realize how shitty you're being right now and come crawling back to me, and when that happens, I'm not going to let you guys back into my life.

"I thought you blocked him on everything?" I said to John.

"I did. He must have sent me that from Jess' number."

"Damn that's so stupid. He said almost the exact same thing to me yesterday in the parking lot," I said.

"I can't wait to take him down," he told me.