"Girl, that is cute," Aria exclaimed with a little squeal when I showed her the intricate blouse that was held together by flimsy straps. Shopping with Aria meant discount stores, but I didn't mind, I was getting to spend the entire day with my best friend. I would trade that over spending the day at my house any day. Even though Aria had known me for a little over ten years she only knew what I allowed her to.
There wasn't any shame in my game, so she did know about some of the men I messed with, but I kept the intimate details to myself. A part of me feared that she would judge me even though I knew she had the sweetest personality ever and would never do such a thing. It was.. complicated.
Aria snapped a finger in front of my face trying to get my attention. I must have zoned out. We made our way up to the till with the clothes we had just hand selected sprawled out in a shopping cart. Aria pushed the trolley while she spoke. "I forgot to tell you," she began, speaking slowly. Uh oh. Whatever she was about to say, I knew I wouldn't like it.
"I have to do a double shift today. I need the money," she finished looking anywhere but at me.
My heart broke in two. I hated that she was struggling for money and didn't think to ask me for help. I felt slightly offended.
We were now at the till so she handed the clothes to the less than pleasant cashier who began to ring everything up.
"How much do you need?" I asked, a little upset with her.
She turned her liquid brown eyes on me and I wished I could read her expression better. She blinked. "Pandy, it's fine. I don't want to bother you."
Was this bitch crazy?
I wanted to scream at her. I could make in one day what it would take her two weeks to make. She was being stupid. Refusing my help when she was struggling. A rude remark sat at the tip of my tongue but I swallowed it. I didn't want to ruin her day even though she had shattered mine.
Maybe if she had an actual boyfriend, she wouldn't be in the predicament of having to work two shifts right now. I loved the girl but she was a little dense around the brain area.
I mean, it was so simple. She looked good enough, so I didn't understand why she couldn't just find a man to pay her bills. I huffed.
"That will be $204.98," the cashier drawled out in a monotonous voice. Gosh, I wanted to slap her as well.
I handed the cashier my card and paid for everything despite Aria's protests. I knew that her measly salary wouldn't have been able to afford all of this plus have enough left over.
The cold air nipped our skin as soon as we were outside. Instinctively, I pulled my black Burberry diamond quilted jacket tighter around me, trying to shut out some of the glacial air. It was freezing. People around us hustled along eager to get out of the cold to find warmth. Or maybe they just had somewhere urgent they needed to be.
"Why don't you want me to help you?" I asked, hating that my voice came out whiny.
She looked anywhere but at me. "Pandy, I told you, it's fine. Save your money or sumn."
She was about to walk away when I grabbed her arm. "I'm your best friend, Aria, and you're fucking struggling. What kind of friend would I be to not help you?!" I all but cried.
There was that damn annoying blink again. Her eyes pooled up and I didn't know what for. Just supposed I had actually said what I had wanted to five minutes ago.
"You don't get it!"she spat in my face," you're so selfish. All you care about is you!"
I did a double take. What? You remember when I had called her crazy earlier? Yeah, this was it.
She flung my hand from off of her and all but ran away from me. I was momentarily stunned. Not sure if she expected me to follow or not. How was I being selfish when I had just offered her help, not once but twice? She was a fucking maniac.
With quick strides I caught up with her. I wasn't about to ease up on her. "Ari, stop!" I shouted. I was within reach to grab her by a shoulder so I did exactly that.
When she whirled around to face me, I was expecting to see anything but anger registered on her face. Okay, she was acting weirder by the minute.
Let's try to attack the problem and not the person, I reasoned.
"Did I say or do anything wrong?" I asked genuinely concerned. Fuck it, I wanted to know.
If looks could kill, I would have been six foot under what with the lethal glare she just gave me.
Was this making any sense to you guys?
"I meant what I said earlier," she replied in a voice I would have never associated with her. She sounded cold and calculated. Uncaring, in a sense. "You are selfish. You only care about you. I don't know what kind of fairy tale world you're living in, but in my world, I have to buss my ass off for a decent meal and to survive. Not everyone can fuck their way around by not working like you, Pandora."
Her words knifed their way to my heart taking a jab at the already fragile pieces. Where was this coming from? This couldn't be the same person I had spent not too long ago laughing and chatting with. No fucking way, man.
I wasn't even aware that the tears were spilling unto my cheeks until I felt something dribble down to my neck. I wanted to say something but I didn't trust my voice.
She shared with me one last look of disgust before turning her brown nose up at me.
"Delete my number," she told me, climbing into a taxi.
I stood there in the freezing cold not knowing what to do.
Rude strangers bumped into me, no one even cared to so much as mutter an "I'm sorry", but I was too dazed to notice something as trivial as that.
A million questions ran through my mind. What the actual fuck just happened? What was her problem, anyway?
A thought floated around my brain and I had to squeeze my eyes shut to avoid thinking about it. But what a useless act that was. The words echoed throughout my brain nonetheless.
Did I just lose my best friend?
YOU ARE READING
Hoe Lotta Things
Romance"See, I can remember my mama telling me from I was only ten years old that a man's only purpose in life is to spend and take care of his woman. True to her words it was something she lived by. Growing up it was a sentence my three sisters lived by a...
