Away From You | Jiara

Chapter 7

I see the mall is packed when we arrive, but I wouldn't expect anything less on a Saturday afternoon. Me and Sarah separated from the boys as soon as we walked through the doors. We planned to meet up at the food court in a few hours to eat and decide what to do next. We walk past a couple stores until Sarah spots Urban Outfitters and immediately walks inside. I mainly shop online so it feels like I haven't shopped in store way longer than I'd care to admit. Shortly after we've entered the store, I spot all sorts of crop tops. You can never have too many of those... at least that's what I like to tell myself. I go through and choose 3 that I refuse to leave the store without. I have to restrain myself because we have 3 hours to kill and there's plenty more stores that Sarah will want to stop at. I see Sarah looking at some denim shorts, so I go over and see if there's anything that I'd want to buy. So far nothing has caught my attention.

"What do you think of these Kie?" She holds up a pair of high-waisted light blue denim shorts that has rips at the bottom. 

"Those are so cute. I would definitely wear them. I love ripped jeans. Actually, find one of those in my size and I'll buy a pair as well."

Sarah picks out a couple of denim shorts for herself and then we head over to the oversized t-shirts. I know we only came over here because she knows they are an essential to my wardrobe. I cannot even put into words how much I love an oversized tee. Who needs a boyfriend when these exist? I decide on two that give off a beach vibe since I miss the Outer Banks so much. Speaking of Outer Banks, I haven't talked to my mom since move in day. I suddenly hear my phone ringing and look to see my mom calling. I wait a few seconds before hitting ignore. I don't want to talk to her right now. I know she wants to hear from me, and I have a few things to get off my chest, but now isn't the time. I'm meant to enjoy my friends this weekend and I don't want anything to dampen my mood while I'm with them. I'll call her tomorrow if I think about it. 

"Who was that calling you?" Sarah asks me with a curious look on her face.

"Oh, just my mom. I'll call her later," I say not meeting her eyes. 

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, nothing to worry about."

"Okay." I can tell by her tone she doesn't believe me but doesn't push me to say anything else about it. I don't see anything else I like in here, so we go and pay for our things. The next few stores we go in don't have anything that stand out to me yet somehow Sarah convinces me to walk out with a couple of things. I know JJ has a shark tooth necklace that he's been wearing since the day I met him. It must be important to him since I've never seen him without it on. I see a cute little bracelet that has a shark tooth charm on it and immediately purchase it. I think it will be cute to match with him and I doubt people will read into it considering he's my best friend and we're super close. I'll have to ask him why the necklace is so important to him though, I'm curious. 

When we walk out the Converse store, I check my phone and see that we have about 30 minutes until we have to meet the boys at the food court. Sarah spots a photobooth and beckons me over with a smile. We both sit in and I fix my hair before we start taking pictures. We do an array of poses ranging from smiling, silly, serious, sexy, etc. I think one picture captures me laughing looking at Sarah doing some ridiculous facial expression. We so have to come here before we leave so we'll all have a picture together I can keep in my room. I smile as we exit the photobooth and head over to the food court. I spot JJ and Pope sitting at a table on their phone oblivious to us approaching them. At the last second Pope sees us walking up and I just smile at him. I set my things down where they're sitting and realize JJ still hasn't noticed me. I go behind him and place my hands over his eyes, "Guess who?" I say with a smile on my face.