Waiting For Us

Outdoor mall fiasco

     "What the fuck are you wearing? Do we also have to go shopping for clothes too?" Ellie rubbed her temples as she eyed your outfit.
     "There's nothing wrong with this?" You lifted the collar of your shirt and smelled it. You haven't done laundry in a while but  it was clean, at least you hoped it was.
     "It looks like you didn't even try at all! Plus there's bleach stains all over it!" Ellie facepalmed, she knew arguing with you wouldn't make much of a difference so she decided to just make a detour to a clothing store and get you some nice clothes. Ones that aren't all black.
  "Listen here you dumbass bitch you gave me 5 minutes! And I think the bleach stains make it look a bit vintage!" You crossed your arms as you followed Ellie out of your apartment. You locked the door and the both of you made your way to exit towards the apartment parking lot. You have your space available since you didn't know how to drive. Ellie attempted to teach you during your senior year of high school, which ended in you crashing into a tree in her neighborhood. Needless to say, Ellie has been your personal taxi since then.
     "Ok so, first we're gonna get something quick to eat, how does the diner by the outside mall sound?" Ellie turned to you as you buckled in your seatbelt. You give her a thumbs up as you take your phone out and conectes the aux cord to it.
     "Then we'll go shopping cause you seriously need new clothes. Didn't you wear these in your junior year of high school?" Ellie grabbed the fabric of your jeans.
      "They still fit me well! Plus they go with everything." You said, not even looking up from your phone as you scrolled through your many playlists.
     "After that we'll go grocery shopping, you don't work today right?" Ellie turned to you, you stopped scrolling and looked back at her.
       "About that...." You gave a sympathetic smile as Ellie groaned and facepalmed again.
        "You quit again!" Ellie whined as she looked at you again. God she was so done with you.
       "Listen! If you had to work with Darryl during the night, you would quit too! Besides i already got a new job, it's the cafe that's like by the college." You were not in the mood to listen to Ellie go off on one of her rants. You quit your job as a hostess twice already, due to one of the guys who worked there Darryl. You tried so hard to be as nice as you can but it got to the point where you couldn't handle it anymore. You only went back since your boss offered you more hours and better pay, but when it came down to it, your sanity and your clean criminal record was more important than whatever the hell Darryl would do during the shift.
  "Speaking of which, when are you gonna apply for your classes? I told you that David and I would help you!" Ellie said, and you just sighed. You never really cared for college. Hell you never really cared for school anyways. That was until you finally found something you wanted to do. It was in the criminal justice field, from what you can remember. You worked day and night to meet all the requirements for the school of your dreams. You always wanted to leave the country, move out and see the world. Yet you were denied in every school you applied to. As much as you didn't want it to affect you, if that happened to anyone they would feel like you, right?
       "I'll think about it." You mumbled and Ellie scoffed. It was the same response you gave her every time. You knew she was tired of it but so were you. Why couldn't you just do the things you wanted to do? You have dreams and ambitions but when it came down to it, you rather sit in the side lines and watch the people pass you by.
Ellie parked her car in the empty space that was under some shade and she only had to back up 3 times this time to get her car in correctly. She was a good driver but goddamn is her parking skills horrible. She looked at you and gave you a small smile. She knew you would get lost in thought after some rough conversations, and though she always felt bad, she sometimes felt like she had to be the one to give you that push.
        Breakfast was pleasant, you always cherish the times you have to spend time with Ellie. It was her ranting about a cute guy in her Statistics class to her ranting about how her friend, David, was able to get a higher grade than her in biology and you just joking around. After the nice meal you went down the street to the outdoor mall. You remember always coming here after school. Sometimes you would even come by yourself. The small stands of various items, ranging from piercing stations that you wished you could've gone too, to stands with various toys. They were the days when you felt like you didn't want to go straight back home.
Your home life was a bit strange. It's not like you dealt with horrible parents, but they definitely weren't perfect. You can probably count the amount of times you spent time with them on your fingers. They were "hard workers" as they said but you felt like that was another term for work alcoholics. They always argued that this is the only way to survive, you never really understood why though, even till now. You also worked a lot but you tried to make time for yourself to just relax or get things done around the house. After you moved out you haven't seen them since. You tried to text them and see if there was a day for you three to get together but they were always busy. So you stopped trying and thought that letting them do their own thing was the best.
          You and Ellie walked around the mall, entering some stores with more trendier items. They looked nice but it wasn't something you would wear. Ellie insisted on you getting something from the store, and threatened that she wasn't going to let you leave if you didn't so you had no other choice. You looked around and grabbed a pair of baggy black jeans, you didn't dare look at the price knowing that you would put it back up. You wandered around the store a bit looking at some nicer looking shirts that you can wear when going out. You turned around to go look at another aisle when you bumped into somebody. He was wearing a black hoodie and black ripped jeans, he turned around at the feel of you crashing into him. You couldn't really get a good look at his face due to the black mask he had.
  "Oh shit! Sorry!" You blurted out, picking up the pair of jeans that fell out of your hand.
      "It's all good! You ok?" He asked, his accent was a bit weaker but still really prominent.
      "Yeah I'm ok, sorry." You said as you quickly tried to get around him and leave. Before you can even get around him, his friend came around from the other aisle and you swear your heart stopped. Embarrassment quickly washed away with a different feeling that you couldn't quite figure out what you felt. There was no way, it simply couldn't be.
     "Chan, did you find the thing you were looking for?" He asked before steering his gaze to look at you. His eyes widened, mouth slightly dropping as he took in the sight of you.
     "Felix?" You asked, probably sounding a bit harsher than intended. He looked down and bit his lip, he was probably trying to figure out what to say to you, if there was anything to say. The odds of you two meeting again was very unlikely but could've happened, if you were delusional enough. By this point Chan, which you're just going to assume is his name since that's what Felix just called him, kept looking at the both of you. He looked like he wanted to say something, to break the weird yet heavy tension. Felix looked back up at you, almost like he was shy.
"Hey, Y/N long time no see, how has everything been?" Felix rubbed the back of his neck. You were at a loss of words, still trying to process the fact that he was standing here right in front of you, also over the way he was acting, like he knew that leaving without a trace wasn't something he should've not done. Maybe that's why you felt so angry, almost annoyed at seeing him again? Knowing that he felt guilty for leaving everyone without a word, but if he knew that then why didn't he even try. But what's annoying you the most is that you didn't have a genuine reason to be annoyed. As you opened your mouth to say something, Ellie came running towards you, like a mother whose child wandered off.
     "Y/N! There you are! Did you find anything cute and ya know, not in black?" Ellie looked up to see Felix and Chan. Then she looked back at you. She smirked at you and looked back at the guys. Great, just exactly what you needed right now.
     "Y/N, who are they?! See this is why you dress up all nice just in case hot guys come around!" Ellie yelled, basically the entire store heard what she had said, multiple heads turning to your direction. If there was a day you wish Zeus could just strike you down, today was that day. You grabbed Ellie's arm and put the pants on a nearby rack and stormed out, ignoring Felix as he called out for you. You didn't know where you were going, as the parking lot was the opposite direction to where you were headed, but all you knew is that you didn't want to be there.
     Ellie smacked your arm to let go of her, and you did but continued walking, you can hear her yelling your name but you didn't care anymore. Were reacting like this because of embarrassment, yes but there was something else. Was it resentment or even fear? Fuck, why did you feel like this? Why was he back? Why did he come back? You were so lost in thought you didn't realize Ellie and Chan were right by you calling your name.
     "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I should've not said that." Ellie hugged you and tried to comfort you. You didn't even realize you were crying. Chan passed you a tissue, and you silently thanked him. For just meeting him he seemed super caring, he also ran after you when you left.
     "Ellie i'm fine it's ok." You said, looking down and sighed.
"You don't really look alright, Ellie, I think you should take her home." Chan turned to Ellie, and she nodded, pushing you slightly when you turned you saw Felix standing there. Ellie glared at him, which caused him to lower his gaze towards the floor.
     "Ellie stop, I said I'm fine, I just..." you got lost In thought as you tried to think of something to say. You met Ellie a couple months after Felix left to god knows where. She transferred from another school for some sport thing she was in and the teacher moved her next to you in your journalism class and from that day one she has never left your side. She was someone who you could genuinely trust. Although she sometimes was a little too impulsive with her words, she was genuine with every little action and word. Yet you didn't feel comfortable telling her about what happened with Felix, especially since he was standing right there.
     "I'm just really hungry." You lied and chuckled as Ellie hit your arm. Good, she believed it.
     "You had me and Chan looking like mad men, screaming your name and running for you to only say that you're hungry!?" Ellie whined and you laughed. It was kind of true, you were hungry you barely ate anything when you went to the diner, only opting for some chicken tenders despite Ellie's complaints.
     "Says the person who yelled in the middle of the fucking store!" You rubbed your face, did she really have to do that.
   "Alright! Let's go get something, I know a really good restaurant a couple minutes away! Food's on me!" Chan announced as he grabbed you and Ellie, dragging both of you as he turned his head to Felix, and nodding it in the direction of the parking lot.  You looked at Ellie and she just shrugged, knowing that Chan already had his mind set on him paying.
     "We could split the bill if you want? I don't want you to pay all of it." You suggested and Chan just stared at you. He then looked up, acting like he was thinking super hard.
     "How about, no. Also I don't care." Chan sasses as you four reach the exit. Chan and Ellie starting talking about where they parked and the directions of the place, you didn't notice Felix walking up to you and standing right next to you.
"I know you didn't do that cause you were hungry, maybe embarrassed but you could just be honest with her." Felix leaned towards you. Out of all the people you wanted to talk to, he was the last person on your list. You shrugged and looked at your phone, trying to distract yourself from Felix. Maybe you were being extremely petty, or maybe you genuinely didn't want to see him again.
     "You don't have to go out with us if you don't want to. Chan's pretty understanding." Felix gave you a sympathetic look, and you looked down at your nails.
    "Why are you acting like you know me? Also why do you care?" You didn't mean for it to come out in a harsher tone, but there was no way to take it back now. Felix sighed and rubbed his face.
     "Don't act like I don't. We both know that these types of outbursts aren't normal, even for you." Felix answered, and you just rolled his eyes.
     "Oh so now you care?" You turned to him and he just stared right back at you. The tension was still there but this time it felt different.
     "Who said I stopped?" He scoffed. You laughed and looked back at Ellie and Chan who were probably talking about god knows what. Ellie knows how to make conversation with everyone and by the looks of it, so does Chan.
   "I don't know, when you left with saying a word?" You cocked your head to the side, questioning him. He looked nervous.
     "It's kind of hard to explain if I'm being honest." He rubbed the back of his head. Before you can get another word in, you heard Chan whistle to get your attention. Called Felix over, indicating that it was time for both of you to leave.
      "Well better find an easy way to explain then." You said and Felix laughed. He gave you a thumbs up as you headed to Ellie's car.
    "I'll see you guys in a bit! Drive safe!" Felix waves at Ellie and she gets in, waiting for you to get in the car. You sat down and buckled your seat belt. You turn to Ellie who was staring at you.
     "So, what's up with you and Chan's friend? Is he like an ex or something. Cause girl you are so out of it." Ellie questioned as she started up the car and began to back out of her spot.
     "He's just an old friend. Haven't seen him in a while though." You said as you typed in the directions in your phone and hit go.
   "Oh ok, yeah let's go with that." Ellie rolled her eyes and she continued her path to the restaurant. You crossed your arms and looked out the window.
     "So what you're saying is that he's free game?" Ellie smiled as you choke on your spit. She laughed at your reaction
     "You're fucking joking right?" You asked and she smirked
     "Oh come on, even you can admit that he's kinda cute." She chuckled as she pulled up to the restaurant Chan was already waiting at. You felt nervous, you were finally going to get an explanation to everything. You looked at the restaurant and opened the car door.
      Well here goes nothing.