Ghost Perfume | ✔

Chapter 18: Shop with Me (Part 2)

I wore the knee-high black platform boots that Alexander had picked for me, to go with the white dress. I only stumbled a little as we walked up to the restaurant. Gabriel's hand steadied me on my lower back, before retreating.

There was a crush of people outside the restaurant. The Alistairs kept me in the middle, Michael and Lukas in front, Gabriel and Alexander on either side of me.

"Oh my god, Rose, is that you?''

A girl emerged from the crowd waiting outside the restaurant. She'd been standing with an older couple who might have been her parents; she looked familiar. We had history together. I waved hi.

Her wide eyes flicked between me and the Alistairs. They'd slightly tightened the circle around me as she called out. But then they stepped away, smiling politely, as if to give me space. I saw Michael disappear into the restaurant, while the other three stood to the side.

My classmate wasn't the only one giving them an outright stare. To be fair, the warm-toned evening streetlamps cast a particularly flattering light on them, romanticizing their high cheekbones and shining curls.

"You weren't in school today,'' she said questioningly to me.

"I was sick,'' I said, trying to remember her name. Mia?

I wasn't sure she took in what I said. Her eyes had shifted back to the three who stood tall and broad-shouldered nearby.

"Uh,'' she whispered. "Who are they?''

"My friends,'' I said, getting embarrassed at her blatant admiration. "Um, family friends. Did I miss anything in school?''

She made a dismissing motion with her hand. I noticed that her nails were painted a shiny, dusty pink. Her hands were eye-catching, the fingers long and thin and circled with silver rings. I looked down at my own hands; the nails were bitten down to nothing, and the fingers weren't long or elegant.

Her gaze shifted back to me, assessing and questioning in a way I didn't know how to answer, but she flashed her teeth in a friendly way. "I mean, just homework,'' she said. She offered to send it to me. I pulled out my phone to exchange numbers. Tia, her contact name said.

How strange to finally make a friend in school, just as I was making friends outside it.

To the side, Gabriel threw back his head and laughed while Alexander facepalmed. Lukas saw me glancing at them and gave me a wink. I was happy to see them like that; I wished I knew what they were saying. There was usually such an undercurrent of antagonism between them, like a spring of gasoline that the lightest spark might set off.

Michael shouldered his way out of the restaurant. His eyes found me.

"How long is the wait?'' I called, trying not to sound down about it.

There was still something too assessing and questioning in Tia's eyes as they ate up Michael's approach. I hugged my coat around me. I didn't really know how to explain the Alistairs to her.

"They have a table for us now,'' Michael said, surprising me. But he didn't move to rush me inside.

"Um, Michael, Tia,'' I introduced them. He smiled at her and she blushed prettily.

"They told us an hour,'' Tia said. "They don't take reservations.''

"That's a shame,'' Lukas said. He came up behind Michael, putting his elbow on his shoulder. Maybe Michael's approach towards me had licensed Lukas to do the same, breaking the implicit bubble they'd given me and Tia.

"Lukas, Tia,'' I mumbled.

"I like your rings,'' he said to her, a blond lock flopping over his eye. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, the better to show them off. "Thanks!''