Yours Truly, Angel

Running From Life

Amanda's eyes widened. "Really? But wouldn't you get fired?"

Nate shrugged. "Probably. But, I don't even know what I'm doing in Brooklyn to be honest."

Amanda nodded solemnly. "So you're going back to Beth?"

He nodded. Amanda smiled right before she ran over to the mannequin that was on display and ripped the dress off. She calmly walked over to Nate behind the counter.

"This dress, please."

Nate smiled and covered the dress with a protective cover and handed it back to her. Kendall turned her attention back to the teal dress that she had her eye on. She felt the silky torso and sequins.

Amanda smiled at her. "That's your dress."

"I know. I wanna try it on."

Nate pointed to a hallway. "Changing rooms are down there."

She nodded and took the dress to the changing rooms. The changing room was small and mirrored. She stared at herself in the mirrors. Her lips were pouted, so she faked a smile at her reflection.

She slipped on the dress. When she looked up at her reflection her heart skipped a beat.

"Oh my God," she breathed to no one in particular.

The visual beauty was breathtaking. She strolled back into the room where Nate and Amanda waited.

He smiled. "That looks great."

Amanda nodded. "Yes!"

"How much is this?"

He smiled. "Free."

Her eyes bulged. "You can't do that."

He shrugged. "If you ever get caught, I'll take the blame. After all, it doesn't matter."

Her heart surged with gratitude. He smiled back at her. "I've decided that I'm taking the four o'clock train back to Albany."

She looked at Amanda. "So you're coming back with us?"

He nodded. "I don't think I should've ever left home. I was just running from problems."

She studied the way that he looked at the ground, so delicately. She sighed, taking a look down at the dress. "What problems? Aren't you with Beth?"

He looked back up at her. "Isn't it obvious? I was running from life. I ran from my parents, my brother, and my sister."

Amanda's eyes widened. "Not to be completely heartless but how old is your brother?"

Kendall gave her a disappointed look.

Nate chuckled. "No, it's fine. He'll be twenty two in September."

Amanda snapped her fingers in defeat. "Rats."

Kendall glanced at her. "Do you not remember Sam?"

Amanda's eyes sparkled. "Oh yeah! Never mind. How old is your sister?"

He smiled, sadly, "Kylie turned eighteen last month."

"Does she go to Albany High?"

He shook his head. "She goes to McKinley High."

Amanda exchanged a wide eyed look with Kendall. "Kylie Rey is your sister?"

He nodded. "You go to her school?"

"Yeah but she's a year older than us."

Nate nodded. "I came here to find something that I actually enjoyed. But, dresses aren't exactly what I had in mind. Although the pay is great."

Kendall smiled sadly, looking at the white walls and turned back to the beautiful teal dress. She gave Amanda a smirk.

Amanda's eyes widened. "What are you thinking, Ken?"

She smiled, shaking her head. "Nothing."

Amanda crossed her arms over her chest, turning her gaze to Nate. "So you and Beth actually aren't doing great?"

He looked down. "Relationships aren't perfect. People fall in love with the idea of someone, meanwhile they're dreaming of this person, who is actually totally different. We fall in love with the thought of being in love with them, while in reality they're just a human and they can't be that person you spent weeks imagining they were.

And that's exactly what me and Beth did. When we met, we spent two weeks together. Everyday, every hour, we had no interest in anyone else. But what happened during the years that we weren't together? Imagining. You can't suddenly know someone's whole entire life story in two weeks.

You live in the moment with them, but when they must leave, we create an image of them in our minds. It's a dangerous thing. Imagination. But, we all do it. The second that our eyes close, our imaginations go crazy."

Kendall sucked in her breath, overwhelmed by Nate's wise words. Amanda exchanged a shocked expression with her. Amanda burst out into laughter and erupted into fits of clapping.

When she was done, she wiped a tear from the corner of her eye due to her hysterical laughing. "Are you real, Nate Rey? Your choice of words continue to astound me."

Nate looked down and shrugged. "It's true. We all do it."

"Beth is lucky to have such a genuine human."

He blushed. "I try to be as good as I can, although I definitely do make mistakes."

"You go back to Miss Beth and stay with her for the rest of your lives."

He smiled. "I will."

Kendall's stomach growled, making her blush and clutch her stomach. "Sorry, I'm always hungry."

Nate nodded. "Same here. We'll get lunch."

She nodded. "I'm just going to get changed."

She walked back down the hallway and into the changing room. Kendall sighed, slipping out of the dress and back into her clothes. Looking back at the mirrors, her breath alleles at the sight. Written in black across the mirror:

You heard Nate, right? Imagination is a dangerous thing.

Xoxo,
Angel

She gasped, looking around the changing room, receiving terrified looks in all directions from her reflection.

P.s. I wonder what Beth is doing?