With the incident at homecoming still looming in the air,for everyone involved the second semester for our favorite Westlakers that are going into their sophomore and junior year. It could be the most different yet difficult school year to say the l...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
The sun was beginning to dip below the horizon, casting a warm, golden glow over the streets as Natasha and I cruised down the road. Her car hummed softly beneath us. As we approached the convenience store, Natasha was in the middle of telling me about Tia and Stephen's messy breakup as we pulled into the parking lot and unbuckled my seatbelt. "How's Tia holding up now?" I asked as I slung my brown leather purse over my shoulder pushing the passenger door open and stepped out. "I knew Stephen was trouble, but I didn't expect him to be a full-on scumbag." The bitterness in my voice surprised even me, but I couldn't help it.
I heard the driver side door slam shut as Natasha joined me with her white leather purse across her shoulder. "She's feeling better," Natasha said, her voice steady, but there was a hint of concern underneath. Coming around to my side. "She and Marissa hit the mall after school as a distraction. Now they're at my place trying to study."
I raised an eyebrow, amused at the thought of Marissa and Tia actually getting work done. "Did your dad tell you what we're supposed to be picking up for the booth he's setting up?" Natasha asked, her tone shifting to something lighter.
I nodded, reaching into my purse for the crumbled list my dad had given me earlier. "Yeah, we need to grab bowling pins, water guns, stuffed animals, basketballs... all the fun stuff." I read off the list, my voice trailing as I squinted at the messy handwriting. "He said Mr. Rojas, Ms. Strong, and a few other teachers are handling the rest." slipping the crumbled paper back into my purse.
Natasha nodded as we made our way to the entrance of the store. The automatic doors slid open with a soft swoosh, welcoming us into the fluorescent-lit aisles filled with every odd and end imaginable. The place had that familiar smell of lemon cleaning supplies mixed with cheap candy, something strangely comforting.
We split up, each of us heading down different aisles to cover my ground in search for the supplies for West Fest coming up not wanting to be here longer than needed.
As I wandered down the toy aisle, my phone pinged incessantly in my pocket. With a sigh, I pulled it out, already knowing who it was. Sure enough, it was my dad sending yet another text asking if we'd found the glow-in-the-dark water guns specifically asking for those. I rolled my eyes and tucked the phone back into my pocket, deciding to deal with him later.
"Hey Tash, you find anything?" I called out, lifting a bright green water gun off the shelf and examining it. The plastic was cheap, but it would do the trick.
I glanced down the aisle and spotted Natasha heading my way, her arms full of plush rabbits. She grinned at my question. "Yeah, I got some stuffed animals. Did you see Alexa's latest face range post? I still can't believe she's going to be a mom."
Natasha's smile widened, practically glowing with excitement as she held up the stuffed animals for me to see. "Yeah, I saw her little bean is growing so fast! Can you believe she'll be back soon?" Her voice was filled with enthusiasm.
