Soul Searching

Chapter 4- Chase Watson

Week one of school is over, and it surprisingly went by fast. I assumed this week would be a complete drag, but every time I stepped into Spanish, my last class, I was shocked the day was almost over. My teacher talks about er and ir verbs and I couldn't care less. I want to be interested in school, it would make my life a lot more enjoyable, but instead, I mope around these halls saying hi to people I don't know and wanting to drop out every other second.
The only thing I see when I look into the future is a professional basketball career, and a wife and four kids. I know four is a handful, but I love kids. I would love nothing more than to live down at the shore all year round and raise a bunch of surfer babies. I go down to the beach every summer and it's always the best part of my year. It would be an absolute dream to live down there yearly.
Jasmine's party is tomorrow, so I thought I could take today to relax, but of course Megan had other plans. I already know how this party is going to end. Megan and all of her friends are going to get wasted and I'm gonna take care of her and hold her hair back when she throws up. Her spending so much time getting ready just to get messed up goes so far beyond me, but she's my girl so I'm here for it.
Megan's coming over in a few minutes to take me shopping. She said 'We have to look better than anyone else around us', and the thought of buying new clothes when I have my mall in my room is draining.
Ring!
The doorbell goes off, letting me know that Megan is here. I jog downstairs to open the door and when I do, I'm greeted with a massive, gleaming smile on the other side.
"Hi, Chase!" She exclaims as she jumps into my arms. The sudden affection throws me off for a second before I hug her back and nuzzle my head into her neck. The hug is quick, introductory, as Megan steps back after only a few seconds. The pure excitement on Megan's face is indescribable. She loves this stuff with everything in her. Dressing me up, taking me out, I mean even if it isn't with me she still has the best time.
Her chocolate brown eyes shine in the light coming from my windows. Any type of light just attracts her, pulling her in and extenuating all of her best features. Megan wears a stylish white top with a black trim, fitted to her body and stopping an inch before her light blue, washed-out jeans. To finish it all off, she has a cropped, black puffer jacket on.
I'm further distracted by how she got her hair so slick. It looks painful, but so good at the same time, I have no idea how she manages to style herself like this. I mean, how did she get all the bumps out of her hair? It just really looks like it took a lot of effort.
"Okay, so the mall closes at nine, per usual. But, I thought we could be there for a few hours because we need to get a lot. I need a new summer shirt, but it can't be too expensive in case it gets ruined. I need a new jacket because Jaz's house is always stupidly cold and I'm gonna need some new sneakers." I'm a little astonished because she has all of this stuff. Megan doesn't come from a rich family (I know you could never tell) and she works hard for the money she makes. Everyday after school she clocks in for her shift at Uncle Tom's Ice Cream Parlor and makes a decent twelve dollars an hour. She works so hard and plans what she's going to use it on. Don't get me wrong, that in itself is completely normal and even a bit of splurging is expected in a teenage girl. However, Megan doesn't splurge, she plans and calculates.
Last weekend, a new metallic puffer vest dropped for a staggering $225, and Megan used all the money she'd been saving to buy it. I'm just concerned about when she goes to college or after that when there won't be people she needs to impress. What is she going to do with a million puffer vests when she can't make rent?
"Wow, that's a lot. Why can't you just wear what you're wearing right now?" She looks up at me like I just told her something offensive.
She flips her ponytail behind her shoulder before telling me, "Because I've already been seen in this outfit, duh. This is what I wore when I went to Lucy's birthday dinner party. I've been photographed and posted in this outfit, it would be completely embarrassing to wear it again. And, I've told you that already so just try to keep up." Her mood went from 'yay, sunshine, rainbows' to 'boo, Chase sucks, I hate everyone' in a record-breaking two minutes.
Her words sting because I do try hard to keep up with her, all of her new hyper-fixations, the drama, and her coffee order that changes every month. And I think I do a good job of keeping her happy. I wish someone had told me relationships are a shit ton of work because I did not realize this beforehand.
"Alright, my bad. Can we at least get some food before we go?"