10 Days To Make Him Smile

Day 3

POV Sonic

It was finally Friday! Yay!
...
Fuck.
College applications always find a way to creep into my mind, the year is about to end. But I guess I can't avoid it, it's better to exhaust myself right now and get lazy later.

Oh right! Rouge's party is tomorrow, I have to remind Shadow, and alongside that, I'm going to make him hang out with me at the mall. I swear that boy needs to go out somewhere! Every time I look at 'em, he's always studying. He never takes his eyes off those damn books. It's actually crazy how much of a nerd he is, of course, I find it really cool, I just never seen someone so ambitious.

—————

After school I called Shadow up and he surprisingly answered in the first ring.

"Hello?" Shadow greeted me.
"Hey Shads! You busy? Wanna hang?"
"Where?"
"The mall, I was hoping to get your head out of the books, take a break and enjoy yourself."
"Alright."
"Yes! I'll be there in a second. Quite literally."

I hung up and ran to his house. In a quick jiffy, I was already there. I knocked and he yelled at me from across his house to come inside. Never heard him raise his voice so loudly, kinda scary. I shrugged and watched him search for his keys. He walks over to the couch, and grabs a hold of the jittering metals clasping together and making a jingle sound.

I eyed the stack of books laid on the coffee table and rolled my eyes with a smile. I wonder if Shadow's going to college. He has to! He's a complete smartass! And me...well I promised my parents I'll go so I have to fulfill it don't I?

We walked towards his black car, decorated with some red seat covers and the interior was grey. He got ready to drive and we both clicked our seatbelts on.

We arrived at the mall and Shadow walked beside me as we entered the doors. He looked around, almost looking fascinated but I couldn't quite tell. If he were to express anything, it would be through his eyes.
...
Wait!
...
"Rouge's party!" I, out of habit, grabbed his hand and smiled at him politely. "We should buy clothes for it! I'm not trying to look basic. I'm Sonic the Hedgehog." I smirked and he cocked his head. "My closet is quite full of occasional clothing if needed." Shadow and his formality, I laughed to myself. "Oh please, it doesn't hurt to get something new!" Shadow blankly stared into my eyes. "It hurts my bank account." I rolled my eyes once again and snickered "Hah! You're funny!"

After a few minutes of convincing him, we entered a clothing store and parted ways to search for our own style of clothing.

We met back in front of the dressing rooms. We both entered those big massive ones and hung our clothes while he shut the door. "Alright show me what you got." He nodded and showed me each on of his chosen outfits one by one. (Each one of them were dark colored with small hints of purple or red.) While mine in the other hand were, more...vibrant.

I snickered as I compared styles, we are entirely different. I began to quickly try on every outfit I had picked out (total of 5) and created a gush of wind as I did so. Shadow stared at me, patiently waiting for me to stop, which I did. "I want to take my time trying them on. I know that might bother you and I don't mean to be a nuisance but I want to analyze the outfits carefully."

I stood there in front of him, dumbfounded and a little flustered on how he figured I usually mind waiting. "No! No! I completely understand! Do take your time. I might as well analyze mine!" I smiled awkwardly. I normally do hate when people are slow, but I guess with Shadow, it's just easier to take things slow sometimes. I really like that.

After sticking with an outfit and buying it, we went to the food court. I looked at Shadow, who looked at the people around. It was pretty crowded so I thought he felt a little uncomfortable. "What do you want to eat? I'll get anything."

"I'm not quite hungry, I rather just drink some water for my headache." I nodded. "Alright, if you want to leave just let me know." He nodded as he walked to a random food place and asked for a water; luckily it was free.

We walked past a small crowd of people waiting in line for Chick-Fil-A and found a table for two besides tables of four. We sat down and I watched as we awkwardly accidentally stared at each other every time! What I mean by we, I mean me! Shadow didn't have a care in the world when it came to accidentally making eye contact with me, it's normal for him. Eye contact makes me feel queasy.

"You have a job yet?" I asked him, breaking the silence between us. I awaited his reply before he blinked; he probably zoned out."I suppose I do, I've been getting paid for giving study sessions for all core subjects since freshman year, but after I'm done with high-school, I'll just go to college since it keeps me distracted. What about you?" Here I go again with over-analyzing every single word he says, what the heck does he mean by keeps me distracted??

"Been saving up since I was little, my parents gave me the lesson of spending money wisely at 6 years old." Shadow raised his brows, "Impressive." I smiled and continued. "The allowance they give me plus this summer job I had helped me buy at least 3 months of my apartment. Until I settle for an actual job, but since I'm planning to go to college, it's gonna be rough." He nodded and laid his crossed arms in the table, looking at me like he was eyeing every detail about me.

"Uhh...so! Maybe someday this week you can help me out with reading, it's a pain in the ass writing essays about prompts I have no clue about." I diverted his attention back to the conversation. "I'll make time for you in my schedule." I watched him type in his phone, which I assume was a reminder to put me in his schedule.

"Are you always busy? I swear I always see your head in the books. Literally...you do not look away." I chuckled as he shrugged, faintly. "There's always something to learn isn't there?" I nodded. Man. What a nerd.