New York Dreams • mnz

Chapter 5

"So what's up with you and Corey?" Chloe asks offhandedly as she stops at another rack, looking through the various dresses hung up on it. "What do you mean by 'what's up'?" I question suspiciously, raising an eyebrow. "Like, you two seem pretty close. Maybe..." Chloe explains, drifting off with a smirk. "Chloe!" I yell as I hit her arm playfully, knowing where she was going with that. "A girl can dream," she simply replies with a shrug. "Wait, dream? What dream?" I ask curiously. "Oh, you know, that my 18-year-old friend might be in love with someone she met, like, a week ago," Chloe elaborates. "Not happening," I object, putting my hand up to signal for her to stop. Chloe laughs and shakes her head slightly, moving on the the next rack.

She browses through the dresses routinely, screwing her face up tighter in disgust with each rejected dress. Finally, her face lights up as she pulled a heavily sequined gold dress out. "How's this?" she asks me, holding the dress before her. "You should just get something simple, you know. We're not going to some celebrity party, it's just Josh's birthday party," I reject, rolling my eyes. Chloe was definitely one to overdress. Chloe chucks the dress back onto the rack before grabbing my hand and pulling me over to another section of the store. She began to look through the dresses again. "Aren't you going to find something, Maddie? Are you going to just wear a potato sack?" Chloe suddenly asks. "I already have a ton of decent dresses I could wear," I reply. "Really? So which on are you going to wear?" Chloe questions. "I think I'll just go in my babydoll dress and denim jacket. You know, the short-sleeved, layered one?" I tell her. It was a pretty nice dress, with the layers and crotchet pattern on the top part and it would definitely be suitable for a small party like this. Chloe sighs miserably. "Why do you have to be so perfect?" she groans, dragging me off to another shelf.

~

After half a day of looking around, Chloe finally found something that suited her taste. She'd bought a bright blue swing dress with a low back that looked gorgeous on her. After that, we headed to Starbucks to grab a drink and catch up on the latest gossip. I'd just returned from collecting my drink when I notice Chloe's eyes snapping to something behind me, her eyes widening as the seconds passed. I raise an eyebrow at her bemusedly. "Your crush," she mouths, then gestures that he's walking towards us. My eyes go as wide as Chloe's. "Do I look okay?" I mouth back, motioning to my hair and face. Chloe nods profusely. I see her counting down silently and I prepare myself, trying in vain to keep my emotions in check. As Chloe mouths "he's here", a feel a presence behind me. "Hey Mads! Hey Chloe!" Phillip's voice greets. I turn around to face him nervously. "H- hey! What a coincidence, Phillip!" I greet back with a shaky giggle. Phillip raises an eyebrow. "Phillip? No more Phil?" he questions, a confused expression on his face. "Phil, Phillip, whatever floats your boat, I guess," I say with a shrug. "Well, I'll leave you two to your girl talk. See you on Monday," Phillip says before walking towards the counter.

Once Phillip was safely out of earshot, Chloe leaned towards me eagerly. "Did you see that! He was staring at you the whole time! It was like I wasn't even here!" she whispered excitedly. "And you're saying?" I prompt, pretending to not understand her. "He likes you! Your crush likes you!" Chloe exclaims, clapping her hands together like a happy seal. I roll my eyes and shrug. Chloe's face falls at my reaction. "Wait, your crush likes you and this is how you react? I'd expected a lot more squealing and jumping around," she states. I give her an expression that says "seriously?!" and Chloe furrows her eyebrows in puzzlement. "Do you even still like him?" Chloe asks. "I do, I guess. I don't know why, but this just doesn't excite me as much as it should," I sigh. "Maybe you don't like him anymore," Chloe comments. I shrug again, unsure of how I felt. Suddenly, a grin spreads across Chloe's face. "Maybe there's someone else?" she asks cheekily. I know she's referring to Corey again. To be honest, I don't really know how I felt towards him. Did I like him?

When I didn't reply, Chloe's face turned serious. "Wait, no kidding Mads. You like him?" Chloe repeats. "I- I don't know. Honestly," I reply. "Wow. You like him," Chloe concludes. "I never said I did," I argue. "You never denied it," Chloe retorts. "Well, maybe I do. Just a teeny, tiny little bit," I finally concede. Chloe smiles. "I knew it."

- - -

I'm so sorry I didn't update last week I was just so busy with school! I'll probably update twice this week to make up for it though.

Maddie and Chloe's outfits are in the media bar. Maddie's is the top row and Chloe's is the bottom row (the blue dress, basically). Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Till next update!