My Key to Outside

Two Best Friends at the Mall

Marley and I both got ready to go to the mall. As I was getting ready, I started thinking of Benny and his spells. He may be a wizard, whatever you call it. I may like a wizard. Wow, there's so many weird things that go on in my circle of friends. Vampires, wizards, and whatever else there is. My best friend likes a vampire, who she a going on a date with tonight, and apparently, I like a wizard. He's my best friend in Whitechapel, and I like him, a lot. I feel butterflies when we hug, or when we're alone. I even felt butterflies when I was walking with him the night that we heard Rory ask Marley out. That was last night. He walked me home. I feel so special, even if he doesn't like me back. He may not. He's even said that we're just friends, but he must care about me. He's got to care because that one time when I was mad at him, he called and texted me so many times because he still wanted to be my friend. Now I've found out that he has some kind of magic, and he hasn't told me. He's probably been distracted. He's probably just relieved that I found out about the vampire thing and believed it, and maybe he forgot. I don't think he's keeping it from me on purpose, at least I don't want to think that.

I snapped out of my thoughts. I had been thinking for a long time. I'm now dressed and ready to walk out the door. Marley has a date to get ready for, so we're going shopping to pick her out the perfect outfit. I will also do some shopping for myself.

We said bye to our parents and walked out the door. Since neither one of us can drive, we walked to the mall. I lead the way since she doesn't know where to go.

"I can't believe I've been here for a week and I haven't gone shopping once," Marley said, and I laughed.

"I went shopping weeks after I first got here," I said, remembering the first few weeks of the move-in. It was horrible. I trapped myself inside my room. I was afraid to take one step outside the door. Now, it's nothing like that. I'm no longer afraid. My best friend is here, and I have made new friends, too. I feel safe.

We made it to the mall and started shopping. We went into the first clothing store we saw, and started looking.

"This is cute!" Marley said. She was holding up a shirt and a pair of jeans. It was a light, peach colored, short sleeved v-neck shirt that flows, and a pair of jeans with a few rips here and there.

"It's very cute!" I smiled in agreement and nodded. "Where are you and Rory going tonight?" I asked.

"I don't know, but probably somewhere romantic. Maybe we'll go to a fancy restaurant," she smiled and her eyes sparkled. I could tell she was so excited.

"Okay, then you might want to wear a dress that's not too formal, but very cute. It's kind of like him. He's very fun; he's never serious, but obviously caught your eye," I explained.

"Wow, you're really good with this stuff," she smiled.

"Thank you!" I smiled back.

"You're welcome," she said. "I'm still getting this outfit," she added, and we continued shopping.

I found some cute clothes. I bought a cute outfit that included a cute striped shirt. Yes, maybe it reminded me of Benny; whatever.

We continued to look for that perfect dress Marley wanted. We were looking around in a store that was halfway through the mall, and then Marley's face lit up with excited

"Look at this! This is so pretty! I have to try it on!" Marley said, and then she immediately ran to the dressing room.

I sat outside the door and waited for about five minutes.

"Natalie, this is so cute," Marley said through the door.

"Can I see?" I asked.

Marley opened the door. She had on a light bright summery blue dress that fell down to three inches above her knee. It had a v-neck and it was sleeveless. It flowed and it was very playful and cute. It wasn't too formal at all. It was very simple, but beautiful.

"That's perfect! It's everything we were looking for," I smiled.

Marley gave a twirl while smiling down at her dress. "I'm definitely wearing this tonight. Now I just need some shoes and some jewelry. This is my last night here so I want it to be special," she said, and then she went back into the dressing room.

After a few more minutes, she came back out of the dressing room with her regular clothes, and we walked to the cash register. She paid for her dress, and we walked out of the store.

"I'm hungry. Let's go to the food court," Marley suggested.

"I agree," I said, and we walked to food court.

When we got there, there were so many things to eat. We got some chicken, and found a place to sit.

"Are you excited for tonight?" I asked, knowing what the answer would be.

"Yes! I'm even more exited, now that I got that dress," she answered, and then she took a bite into her chicken sandwich.

"I hope it's everything you hope for," I said.

"Thank you!" she smiled.

"If Rory hurts you in anyway, you tell me right away and I'll slap some sense into him," I said, and we both laughed.

"Thank you, but I don't think that will be necessary."

We finished our food and then got some frozen yogurt. After that, we shopped some more and then went to a bench to sit down. We had so many shopping bags. Our parents let us shop till we dropped since Marley is leaving tomorrow morning, so we have a lot of bags. We have to walk home with them, too, so we decided that we would take some clothes out of some bags and put them in the others. It was so we could carry less bags on the way home. Marley got white heels for her dress and some jewelry to go with the dress. It makes a beautiful outfit.

We started walking home, and when we got there, she immediately started getting ready. She got dressed, and when she came out I gasped.

"You look so beautiful!" I told her.

"Thank you!" she smiled.

Next, she used the new makeup we bought at the mall. I'm not the best at giving makeovers. She's very good at makeup, but I helped her anyway. When we were done, she stood up, put her shoes and jewelry on, and walked to the mirror.

"You look amazing, Marley. Rory won't know what hit him," I said and she laughed.

"Thank you. I'm really excited to see what he says. I wonder where he's going to take me."

At that moment, we heard a knock on the door.