New York Dreams • mnz

Chapter 12

The day after the party, Chloe dragged me out of the house and to the mall to shop. She literally came in at 9 am in the morning and pulled me out of bed. To say that I was unprepared for something like this was the understatement of the year. Sundays have always been my sleep-in-and-chill-while-watching-netflix days, so I'd never expect to be dragged out to the mall so early in the morning. I glared daggers at Chloe's back as she babbled on and on chirpily before me as I sipped on my coffee. Chloe had bought that as a peace gift, hoping to down my frustration a little. Too bad I'm never a morning person, coffee or no coffee.

I did not bother paying much attention to Chloe's chatter and she seemed too into it to care, anyway. However, the moment she started to talk about Corey, my ears perked up. "Did you see Corey yesterday at Kendall's party, Maddie? He said he'd come but I couldn't find him when I looked," Chloe said, a disappointed look plastered on her face, as she looked through a rack of jeans. "I did see him, but he left," I reply with a shrug. That immediately caught Chloe's attention. She whipped about to face me. "Did he say why?" she asked, a hint of urgency in her voice. "He said it was some family thing. Seemed pretty urgent," I provide, watching Chloe's reaction. The edges of her mouth pulled downwards slightly as she stared at me, her eyes clouded. "Is something wrong?" I prompt, wanting to know more.

That was all it took for Chloe to revert back to normal, all traces of what I guessed was worry gone. "No, no! I'm sure it's just his sister," she replied hastily, letting out a forced laugh. "Corey has a sister?" I ask Chloe, slightly surprised. "Ah, yes, yes. By the way, how's it going with Phil?" Chloe quickly changes the subject. I have no choice but to reluctantly give her the non-existent updates on our relationship.

~

We end our little shopping trip with a visit to the ice cream parlor. As we lazily chatted about our families back in Pittsburgh, I decided to try and find out about Corey again. "Does Corey have any other siblings other than his sister?" I ask, trying to subtly change the subject. I guess it wasn't very subtle, as Chloe visibly tensed up at the mention of him. "Um, he has a brother too," Chloe replied nervously. "Really? Older or younger?" I question further. "Younger," Chloe simply replies. "How old are they, his siblings?" I prod. "Madison Nicole Ziegler, don't try to change the subject here!" Chloe exclaims, unable to bear it any longer. "Well then you don't try hiding things from me!" I exclaim back, raising my voice slightly. "I'm not hiding anything!" Chloe argues exasperatedly. "Oh really? Then why are you so afraid when I mention Corey?" I ask.

Chloe sighs. "Okay, maybe I do know things. But, I'm not in the position to share it, so stop asking me questions about Corey coz you're not gonna get anything," she tells me firmly. "Why can't you? What's the big deal?" I question, frustrated. "There's are things Corey would rather others didn't know," Chloe replies quietly. "Then why do you know?" I retort, not understanding. Why, of all people, did Corey chose to share his information with Chloe? What was so special about her? "If he wants you to know, he'll tell you Maddie," Chloe sighs.

Just then, my phone rings from inside my purse. I take it out and accept the call without checking the caller ID. Turns out that it was just Phillip asking me out on a coffee date, which I accepted.

~

After having a quick shower and changing into an outfit that I spent half an hour choosing, I met up with Phillip at the little coffee house down the street from Chloe's place. The coffee house had an indoor as well as outdoor seating area. As I entered it through the white glass doors, the scent of fresh coffee beans filled my nose. The interior of the coffee house gave off a cosy vibe and made me feel at home. The furnishings was somewhat a fusion between modern and antique, with simple whitewashed walls and frames holding quotes and monochrome photographs. The tables resembled those round antique ones with a single stand in the center and legs branching out from there. The chairs were teal and Victorian-styled. The long counter at center left of the coffee house was a simple rectangular wooden one, decorated with vases of fake teal and white roses and such, reminding me very much of tumblr. I immediately fell in love with the coffee house, savoring the homey feeling I got from it.

I found Phillip seated at a table for two in the far corner of the coffee house. He was sipping on his cup of latte when I sat down. When I looked up after taking my seat, I caught him studying my outfit, which made me nervous. Was my outfit good? Did Phil like it? Or was it not his type? "Um, I threw this outfit together in 5 minutes so it might not look too good," I lied with a laugh. "No, no, it's perfect! Matches the feel the coffee house gives me," Phil assures me quickly. "And what feel those the coffee house give you?" I ask curiously. "Lovely," Phil answers, looking me straight in the eye. I couldn't help but blush at his compliment, making him chuckle.

"So, how was last night?" Phil starts. "It was fun, I guess. But it would have been so much better if you were there," I replied, fake-pouting. Phil's hearty laughter tickles my ear as I say that. "I wish I could have been there too. Too bad something I had something on," he says. "What did you have on?" I automatically question. "Nothing much. Were the mocktails good?" Phil says in reply. The sudden change of subject confuses me slightly, but I shake off the suspicious feeling I instinctively got. "It's a mocktail party, the mocktails gotta be good!" I laugh. Phil laughs along as well.

Nothing else exceptionally interesting happens for the rest of the date, but I definitely enjoyed it. Thus, as Phillip walked me back to Chloe's house late in the evening, I secretly looked forward to our future dates.

- - -

[ read the whole A.N. please <3 ]

Hey buddies! So Corey has a secret hmmm. Wonder what it is. And where was Phil, really? Maybe you'll find out in the later chapters.

Maddie's date outfit is attached above. By the way, I don't think I've mentioned this in NYD yet, but you can actually check where the clothes are from on my wattpad tumblr blog (www.writingxfashion.tumblr.com). You won't need an account to view the blog, so any of you can just go check them out. Also, someone sorta suggested that I shortened the links for the clothes, but I'm reluctant to. But if you guys prefer it (comment down below if you do), I'd be more than willing to make the effort to shorten those URLs.

Soooo, till next update everyone!