Is This Smart? (Under editing and revising)

Chapter 6

~Present~

The elevator bell dings as the door opens reveling the lobby. We step out and are greeted both by staff member and a delicious smell. I take another deep breath through my nose, "Mmm! Cookies!"

Ann looks at me and rolls her eyes but smiles. Maggie looks around and when she spots then, she stops, turns to me and exclaims full of energy, "Chelsea! Come on, I see them!"

She grabs my wrist and pulls my through the lobby, giggling all the way, We slid to a stop in front of a small cart. There is a glass case on top of it, and it's filled with warm, gooey cookies. Maggie pulls open the top and grabs two cookies as I hand her a napkin. Her fingers are already covered in chocolate. I hand Ann another napkin and she gets her cookies. Finally, I reach in and pull out the last cookie. Maggie notices my dilemma and volunteers to go ask for more.

Right after she leaves, I hear out a familiar voice call out behind me, "Hey, guys, sorry for the wait. Are those any good?"

"Where have you been?" I ask, pretending as if I didn't just hear her question.

Jennifer apologizes, "Sorry, I was just starting at some peeling paint on one of the walls."

Satisfied, I nod and turn to look for Maggie, who is head back towards us followed by a man holding a tray of fresh cookies.

I over hear Ann tell Jennifer something about the cookies. Not really caring, I cut in, "Yeah, well, we have some shopping to do, so let's go."

Then, we all walk out to the curb and, again, Maggie shout for a taxi. When one stops, we all climb in. The ride is normal and somewhat strange. The taxi driver feels familiar. He is quite and doesn't attempt any conversations. I feel the same way I did in the taxi on our last vacation. Scared and hesitant.

I decide to pull my phone out to scroll through Facebook and Instagram. That's when I remember Jordan. I dig through my backpack and pull out the slip of paper with his number on it. I make a contact file for him on my phone. My contacts and text messages are synced with both my phone and iPad so his information is on my iPad too. Then, I compose a message to Jordan.

To: Jordan
From: Chelsea
Hey! It's Chelsea! What's up?

Just as I hit send Jennifer looks over my shoulder and asks, "What are you doing? Who are you texting?"

Of coups she'd be concerned. I mean, she is the big sister I never had. I hide my phone from her view and blush, "Nothing and nobody." I barely compress a smile.

We pull up to the mall, Jenn thanks the suspicious driver, and hands him a wad of crumbled up bills. We all fly out of the car and I'm careful not to fall over the curb this time; I know that Jordan won't be hear to catch me.

When we open the doors, my mouth drops open in awe. There are four floors filled with tons of stores, the stores have blinking lights and window displays chop-full of gorgeous clothes and amazing shoes. I stand frozen, not blinking. I am in shopping heaven. All my friend know that, out of all the sports I love, shopping has to be my absolute favorite. Just kidding. But, if shopping were an Olympic sport, I'd be a gold medalist for sure.

Ann steps in front of me and blocks my view. She begins waving my hand in front of my face and says, "Earth to Chelsea. Come in Chelsea. Uhh, Chelsea?"

I blink and shanks my head, "Yeah? What?" And, I step away, skipping towards a store, filled with pink, purple, sparkles and GLITTER. My favorite color. Ever.

I look through the racks of head bands and pull two off. A glittery silver and sparkly black one. Maggie comes up next to me as I'm trying them on, "Ooh! How does this look? Or this one?" I say switching from the silver to black.

"No, silver suits you better." Maggie advises.

Jennifer is walking around pretending to look at the racks of makeup and jewelry, "Are you guys done yet?"

"No!" Maggie and I both explain at the same time. Now we are looking over the selection of phone cases. Just as Maggie picks up two cases to compare, my backpack rings and vibrates. I slid it off and pull out my iPad. I'm not sure why, but I think if I were to pull out my phone, it would make my friends suspect something. The screen is lit up with a message notification. I unlock my iPad and view the message.

To: Chelsea
From: Jordan
Hey, Chelsea. I'm not up to anything at all. Wbu?

I quickly type up a reply.

To: Jordan
From: Chelsea
We are at the mall now. Not sure what we are going to do later.
I definitely want to go sightseeing eventually, before we leave.
I let you know when we do. 😊

"You guys done??" Jennifer asks again.

I'm still distracted my the message, so I just say, "Yeah..."

Then Jennifer tries to peek around to see my iPad again. But, I stealthily hide it from her view yet again, "What are you doing?" She presses.

"Nothing." I deny again. My lips curl up, but I force the corners back down.

Suspiciously, she asks again, "Nothing?"

Then, we finally agree on one thing since she dragged my on this trip, "Yeah. Nothing."

We pay for our things and leave the store. She shop for another hour or so, then decide to stop and get some food.

We order our food at the food court. Panda Express for Maggie. Chick Fil A for me and Jennifer. And for Ann, Burger King.

When we are searching for a table Maggie shouts, "I want to go on that merry go round ride! How much does it cost?"

"Dunno." Jennifer answers. Maggie and Jennifer seem to be getting together ok, but I'm still upset, even though I did convince Maggie to come. I've just had that same feeling again. Something strange is going on. I can't ever shake that feeling. It always sticks with me.
I answer Maggie's question, "$5 a person."

Slamming her tray down, she exclaims again, "Pshh...I'm not paying that much." of course. That's typical Maggie. Then, she takes a huge bite of her orange chicken and seasoned rice.

"Well, you have to make a profit somehow." Ann informs her in a business like manner.
I was hoping that we could eat our lunch in silence for once. But, that is always way to much to hope for.

Jennifer suggests, "You guys want to head back to the hotel soon?"

Before anyone can answer, Jennifer trades her tomato for Ann's pickles. The shake hands and I roll my eyes.

"Yeah, we could go swimming." Maggie suggests, as I pull out my iPad again. I slip it under the edge of the table so none of my friends can see it. I begin eating my spicy chicken sandwich. I pull the pickle slices off and toss them onto Jennifer's tray.

At this suggestion, disappointment is spread across Jennifer's face, "Oh. Well, you guys can; I forget my swimsuit. It's ok though; I have somethings to do anyway. Go hog the pool all you want."

Ann makes a comment and I look down at my iPad. Another message comes though. I read it.

To: Chelsea
From: Jordan
Yeah! Let me know, I could tell you guys the best places.
What are you doing later?

I smile to myself and look up. Ann holds her onions in front on Maggie's face. Maggie swings and swats them away, "Eww! I hate onions!"

The onions hit the floor and Ann gasps, "I was going to eat those, thank you very much!"

"Not anymore." Maggie laughs as Ann cleans up the greasy onion mess from the floor.

Looking down again, I write another message to Jordan.

To: Jordan
From: Chelsea
That would be awesome! Well, we are going back to the hotel and swimming, probably.☺️

I hit send and when we've finish eating we clear our trays and head back outside. Maggie calls for yet another taxi, we cram in and back to the hotel we go.