The Summer That Changed Me

Chapter 28

I smile at Braden but he does not look impressed with me at all. He furrows his eyebrows at me and grabs me by the elbow as he starts walking us out of the store and back into the mall.

"Is that delinquent a friend of yours?"

"Nope. That's actually the first time I've even seen him."

"You can't hang out with him if we're gonna be friends."

"Woah woah, chillax Braden. I don't even know the guy."

"Then why'd he call you cutie and tell you to call him?"

"I don't know. Guys hit on me all the time and I think nothing of it. Honestly it's not a big deal Braden, so you don't need to act like it is."

"So are you going to call him?"

"I don't know. Honestly why does it even matter to you?"

"Because I can tell from the way he looks that he's gonna hurt you."

"So what's that supposed to mean?"

"You know exactly what it's supposed to mean."

"No I don't. Enlighten me."

"His black and blue hair, piercings, chains, and God knows what else is gonna hurt you."

"So you're judging his personality based on his looks?"

"No. But I'm just saying that obviously he presents himself that way for a reason."

"Um maybe it's because of the store that he works at. It is Hot Topic. Most generally if you work at a store, you are required to wear their products to advertise for the business."

"I'm not stupid. But all I'm saying is that I don't want you hanging out with him, alright?"

"No it's not alright. I'm not saying that I'm gonna hang out with him, but I'm also not saying that I'm not gonna hang out with him but it's not your place to tell me who I can and can't hang out with, alright?"

"Whatever. Let's go home. I'm done shopping."

"I'm not. We still haven't gone to like 3 of the stores that I wanted to."

"Well I'm ready to leave and I'm your ride so let's go."

"No. Leave yourself. I'll find my own ride home."

"Olivia, I'm not leaving you here."

"Just go."

"No. I don't wanna leave you here by yourself with no ride."

"I'll find a ride. Leave me alone."

"Bu--"

"Go away."

"I--"

"Fuck off."

Braden looks at me with wide eyes and sulks away back towards JcPenny. I'm not even being irrational about this whole thing. Braden knows I'm in a relationship, but he continues to try to make all my choices for me and claims that he loves me. Well that's too bad, because I have Cory. The only reason I told Braden to fuck off really is because this isn't the first time he's seriously ticked me off. He'll come crying to me in a few days when he misses me, maybe I'll take him back, maybe I won't. I start walking towards Journeyz and am greeted by a smiling saleswoman.

"Hello! How are you today?! Is there anything I can help you find?"

I smile at the woman and walk towards her.

"Actually yeah, I need a new pair of skateboarding shoes. Size 7 and a half."

"Alright, right this way! We should have plenty of different styles and colors."