Chapter 3:
Jessica's POV:
After going out for coffee, Hailey, Vivian and I decided to hang out at the mall for a while. We all got in Hailey's car and headed out to the mall.
As soon as we got there, we headed to our favorite shop: Hot Topic. They have a lot of Harry Potter and Superhero stuff, which makes it perfect for us.
Hailey, Vivian and I have nicknames for each other from HMB. Hailey is Superman, Vivian is Batman, and I am Robin. We each got a shirt with our character on it. I had found an amazingly cute Robin bikini, so I had to get it. Hailey had also gotten a bunch of Hetalia pins because we also gave each of us, and some other friends, names from it. Vivian had gotten a Dr. Who T-shirt.
After we paid for our stuff, we decided to go to Claire's to see if they had any really cute earrings. Surprisingly, we came out empty handed.
We went to almost every store at the mall before we decided to finally head home. As we walked back to the car parked in the parking garage, Hailey and Vivian started asking me a ton of questions.
"So, what are the Starkids like?" Hailey asked.
I looked at the time on my phone. "Wow, it took you guys almost three hours to start asking me questions. Good job holding them in." I said, laughing.
"Please just answer my question." Hailey begged.
"Alright, alright. Well, they're all so nice! We were all like one big family. We always had parties and sleepovers at each others apartments." I said, remembering all the fun I had had with them.
"If you guys all had so much fun together, why did you move?" Vivian asked.
My smile faded a little. "It was a really hard decision, but I had decided to move because I had gotten a job offer." I said. "But when I got here, I found out that my offer had been taken by someone else. I had used all my money on the plane ride to get here, so I had no way of getting back. When I finally found a job, it didn't ever pay well enough to get back to Chicago."
"That's awful. Why didn't you ever tell us? We would have been happy to lend you the money. You could have found a better job in Chicago, and pay us back when you had the money." Vivian said.
"I couldn't have done that. You know I wouldn't have accepted your money."
"So how are you getting to Chicago for Twisted?" Hailey asked.
"Nick said he had that taken care of." Both Hailey and Vivian glared at me. "This is different. I'm only accepting the money because they need me." I said.
"How long do you think you're going to stay in Chicago?" Hailey asked. "Are you going to move back?"
I took a moment to think. "I don't know." I said softly. "I miss all my friends, but if I move back, I'll miss you guys." I said. "It's just...maybe Chicago has better jobs. Maybe they offer more money. I could really use it."
The rest of the ride to my apartment building was silent, until we pulled up in front of my door.
"I just want to let you know...that I support your decision, no matter what you choose." Hailey said.
"Me too." Vivian agreed.
I said goodbye and walked up the many flights of stairs to my apartment. I was so lucky to have such great friends.
