Radioactive

Christie Morgan 1

Chapter 5

Christie didn't like shopping as much as her friends, but she had to get out of the house somehow. Schoolwork was driving her crazy, and her parents weren't helping at all. Too occupied with "work stuff" to bother with helping their beloved daughter. She understood that they were just trying to earn money, but could they at least put a second aside to act like a real parent? It's not like dentistry is heavily impacting human society. It's like they don't even-

"Hello? Hellooooo? Earth to Christie? You conscious?"

Christie was brought back to the land of the living by her friend Lacie. Wow, she thought. Did I really space out that easily? Need to be more careful.

"Sorry; just a little out of it," she replied, more embarrased than she let on.

"Well, get into it!" Lacie said enthusiastically. "You've got a date with Isaac tonight, and you better look sharp."

"Yeah, she's right! added Jasmine. "He's way out of your league."

Oh, good ol' Jasmine. Always quick to Lacie's side. Sometimes, Christie wondered if she was even sentient. Maybe she was some kind of symbiotic creature, who took on a human appearance and required help from girls in order to sustian herself. Unlikely, but impossible? Maybe not.

"Guys," Christie blushed. "I don't think it even counts as a date. It's a party that he invited me to and-"

"Ahp!" Lacie put her finger to Christie's lips, silencing her. "He asked you to go somewhere with you personally, and therefore it's a date. Case closed." Huh, ironic. Lacie's parents are lawyers and that of all things is her favorite phrase.

Christie forced a smile. "All right. Whatever you say. What do you think I should get?"

Lacie's eyes lit up. Christie knew that she should never try to get on Lacie's bad side, because she could get the entire school against you with only one text. Changing the subject was the best thing to do.

"Well, I think that with your eye color, the best we can go with is a dark red..."

Christie zoned her out again. The pathways through the mall were chilly, and smelled of perfume. They passed a pet store, and Christie couldn't help but look at the cute puppies in the window and think of how much she wanted one. Of course, her mom was allergic to dogs, so that wasn't going to happen any time soon.

Why did her parents have to ruin everything simply with the lack of their presence? Maybe if Christie had more positive influences in her life, she would be doing the homework that she put off instead of shopping for clothes. Maybe if her parents were home more often they would know about her past 10 boyfriends. Maybe if her parents had-

"Christie, again!? Really? This is serious business! Keep your game face on!"

Christie wasn't in front of a pet store anymore. Now, they were in a clothing store, and were surrounded by luxury jackets, pants, and purses. She couldn't tell which one it was, but she could tell it was only luxury items.

"So," Lacie asked. "Let's get started."

Lacie and Jasmine looked as excited as the puppies Christie saw. "You guys pick something for me; I'll be right back."

Christie handed Jasmine her debit card, which her parents signed for. 1,000 dollars in cash should be enough for whatever they picked, even if it was in a clothes store in LA.

Lacie squealed with delight. "You won't be dissapointed." Then, she sped off, her platinum blonde hair flowing behind her, with Jasmine hot in pursuit.

 Christie smirked and walked across the 2nd level of the mall until she came across the store with the puppies again. She walked in and looked around. After looking at squeaky toys and every brand of dog food known to man, she came across a little puppy in a glass case on the wall.

Unlike all of the other puppies on the walls, this one wasn't going mental. This little puppy, with his light brown eyes, was just looking right at Christie. It was like he was almost bored, and politely asking, "Hey! The food here sucks; get me out of here please?" He just didn't care as much as all the other dogs. He just wanted to get out of there.

Christie thought that the dog was exactly like her.

Christie felt her phone buzz, and pulled it out of her pocket. It was a text from Lacie. It said, "Wat do u think? :) i picked it out" and had an attached picture of the outfit she picked: a dark red cropped leather jacket, gold circlet, grey t-shirt, and dark blue jeans.

"Perf. Get it! B rite there. ;)" Christie's phone could've made the corrections, but it was obviously cooler to misspell everything on purpose.

She turned around and walked out, but not before she looked at the puppy one more time. He didn't look disappointed; it was like he never expected it to work out anyway.

"I'll be back soon," she said to the dog. She didn't know why; it's not like dogs can speak English. She just felt like she needed some closure. "I've got a date. Kinda."

And with that, she strutted out of the store, thinking of Isaac. Oh, it's gonna be a fun night.