Snapshot » l.t.

Chapter 22

Chapter 22


Renee's POV


I trudged home, exhausted after a day of working at Toys R Us. Who knew Rainbow Loom could be so challenging?

I was worried. Not about my job, but about Louis. It was Saturday when I accepted the job, and now it was Monday night. In all that time I hadn't seen or heard from Louis once.

What if he didn't like me anymore? I shook my head. I wasn't having those thoughts anymore. It was my new pact. I wasn't going to doubt my friends or my life any longer.

With a loud sigh I collapsed on my couch. I kicked off my shoes and spun my cap backwards. I looked like a hipster in a Toys R Us uniform. Oh yeah.

I sat up. Holy crap, it just occurred to me that Lacy and I both worked at Toys R Us! Albeit different ones, but in a way it's still the same store. Twinsies! I wondered if she had to wear the same stupid uniform as me.

I took out my phone and turned it on. I had multiple text messages, but I ignored them unless they had Lacy's name and number on them.

None of them did. So I switched to contacts and called her. I wanted to compare stores with her. I grinned.

She picked up after the second ring. "RENEE!!" she screamed, the same time I screamed, "LACY!!"

"Ermagherd, Renee, you've changed!" Lacy exclaimed. "You never scream. What has happened to you?"

"Don't you love me?" I pouted, but didn't wait for her answer. "I got a job at a place you'll never guess."

"Um... Victoria's Secret?"

"Ew, no. Keep guessing."

"The YMCA?"

"No," I sang. "I'll just tell you. I work at Toys R Us!"

"OMFG, what!" Lacy cried sarcastically.

I pouted again. "Come on, Lace," I complained. "Can't you just act excited for me? The love of your life?"

"No. Toys R Us is a cute and cuddly hell. And you're not the love of my life anymore. You've been replaced."

I gasped, feigning a hurt expression. "With who?" I cried.

"This super awesome cute guy named Connor. He's my date to my birthday party. Have you got one yet?"

My heart froze. "Um, uh," I stammered, my playfulness vanished.

Lacy laughed. "You don't have one yet," she guessed. It wasn't a question. "Don't worry, you'll find one soon! No one can resist the beautiful Renee!"

"Stop it, you're making me blush," I said with fake modesty. "I don't think anyone will go with me. Except for maybe Bob."

"Ooh, who's Bob?" Lacy asked eagerly, sucking up the gossip.

I smirked. "My imaginary friend," I said. "Ow!" I shouted, pretending Bob slapped me. "Bob, how many times have I told you, hitting is not nice! Go take a time out."

"Oh my gosh, Renee, you're different," Lacy sighed. "But I like it," she added, and I got the feeling she was grinning. "Find a real Bob. I want to find out what taste you have in guys."

"Shut up, Lacy," I mumbled.

"Love you too, Rainy. I have to go. Bye now!"

"Bye," I said. "Talk to you later," I added quickly.

I hung up before she could go all lesbian on me.

I twiddled my thumbs together and bit my lip as I thought. I still had two and a half weeks to find a date until Lacy's silly party. Don't get me wrong, I was looking forward to it, it just was the date part that I found silly. It seemed unnecessary, even if it was a tradition.

There was a knock on my door. My head shot up. I jumped up so fast I thought I was flying. Maybe it was Louis!

I raced to the door. "Who is it?" I called as I went.

"It's Elise!" a female voice replied. This time it didn't sound like a constipated Louis.

I nearly sighed, but I caught myself in time. Why did I care so much? Why was I so excited when I thought it was Louis? I swear, that boy was having an effect on me, and not for the better.

I opened the door, and Elise smiled at me. She was the same old Elise: short, blonde, curly hair; bright blue eyes; cheerful smile.

"Elise!" I cried and snatched her up in a huge hug.

"Renee!" she laughed in reply, and hugged me back.

I set her down. "Wow, you've changed," she said, still grinning widely. "But that's okay."

"Ugh, I've missed you so much," I moaned.

"Me too. Now tell me, what has been going on? I feel like I've been missing out!"

"Take a seat, then," I said, gesturing to my couch. "It's going to take a while."

Elise plonked down on my couch and looked at me eagerly.

"Well," I began, taking a seat beside her. "I got a new job working at Toys R Us."

"That's awesome, Renee! What do you do?"

"I'm kind of like an activities director. I set up these dates when kids can come in and play around, and I help them."

"That sounds amazing," Elise sighed dreamily. I nodded. Elise and I both loved to work with kids. Elise especially liked the little ones.

"What else?" she pressed.

I went on to tell her everything. Well, mostly everything. I didn't tell her about Louis taking me to all those places, nor him spending the night. I knew she would get the wrong assumptions.

I finished with, "And Louis hasn't come over for a while. I don't why, but it's wonderful."

Elise stared at me thoughtfully when I was done. "Are you sure?" she finally asked. "Are you absolutely positively sure that you like being alone?"

I frowned. "Well, I wouldn't put it like that," I said a little slowly. "I don't like being alone entirely, I'm just glad Louis doesn't come over here all the time to bother me."

I pretty much told Elise that Louis and I had made up, but I still didn't like him. But he kept visiting, and I found that annoying.

I didn't want anyone knowing about me and Louis' weird kind of friendship. Everyone would get the wrong idea. Lacy doesn't really count because I didn't tell her the whole truth, either.

"Mmhmm," Elise hummed doubtfully, but didn't question me. And for that I was grateful.

"Do you know everything about One Direction?" I asked Elise, a little randomly.

She gave me a look like I was crazy. "Of course!" she exclaimed. "I have an entire blog dedicated to them!"

And she thought I was the crazy one.

"What's your blog called?" I asked nonchalantly.

"'My Five Directions'. Why?"

"Oh, nothing," I sang, smirking slightly.

"Renee!" Elise gasped, and punched my shoulder. "I know what you're thinking!"

My heart pounded in my chest, and I bit my lip. I did that a lot when I was nervous or thoughtful.

"You do?" I asked uncertainly.

"Yes! You want to rat out on me to the One Direction boys! Please don't tell them!"

I relaxed slightly. "Why on Earth would I do that?" I exclaimed. "I would never do such a thing! You're my best friend."

Elise looked relieved. "Okay," she sighed. "Want to hear about my adventures in New York?"

"Do I?" I grinned, and Elise began to tell me her long tale about her trip. And I absolutely loved it.


*~*~*~*


Eventually Elise had to go, and she left with a quick hug and a promise of calling tomorrow. Then she was gone.

As soon as the door closed, I ran to my laptop and turned it on. I clicked on Google Chrome and searched the name. It was actually the first link that came up on the search page, and I clicked on it.

I stared at the "My Five Directions" blog. Elise was popular. She apparently updated only a couple days ago. Her status read, "My friend is BFFs with LT!!" I wrinkled my nose. It was no shocker she had a billion little green thumbs-ups next to it.

I skimmed through her posts. It was true, Elise knew everything about One Direction. That was both creepy and impressive.

"Okay," I murmured to myself. "Let's see where these boys crash."

I spotted an article named, "The Whereabouts Of Our Boys". Holy crap, that was creepy. I wasn't going to be able to look at Elise the same way again.

Neither with myself. I couldn't believe that I was actually searching for One Direction's address. I was a stalker.

In my defense, Louis and I didn't have each other's numbers, so we couldn't keep in contact like normal people. Plus, Louis showed up at my door like a stalker everyday, and he was a celebrity. So why couldn't I?

I hesitated. My mouse hovered over the article name. Should I? I would be stooping down to Louis' level, and that was low, even for me.

I blinked. No. I wasn't going to be that low. So low that I would have something creepy in common with Louis.

I exited out of the blog, and sighed in relief. I felt like I had just breathed in radiation. One Direction blogs were not good for my health.

I was probably overreacting, but whatever.

Louis would come around. He had to. Nobody could resist me for long.

My confidence melted. He was never coming back.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Author's Note:


I am seriously not proud of these chapters I'm writing. This chapter was creepy and stalkerish. Hopefully the next chapter won't be as weird.

Well, that was a short author's note. Till next time!


Stay Beautiful,
-Sammi <3


PS, you guys would like some drama, right? Like, EXTREME, but silly drama? Please answer those questions! They are ESSENTIAL for the next chapter!