Definitions

Chapter 21: Shopping

Shopping, verb.
Where you wander around various stores that you like the look of and mentally become a millionaire and buy everything, when in reality you buy one pair of shoes and a drink. Eh, it's fun, apparently.

Chapter twenty one: Shopping
It was a long time before Simon and I talked about any of that again. I felt bad for condemning one of his close friends, but at least they'd all grown apart, and Joe didn't really hang out with any of the squad, apart from Freezy. He'd made his own way with his YouTube career, and the collab video he'd planned with me for after Gamescom had, of course, never eventuated. Admittedly, I'd stalked his social media for a long time after it happened, and as far as I could tell, he was genuinely enjoying what he was doing. I wanted to believe he had changed, but I had no real way of knowing. People are different when they're in front of a camera. Lachlan had always told me I was too quick to forgive, but I had no enjoyment from holding a grudge. It didn't sit well with me to continue hating a person, no matter what they'd done, and that was where I and my brother were very different. Lachlan would hold a grudge for years, and it would take a lot to provoke his forgiveness.

The next morning, my brain was in a turmoil again. Simon, who was still lying beside me when I awoke, was fast asleep, his hand still gently gripping my own. I slipped away quietly, and washed my face, and fixed my hair in the guest bathroom. I found myself knocking on Josh's bedroom door.
"Come in," he called. I went in, and closed the door behind me.
"Am I dreaming, or are you up before 11am?" Chuckled Josh, spinning around in his chair to look at me.
"Hey, we won't talk about my sleeping schedule," I laughed. "So, two things. Lachlan told all the Pack guys about what Joe did at Gamescom, so I got hell mad at him, because I'd never even told anyone that. And he still thinks I shouldn't be spending time with you guys. Anyway, I finally talked to Simon about it, since I guess he deserves to know, but now I'm kinda worried he's gonna kill Joe next time he sees him. I don't know, do you think I'm just overthinking everything or..."
"Hey, you're rambling again, I get it," smiled Josh, waving his hand to shut me up. "I think you're probably right, Simon is likely to fly off the deep end about stuff like that. But if you guys are 'best friends', as you call it, you were right to tell him. But we never even see Joe anymore, so it's okay, you need to stop worrying about it." I didn't look convinced. "Hey, you need to think about something else. I was planning on taking Freya out tomorrow night. Well, I haven't told her yet, but I was about to call her. Why don't you and Simon come, and we can make it a double date." I raised an eyebrow at him.
"As best friends," I stated. "Right?"
"You keep telling yourself that," he smirked. "Honestly, I know you two think you're fooling everybody, and maybe you are, but you're not fooling me."
"Whatever Josh," I laughed. Just because we'd admitted it to each other, didn't mean I was going to admit to Josh that he'd been right.
"Go ask him," he said, joining in my laughter. "And tell him it's formal."

I found Simon in the kitchen, eating microwaved left over pizza for breakfast.
"We're going on a double date with Frey and Josh apparently," I stated, stealing some of the topping off his pizza.
"Okay," he nodded, smiling at me. "As best friends, yeah?" I returned his smile, remembering our conversation from the car yesterday.
"Of course," I nodded. "Oh, and it's formal, which means I need to go shopping, which means I have to call Frey... Oh great."
"Lucky you," laughed Simon, knowing I wasn't a big fan of shopping. "I'll be on the recording grind if you need me."
"I just might, ya never know what can happen when you let Freya loose on a shopping spree." He laughed, and pulled me into a hug, kissing the top of my forehead.
"Have fun then," he murmured. "Call me when you're done, okay?"
"I will," I replied.

"Jordyn Nexus, you are gonna look soooooo beautiful tomorrow evening!" Giggled Freya, skipping into the mall later that day.
"Freya Nightingale, you need to chill," I laughed.
"Okay, I have the best idea for you," she went on, paying no attention to me. "Wait, I should totally vlog this." She pulled out her phone.
"Freya!" I gasped, in mock horror. "One does not simply vlog on their phone!"
"It's an emergency," she giggled. She turned on the camera, and began talking. "So Jordyn is finally letting me pick a dress for her to wear! We're going shopping today, and it's gonna be a lot of fun. Right Jordy?"
"So much fun," I said sarcastically.
"Of course. Oh, and I'm using my phone by the way, coz I didn't think I'd be vlogging today, so sorry about the video quality. I don't think iPhone is too bad."

We did, admittedly, have a pretty great time messing around in the stores, and trying heaps of clothes on, some that we actually considered buying, and some that were just plain ridiculous and but wanted to vlog and take selfies in the outfits. However, I think it was more the fact that we were spending time together that made it fun, rather than the actual shopping. Freya found herself a black dress, and shoes to match, which she looked stunning in. But then, what was new about that, she always looked gorgeous. I was tossing up between an apricot coloured dress, and a red dress.
"Well," said Freya, "Red is Simon's favourite colour."
"No, you actually need to stop!" I complained. "He's my best friend, Frey." She shrugged, laughing.
"Sorry," she smiled. "He's your date for tomorrow, I just had to say it. Red does look better on you though. Try them on, and see." I did so, and in the end, I did choose the red one, simply because the dress was more comfortable. Freya's phone began to rang, so she left me to buy the dress, and waited outside the store for me.