Forehead Kisses (ONGOING)

Part Nine

I slammed the door shut when I got to the apartment. There was a fresh pack of sodas in the fridge and I chugged one down.

Retty's not here yet.

It's almost five in the afternoon and I haven't received a single text from her. Furthermore, I can't believe I spent half of my day with this Pembleton guy. He's weird in a way. One minute he acts like a jerk then a second later, he acts like a knight in shining armor.

Definitely weird.

It was a good thing his mother called him. Otherwise, I'd still be sitting on a bench turning red while he stares at me... which would just turn me even redder. The door opened and I saw Retty come in. She had her blue jeans on and a plaid polo, her hair still bunned to perfection. She saw me sipping the remaining contents of my soda. "Oh hey, Liz! You're looking hot. Where are you going?" I almost choked on my soda.

What! Me? Hot? No. Definitely not. Nope.

"I'm going to finish this cold can of soda," raising my drink in the air.

"Where have you been, by the way?" I asked. She smiled back. I don't get it. "Well, aren't you going to tell me?" She rapidly marched her way to me. "Shush! Elizabeth West!" putting a finger on my lips. "My mother called like it was my own divine calling."

"Divine calling?"

"Shush, I said!" pressing her finger a little bit deeper on my lips. " My mother and I have entered a very enchanted castle filled with numerous resources mankind has ever dreaded of obtaining. It was a home that everyone wanted and needed to mark themselves with power, class and wealth. It is indeed, one of the magical places on earth."

"Oh... you went shopping."

"Hush, you idiot!" she glared, taking one step forward while I took one back. My eyes widened.

She just called me an idiot!

"We took a magic carpet ride to the tower where we were apprehended by shapeless assassins. All as thin as the clothes you're wearing right now."

They took an elevator to the highest floor and went in a shop where they were surrounded by many beautiful garments.

"Oh my gosh. I'm so scared. I'm trembling." Note the sarcasm. Retty took her finger away. "You're never going to shut up are you?" she asked while crossing her arms over her chest. I gave her a smile. 

"Anyway, where was I? Oh yes!" And she continued with her narrator voice.

"I, on one hand, have fought valiantly! BUT... there was one gruesome creature that I could not defeat. I could not avoid. I could not conquer!"

She rummaged in racks of dresses until she found the one she can't take her eyes off.

"But my mother, oh so brilliant and brave! She defeated it by giving it green rocks and gave its remains to me as a sign of a well fought battle."

Her mom paid for the dress.

"Wow." I said with a stoic expression. "I'm just kidding, Liz," she opened the fridge and brought out a can of soda. "My mom and I went shopping. You should have seen the last floor. It was awesome! There was this shop with a lot of dresses and I found this one cute dress. It was just so cute I couldn't take my eyes off it. Mom paid for it, obviously. She had extra cash today..." she just goes on and on and on and I just pretended to listen.

I really like Retty's imaginative side. It's what defines her. Mr. Strom is a painter, after all. Maybe she got it from him. Her mom on the other hand, she's a working entrepreneur. I don't want to get into the business stuff. It's too complicated to me. With all the bar charts, and statistics and business proposals. I'm not much of a numbers girl or a business girl but I'm definitely not stupid. Just because I'm not good in Math doesn't mean I'm not intelligent. Anyway, Retty looks happy. I guess she really had a good time with her mom.

I wish my mom was here.

"Oh and uh... I saw this Pembleton guy. Turned out our moms were really close too and-"

My eyes widened. "Did you say Pembleton?" I interrupted.