{Chapter 8}
Two hours and several shopping bags later, Amy and I walked down the mall walk, looking for a last shop to go to. We had already bought a great deal and I would have to work overtime for a VERY long time to get the money I had spent back. It was a bitter sweet victory.
I reached up to scratch my ear, but was greeted by a pulsing ache, reminding me of the faux pearls sticking out of them. As we rounded the corner and grew closer to a very punk rocker-meets-emo looking store I caught a small glance of black hair and a familiar beanie.
"Ashur!" I called out. Ashur turned around and nodded his head in our direction, then turned back around. Amy looked at him, then looked me up and down with a disgusted look on her face. She looked like she had just swallowed a lemon.
"Do you actually KNOW him?" She said, emphasizing every word with her disdain.
"Yeah, he's-he's my-friend.." I muttered, trailing off when she glared at me with eyes even wider than before.
"Oh. Well, I'm going to go wait in the car or go to another store or something. Call me when your done here." She looked him up and down one last time before she turned on her heel and sped away.
I walked up to him and tapped his shoulder, he didn't look up. I tapped him again. He sighed and finally turned his head. After he looked around once, almost as if to find someone, he smiled slightly and said "Hey, what's up?"
"Let me guess, no Amy?" I said, putting my hand on my hip. He looked down to the shoes he had net yet paid for and kicked at the box.
"Yeah, too stuck up, a real try-hard."he said matter-of-factly.
"Well it was slim picking's in the first grade trying to find someone who would talk to me," I joked, giving him a look while trying to suppress a smile.
"To be completely honest, I really don't see why you hang out with her. You don't need someone like that. You'd probably be better of without her to tell you the truth." He leaning up against a rack, crossing one foot in front of the other, and shoving his hands in his pockets.
"Wait... What do you mean by that?," I asked, curious as to what his answer would be.
The minute I asked, the smug little smile fell of his face and his eyes widened. He tensed up and tried to act casual, but for someone with an all-around awkward composure, it didn't look very convincing.
"Um...MHHMM," he cleared his throat several more times.
"I was just saying you don't need someone so stuck up and full of herself."
"Who said she's so stuck up? You've only been here for a couple weeks, how would you know?" I was getting slightly irritated with his disses on Amy, even if they were true. There is a secret behind every person, and Amy's just so happened to be the biggest, most shattering secret there was. One that could change an entire person's personality. Who they are. There was a reason, a good one.
"Don't tell me you don't see it! It's written across her face like a book! Why do you think she dresses like that? She wants to be the center of attention, that's why." Ashur's voice became more and more stiff. Almost mechanical.
"So? Is that really so bad? Everyone needs attention. Some more than others..." My voice trailed off and a single tear ran down my face.
"Especially after what happe-" I was cut off by a small sob escaping from my throat. Ashur looked sorry, like he wanted to apologize but didn't know how.
"Grace, you know what I meant, I didn't mean...I didn't know that something happened... She just hates me so much and it hasn't even been a week, I...Whatever it was... it was bad, wasn't it?" He tried looking me in the eyes but I was already staring down at the hands cupped in my lap, tears flowing down my cheeks. No sobs, no feeling. Just numb all over.
"Her twin brother, Jack. It was in the 7th grade. He was with his friends, he used to be the popular one, not Amy. Amy was so mean to him all the time. All. The. Time. Him and some guys got into a fight in an alley...someone shoved him, hard. They couldn't save him, his head hit the ground to hard. We used to be closer than close, he was a brother to me. He died that night. And you know what? He texted me, just before he died. Wanna know what he said? 'I loove youu siisterr,more off sisttere then reale oneea. I'll Missds u.' It was jumbled, but he said 'I love you sister, more of a sister than real one. I'll miss you.' Amy tried to follow in his footsteps, she scrambled for whatever she had of him left, and it was his popularity." I stood there in some hipster store with tears streaming down my cheeks and a small guttural sob escaping my lips.
Ashur stood there wide eyed with his mouth open. I could see a tear running down his cheek too.
"Grace, I am so sorry. I-I was to fast to judge, all my life people like her have just been bitches to me, I didn't expect anything different here. I'm so. So. Sorr-," his words cut off when he pulled me in to a hug, resting his face in my hair. I felt more calm when he hugged me, but I was still so upset. I pulled back just enough to see his face, but before I could say anything a man in black rushed into the store and shot at the ceiling 3 times.
"NOBODY MOVES! GIVE ME ALL THE MONEY IN THE REGISTER!" The doors locked behind him and nobody moved in fear off the gun being pointed in their direction. We weren't leaving anytime soon.
