I could feel their eyes glancing at me, scanning my clothes for any sign of what I had just done. By now they all knew, but they wouldn't say a thing. I sat down in a vacant spot near Chloe, as the one near Tessa was taken. It seemed oddly quiet for a normal day, someone was missing, I leaned into Chloe, drawing her attention away from the gossip of the day. "Where's Sophia?". Seeing that I didn't have a valuable contribution to her store of secrets, she distractedly answered, "She was sick, so I dropped her off before coming back here". But she hasn't gotten sick in 3 years and she seemed fine this morning.
Something was definitely off. The table was overcrowded, smashing us all together in an attempt to minimize the amount of space we took up. I could feel his presence entering the room again, but I paid no heed to it, instead turning my attention to Rowan and her boo, the happiest couple you would ever meet. At the moment, they were holding hands, talking in low voices with mischievous smiles pasted on their faces. They seemed almost too good to be true, hanging out all the time, and never complaining, saying only good things about each other when apart. Her tall frame rested against his muscular body, his arm wrapped lazily around her shoulders, toying with her hair absentmindedly. Sometimes I wished I had that. You can never have what they have.
I glared at the ground, banishing the thoughts from my head. Chloe nudged me out of my concentration, "I'm heading over to Sophia's after this to check on her, wanna come with?". I perked at the idea, "Yeah totally, we should give her a get well soon package, my parents used to do it for me all the time.". Chloe looked like I had just invented the greatest thing since sliced bread. Glee filled her eyes and she shrieked in a incredibly high pitch, "Yeah! let's go right now. She'd love something like that". I got dragged around too many stores to count as Chloe searched for the perfect items dismissing most with a sigh, or a grumbled "it's not good enough", only settling for the highest of quality... that she could afford. In the end we stopped at the Dollar Tree, as a very sad and defeated Chloe moped around the store like a lost puppy.
"Why does everything cost so much!" she exclaimed in exasperation, throwing her hands in the air and glaring at the pack of broken cookies in her hand. "That's just how the world works, love" I slid my arm over her shoulders drawing her slumped form in for a hug. We had spent an hour searching in the stores for Chloe's idea of perfection with no avail, I could see how she was a bit frustrated. I guided her out of the store with a bag full of partially expired food clutched firmly in her hand and and frown on her face. Her mood got better the closer we got to Sophia's, and by the end of the ride she was bouncing on her seat, excitement clearly visible on her face.
I knew I could relax around Chloe, she had the most expressive face I had ever seen, so I never had to guess what she was feeling. "Alright girlie we're here" I said as I pulled the car into the short driveway of the two story. It was looked exactly like half of houses on the street, as there were only two choices for appearance in the secluded court. Chloe was busy in the back seat, grabbing her purchases and bundling them into a presentable fashion. Seemed like she would only give the best to her best friend. I scanned the nearly empty court. It was a perfect little stereotypical neighborhood. My eyes stopped on the bright red truck sitting on the corner. Isn't that Peter's?
