Unexpected // a.i

Chapter One // Unexpected

“Ava, come on,” I groaned, dragging my feet across the floor in a rather childish manor, I let out a heavy sigh for emphasis. “This is so boring.”

My best friend had managed to drag me along to another one of her infamous shopping sprees which I usually mildly enjoyed, if it hadn’t been for the new Grand Theft Auto game that I had bought yesterday. I was glued to it for hours on end because it was honestly amazing, whenever I had the controller in my hands I just lost track of time.

Whilst I would rather be playing on the Xbox for multiple hours on end, Ava had other plans. Being as persuasive and sycophantic as she is, she managed to convince me to shop with her, but she had the advantage of my parents’ adoration towards her. Therefore, my mum and dad bribed me to get out of the house by giving me the opportunity to drive my dad’s absolute bomb of a car, a white Audi R8 spyder. It was his prize possession, his complete baby and they knew that I couldn’t be able to resist the offer. Its surprising Dad lets me drive his car after watching my not-so-graceful driving skills on the Xbox.

“Av, please can we do something else?” I probed my friend who was currently ignoring my pleas. She was sporting a determined expression as she hunted through the sale section. Ava was pretty much in her element here, flitting from one section to the other with armfuls of clothes on tow; meanwhile I trailed behind like a little lap dog.

“El, how does this dress look? I’m not too sure about it,” Ava asks me, holding the item up to her chest and looking at me with big expectant eyes.

“It looks good,” I answered truthfully, though my voice lacked enthusiasm. It was true that it looked good on her; she could wear anything and still look gorgeous, it’s just that I really wasn’t in the mood for this right now. I gazed at my friend as she rolled her blue eyes at me, flicking her strawberry blonde hair over her shoulder. Ava has utterly flawless pale skin and enviously long eyelashes, not to mention that she had the perfect figure. The list could just go on.

“Thanks for the constructive criticism, Elissa,” she replied sarcastically, putting the dress back on the rack. Hearing my full name made my nose immediately scrunch up in disgust. Knowing my dislike to the name, Ava had the upper hand, blatantly enjoying how annoyed I was getting. “Lighten up a little will you, Elissa?”

I huffed, scowling at her back as she worked her way over to another section of the shop, I contemplated leaving her here on her own.

“I’m just kidding with you, El, we can leave once I’ve finished in here,” Ava bargained, throwing me a smile. “Even though we’ve hardly made a scratch on the shopping.”

“The sooner the better,” I replied. Even though Ava had just annoyed me, my mood improved drastically when she said this and I actually made an effort to give good advice on the clothes she picked out.

“I should tell you that we’re about to leave more often,” Ava joked, “you don’t make a terrible shopping buddy when you try.”

I rolled my eye at her comment, unable to hide my smile, even if she did annoy me sometimes, we were still best friends.

Ava kept her side of the bargain and once she’d finished paying and chatting happily to the assistant, we left. Both holding armfuls of bags, we made our way through the busy London high-street towards the car.