She Paints Pain

Chapter 12

Chloe drove me to the movies immediately and gave me some money for the mall and the movies even though I insisted I already had some.

          “Jackson is not going to be happy if I let you go without some splurging money.” She persisted and took my purse, shoving the money inside. “He said to text him every hour, but don’t listen to him. Call me if someone messes with you and I’ll kick their *ss.”

          After some more conversing she let me off in front of the movies even though Rosie will be another few minutes. Basically she just explained how she would keep Jackson occupied for me so I can shop without his constant bugging. I blocked out the rest, but caught a few important things here and there.

          I looked over the list of movies, catching a few Rosie might like, too and then sat on a bench outside. Since she doesn’t have a cell phone all I can do is sit here and wait. She called right before she left to tell me she was leaving and I haven’t heard from her since.

          When she arrived we ended up agreeing on a romantic comedy since we were too scared to watch a horror movie in a dark room. The place wasn’t as crowded as I expected it to be, considering it’s a Saturday night. There’s a couple secluded over in a corner, already making out even though the lights are still on. And a group of three girls sat further down from us, giggling and taking pictures of each other.

          Me and Rosie sat in the back and started talking quietly about school, boys, the animal shelter, Caden and our home life until the lights went off. We watched the movie that was actually a lot better than we both expected and headed to the mall when it was over.

          “It’s impossible that you still don’t have a boyfriend, Rain. I mean look at you, you’re adorable!” she exclaimed, making me laugh as we sat down at the food court to grab a snack and some smoothies. We decided not to eat at the movies because it was too expensive and extremely unhealthy.

          “But I’m autistic and I have androphobia.” I explained, sucking down my berry smoothie. “I’m not the kind of girl guys want to date.”

          She sighed. “Let’s scope you out a guy.”

          “Please, don’t.”

          “Oh! How about the guy with the tattoo of a …naked…girl –never mind. Let’s try someone who isn’t into outer beauty more than inner beauty.” I smiled as she looked around the food court full of people. It’s impossible to find a perfect guy for me here because my mate’s at home.

          “Do you like mo-hawks? Or glasses? Or guys that look like they’re on steroids?”

          “I can’t tell you if I like them if I’ve never met them.” I laughed. How am I supposed to find the perfect guy if I judge him on his appearance?

          “Guys that are good looking are usually jerks anyways.” She stated, fixing her glasses and munching on the fries we decided to split. I shrugged my shoulders and texted Jackson that the movie was over and we were in the mall.

          “Where do you want to go first?” I asked and ate some fries so we could start shopping. She shrugged and we threw out our trash, walking to the closest store with our half-eaten smoothies.

          We stopped at a store I’ve never heard of, but had a decent display of clothing that Rosie and I were interested in. She bought a shirt, but I didn’t find anything worthy of buying.

          As we made our way down the mall, stopping at certain stores on the way, I caught a guy staring at me from across the mall. He was leaning on a wall next to a store that he definitely didn’t shop at with dark shades, a leather jacket and a cigarette stuck behind his ear.