The Exchange

Chapter 19

"What did I tell you?" Harry says over the phone. Louis connects his phone to his car's built in Bluetooth so we could all hear him. I sit alone in the back seat. Liam sits in front of me in the should be drivers seat and Louis drives.

"I knew that waiter was into you Mira!" Nialls Irish accent calls through the speaker.

"He wasn't that into me." I smile, looking out the window.

"Yeah he was." Louis states, monotoned while turning the corner. He suggested we go for dessert after dinner but refuses to tell me where or what.

"Yeah, I think he liked you." Liam adds, turning around look at me.

"You guys need to stop with this." I chuckled biting my lip.

"So do you think you'll call him?" Niall asks through the phone. I can see Louis seems slightly tense behind the wheel but I don't completely understand why. He's kind of been uptight and parental all day but won't relax even while we talk about the smallest little thing.

"Probably not." I say, glancing at the piece of paper with Carlos' number on it.

"Why not?" Louis asks curiously.

"I'm not into players." I say, looking out the window again at the beautiful nightlife going on.

"What makes you think he's a player?" Harry asks.

"I don't know. Just the way he seemed to know what he was doing sent a type of message."

"You think he knew what he was doing?" Harry asks again.

"It just seemed rehearsed. I'll probably never even see him again."

"Oh Mira, you don't have to be like that." someone groanes through the car speaker.

"Like what? I'm just not going to call someone who served me French toast. I barley know anything about him."

"I guess she's got a point." I believe Zayn said that.

"Well, she thinks logically." Harry points out through the speaker.

Louis suddenly stops the car in a dim, strip mall parking lot. I look around at some of the other signs. A nail salon, Indian food store and daycare stand around a little shop. The sign says, "sweet dreams." in light blue and the words sit on a fluffy white cloud. What does that mean?

"Let's get out." Louis narrates, opening his car door. I step out and look around. The street and side walk seem familiar to me in some way. I'm trying to figure out why though. Does it remind me of a street back home? But it doesn't.

"Why do I feel like I've been here before?" I think allowed.

"Maybe it's because the grocery store is just down the street." Liam points to a lighted green sign just like the one I had walked up to just days before and broken down in. I don't want to think about that situation now though. The boys don't even know about it.

"Ohh." I nod, looking over to the dreaded grocery store sign.

"Yeah, so you can walk here with your friends if you ever want to." Louis nods.

"Where are we anyways?" I ask, looking at the 'sweet dreams' sign.

"It's the closest place to get frozen yogurt. This place is crowded with teenagers during the day."

"Really?" I ask, slightly excited. Knowing this place is close to Harry and Louis flat somehow makes me feel more open and confident to trying it. Plus, who can ever go wrong with fro-yo?

"Do you ever eat frozen yogurt?" Louis asks me.

"It's my life in the summer." I declare. Louis smiles and wraps his arm around my waist.