Around in a Circle

Chapter 12

Leah Cranston

"Okay. So what do I need to do?" I ask, as I tie my hair up into a messy bun.

"So, I was thinking first, to the mall." Austin says as we walk.

"Okay. Sounds good." I smile. Today was finally the day Chloe and Austin were going to on a date. It was scheduled to be at 6 tonight. I made sure Chloe doesn't know a thing.

"I really want to get her something really nice to wear." Austin says as we walk into the mall. "Any recommendations?"

"Hm, that store looks nice." I say, and glance up at Austin. "Should we go in there?"

"Yeah, I'll follow you around today." Austin chuckles. I smile. When we get in the store, I look through a rack of clothes, Austin does the same to another.

After a few moments, I look up from the tall rack of the clothes I was looking at and see Austin on the other side. He smiles at me warmly and for some reason it makes my heart flutter a little. I quickly break eye contact.

"How about this one?" I ask Austin. "Chloe likes this kind of style."

"That's nice." He agrees. "What would you personally want to wear though? You're her best friend, after all. You'll have similar taste."

"It's not about me, today." I say. Even though I loved shopping, today wasn't about me, it was about Chloe. And I couldn't bring my own fashion and want into this. "Oh and just to make it clear, we don't really have that similar taste in clothes but then again we have clothes that we both love but it just depends on that piece of clothing."

"But still. I still wanna know your style of clothes. It'll give me ideas." Austin says. And I mentally frown. Austin isn't the kind of person to really disagree like this.

"This one's fine." I say, looking at the one that I was holding for Chloe. To be honest it wasn't really my style, but I had to say it so that he'd buy Chloe this dress.

"That one it is, then." Austin says, taking the dress from me, and walks over to the till to pay.

"So, I wanted to go watch a movie with her."

"Let's go, then." I say, as we start walking. After a few moments of silence, I decide to speak up. "Do you like Chloe?"

"What?" He clears his throat. "Oh, well I want to see how it goes."

"Okay..... Just make sure you don't hurt her in anyway. Promise me." I look at him in the eyes and he nods.

"Yeah."

When we get to the movies, we stand and take a look at the screen to see what kind of movies were on.

"So what do you think she'll like?" Austin asks.

"Hm, that one. Chloe's into sappy love movies."

"What about you? Would you like that?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, like from a girl's point of view, would you want to watch that on a first date with a guy?"

"Hm, I wouldn't mind, if it was me."

"Okay, then. Let's watch- I mean, I'll be back."

"Yeah. Okay." I laugh, and get my phone out.

Chloe : Wat u doing today?

I hesitate. What am I supposed to say?

You : just in town doing some shopping.

Chloe : sad didn't invite me

You : you looked busy

Chloe : busy doing wat?

You : sleeping ;)

Chloe : great. Where r u? I'll come now

You : I'm just about done. I'll be back soon

Chloe : k then see u soon

I breathe a sigh of relief just as Austin walks over to me, showing me the tickets in his hand. I smile.

"Nice." I say.

"Just one more place to go, to a restaurant." Austin says, putting the to tickets into his pocket. "What kind of a place would you want to go to with a guy on your first date?"

"Chloe would want to go to a place really fancy with lots of people there, but...... I would probably want to go somewhere nice and quiet, just the two of us." I say, looking around. "That place looks nice." I say, pointing to a fancy restaurant. I start to walk towards it.

"Hey....... Um, Leah?" Austin takes ahold of my wrist, and I look up at him, who was looking at his phone. "I think we'd better head back. Maddox just texted me."

"But what about the restaurant booking?"

"I'll call them. As much as I'd want to stay and sort everything out, I think we'd better head back."

"Okay then." I say, frowning a little wondering why he wasn't planning this all now. Does he not care about the date? He has no idea how long Chloe's been waiting for this. I make this sound like it's like the biggest event of the year, but honestly, she has had a crush on him for sooooo long. This moment's been anticipated for such a long time.

***

"What are you doing later, Leah?" Chloe asks me and I look up from my phone on the couch.

"Nothing much."

"Can you meet me at 6 for something?"

"Yeah, sure. Wait, um, don't you have anything on then?" I say, referencing to the date with Austin.

"What do you mean?" Chloe frowns.

"Uh, why 6?"

"You'll find out."

"Okay. Where do you want me to meet you?"

"Just outside here, near the bench on the grass?"

"Okay." I say.

At 5:55, I get up from my place on the couch and walk up to the room that me and Chloe were staying in and put on a hoodie to wear along with my long exercise pants. I take the elevator outside, and walk over to the bench when I see one person waiting near the bench.

"Hey."