Forever and Always • cel

Chapter 13

"Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world."

                                                                                                       — Lucille Ball

"Chloe! Get down here now! We're going to the mall!" I can barely hear mom in my semi-awake state. I groan as I turn over. It's finally Saturday! Don't I get a chance to just sleep in? "Chloweeeee!!!" the door swings open as my 12-year-old sister runs in yelling like an annoying toddler. "Get up Chloe! We're gonna shop for your dress, remember?" Clara shakes me vigorously until I sit up, sighing. "Fine! But only coz it's for Nia's birthday." I lightly push Clara off my bed so I can get up and start my morning routine at top speed.

I throw on a bright blue collared pleated dress with a matching white belt. I grab my breakfast from the kitchen table on my way out. "Seatbelts!" Clara yells as my mother starts the engine the moment I get into the car. I immediately click on my seatbelt before Clara starts making a huge fuss just to annoy my mom and I. Why can't she just be like she was when she was 5, innocent and adorable? I let out a sigh. "Sighing makes you grow old faster!" Clara exclaims in mock anxiety. I roll my eyes and fish out my phone to avoid any further conversation. "Hey, when did you change your phone cover? How come I didn't notice before?" Clara asks when she sees my Joker phone case. I'm about to tell her it's none of her business when I realise her sparkling eyes. "Um, I got it just this week. You like it?" I flip my phone over to admire the Joker on the other side. "Of course I do! Joker's my favourite DC character ever!" Clara squeals. Wait what? Joker's her favourite DC character? "He's mine too" I say slowly. Clara's eyes widden as it dawns on her. Then she yelled, "Omigosh we love the same character! Omigod I thought Joker was too fab for you!" which started a long spew of fangirling.

When we finally got to the mall, Clara and I were laughing and squealing together, making it seem as if we were still the pair of sisters from when I was 9. A cool breeze hit me as I push through the revolving doors. Pittsburgh Mall is the only mall in Pittsbugh still using a revolving door, making it special and cool at the same time. Clara and I split up to hit the stores efficiently as we'd planned in the car. I got Macy's, Forever21, Abercrombie, Aeropostale and Wet Seal. Clara got Delia's, Justice, Express, Nordstrom and American Eagle. I start off with Forever21, browsing through the racks until I spot the top of 2 familier heads. I furrow my brows in confusion. It can't be what I'm thinking right? I decide to move closer, quietly walking down the row until I'm directly opposite them.

"How's this?" the girl asks. "Prefect. It'll look great on you!" the guy replies. The girl giggles. I spot a small gap between the clothes right next to my arm and carefully move so I can look through it. My stomach churns nervously as more of the opposite side comes into view. I really hope I don't see what I thought I'd see. One of the guy's arms comes into view, then his body, then his other arm. But wait, her hand is linked in his. My stomach does a flip. I can't be sure until I see their faces. I slowly move my vision until the slightest bit of dark brunette hair comes into view. Oh no. I close my eyes for a moment, preparing myself. Then I open them and quickly catch a glimsp of the full picture.

I was right. I back a little away from the rack, my mind whirling with thoughts. The image of the bruenette girl and blonde boy holding hands sticks around in my mind. I didn't know what to do. "Let's check out the other side" I hear her voice say. Oh no, they were coming over to this side! There's no way I can evade in time, so I just turned towards the nearest rack and pretended I was browsing through, praying that they would not notice me. I hear the footsteps approaching and my browsing automatically quickens. Slow down Chloe. Pretend you don't know they're here! I control myself as the footsteps come nearer and nearer. "Oh hi Chloe!" a male voice says. Chill! "Oh hi!" I stamp on a fake smile as I whip around to face none other than Josh and Maddie. "Weird to meet you here. I mean, the possibilities of meeting you here are pretty low. I thought you always shopped at big expensive stores?" Maddie batts her eyelashes and feigns surprise. "Well I'm not particularly rich since I'm single now. And how about you? How come you're here when you've got a brand new cash fountain right next to you?" I rebutt bitterly, give Josh a subtle glare. He doesn't seem to care.

"I thought you got yourself another cash fountain too? Why isn't Brandon with you?" Maddie immediately questions. My heart immediately quickens and I start to panic a little. Calm, down! "We're not having a relationship or anything." I reply as cooly as I could. "Oh? Then how come Joshie caught you two kissing yesterday? Huh?" she gives me that 'take that' look. But that didn't stumble me. "It was probably just a consolation. He understands me. Unlike you two. Besides, why would you care?" I wave my hand and start to walk away. "Whatever." Maddie mutters as I hear footsteps walking away. 

I peek over my shoulder to see them laughing about something. And their still holding hands. Then they sudden stop and Josh leans down to kiss Maddie before they continue walking again, this time with Josh's arm around Maddie's waist. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't jealous. I'm just so confused right now. I'm angry with Josh, yet I still want him. I hate how he just pretends we never existed. We did and I'll remember that for the rest of my life. I thought Josh had forgot how to play girls. He hadn't had anything to do with any other girl except me since we started dating and it had stayed that way for two years.

But now he is back to his old ways again. 

I sigh as I continue on to the other shops, deciding to leave sorting out my feelings for later.

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A/N: I hope you guys liked this chapter coz i really did put in effort into this. Sorry I haven't really updated for a long time. With school and everything, it's not easy finding time. On the side is Chloe's dress and phonecase. I actually saw that Joker phonecase just a while back. I really loved the goofy Joker but my friend went "No nicole! Nooooooo!!!" Anyway, I'm in the process of selecting Chloe and Clara's dresses for Nia's party. If you've got any dresses that you wanna share, feel free to! :D