The Cupcake Theory

18)Welcome to The Metaphorical Jungle

Dedicated to ChasingMadness24 Who is an amazing writer and an inspiration (Seriously, how do you write books so fast?)

18) Welcome to The Metaphorical Jungle

"Oh My Gosh. Charlie looks at these. Aren't they the coolest things you've ever seen?" I drag my reluctant best friend to the next aisle that is filled with pillows "I need this" is all I say as the next random object is thrown into the overflowing shopping cart. "And what exactly is this?" Charlie questions my taste in random objects as he follows me sluggishly around the shop.

"Well," I give it a closer look and find the right description "I'm fairly sure it's a yellow pillow in the shape of a cat wearing a sombrero or maybe it's a cloud," I squint my eyes at the abstract shape.

He inspects the pillow and gives me a bored look "And why exactly do you need this?" He's probably starting to regret coming here as realizing we won't be leaving for a while. See technically it was his idea to come here in the first place. Just saying.

"It's in the shape of a cat plus have you felt how fluffy it is? I need this," I try to convince both him and my wallet that this pillow is essential to my life.

"You've already said that about the last 10 items in this cart, which I'm almost positive that you'll never use. Items that now include a doughnut rug, chequered coasters and a gnome that glows. I thought you wanted to save money, not spend it."

I turn back to him "Technically I save money by spending it at KMART," it's only logic.

He mutters something under his breath about me eventually buying out the entire store.

As we move further along Charlie gives me an odd look which starts to get on my nerves "So, I heard that you missed a kiss from Perfect Prince Charming," he asks carefully trying to minimise eye contact.

I groan "Does everybody seriously know about that? I still don't understand why it's such a big deal about it anyway," collapsing onto the display bed which feels more like a rock than a cloud, I pat the spot beside to me inviting him to lay down with me.

Leaving all my new prized possessions to the side, Charlie nudges me across to lie down in the space next to me "We're talking about you rejecting a kiss from the most popular guy in our year Mace. I thought you'd been dying to you know, lock lips with someone, especially Aaron since you've had on crush on him for the past 5 years."

Hesitating, I reminisce over my short time with Aaron; which includes me embarrassing myself multiple times and him not understanding how clumsy I can really be.

"It's funny," I pause "The more I'm around him the more I question if I just liked the thought of being with someone like him. Someone who is popular, sporty and handsome, someone that's the complete opposite to me and definitely out of my league. Yes, I feel like something's just not right but I'm willing to take a chance to see where it will go, although I doubt it will be serious." Taking a deep breath I realize what I just said "Woah I think I went a bit too deep. Enough about me how are you and Jess going? Any news on what the future holds for you two lovebirds?"

Charlie's ears turn pink instantly which confirms my suspicions about the two of them "We're happy you know" he shrugs like there's nothing more to say "planning what university we want to go to is a bit hard when you have no idea what you want to do in the future. But we haven't really been focusing on the future right now. We want to take life one step at a time and see where it leads us. I guess I'm just nervous about where we're all going to end up by the end of the year."

I look over to see his hands covering his exhausted face; obviously the thought of the future has been eating him up for a while. Who could blame him? It's hard to know what you want to do when you've got a thousand voices telling you what they think you should do (and it never helps when they all have completely different ideas). Slowly, I cover my hand over his, removing it from his face.