MASH

Chapter 18: Not Mine

~~~ Jessica's POV ~~~

"Jess! Jess!" Kristle called out from her bedroom, her loud voice ringing throughout the whole apartment. "What?" I yelled back from my position on my bed, not wanting to get up. "Come to my room, I need your help!" Kristle shouted in response but I remained where I was.

"Jess! Jess! JESS!" Kristle continued to whine and I finally heaved myself up from my bed, trudging my feet to Kristle's bedroom which was beside mine. I stopped at the door way and asked, "What do you want?"

Kristle stood at her warobe, its doors wide open though there wasn't much contents in it. Sure there was a few shirts and one or two pairs of jeans hanging inside it but beside those, Kristle's warobe was empty of any clothing. Kristle stared at me and asked, "What do you see, Jess?"

"Erm... some shirts and jeans?" I answered, uncertainly. Kristle's eyesight might not be perfect but it wasn't that bad that she couldn't see things just in front of her. I frowned, maybe she needs to see an optician one of this days... "Anything else, Jess?" Kristle pressed on and I shrugged my shoulders, "Nope."

"Exactly the problem, Jess! I have no more clothes to wear!" Kristle boomed, pacing around her almost empty warobe in frustration. "Why haven't you been washing the clothes? Did you know that I wore a skirt to school a few days back? A skirt!" The way Kristle shrieked skirt in the same way as normal people would shrieked, "Snake!" or "Spiders!" I stared at her in disbelief. It was just a skirt, for Pete's sake. It won't actually kill her, right?

"Seriously, Jess, is there something wrong with you? You seemed kind of... I don't know... different nowadays. I'm really worried for you." Kristle simmered down before querying. I looked down. What Kristle said was partly true, okay, totally true. Ever since Benedict came into my life, I had neglect Kristle and my work. It seemed like everything wasn't important at all... at least, not as important compared to Benedict. I raised my head and looked at Kristle, "Sorry, Kristle. It's just that I have a lot on my mind now. Work's rather stressful, you know."

Kristle was silent as she processed my apology into her brain. Finally, she broke into a smile and hugged me tightly. "It's okay, Jess. I hadn't realized that your work was stressing you out majorly." Kristle broke apart and glanced over her shoulder, at her plain warobe before turning back to me. "But, first things first. Do you mind bringing me out to shop? I'll rather die than wear a skirt to school again." She shuddered in faux horror and I laughed at her comedic actions. "Sure, today's all about you."

~~~

I take back everything I said about today being Kristle. The first moment Kristle did when we arrived in the mall was to grab my head and pulled me to the nearest shop, which coincidentally also one of the most expensive ones in the mall. While she gushed over the incredibly beautiful clothes, I was there, beside her yawning with boredom. I glanced at my watch, it was only a few minutes past nine.

"I'm so trying this on." Kristle told me, as she grabbed a few clothes off the rack and dashed to the changing rooms while I stood outside, briefly giving my opinions on her choice of dresses which actually consisted of "Mmmm..." and "Hmmm..."

To be honest, I was seriously bored. Sure, I like shopping as much as the next girl but my definition of shopping was more of grabbing a random shirt, check if it's my size and then, I'll head to the check out counter. Yep, it's as simple as that. Unlike Kristle, which was an endless rounds of picking, trying on and picking again before finally heading to the cashier to pay. Actually, she probably would be distracted by some other clothes on sale and the whole process would start again. To go shopping with Kristle, you seriously need a truck load of energy, I'm not kidding.

"Jess! Your opinion, please." Kristle requested, her voice sounding through the thin curtain and I sighed wearily, preparing myself for another session of reviewing. Just as I stood up, a familiar male voice called out behind me. "Hey, what do you think of this?"

Benedict? I turned around and true enough, Benedict stood a few feet away from, at the accessories section where he was currently examining a elegant necklace where a single diamond hung. "Bene ---" I started to call out, a smile on my face, and my foot raised to take a step forward when a pretty woman appeared from the rows of racks and swished to Benedict's side. My foot dropped to the floor as my voice died, my smile vanishing immediately.

"That necklace is so beautiful but it's so expensive, Benedict." The woman pouted, checking the price tag. Benedict chuckled merrily, taking the necklace and placing it on the woman's voice. He pushed the mirror towards them so that the woman could admire the necklace on her neck. "There, isn't it perfect for you?" Benedict asked as the woman raised her head, still pouting, "It's damn expensive, Benedict. Let's not buy it, okay?" Her hands moved to take off the necklace but Benedict stopped her and brought it up to his lips, kissing them once, "Anything is worth it for my Delia."

Delia?! I gasped before clamping my hand on my mouth. I hastily hid behind a rack of skirts as Benedict's eyes scanned the surrounding area for the sudden gasp. Luckily, he was distracted by Delia who blushed deeply and pecked him on the cheek. Fury flared within me as Benedict smiled at Delia's little peck. I saw red as Benedict leaned down to kiss her cheek.

Together, the two of them turned and strolled to the counter to pay, the necklace still on Delia. Once they was out of sight, I gritted my teeth in anger and clenched my fist. Howdare that Delia touch my Benedict? How dareshe kiss my Benedict?

"Erm... Jess?" A small voice squeaked behind me and I turned to see Kristle, decked out in an amazing outfit but I wasn't really focusing on that. More like the look of concern on Kristle's face. "Are... Are you okay? You look kind of angry." I exhale, placing a big smile on my face before exclaiming, "There! I look happy now, don't I?"

To be honest, Kristle looked more creeped out now but she smiled back at, "How do I look?" She did a little twirl on the spot, showing off the outfit and I clasped my hands together, gushing, "You look wonderful, Kristle!" I continued to gush and compliment her on her outfit, a great smile constant on my face. Pretty soon, Kristle stopped looking at me with a queer look.

I wasn't happy at all but hey, who cares? Obviously not Benedict.

~~~ Author's Note ~~~

Yeah, I know it's short, isn't it? But it's hard to write a chapter in a day, you know. ^^ Anyway, VOMMENT! ^^