𝙘𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙝 ⤳ 𝙗𝙡𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙨𝙤𝙣

13

THIRTEEN: "SCREWED"

❁

"WEEEEEEEEE!" SASHA SQUEALS, RUNNING into the mall with her arms spread out. Blake and I exchange confused looks, but eventually shake our heads. This was Sasha, after all.

The four of us enter through the glass doors like normal human beings and make our way to the closest store. Or, well, I do. The boys deem it acceptable to take a seat at the benches outside of the store.

I tsk at them. "Not going to happen, laddies," I say (and furrow my eyebrows). The boys give me weird looks. "Yeah, I think I've been around you guys too long."

"We aren't–" Reece started, but I give him a pointed look and he immediately shuts his mouth.

"You three need to come in with me for physical and emotional support," I explain to them slowly. "Who knows where Sasha went or what weird ass spirit took over her mind, so you three are my only hope," I say, and swivel on my heels, making a beeline the open doors of Urban Outfitters.

I really hope the three are following me.

Blake sighs from behind me, so I turn around to give him a glare, but he's alone. I look behind him to see Reece and George making themselves comfortable on the benches.

"They left me to fend for myself," Blake explained. I nod slowly and grab his arm, pulling him towards the shirts. He stood by me at the closest rack, something catching his eye. I furrow my eyebrows but wait patiently as Blake looks through the racks.

"What are you–" he cuts me off with a swift 'shhh'.

"I want to see what it's like doing your job, now go sit over there," he points to the chair that was conveniently right behind me, "and let me find clothes for you."

Ignoring the heat in my cheeks, I nod and take a seat, watching the boy curiously as he picks out some shirts and silently judges them.

I giggled as Blake made a particularly nasty face at a, basically, piece of bright orange cloth.

"Do people actually wear this?" He asks, holding the small tube top in his fingers.

I nod with a grin.

Blake stares at it for a few moments, a genuinely confused expression on his face. I could tell he was mouthing the word 'how' to himself, and if we weren't in public, I would've lost it.

He places the 'shirt' down on one of the nearby tables and wanders off to the other side of the store, still trying to find an outfit for me. Too lazy to get up and follow him, I pull my phone out from my back pocket and click on Life 360 to make sure Sasha was still in the building on not in a hole again (long story).

I grin to myself when I see the awful close-up photo I took of her years ago at one of the candy shops in the mall.

I swipe out of the app and quickly press Instagram when I see Blake making his way toward me again, clothes piled high in his arms.

My feed starts to load and I swipe left so my camera is showing. I aim my camera at him and press down on it.

"Having fun there, buddy?" I giggle. Blake looks up startled, and I laugh loud, ending the video.

He chuckles to himself and comes next to me to see how it turned out.

I tag Blake quickly and post the video to my story, then put my phone away so I can see what he picked out for me.

I'm quite impressed, to be honest with you.

"Like it?" Blake asks hopefully. I pick up a pair of red plaid pants and smile widely up at him.

"I do, actually," I say as he lets out a breath of relief.

"How do girls do this on a regular basis? I got lost like three times," Blake chuckles, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly.

I shrug and scoop all the clothes up in my arms.

"I'm going to go try these on," I announce, then make my way towards the changing rooms across from where we were.

It took a full thirty minutes to try everything on. Blake gave his honest input on everything (for example, when I tried on a purple denim jacket that was two sizes too big on me, he told me I looked like Barney and he would tell my mom if I didn't take it off that instant).

I walked out of the changing room with only half of the clothes I walked in with.

I struggled to get to the cash register, but when I was finally able to put down the clothes I wanted to buy, instead of being faced with a friendly worker asking me for my means of paying, the lady across the counter already slid a card through.

"What-?" I ask confused, turning to face an innocent looking Blake. "You didn't just-" the boy started to whistle, and if it weren't for my phone ringing, I would've... nevermind, the thoughts are too evil.

I send the boy one last glare before I take my phone out of my pocket and clicking the accept button.

"Maddy, dear?" My mother asked the second she realized the call went through.

"Yeah?" I ask in confusion. I send a quick smile in thanks to the lady when she handed Blake the large bag. He gladly accepted and motioned for me to follow him out of the door.

"Can you come to the studio for a bit, please? Suzanne called me this morning and said we have to push the fashion show earlier." I frowned at how nervous my mom sounded.

"How much earlier?" I ask.

"Three weeks," my mom said.

I choked. "What?!" I spluttered out, stopping in the middle of the hallway.

Blake realized I wasn't following him anymore and turned back to see why I stopped. I guess my pale face and the start of a mini panic-attack gave him the idea I just got bad news. He quickly gave (more like threw) the shopping bag to an arriving George and rushed to where I stood.

I could feel my legs start to shake. "Mom, that means the show is in less than a month!" I exclaimed loudly, catching the attention of a few passer-byers.

I allowed Blake to lead me to one of the benches.

"I know, sweetie," my mom said guiltily. "But I know you can do it, alright? I believe in you."

I breathe in shakily. "I'll be by in an hour," I say quietly before hanging up.

The boys and Sasha sat by me, identical questioning looks on their faces.

"I'm screwed."

(note!)
i love how these chapters are getting worse and worse 😍