The Butterfly Effect

Secrets

The entire way to the mall I contemplated on whether or not I was going to tell Arionna and Brianna about Damien. There's a strong chance I could have been imagining things. I do forget things all the time, and I'm always hanging out with Arionna, we're practically glued to the hip. Now that I think about it, it just seems impossible that Damien would be stalking me. I've known him as long as I've known Arionna. He's practically the boy next door, (Now that I know where he lives). But besides his hobbies, and our classes together and occasional movie nights, I didn't really know anything about his background or personal life. 

"Earth to Sriyah." Arionna waved her hand in front of my face.

"Huh?!" I said, realizing I missed the entire conversation.

"I said did you want to head to the food court?" She asked sounding a little grumpy. She was always grumpy when she was hungry.

"Oui, I could go for a pretzel." I decided I would tell Arionna later. I didn't want Brianna to know because she was always so judgmental. She was also like the mother figure in our group and that is not the kind of opinion I wanted to hear right now. We had been at the mall for almost three hours and I still hadn't found anything party worthy. 

As we headed to the food court I tried to make conversation to make-up for my lack of presence. "So have you two decided on what you're wearing to my birthday party?"

"I already told you I'm keeping it a secret. I'm going to wow you with my awesome designing skills." She added an evil laugh to the end, though I'm not sure why. 

"But you're not-" I began.

"Also your aunt is helping me so..." She added shyly.

"Oh, so my aunt is doing all the work then?" I teased. My aunt was a professional fashion designer and interior decorator. She was amazing, her brand was sold all over the country and all over Europe. A couple of years ago for my birthday, she introduced a new line inspired by me. Because I'm so obsessed with vintage things, she developed a line that was inspired by popular period pieces with a touch of modernity. She named the line after me too, how cool was that?

"No! I've been shadowing her in her office, and she's been helping me handle the technical aspect."

"Okay okay don't shoot." I laughed. "What about you Bri?"

"Mine is going to be a secret too! We should all surprise each other. How cool would that be?" 

"As long as I'm the star." I said jokingly while throwing my hands up in the air.

After we got our food we decided to sit down and eat, and talk about how we were going to get Arionna and Anthony to end up slow dancing at my party. Anthony was Damien's best friend who Arionna also had a crush on for as long as I had a crush on Damien. How cliche right? Best friends crushing on the best friends. 

"Exactly so when 'This is Me' starts we just have to make sure Anthony has a clear path to see me all alone."

"And how are we going to do that?" I asked curious to hear her response.

"By making sure you're already dancing with Damien so Anthony has no choice but to ask me to dance."

"Oooh, I see, that's clever." Nodded Brianna "And how do you feel about that Sri?"

"Um-ha-um, me dancing with Damien? That's like a dream come true." I lied. I was still a little freaked out about what happened earlier, but I wasn't going to say anything with Brianna sitting right here. "I'm going to head to the bathroom." I lied again. I stood up and began to walk, I just needed to clear my head again, without any interruptions. "I'll be right back."