Cold

7 - Cold Lemonade

"Julia is here!" Alyssa screamed out to Ezra from inside. He closed his book and went inside just to go back out the front door.

He sat in the back seat, still worried about how Julia would act around him after the goat yoga thing. Despite the circumstances in which they last left each other, Julia turned to him and broke out one of her biggest smiles. She seemed to have both forgiven him and forgotten the whole thing. She was always good at forgetting. Alyssa's door shut and they were off to the mall. They were going shopping for clothes to wear to the dance. Originally Ezra planned on protesting but agreed when he remembered the last time he wore dress pants. The colossal size they were and that he had actually been. I can't believe I ever let myself get to that point.

Alyssa played her music and it sat weirdly in the car. It didn't fit. At least not for Ezra. He hated when Alyssa got close with his friends because he hated sharing. Especially with Alyssa. If she was going to tag along with him and Julia so often why isn't she out of her way nice to Ezra like she is to Julia? He would never understand what she had against him. It wasn't always like that, for as long as he could remember she looked up to him. It wasn't until he went into his first year of high school that things changed. She began getting more and more short with him by the day, distancing herself more and more, cursing more and more. Ezra stopped trying to reason her actions and just retaliated by doing the same. Except for the cursing, he didn't like cursing that much unless he was singing or quoting something or someone. She just all of a sudden seemed to hate him.

Alyssa started talking to Julia about what type of dress she wanted as they pulled into a parking spot. He would have never pinned her as the pink type or the dress type. He almost always seemed to picture her in button-downs and blazers. She'd always been a tomboy. At least she was two years ago. They walked in and began looking through the racks of Boscov's. Ezra led himself off towards the men's section.

The dress wear was front and center, it being school dance season and all. His hand skated across the hangers, grabbing a small white-button down. Maybe it's time for me to start wearing size 'small.' Draping the shirt over his left arm, he felt across the black suit jackets.

"Ezra!" Julia's head popped up over the racks on the other side of the store. "We're wearing blue, I just found the perfect dress! Meet me by the dressing rooms!" He watched her head disappear behind the racks again before grabbing a small dark blue jacket. When he reached for matching pants though he began to worry. Why didn't I measure my waist beforehand? He decided he would be bold and grab a 28. Headed off to the dressing rooms he saw Julia patiently waiting by the doors holding a sky blue dress covered in ruffles.

"That looks great," Ezra said as he walked up.

"Just wait until you see it on! I see you got your outfit too?" She reached forward and looked at the jacket. "Small? Since when did you wear a small?" Ezra felt his neck heat up and his cheeks began to itch.

"Let's see what it looks like," He dropped his head and turned to get in one of the small rooms. He pressed the lock in place as he stepped in. Nervously, he let his eyes drift to the mirror.

His body looked awkward holding all the clothes. I always look awkward. He dropped the pile on the bench along with the rest of his clothes. His bones jutted out of his back faintly, like they still had a layer of cushion to protect them from breaking. Ezra drew in a shaky breath as he stared at the clothes. He had a fine layer of sweat everywhere. What if they don't fit. What if I have to walk all the way back to the racks and get mediums? Julia would say 'I told you so.' He tried to push away his thoughts and although they stayed, he got dressed anyways before turning to the mirror. This doesn't make any sense.

The button down fit him loose and casually. The deep royal blue suit pulled the whole look together. The pants weren't too tight in any of the wrong places. For goodness sakes they weren't tight at all. Yes they framed his butt and his hips, but they were not tight. Am I high? Or do I actually look... really good?

"Ezra are you dressed yet? Come out," Julia called from outside his dressing room. He could see her socks jumping up and down just outside the door.

He stepped out of the room confidently, pretending to adjust his jacket like a posh man who owned tropical real estate. Julia stepped back and looked at him. She was wearing her dress and looked beautiful. The neckline was slightly deep but nothing scandalous. She wasn't the type to wear something like that. Not that she didn't want to dress that way, she just couldn't pull it off. The dress swished just beneath her knees, ruffled sleeves rested by her elbows. The sky blue complimented his suit perfectly. We're going to look like a couple. How will she ever get a boyfriend if she keeps doing this kind of stuff with me?

"You look so handsome!" She started bouncing up and down again. Alyssa came around the corner with a pink dress covered in flowers in her arms.

"Aw, you guys look adorable," Alyssa tilted her head fondly at the two as Julia posed, leaning into Ezra as she did so.

"Can you believe he's wearing a size small?" Julia said to Alyssa. She stiffened and looked at Ezra who was heating up again. Why does it matter? I get it I used to be fat, stop reminding everyone!

"I'm going to go change so we can check out," Ezra pulled away from Julia and made his way back to his changing room. He saw Julia go over to Alyssa to look at her dress. Alyssa held the tag in her hand. Slowly he got back into his own clothes, careful not to damage the suit and careful not to take it off too soon. He wanted to wear it forever. He never wanted to not look like that.

Eventually they were all checked out and were walking to Cinnabon. Julia skipped up to the counter and ordered first. A Caramel Pecanbon. 1080. 24 ounce MochaLatta Chill. 420.

"You can go first," Alyssa had her arms crossed in front of her. Looking more uneasy than defiant.

He stepped forward and greeted the girl at the counter with a smile, "A 16 ounce lemonade please?" 130. It's fine. It doesn't count. It's a liquid. Liquids don't count. He turned to see that Julia had already found them a table and was starting to eat. How does she do that? Eat. All by herself. Ezra moved down so that Alyssa could place her order. She also got a 16 ounce lemonade. The girl that took his order gave a warm grin that curled one side of her mouth higher than the other as she handed him his drink.

"Have a great day. Text me," she winked, her cheeks rosy before going back to work. Ezra tilted his head in mild confusion as he walked to their table. When he looked at his cup a phone number was scribbled on it in handwriting so neat it looked messy. He turned back to the counter and the girl smiled at him bashfully. Underneath the number was her name, Briar, and behind his cup was Julia. She looked through thin eyes at Ezra, at his cup, at Briar, then back at him. She took his cup and inspected the writing when he sat down.

"Who was she?" Julia asked before shoving a forkful of pastry in her mouth.

"Apparently her name is Briar," Ezra took back his drink and had a long sip as Alyssa sat down. "Haven't you told me I need to make more friends?"

"Not girls who wink at you and give you their number unsolicitedly," it seemed as though she tried muttering it under her breath but he heard it. He rolled his eyes and took another sip of his lemonade. The sugar burned his tongue. It doesn't count. Julia flipped her hair over her shoulder with a huff. She dyed it brown. It was the first time he had noticed. The cold lemonade slipped down his throat. It didn't look good.