Daya

46| The Grove

For those of you that don't live in LA, the grove is an outdoor shopping mall. That's a picture of it above.

The next two days of school aren't really days of school and just Holiday shenanigans like Ugly Sweater contest. Right when I got to my mom's house I got a text from an unknown number who I could only identify as Angela. Angela: Sofia's party will be at the grove and it starts at 7 also wear a dress. It only took a little convincing from my mom for her to agree to her 15 year old daughter going to a 5 year old girl's birthday party at the beginning of winter break, but she's on board.

I'm standing in front of my bed switching my eyes from two dresses. They both fall under the same fit and flare category, but one is long sleeve and the other is more flattering. A shiver runs up my spine from standing in my undergarments, and I choose the short sleeve. It falls some inches above the knee making me lather a bunch of lotion on my perfectly shaved legs and my ankles that are covered in my converse.

"You ready?" My mom asks and I jump from my spot in front of the mirror. I put my braids into a ponytail and when I turn to look at her they flip and it kind of hurts.

"Yes," I say.  I grab my phone and when I approach the doorway where my mom stands I stop as she looks me up and down.

I can tell by her somber face and tone she's is one of her depressions periods again and the only thing I can do is hug her which sort of uplifts her mood.

After our little moment my mom and I depart and the whole ride she has this big smile on her face.

We arrive at the grove and it's dark so the bright lights glimmer and I can see the top of the big Christmas tree which makes me excited.

I say goodbye to my mom and begin texting Angela. Me: I'm here. Angela: Yay! I'm right in front of the fountain. I don't bother responding and look in awe at the lights wrapped around the trees as I make my way through crowds of happy people listening to the christmas music and going from store to store. The lights are so bright and I make sure to take a video of the little kids running to the Santa house in the middle of the walkway.

I get across from the fountain, and my eyes wander for Angela and Sofia. I pull out my phone, but stop when I see a pair of hazel eyes looking at me. Ziyah stands in front of the fountain in a light blue polo, khakis, and his hands in his gray hoodie. Without consent from my brain my feet stride toward him slowly still in shock.

"You look adorable," he says the second I get in front of him. None of the Christmas lights distract me and I resist the urge to look down at my feet.

"Thank you so do you." I say as my face burns at the fact that I'm at my favorite place with Ziyah.

Naturally Ziyah's hand connects with mine and we begin walking under the Christmas lights of the mall. I point out basically everything I love about the place and my cheeks burn from my smile.

"So you've come here a lot," Ziyah says as we walk together in the direction of the little shops and restaurants.

"Yea since I was like 5," I say, but my words are broken down by shivers. I've tried to stay extra close to Ziyah, but I'm getting goosebumps as we walk.

"You cold?" Ziyah asks with a raise of his eyebrows.

"A little," I nod. Before I can rub my arms more Ziyah takes off his gray hoodie and puts it on my shoulders. "Thank you, but aren't you going to get cold?" My teeth chattering goes away and the warmth of Ziyah's jacket feels so good against my skin.

"Nah, but if I do I'll guess just have to stay close to you." A smirk creeps on my face and we arrive in the middle of a bunch of candy shops and little food spots that sell horrific amounts of sugar. Ziyah and I both agree that we're hungry and we pass a bunch of shops from ridiculously covered candy apples to healthy organic ice cream. The marketplace is basically an elegant version of carnival food, with macarons and a toy shop. With the multitude of shops the back of the grove is better than the front where there is only a pressed juicery and wetzel's pretzels.