Abrupt Beginning

Chapter 3: Welcome To My World Stranger

"Honey, is jeans and a sweatshirt the only clothes you have?" She asked. I nodded my head. She grabbed my arm and ran out the front door with my body trailing behind her. "Get in loser, we're goin shoppin," she giggled. I just looked at her with one eyebrow cocked high. "Oh, never mind," she sighed miserably. I finally focused my eyes on the car she was getting into. O........M..........G............it's a FERRARI!!! I nearly screamed my head off. It felt like I wasn't even worthy to stand within ten feet of it. "Am I-" I stuttered, "allowed to touch it?" "Of course, silly," she looked at me like I had asked to breathe. I rubbed my hand on the handle, not a spec of dirt, just recently waxed. Good lord, I have never felt so worthless in my life.

We drove all the way to the mall with the engine revving, getting ready to run its race. Then we ran into traffic, the poor Ferrari. It seemed like we were in a parking lot, but then I looked over to the car beside us. It was blasting music as loud as the car could stand without shooting off to space. It was a scary thing, the car. One window was duct taped and the door dented. The headlights could barely be noticed. "Oooooo those guys are cute. They look about your age!" Anna squealed. We turned up Lip Gloss, even louder. We looked straight at them as crossed our legs to beat. I didn't quite understand why, but I copied Anna anyway. No matter how dumb it was, I loved this song. The driver stared at me. I couldn't make out his face, but his brown hair was long and wavy. I laughed when he tried to pull together his "sexy" face.

When we finally made it to the light by the mall, I realized that they were right behind us. Following us. We pulled into a space with an empty one right next to it. I'm almost positive that was intentional, on Anna's part. I got out of the car, and the driver came up to us. He looked about my age, sixteen or so.
"Hey so uhhhhh........you upstaged my music. Any girl with that kinda will power deserves an escort," he flirted. "Well then, I guess I have an escort," I said smirking. Anna looked at me, with only a bit of uncertainty. It was like I was parenting myself. He's a stranger, you don't know this guy. Why would you walk around a mall with him?" I won't stalk you, but if you two don't meet at the food court by ten o' clock, I'll beat you upside the head and charge you with kidnapping." He laughed. "Fair deal," he responded.

We walked into the mall with hundreds of people buzzing around. It sounded like bumblebees, therefore I have since been calling it the Beehive. "So.......before you leave a shoe behind, what's your name?" He inquired. It took a minute for me to remember. "Uhhh........." He looked at me puzzled. "Celia!" I said with proud accomplishment.

"Pretty.......it matches you perfectly," man, he was good flirter.

"I would say the same but I don't know yours." I replied.

"Aidan," he said short and abrupt.

"How HANDSOME," I said sarcastically. "Why you little-" he tickled me. In reaction I started sprinting in the other direction. Oh god why did I do that? My leg was pulsing like a second heart beat.

He chased after me, and I couldn't subside my girly giggles. I ran into Victoria's Secret, he wouldn't dare follow me in there. "Haha, sucker," I laughed. He stepped across the line, from carpet to tile. O, lord, there is no getting out of this one. He grabbed me and held my back to his chest.

"Do you surrender?" He put my arms behind me. "You have been charged with unnecessary sarcasm." "Never!" I shouted back. He turned me around and his face was less than an inch from mine. For about three seconds I thought we were going to kiss. But he didn't, he just pulled me into him. Phew.

"Starbucks?" He asked. "Duh," I responded.

He held my hand on the way to Starbucks. It was like we had known each other for years. But we had just met an hour ago, I may never see him again.

"So what school do you go to?" I stuttered again. "I haven't applied to one yet," I hadn't asked Anna about it either. I assumed she would bring it up eventually, but we have only been together for a few hours.

"Oh, well....I go to South Shore. It's down the street just a little way." He responded, he must be so confused by me.

"Cool, is it a good school?" I asked. I was thinking about going there. "It's a great school. It's about 1500 kids. We have great sports, and tons of electives. Our academics are really good too." He was basically selling me his school.

"I'm sold! I'll ask anna." "Who's Anna?" He questioned. Poor boy, he didn't know what he was getting himself into. "Ummm, my foster mom. But she said she is going to adopt me. It's kind of a long story........."

He cut me off "I've got time,"

"Let's get our drinks first," I replied I didn't even try to argue. Why was I letting this boy into my life? Why was I so desperate to make my life complete?

When we got our drinks I began to explain. I told him how I had committed suicide, or tried to. "What? R u ok?" Such a nice boy.

"Yea, I mean I'm fine now," I replied. "I woke up in the hospital, the nurse told me I had amnesia. I was also unclaimed. Whoever my parents were, didn't care enough to come back for me. I didn't remember anything, so when I healed enough to leave, they put me in the foster system. I got to pick my name, too. The girl that was driving the car, she's the only mother I have known."

"Oh my god." That's all he had to say. I didn't blame him, though. He held me again, and said. "You belong here, now." How did he know what to say? How did he know that's what I needed to hear?

At ten o'clock, we walked back to the food court. He held my hand, again. A little less stiff, more relaxed. "Do you have a phone?" He asked.
"No."
"I can fix that," Anna's voice appeared out of nowhere. She handed me a box with the iPhone 6 in it.

"You think I was just gonna sit here and twiddle my thumbs? Besides everyone needs a phone these days." Anna smiled her omg-isn't-this-awesome-I-would-usually-scream smile.

"Anna, it's amazing!!! Thank you," I gave her big hug. My belonging hug I experienced with her earlier that day.

"I got it all set up too. You can change it later, but for now, I think you have your first contact." I looked over at Aidan and realized he had taken my phone from my hands, out of the box, and was already putting his number in.

"Hey you need a profile pic, get in here," he held the phone up to take the picture. It was a great pic of us too, we both looked so happy.

"Bye, I'll see you around," I didn't want to leave though.
"Bye, Celia," he walked away and returned to his friends who were waiting for him. He spun around in a circle. "Yes!" He pumped his fist in the air.

It eventually dawned on me that he ditched his friends for a random girl. That we had known each other for three hours and I already had a knot twisting and turning inside me. That I had a boyfriend a day after starting life.

Then I began to wonder, who were my friends before? Would I ever see them again? Did anyone love me before it didn't matter?