Cuffed

Chapter 13: The Mall

(No song again sorry. This is a small filler with some important info so yeah. Sorry about the song thing again. Enjoy!)

Isabella's POV
"Wait what?" Grayson asked as I quickly grabbed my keys from my dresser.

"My mom wants me to sing at her stupid club thing in Connecticut, and she's paying for the tickets so we have to go. She sent me a dress code on what to wear and, let's just say, it's formal." I explained as I guided Grayson down the stairs.

"Does she know we're cuffed?" Grayson asked as we exited the building.

"No. I'll tell her later, but she'll flip." I sighed to the thought of the huge lecture she would give me.

"And where are we going?" He asked.

"To the mall." I said as we approached my car.

I tossed my keys to Grayson and he caught them; opening the drivers seat immediately after. I climbed in and waited for Grayson to come in so I could move a little further to the passenger's seat.

"Yay! Maybe we can get a mani pedi!" He squealed like a girl.

I rolled my eyes and let out a slight giggle in response to his stupidity.

"We just have to find me a dress, and you a suit." I explained as Grayson began to drive out of the parking lot.

"Sounds good." He said as we began driving to the mall.

*__________3 Hours Later__________*

"Found anything?" Grayson asked as I walked past dozens of dresses.

"No, not yet." I replied as I shifted the dresses back and forth; still trying to see what I liked.

I heard him sigh quietly as I continued to examine the multiple choices in front of me. Blue dresses, pink dresses, black, purple, red. You name it. And don't even get me started on the styles.

Off the shoulder, strapless, one shoulder, fish tail, short, floor scraping gowns, everything. I haven't found anything I liked. At least not yet.

I know I'm taking long to find what I would wear, but I honestly can't leave without the right dress. Guys tend to not like going to the mall, and I could already tell that Grayson was tired of it, so I tried to swipe through the options a bit faster.

"Look, just take these." Grayson said, grabbing a bunch of dresses off the rack.

He handed me the heavy pile and encouraged me to go try them on.

"I already saw these ones. I didn't like them." I declined.

"Just pick one! We've been here for hours." He huffed; running out of any further patience.

"Girls take a while to pick the right dress out." I shrugged.

"You're gonna sing in front of a bunch of old ladies. It's not a magical ball where you'll meet your Prince Charming." He sighed.

"Okay, okay. Fine." I blurted, not wanting to get into a conversation; not after we've been doing so well.

Grayson picked a red dress from the middle of the pile and pulled it out. He swooped it over his shoulders and waited for me to give him the pile. I handed Grayson the rest of the stack and waited for him to put them away. But as he was putting the dresses back on the rack, I examined the red dress and took it from his shoulders.

I held it up and saw a slit on the side of it. As my eyes continued to wander, I noticed the open V-neck and great material. It was soft but strong; it was flowy but could shape curves. It had spaghetti straps and a ribbon-looking-band around the stomach area. It was a deep red, like burgundy; it was beautiful. I can't believe I didn't see it.

I looked up to Grayson and saw him staring at me as I examined this amazingly beautiful dress. I smiled to him and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

"What do you think?" I asked as I extended the dress enough for him to see.

"It'll look good on you." He nodded to me as he looked the dress up and down.

I could feel my soft cheeks begin to turn red and warm. I tucked my lips in and focused my gaze on anything but him. Grayson became quiet after stating that, which would explain the slightly noticeable tension.

But I didn't feel any tension. I felt...

Happy?

I actually enjoyed and was happy that he complimented me.

"I-I didn't mean...you know, you're white and the dress is dark so it goes well?" Grayson said, looking as if he instantly regretted his explanation.

"I-what?" I scoffed; amused by his uncomfortableness.

"N-No, not you, your hair! Your hair is light, you're not white. Well, you are, b-but that's not-I didn't-"

"Calm down, I'm just teasing you." I giggled.

Grayson huffed to himself and buried his reddened face in his palm. He smiled and looked back up to me with a small chuckle. He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, cleared his throat, and finally moved onto a new subject.

"S-So, that one?" He asked.

"This one." I nodded to him.

"You can thank me now." He smirked.

"Thank you." I smiled to him.

He returned a smile as well, making his small dimples look a bit more defined. He brushes his hair out of his face and let it down slowly as our gaze continued. I licked my lips for a moment before fluttering my eyelashes.

I slowly began to lower the dress on my arms to keep it off the ground. Grayson nodded his head toward the cashier, basically telling me to buy the damn thing already. I blinked a couple of times to break the trans and nodded in agreement with him.

We walked to the cashier and bought the dress. But as we were leaving to find Grayson's suit, something was stuck on my mind.

Why did I get disappointed when Grayson tried to explain his compliment toward me? He tried to cover it up by saying the dress complimented my complexion, but I wanted him to say I'd look beautiful. That's it.

I don't know why, but I like it when he compliments me; in fact, I want him to do it more often. But it's so weird.

The guy I hated, now blushes in front of me?

The feelings I had against him, are now in his favor?

Those two questions alone could have my mind spiraling out of control for days...but now one more question sets out apart from the others. This one makes me question, not only my morals, but my emotions in itself...

Do I like Grayson?