A Night in Paris

chapter one

It was the Sunday after black Friday and the girls and I were hanging out at my place. We were all in my room and I was showing them all of the things I got while black Friday shopping with my mom. Including a black sparkly dress and strappy black heels. 

"I can't believe your mom let you buy all this stuff!" cried Ahni in disbelief.

"My dad only gave me two hundred bucks!" Tara complained going through my shopping bags.

"Hey! Be grateful he gave you money, some kids didn't even get to go black Friday shopping this year," I smiled.

"That's easy for you to say, you ditched us to go shopping with your mom because she basically gave you free access to her credit card!" Tara countered.

"Hey! I thought we agreed you guys wouldn't guilt me for bailing?" I asked.

"I'm kidding!" Tara groaned. "We know you had to finesse the system somehow." she giggled.

I rolled my eyes.

"What did she say about the dress and heels?" Ahni asked.

"She didn't see it... not yet at least," I smirked.

"Karma is gonna catch up to you and when it does, it's not gonna be cute," Ahni teased.

"Come on, is what I'm doing even that bad?" I asked.

Tara and Ahni went silent.

"Whatever," I sighed.

Since middle school it has been a tradition for the three of us to go Black Friday shopping together, except this was the first year that Tara and Ahni went without me. Did I bail last minute? Yea, but it was all for a good cause and they know this already but that doesn't change the fact that they're still kinda salty about me breaking tradition which... I guess... is understandable but again... a good cause, you'll see. 

"River! Girls! Come down stairs for a minute please?" my mom called from the bottom of the staircase.

The three of us made our way down to see my mom walking into the kitchen.

"You made us cookies? How sweet?" I asked stealing three and passing two off to Tara and Ahni.

"Actually, these weren't for you girls," my mom said, dumping the cookies into a dish.

"Who are they for?" I asked.

"The neighbors," my dad called out from the kitchen table.

"We saw some move-in trucks earlier this morning. A new family just moved into the house that was for sale and apparently one of the girls is in your grade," said my mom.

"So?" I asked.

"Isn't it obvious? She wants us to go introduce ourselves!" Ahni smiled, grabbing the dish of cookies from my mom.

"Thank you, Ahni. Listen, I know what it's like being the new kid at a new school. I used to move around a lot as a kid and it's hard making friends, especially when the school year has already started," said my mom.

I took the dish from Ahni and ate another cookie. "Fine. I guess we can go say hello!" I said sarcastically.

"You girls will thank me later for this, and that girl will be very happy knowing she can go into her new school with three friends," my mom smiled.

"The cookies are great!" said Tara as she took another one.

"Save some for the neighbors and hurry while they're still warm!" said my mom.