Close to me

Shopping

July 2093

It was so funny having grandma live with us. She was so bossy, but in a good way.

"No, no, no, Julie. I will clean the dishes. You understand?"

"Mom, I will not let you wash the dishes! You need to be taking care of your wrist"

"Oh goodness Julie! Your starting to sound like me doctor. It doesn't hurt a bit. I could take off this darn cast right now and everything would feel the same"

My mom rolled her eyes.

"Actually, I will do the dishes" my dad walked in.

"Julie you have work, and mom your cooking show is on." He said.

"Oh goodie!" grandma excitedly walked into the living room.

"Justin-" my mom began.

"You two fight like cats and dogs. You should go work" he laughed.

"Fine" she rolled her eyes jokingly and went to her office.

"I'll help you" I said.

"Thank you Erica."

My dad washed off the dishes and I put them in the dishwasher.

"I can't believe you're going to state in 3 days!" he said.

"Me neither" I said. I really wanted to win, but I needed to face reality that I wasn't.

"You're going to do a great job" he said.

"You know I'm not going to win, right?" I responded.

"Don't say that. Your district is the smartest out of the whole state so you have a high chance of winning." He said.

"For real?" I got really excited. I hadn't really focused on the schools and districts.

"Yup. I don't want to get your hopes up, but I think you're going to win"

I was really happy that my dad was staying for another month before heading back to California. That meant he would be there when I took the state test and he would be there when I leave (if I win the test). 

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"That looks adorable on you!" grandma said with a smile.

"Aw thanks grandma" I said.

It was the day before the state test, and we all went shopping. We were trying on swimsuit, rompers, and dresses. It was the middle of July so everything we tried on coordinated with summer.

I had just tried on a one-piece pastel yellow swimsuit with bees on it. It wasn't my favorite, but it was still cute.

I tried on 3 more swimsuits. One was a navy blue bikini with high waisted bottoms and roses embroidered on it. The second one was a black and white polka dot bikini where the top tied and made a bow in the front. The last one was a bikini with tropical flowers on the top and the bottoms were dark blue. I ended up getting them all, but grandma paid because she was 'so proud of me and had to buy me a gift'. I thanked her, and then we went out to lunch.

We went to Chicka-pop and got some sandwiches. Then we went to FFF (Fast Fresh Fruit). They served the sweetest and freshest fruit ever. They had every fruit there ever was, along with frozen yogurt and salads. It was one of my favorite places to go for a snack. I got a bowl of mango and strawberries and ate it along with my Jr. burger from Chicka-pop. It tasted delicious.

As I was eating lunch (specifically my mango) I thought about my grandparents on my dad's side of the family. When I was younger, they took care of me a few times before they went to travel the world. My grandpa always made my lunch, and no matter what I was eating, he always gave me a bowl of mango to go with it. He said I would 'devour it in under a minute'. I wish they were around more often, but I was just glad they were doing what they love.

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When we got back, I facetimed my grandpa and wished him a happy birthday.

"It would be so much better if the river wasn't full today! It has been colder all week and today it was finally warm, and the river was packed! They didn't even let me in for my 67th birthday! All I wanted to do was kayak." He said.

"Aw that sucks. What else have you been doing?" I said.

"We are going out to dinner tonight, but I want to know about this 'space thing'!" he said.

"Oh well... I won the school and district test and now I am going to state. It's tomorrow actually" I said.

"Oh Erica! That's amazing sweetie! You're going to do a great job"

"Thank you grandpa" I said.

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Grandpa and I talked for awhile before he had to go. After I hung up, I spent the rest of the day worrying. The state test was tomorrow! It felt like an eternity taking all these tests, and now I will figure out if I make it or not in a matter of days! I needed to cool down and decided to text my friends on clicker.

I got on and first looked at everyone's stories. And I saw Cassie's.

Ugh. This bitch.

'so happy to finally be settled in' was the caption and it was a picture of her sitting in her living room.

I ignored it, and texted my friends.

Me: Up for ice cream?

Natalie: Duhhh

Zoey: Ofc

Me: Is 6:30 good?

Natalie: Yuppp

Zoey: Yeahh

I don't usually hang out with my friends outside of school, but we were pretty close.

Natalie was an outgoing person. She has brown hair and gorgeous blue eyes. She was loud and fun and had a lot of confidence. She had a twin brother she was really close with, and a little sister who was adopted. She is all about being happy, and living life in the moment.

Zoey is very athletic. She has blonde hair and green eyes. She is an only child, and is friends with all the boys. She is very loyal, and stands up for her friends. She is very confident like Natalie. And I am sorta jealous. Ever since Avery died, confidence became something I lack.

I threw on an oversized white t-shirt with some ripped jeans. Then I headed out the door.

Going to the ice cream shop would always bring back memories.

I stood there for a minute. I looked at the exact place I was standing. I also looked at the road I sped down to get to the bridge.

"Hey girl hey!" Natalie came up behind me.

"Oh hey Nat!" I replied. I gave her a quick hug.

"Is Zoey here?" she asked.

"Oh not yet. We can go inside while we wait for her" I said.

"Sounds good." She said. We went in and sat down at the table by the window.

After a few minutes, Zoey walked in.

"Hey guys!" she said.

"We were waiting for you!" Natalie responded.

"Let's get some ice cream" Zoey said.

We walked up to the counter and ordered. Zoey got mint chocolate chip in a bowl, Natalie got bubble gum in a cone, and I got chocolate in a cone.

We walked back to our table and Zoey started a conversation.

"Erica, shouldn't you be studying? The test is tomorrow!" she said.

"Oh God that's the last thing I want to think about, but I am pretty sure I have studied everything I would ever need to know" I said.

"This is so exciting! I can't believe your going to go to space" Natalie said.

"I probably won't make it to space, but I guess it is exciting" I said.

"Ericaaa! Don't say that! You have to be confident in yourself! You are going to do great"