I had a wonderful ride to campus, I didn’t know what came over him to remember I deserve this fancy babe, was it his illness?…. I chuckled. That’s lame.
Grinning, I stepped on the brakes, pulled over, and halted in the campus parking lot.
Woah, it felt good, only if I had cool sunglasses to make my dramatic entrance cooler.
I descended from the car, and leaned on it, taking out my phone to give Helen a call.
“Hey nice car…” A guy interrupted me, his name I don’t even remember.
“Thanks…” I smiled in return, waving.
This car might make me more popular in schools; it seems to be giving me more attention. I hope it would be for the worse. Because at the moment, all eyes were on me, also piercing at the baby beside me.
Gosh, I love to see the college girl staring with envy.
Helen finally picked up, and instead of saying hello or letting me speak, she hurled me a quiz question.
“Guess what.”
“You bought six dresses and got four free.” I abruptly scoffed. Earlier today she was excited about shopping, so that’s what I could guess.
“It’s my birthday today and Vincent is organizing a big party for me tonight.”
“Ooh….” my lips pursed, I totally forgot about her birthday since my mind has been so focused on Mr. Clinton lately.
Well, let me just pretend I didn’t forget.
“Happy… birthday … Helen,”
“No, don’t wish me now, I know you forgot, I called you earlier, remember, and you didn’t wish then.”
“Hey, that’s not true. I was also planning a surprise for you…” I retorted even though I knew she was right.
“Whatever. Isn’t Vincent so sweet, no guy has ever done that for me, I’m not sure I’ll break up with him… oh, I’m so happy because it’s going to be the best birthday ever.”
How would she know that? Helen gets excited over small things. ‘Best birthday ever’ woah.
“Are you in class now?” I asked.
“On my way, be there soon.” She replied, and the call disconnected.
I let out a long sigh. I knew shopping today is inevitable.
“Today is gonna be a long day…” I muttered and leisurely walked out of the parking lot towards the lecture hall.
Not long after, the exuberant Helen arrived, a wide smile was plastered on her face as she approached me. She looks more excited than ever.
“Have you checked the student forum? I posted an invitation to my party.”
I shrugged. “I haven’t. I don’t have to, tell me where you will be holding the party, and what time.”
“9pm, at that famous nightclub, ‘Nighttime’.” she replied. Her smile never faltered.
As her eyes lit up with enthusiasm. “We are going shopping today.”
As I predicted.
I rolled my eyes and let out a short sigh. “As you wish, Birthday girl, so how many birthday dress are you buying? Six? So you change into after each one hour.”
She chuckled, and took out her phone from her purse and placed the screen in my face.
“Look at the dress I’ll be wearing for the party tonight.”
It was a sparkling green spaghetti dress, only with the look of the fabric I knew it was damn expensive. I didn’t bother asking about the cost.
“It’s so pretty.”
“Vincent bought it yesterday. Look at the matching heels.” she scrolled to the next picture.
I nodded, satisfied by his sense of fashion, at least he was good at buying women clothing. “It will suit you.”
“Um hm,” She hummed, elation evident in her tone. She then scrolled to the next picture. “Look at this one, it’s the one you will be wearing.”
“Woah, you bought a dress for… me…” my voice trailed at the sight of the dress.
It was a very short silver dress with a V-neck, that would accentuate my cleavages. Strategically placed cut-outs on the sides that would reveal glimpses of my ribcage adding a touch of edginess to the overall design.
I knew Helen chose this dress for a purpose.
“Do you like it?” She grinned, obviously enjoying watching the look on my face.
I smiled tersely. “Of course, why won’t I like it. The dress will accentuate my body features and will get me a boyfriend at the party. Isn’t that right?”
She snorted, batting her eyebrow at me. “Please have fun at the party, okay, and get a guy.”
“I always have fun at every party, okay, and about getting a guy, don’t push it…” I glared at her, annoyed, and took out my pen from my purse. “And where is my note…”
She tossed my notebook, and was about to say something before Lucy was sitting behind us interrupted. “Hey, happy birthday, I saw the invite.”
While their conversation dinged, it was a text message from Mr. Clinton. My lips immediately tugged into a smile as my gaze lingered on the screen.
“Return home before 8am, we need to talk. Don’t be a minute late.”
After reading the content of the message, I chuckled. “That was harsh.”
What does he want to talk about? Whatever it is, it seems important. I just hope it’s good news because I’m not a fan of bad news at all.
Time tickled by till noon, lectures finally ended, and Helen grabbed me out of the hall. “Wait, Helen, why do we need to go for shopping, we already have our dresses.”
She glanced at me curtly before replying. “Are we going to put on a dress and shoe without accessories.”
“Oops, sorry.” I immediately apologized. It seems there’s no way I can escape shopping today.
“Well, Helen, I can’t ride with you, I got my own ride.” I told her as we approached the parking lot. She looked at me incredulously. “Meaning?”
I gestured at the fancy car, lent to me. Helen’s eyes darted between me and the car in disbelief. “Are you kidding? That’s quite an expensive one.”
“See you at the mall.” I quickly escaped from her grasp before she could start asking me questions since I wasn’t ready to give her an explanation yet.
It might take the whole day.
We shopped for hours, but as soon as the time struck seven, I left Helen at the mall so I won’t be late for the important meeting with Mr. Clinton.
I arrived home a few minutes before eight, just in time before the deadline signaling my narrow escape from being late. I stepped into the warm glow of the living room, nervousness building up in me. I couldn’t guess why he wanted me home at a set time, and he sounded serious according to the tone of the text.
I found him sitting on the sofa, his fingers tapping on the armrest, but immediately he sensed my presence, his focus snapped on me. His eyes were fiercely staring at me, running a shiver down my spine. He was usually warm and welcoming, but now he seemed off.
I began to suspect that I was in trouble because from the look in his eyes, he doesn’t seem happy nor pleased.
Did I do something wrong?
I forced a smile despite the worrying feelings. “Good evening Mr. Clinton.”
He didn’t respond. He slowly stood up, his gaze still piercing. “Sarah, we need to talk.” He said, his voice low and serious.
And then in a swift motion, he flung a book in my direction.
I flinched backward in surprise.
Curiosity enveloped me but it suddenly was replaced by anxiousness when I recognized the hardcover.
Damn, it’s my diary.
I covered my mouth agape, staring at my diary beneath me. My heart began pounding in my chest, hesitating to look him in the eyes.
Oh no, he read it, he knows how I feel.
My eyes were still fixed on the ground unable to look up.
“Mr… Clin…” He abruptly cut me off before I could finish.
“This is quite a fantasy world you have created, Sarah. I’m flattered.”