Aileen
On my way to class, I kept looking down at the credit card he had given me. Was it really all right for me to accept it?
What if I lose it? And it’s not like I need a lot of money anyway. Argh! I’m so confused!
I’ll just finish buying and return this card to him as fast as possible!
But…. what bothered me the most were the things Dave said to me when I was about to get out of the car.
“I want you to look the best among all the women present in the party.”
He wants me to look the best. And how will I do that? As his Luna, isn’t Mom responsible for looking good among the outsiders?
Then, why’s he telling me? If I outshine Mom in the party, that’s going to look more weird than anything out there.
Why’s he being so unreasonable suddenly?
I need to know what’s going on in his head. We need to talk later.
As soon as I stepped into the classroom, I bumped into someone and almost dropped the card by accident.
“Oh, sorry,” I looked up to see Rosalia standing.
“You?”
“Oh, Aileen, good morning,” she greets with a smile.
“Uh…hm…. Morning. You early today?”
She nodded, tucking away the strand of hair behind her ears. “Yes, I had some work in the staff room.”
“I see…..”
As soon as I saw her, I recalled yesterday’s scene of seeing her together with the principal.
It’s still etched into my memory as fresh as day.
“You dropped something,” another voice behind us calls drawing our attention.
Rosalia and I looked behind me to see Skylar standing.
“Hi, good morning, Skylar,” I greeted.
“Good morning, Aileen,” he greeted back, coming over to my side.
“What did I drop again?” I asked.
“This,” he handed over the credit card that I was holding earlier.
Oh my! I completely forgot about it.
“Seems very expensive, handle it well,” he suggested. “Don’t throw it here and there.”
“Uh…thank you so much,” I immediately took it from his hands and made sure to check whether it was scratch-free.
Thank god it’s alright.
Why am I so careless?
“But, whose card is that? Yours?” Rosalia asked.
“Uh, no….. it’s DaveI mean my Dad’s card. He gave it to me for shopping today.”
“Woah, shopping all by yourself with so much money. You seem to be quite lucky today, Aileen,” Skylar remarks, looking a bit impressed.
“Uh…kind of….”
“Where are you going shopping to? If you want, I can come with you,” Rosalia suggested.
“You’ll come with me?”
“Yeah, I can’t?”
“No, I mean…” if she comes she can at least help me pick out a nice dress for me. She always dresses stylish anyway. She’s the only one who can help me here.
“No, you don’t need to come!” Skylar replied with a smug face. “I’ll go shopping with her.”
Huh?
“Did she ever say she’ll come with you?” Rosalia retorted back, folding her arms. “Stop poking your nose into places where it doesn’t belong. It doesn’t look good at all.”
“Oh shut up! She didn’t tell you to come either. Then, why are you pleading with her to bring you along? What do you think of yourself as? A princess or something?”
Rosalia’s eyes narrowed onto Skylar in irritation. “I never claimed myself as a princess or something. You are just uttering rubbish. Just keep your mouth shut and leave. Aileen is going to shopping with me.”
“No, me! You are the one who should keep your mouth shut and leave!” he yelled back.
All of a sudden they started arguing out of nowhere. And it was so loud that everyone in the room was watching their quarrel with great interest.
And it’s all my fault. I need to do something about it, right now!
“You stubborn”
“Stop fighting!” I came in between them forcefully.
“I wasn’t fighting. He was the one who started everything,” Rosalia complained.
“Yeah, right. Everyone here is a witness. You can’t get away with your lies,” Skylar replied. “They could tell who’s responsible here. Right, Aileen?”
“For’s sake, please stop fighting,” I stated. “Everyone is watching. Have some shame.”
“So what? We aren’t doing anything illegal here, are we?” Skylar added, putting his hands in his pockets. “If they want to see drama, let them see it.”
“You seem to be enjoying the drama, aren’t you?” Rosalia mused, “Stop causing trouble for Aileen. She already has to face so much.”
Argh, these two!
“come with me!” I stated, grabbing them by the hand, I dragged them out of the classroom.
I brought to somewhere with less attention and heaved a sigh in relief.
“Why do you two start fighting literally anywhere? You like it or what?” I asked, facing the two of them.
“I don’t like fighting either,” Skylar replied, wrapping an arm around mine. “So, when are we going for shopping? After classes I guess? I’ll wait for you near the gate.”
“So, you won’t bring me huh? That’s sad,” Rosalia grunted.
“Both of you are coming with me, is that okay?” I asked, facing them.
“I don’t get why you want to bring the two of us together,” Rosalia remarks, glancing at Skylar. “I’m a girl, I know clothing. I’m all she needs. You should just butt out.”
“Miss Smarty Pants, she said she wants to bring me and that’s final. You don’t get to decide everything, do you know?” He asserted, with a smirk.
“Aileen, see you later then. I gotta go.”
“Uh, sure. See you.”
He left from there promptly, leaving the two of us by ourselves.
“Why do you let him get to your head? He’s overstepping your boundaries, isn’t he?” she remarks, turning to me. She looked a bit puzzled.
“Overstepping my boundaries or not, he just wants to tag along with us. And that’s perfectly fine. I’ll see you after classes. Bye.”
I left her side to head over to the classroom. The problem is sorted for now it seems.
But, if I bring them together, they are definitely going to cause chaos in the stores. I need to make sure they don’t go too far with their insults.
At least, now I’ll have two helping hands. It’ll be fun.
College hours came to an end pretty fast. I texted Dave that I’d be late so he didn’t need to come to pick me up.
I waited at the gate and Rosalia and Skylar both arrived at the same time from two different directions.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. Did you wait long?” she asked.
“Sorry for the wait, my friends made it hard for me to leave,” he said, and they both glanced at each other.
“Are you copying me?”
“Why would I? You are the one who’s doing that. I’m scared to leave her with you, that’s why I’m coming that’s all.”
“Really? Do I look like an angry animal to you? Will I eat her?”
“No one said you can’t. Anyway, I don’t wanna talk with you. Aileen, let’s go. Which direction are we going to?” he asked, grabbing me by the hand.
“Uh, to the left. Wait I still haven’t decided”
“Alright, left it is.”
He dragged me with him and Rosalia followed behind us. She looked a bit pissed off at Skylar who was taking charge of everything.
We headed inside the first nearby shop. They ended up arguing so we left to go to a second shop.
“By the way, what are you looking for again?” he asked, peeking out from the men’s clothing section.
“Uh, a dress for party.”
“A party?”
“Which party are you going to? And when?” Rosalia asked, walking over to our side.
“Uh, my dad and grandpa’s joint collaborated company’s grand opening. That’s why he gave me the card to buy something good to wear.”
“That’s amazing! We need to find the best dress for you then,” she said, excitement written all over her face.
“Uh, a decent one will work. It doesn’t have to be the best.” I explained, but she wasn’t listening to me.
“Collaboration huh?” Skylar remarks. “That party is tomorrow, right?”
I nodded. “Yeah, how do you know about it?”
“Hm…just a hunch. Don’t worry, I’ll find the best dress for you. So, you’ll look stunning tomorrow,” he said quite proudly.
“Hey, I’m still here, alright?” Rosalia remarks. “Don’t make plans without me. I asked the staff if the dress section for parties and proms is on the second floor. Come with me.”
“Oh, thanks. Skylar, come.”
He nodded and both of us followed Rosalia.
Three of us searched on our own. I went to try out clothes in the trial room. But the zipper was stuck on my back without bulging a bit.
No matter how much I struggled, no help. I peeked out through the curtains and saw Skylar wandering close to me.
“Hey, Skylar, come here!” I yelled, waving at him.
He heard my voice and strode over to my side the very minute.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, peeking behind me. “Why are you calling me from the trial room?
“Help me out here, but don’t break the zipper alright?” I pleaded, turning around to face my back against him.
He stood still for a few seconds before he reached out his hand and tried to help the zipper.
After a few minutes, the zipper came down, opening the back fully.
“Done.” He murmured low.
“Woah, thank you. I was so worried I was going to damage the dress. You were a big help.”
“It’s okay. Shall I bring you the clothes I picked out? Try them on,” he proposed.
“Uh…okay. Bring them over.”
“Wait.” He went away and came in a few minutes. I took all the clothes and started putting them on.