Best Friends

Ashley, Samantha and I exit the store just to drop back into the sea of people who swim around like mindless fish. Shopping bothers me, okay! If you like to shop then good for you.

It may not be shopping that bothers me actually. It may be the hundreds of people blowing money on pointless crap. Yeah, some things are necessary likes clothes and other items, but watches with diamonds or heels that look like they're made of cow leather or whatever Is completely pointless. Who buys that anyway!!

"There are some cool stores that I know for sure are great!" Ashley chirps. "And they're all tiny friendly too!"

Samantha pulls on her pocket. "Are you okay with that, Caesar?"

I look up and nod. "Yeah."

"Hey," Sam whispers softly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Sam."

Samantha sighs and releases her pocket, patting it gently before leaving me alone.

Another door chimes and I let the girls shop peacefully while I wait for them patiently. There's some giggles, oohs, ahs while they shop. I've never understood the joy of shopping.

"Try this dress on, Samantha!" Ashley exclaims. She shoves a red dress into Samantha's arms. Samantha, though, looks at the dress with concern.

"I don't know, Ashley. I might not be able to fit this." Samantha comments.

Ashley waves off her friend's comment. "Non-sense! You got the curve for the dress. Just try it on! It'll be fun!"

"But-"

Ashley starts pushing Samantha towards the dressing room. "And I'm sure you wouldn't mind Caesar helping!"

"W-what!" Samantha squeaks, now clutching the dress to her chest. She gentle though, knowing that I'm still in the pocket listening to the entire conversation.

Ashley pushes Samantha into a dressing room and shuts the door. " Don't forget to lock it! I'll be looking around, okay!" Ashley cheers before walking away.

Samantha opens her mouth but quickly closes it. She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Sometimes... that girl."

I see the girl struggle. "You having fun yet?"

Samantha rolls her eyes. "Of course I am, but Ashley... kind of knows that I... never mind."

She plucks me out of her pocket and sets me down on a stand. I sit down criss-cross with my elbow on my knee and my chin in my palm, waiting for Sam.

She pulls on her shirt then turns to me. "Are you going to watch me?"

"If you don't want me to then I won't," I say casually without thought.

Samantha bites her lip. "Okay... that's fine."

"This isn't my first time watching you change," I add. Then I realize how creepy I sound. "Uh... I didn't mean anything bad by that."

Samantha doesn't acknowledge my stumbling and awkward words and begins to get undressed starting with her shirt then popping off her boots then wiggling out of her pants.

The teenager stands there in her underwear and socks while unzipping the red dress. I blush madly. Oh, my gods, I'm so gay! I turn away, cupping my hands over my face. It's the only way for me not to be tempted to look. What the hell? I've watched her get undressed before. I mean she wasn't fully undressed and standing in her underwear. Maybe its because we're in a changing room? I... I don't know what's gotten into me.

"How do I look?" Samantha asks.

I'm nervous to take a peek, but I get over it quickly when Sam pokes me in the shoulder. "You can look now."

I look over my shoulder to Samantha looking herself over in the mirror. Damn the girl looks hot! The dress hugs her curves nicely, hiding her shoulders and comes down to her knees. It looks nice on her.

"You look... beautiful." I breathe.

Samantha turns around, her brunette curls bouncing lively. "What do you think?"

"You... great." I can't even come up with a complete sentence because she looks so beautiful.

Samantha giggles. "Someone's a little star struck." She then scoops me up and brings me close to her face. "Don't worry, you look great too!" She then kisses me gently on the cheek.

A knock on the dressing room door breaks my trance. Ashley has come back. "Hey, Sam! I've found this cool little ice cream shop next to the shoe store! You wanna go?"

Samantha opens her mouth to reply, but, after a short moment of thinking, she looks down at me, asking for approval. "Do you want to go?"

"It... it's up to you." I say. "It's your day. Do whatever you want with your best friend."

The teen smiles with gratitude and replies. "Sure! That sounds great!"

Samantha quickly changes and purchases the dress. We make our way down the walkway to the ice cream parlor where a short line is starting to form. We're lucky to make it at a good time since more people start funneling in.

Ashley orders a simple milkshake while Samantha grabs a small scoop of ice cream and a tiny spoon for me to use.

We chose our seats, but as soon as Samantha sits down she stands up. "I'm going to the bathroom. Watch Caesar for me?" Samantha pulls me out of her pocket and sets me on the counter.

"Sure! You do you, girl!" Ashley exclaims, before taking a large sip of her shake.

As soon as Samantha walks away, I feel a gaze on me. Not a glare or a sickening gaze like Veronica or Alexia. Those two are literal psychos.

"You've lived with Samantha for about two weeks now," Ashley says.

I look up to see the redhead mixing her shake with a straw. There's no insane or crazy vibe coming off the girl so that's a plus.

"Yeah, two weeks," I confirm. "It was a little rocky the first few days when I came home-"

"You made her cry." Ashley cuts in. Her tone is cooler now.

"Uh..." I become nervous. "Yeah... I did."

I'm plucked off the table and am dangled in front of Ashley's face. Her green eyes are like sharp dangers, brows scrunched together and a frown on her face.

"Listen, and listen closely," Ashley mutters harshly under her breath. She doesn't want to draw attention "I've known Sam since third grade. If you hurt her feelings then we'll have a serious talk. Understood?"

I swallow hard, fearing for my life. "Yeah... totally."

The serious look on Ashley's face morphs into a smile. "Good." She sets me back down. "No hard feelings, but I'm just looking out for my best friend." She goes back to slurping on her shake without a care in the world.

I blink, surprised that she can act so normal for one second, threaten someone the next, then go back to normal after that. I guess that's just her personality. Best friends usually do that. Threaten people then treat them nicely. That's how friendships work.

Yeah, I don't get it either.

"She's a little sensitive too, you know," Ashley adds softly.

I rub my arm. "I... I've been picking that up the last few days."

"Her dad is never home too, which sucks because she needs him right now, but he doesn't seem to care about his daughter at all," Ashley says flicking something off her fingernail.

"What about her mom?" I ask. I hope Samantha's mom isn't dead or I might have opened up a wound unknowingly.

Ashley huffs. Talking about Samantha's mom isn't easy either. "Her mom is a world-renowned scientist. She mostly focuses on her work, whatever the hell that is, but at least she doesn't get drunk like good ol' daddy who's halfway across the world."

Now may be the best time to change the subject. I feel wrong talking about Samantha's family troubles behind her back.

"So... uh... how did you two meet?" I ask.

Ashley's eyes light up. "That's a good story to tell. I threw a rock at her during recess and we became friends."

I shake my head, there's the sense of a small smirk on my face. "You two have an interesting friendship then?"

"We're pretty close. My dad had her dad as a client once and both our moms talk about science crap all the time, but my mom works from home and not out in the field. Our family has kind of taken Samantha in as our own." Ashley explains casually. "She tells me everything."

I shrug. "Well, you two are best friends so I can see that," I say.

Ashley smiles widely. "She does talk a lot about you. Like, a ton."

That catches my curiosity. I know I shouldn't pry, but I'd like to know what she's told Ashley. It's none of my business though and I should leave it alone. I open my mouth and-

"I'm back," Samantha interjects. She takes her seat across from Ashley. "What'd I miss?"

I look up at Ashley to see if she'll answer, but, instead, we make eye contact. We're both waiting for the other to answer because now we are in an awkward stare.

"The weather," I say. Ashley raises a brow. "We talked about the weather."

Samantha scrunches her nose. "That sounds boring."

"Yeah, well we didn't have anything else to talk about." Ashley backs me up. She then goes back to slurping on her shake

Samantha thinks for a moment. "Yeah..., I guess you're right. You could have introduced yourselves. Caesar doesn't really know you, Ashley and the last person she met wasn't... the best."

"Was it Alexia?" Ashley says bluntly.

"Yes." Sam and I answer.

Ashley sighs. "That girl has something screwed up in her brain."

"Isn't that the truth," I grumble.

"Moving on," Samantha announces. "Let's go to the shoe store after this. How about that."

We all agree on it. Next stop, the shoe store.