My Salvation

10.

Chapter ten
Camila:

Walking into the mall, my eyes scan the unfamiliar surroundings, until I finally spot Lydia. She is with several other people, sitting by the food court. I pull Maria along beside me, eager to see Lydia. When my sister and I come into her line of sight, she stands up, saying what I imagine is a goodbye to some people, grabs someone else, and runs toward me. Their faces become clearer, and I realize it's Charlie walking beside her, taking long strides that match the pace of her run.

I follow quickly after Maria, smiling widely at my friends, who are only a couple feet away.

"Hey!" Lydia says, arriving at my side as she pulls me into a warm hug.

Really, that's exactly what Lydia is; she's like a warm hug. Something, somebody, that you can always depend on. They're everything you could want in a person. I'm honestly very lucky to have her as a friend.

"It's so good to see you I feel like we haven't seen each other in forever!"

I snort, "Lydia, we saw each other on Friday. It's Sunday."

She waves a dismissive hand before crouching down to Maria's level, smiling at her. "Hi! You must be Maria! I'm Lydia, your sisters best friend!"

Maria seems to sense that Lydia kind enough for her standards, because she reaches her hand out to shake Lydia's hand and introduces herself. "That's me. You better be good for Cami or else I'll kick you in the shins, I was tempted to do it to Mr. Evil pants and his evil kissing buddy, but I held back the urge. Don't cross me." Maria's eyes squint, whilst Lydia's widen.

A very intimidated Lydia stands up, backing away everso slightly from my incredibly forward younger sister.

"So she met Lucas and devil child huh?" She questions, glancing at me and then at Charlie who has just arrived by our side. I imagine he got side tracked by something because he never actually showed up.

"Why are we talking about Luke and Blair? Did something happen?" Charlie inquires, tilting his head.

"My little sister and I came across them when we were at the mall a little while ago." I answer, to which he nods and sighs.

"I'm sorry you had to encounter that psychotic extra terrestrial creature named after a weed that gives people rashes." He says. Lydia snorts, and then chuckles, and then bursts out laughing. Then Maria does, then Charlie does, then I do.

"Okay, okay, enough laughing. It's time to shop." Maria says, pointing her finger up in the air as if she was a queen leading her soldiers into battle.

Several minutes pass before we finish our fit of giggles and agree on setting out to shop.

———

So, about an hour passed before we actually ended up going into stores and begin browsing. Maria insisted on getting sushi for brunch. Shortly after that, Lydia, Charlie and I all got a little peckish our selves, so we eventually decided to sit down and have a some food first. Long story short, we all got sushi.

As we walk towards a table, sushi in our hands, Maria is rambling on about something random. Interestingly enough, Lydia and Charlie are listening to her story intently; I on the other hand, have been tuning her out the second she started talking about how purchasing a panther would be beneficial for the economy. I think this stems from the fact that we've never owned a pet, apart from a goldfish several years ago named Timmy. Let's just say he had a short life.

"So, my birthday is next weekend, and I'm going to be throwing a massive party!" Charlie exclaims, drumming his hands on the table rhythmically as though it was a drum roll.

I smile and nod, "That's cool," Charlie gawks at me, and Lydia tilts her head.

"You're invited of course!" he says.

I laugh awkwardly, "Really?"

"Obviously!" Lydia states, "We would never talk about an event in front of someone who isn't invited!"

"Yeah, that's some bitch ass shit to do," Charlie adds.

"Oh, ha," I laugh, I suppose I've had some some really shitty friends in the past.

"Anyways, try to come, because there's some hot guys coming, and me and Lydia would love to you up with one," the blonde boy stands up, and throws away all of our trash, whilst the rest of us gather our stuff, and prepare to go shop.

I scoff, "I don't need to be set up with a guy," this causes Lydia to raise her eyebrows, Charlie to snort, and Maria to comment "Yes you do."

"Whatever," I mumble.

———

After a while, Maria got bored, and restless, so now I am carrying her on my back while we go in and out of different stores. God I hate kids.

"What do you think about this one?" I question, holding a cute, but rather modest dress up to my body.

"It looks like something my math teacher would wear," Lydia says. eyeing the dress up and down, judgementally.

"I mean yeah, it's not my style, but I'm going to be wearing for a dinner with my foster parents, so..." I respond with a sigh, putting it back on the rack.

"How about this one?" Charlie hands me a dress, it's a light sage green colour, and it's silk. It's incredibly gorgeous.

"Ooo, that's the one," Lyds says, jumping up and down.

I nod, "It is very cute, and it's fairly cheap" I don't want to spend to much money, and seeing as it's probably the nicest dress for my budget, I should probably get it.

"Okay perfect, go try it on!" Lydia exclaims, practically ripping Maria off of my back and placing her on Charlie's. I laugh, before getting shoved into a changing room.

"Make sure to show us once it's on!" Charlie shouts, before I close the curtain.

As I put the dress on, I have to admit, I look good. Usually I don't feel confident when showing my body, which is one of the reasons I tend to wear baggy clothes. One thing I hate about my body lost is my stomach; it's not at all flat, and my rib cage is somewhat wide. For some reason, this dress hides most of that, the main focus is on the silky fabric and the soft pop of colour. I'm definitely going to purchase this one.

Opening the curtain in order to show Charlie and Lydia how it looks, I hear a witchy laugh, followed by an all to familiar voice.

"Look who it is!" A girl says as several pairs eyes glance toward me. Fucking Blair and her friends. I think their names are Reagan and Lila or something, I'm not sure, I tend to avoid them as much as possible.

"Lola, isn't that the dress that you wanted?" Reagan says, studying what I was wearing. Lola, that's it, not Lila.

"Not anymore," Lola mumbles, following by a sigh from Blair.

"What a shame, it would have suited you better than it suits more than her," Blair says, emphasising the 'her', as in me. Thank god Maria is asleep, because if not, she would have a riot. I roll my eyes, and walk back into the changing stall.

I'm never in the mood to talk to Blair, but on days when I'm genuinely happy, I don't want it to be ruined. Besides, I'm not wasting my energy on that wannabe mean girl and her little minions.

—
A/N

I AM SO SORRY ITS BEEN SO LONG SINCE IVE POSTED!!!!

i know this wasn't the best chapter but it's something so ya

i haven't had much motivation lately, but thankfully it's back :)

also guys, i just got hired to work at this adorable mf cafe and i'm so happy

not sure when chapter 11 will be out, but i may make it a shorter/filler chapter and then chapter 12 will be a long and interesting one ;)

bye my loves 🫶🏻