“Tell me about it. This morning I was picking pieces of dead grass out of my hair.” Actually, Henry picked them out last night while he was holding me. God, I’m getting really good at lying and making it believable. “Do you know who called the cops?”
“Farrah Cuppler’s mom. Damn it, some jackass brought her home and left her passed out in her front yard.” Rosa turns right and enters the freeway on ramp. “There’s always one person who ruins it for everybody.”
“Very true.”
“Now we’re going to have to find a new place to go.”
Rosa swerves into the oncoming traffic and semi-truck almost smacks into us. I flinch and lean toward the window. The truck driver lays on his horn and Rosa gives him a nasty look and flicks him off. “Up yours asshole!” She’s the worst driver ever and that’s why most of the time either I drive or she meets me whenever we make plans.
She looks at me incredulously. “Do you believe that guy?”
I don’t answer. I just shake my head.
After I’ve escaped death twice today, with Rosa’s bad driving and road rage, she adds three to that equation when she cuts in front of a mini-van and steals their parking spot. “Oops,” she says to the angry woman as she exits the driver’s side.
“You saw me waiting for that!” the woman shouts.
Rosa furrows her brow and wears a fake apologetic smile. “No, I didn’t, sorry.”
I wait until we get to the entrance before I start laughing. “You’re hilarious. You know that?”
Her mouth hangs open. “What?” She shakes her head. “Don’t even start. You know I’m going to start a petition where once you reach a certain age; you have to re-take your driver’s test. Those old farts can’t drive worth a damn!”
I nod, but what I really want to tell her is neither can you. Whichever instructor rode with her on that fateful day of her driving exam, well, I sure as hell hope somebody canned them already.
Upon stepping through the entrance, we’re instantly pushing and shoving our way through a crowd. Somebody steps on my toes and I turn to the side and get elbowed in the gut. By the time I make it through the mass of bodies I feel like I’ve been trampled on by a herd of cattle.
Rosa stands off to the side with her arms folded across her chest and she’s tapping her foot impatiently. My eye brows go up. “How did you get through that so fast?”
We start walking and she shrugs. “I pushed them back. When you start getting physical people move.”
She’s so brash. Sometime I wish I could be like that. “So where do you want to go, first?”
“Forever.” Meaning Forever 21.
“Cool. I’m down with that.”
The brightness of the white walls, white floors, and spotlights stun my eyes as we walk through the entrance of Forever 21. It’s a haven for teenage girls and the modern, yet contemporary store is filled with them. Squealing. Chatting. Gossiping. Holding up shirts and asking each other’s opinions. A super tan brunette holds up a purple halter. “Do you think this will look cute on me?”
Her friend tsks, “Of course, Jessica, totally.”
Music blares from the hanging over head speakers. A techno version of Baby One More Time. I turn to Rosa. “I’m gonna go check out the accessories.”
“Cool. I’ll be in the back, skimming the sale rack.”
The accessories are majorly picked over and I browse through the rack of belts looking for a studded one to go with the jeans I plan on buying. Nothing catches my eye. Maybe Buckle will have some?
I sift through the bin of headbands and I feel like someone’s watching me. I lift my eyes slowly and see the blurry outline of a body in the mirror. I spin around and almost smack into Rosa. “Holy shit!” I exhale and the mountain of clothes in her arms fall to the floor.
“Geez!” she snaps. “Holy hell in a hand basket, what’s wrong with you?”
“I’m sorry,” I gush as I lean down to pick up her clothes. “I had this creepy feeling like someone was watching me.”
She leans down and helps. “There are tons of people in the store. You need to chill. It was probably just someone looking at clothes behind you or something.”
“You’re right.”
She looks at my empty hands. “You didn’t find anything?”