Fan Fiction ❯ Memories of What Was Once Lost: The Original ❯ Past Afflictions and Shopping; A Girls Best Friend ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter 2: Past Afflictions and Shopping; A Girls Best Friend

My radio in my not so warm cerulean 2000 Sun Fire blared a fast pop melody in my ears as Katharine and I sang over the music with smiles on our faces. Beware mall dwellers, the shopping duo has come. Getting on to the turnpike, I looked over to Katherine who seemed to be more content then myself, as we got farther away from the dorm apartments.

Running away from trouble again, are we, Christina? Whispers of nightmares and fears touched my mind and surfaced into my thoughts. Why was I always mocked like this? You know why... Not again, not now. You're always running away from the things you can't take; or is it that you're afraid in the end that no one will be there at your side? You're a fake, that's all you are. My mom's acid voice taunted me. No physical harm was ever exchanged between her and I, but I was stabbed more then enough times by her words. That's why I had run away after high school and ended up here, where my father's sister works for the university. I was lucky she took me in and explained to my parents that I needed to be away.

I glanced over to Katherine again, her tears freely falling down her face as this morning was probably plaguing her mind. I want all this pain to go away. You can't protect your friends anymore, Christina. She said, I could see her laughing in my mind. You can't even protect yourself to any further extent. You never could. I swear I saw a smile of malice in her image. You're about as worthless as your father is. I had had it with her. That was too far. My eyes clouded over with tears as I almost swerved the car off of the road in my blurry vision. Katherine's head shot over to me questionably as I took a long whiff of air into my lungs and regained control of my car and self. Why did she taunt me so? Why was I such an inferior to her and why does she always seem to be right?

" You ok Christina?" She noticed the tears drifting down my face and nodded softly. " You're thinking about too many things again, Chris'" She forced a light smile. " Relax, we're gonna have a great time at the mall! We can't go shoe shopping and get Christmas gifts if we're all depressed!" I wiped my tears away and tried to smile back at her. She was right; I need stay happy for this season. I need to keep hoping and dreaming. I must go on.

We spent the rest of the time in the car talking about what we had planned for Christmas Eve and day. Of, course; I had no idea what I was doing. I guess that Sakura could make a great dinner that night, but Katherine was going back to her parents in California Christmas morning. So we decided that all of us were going to eat Christmas Eve dinner together before she left for whole entire week.

When we finally got to the mall, the parking lot was crowed with overly hyper bargain hunters shopping to the death. Finding a parking space was like looking for a needle in a haystack. After about 30 minutes of looking for a space, Katherine and I decided to park across the street at the Kathy's Coffee House. As we entered the mall, the sick smell of fried chicken and other greasy foods assaulted my nose. " We're definitely eating at Kathy's," I muttered as we pushed our way through the crowd to our destination. I never liked big crowds of people, I was always more comfortable just staying with the people I know then a bunch of strangers. First stop, Marissa's Clothes Emporium, the heaven of all clothes. I grabbed a rather surprised Katherine and swam through the horde of people and washed up infront of the store entrance. My comrade wiped off her clothes and straightened her hair before giving me a brave grin and held her purse. I gave her a nod and stood at attention.

" Our mission here, soldier, is to disable the enemies base and come out with as much supplies as possible at any price," My smirk widened as she saluted me playfully. " We have a limited amount of time, so report back in 1 hour. Do I make myself clear?" Katherine grinned and straightened up. "Ma'am, yes Ma'am!" I gave her a smile before heading into the most dangerous store for a person who isn't a shopping wiz. Bargain racks were nearly cleared but there were still several people in the big one-floor department store. Many of the empty slots were being refilled and I saw Katherine rush over to cover the area. I, myself, went to hunt through the clearance racks. I found several good and bad buys but ended up with about 5 bags of clothes in the end. My companion seemed to have more success and was lugging 7 big bags consisting of clothes, accessories, and only God knows what else. I waited in front of the store patiently for Katherine as she paid for all of her clothes then hauled all of our stuff back, ACROSS THE STREET, into the car and sat on the seat, catching by breath. Katherine looked over to Kathy's Coffee House and then smirked evilly back at me. Raising an eyebrow, I wondered what she was thinking. Too bad it would take 3 police squads and 50 detectives to figure out what she was planning in just one of her sinister plots.

"What?"

I saw her smile widen as she looked at her feet, innocently. " I was just thinking... I saw a really cute guy from campus walk into Kathy's.... maybe..." I could see her eye twinkle in anticipation. "...I could set you up..." I glared at her and then down to my feet. "No..." She looked sad but then geared into angry.

"Why are you even wasting your time looking for a guy you don't know!? You've been looking for him for how long, Christina? He could be anywhere in the U.S!" I looked at her, determined. " O, I'll find him, Katherine...I can feel it!" Katherine's anger disappeared and her eyes softened. "I just don't want you to be hurt, Chris... there's such a slim chance you'll ever find him..." I nodded and stood up and locked the car doors after shutting them.

"Come on, lets go and get some lunch at Kathy's," I grinned at her and mimicked rubbing my stomach. " Shopping sure takes a lot out of you." Katherine's eyes gleamed with a tint of entertainment and nodded before taking my hand and dragging me through the doors to the cafe with out another word.