"The mall?" This is where you wanted to take me?"
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"Not just the mall. My favorite store is in this mall."
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"Now I'm curious."
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"Just keep walking we're almost there."
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I spent the whole car ride trying to guess what magical spot he was trying to take me to. The mall isn't exactly what I had in mind but he seemed really excited about wanting to take me.
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"I can't believe we're skipping class. This doesn't seem like something you would want to do."
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"I don't know. I just felt like spending the day with you."
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We continued walking through the mall. I saw a ton of people surrounding an ice cream store that had a "Now Open" sign under its name. We started walking towards the shop called "Unicorn Vomit."
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"This is it."
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"Unicorn Vomit?"
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"Yup."
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I couldn't really see inside of the shop because there were so many people in line surrounding the store.
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"I can't wait for you to try this ice cream."
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"What's so special about it?"
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"It's the best ice cream in the country."
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"In the country? Now I have to try it. I hope the line moves fast."
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"We're not waiting in line."
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He grabs my hand and we proceed to cut through groups of people who made sure to glare at us while walking though. The ice cream shop was huge and seemed to be extremely popular and expensive. They had customizable flavor choices on the wall and limitless toppings.
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We reached the front of the line and the person behind us cleared her throat.
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"Excuse me? Did you not see the line?"
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"Sorry ma'am. I'll be quick."
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"Oh my! Is that you Lion?"
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A small older lady with a Unicorn Vomit logo on her shirt started speaking to Ian.
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"Hey gran. Sorry for popping up without calling."
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"Oh that's okay sweetie. Shouldn't you be in school right now? You know your father's not going to like you skipping class."
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"I know gran. I just couldn't resist your ice cream."
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"Oh and who might this beautiful lady be? You didn't tell me you had a girlfriend! What's you're name sweetheart?"
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"Oh we're just friends. I'm Vee Crowley. We're in art together."
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"Well what can I get you young lady?"
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"I've never been here before... I'm not sure what to get...any recommendations?"
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"I have just the thing for you. What about you Lion what would you like?"
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"I'll have whatever you give her."
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"Sounds good! Now hurry off before these people get angrier and start a mob. You're holding the line up."
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Ian reached for his pockets and grabbed his wallet. He took 50 dollars out and gave it to the kind old lady.
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"This is for the people behind me."
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We walked away from the line and sat on a colorful ice cream shaped table.
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"Sorry, my grandma thinks every girl within a 2 mile radius of me is my girlfriend."
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"Don't be sorry, you're grandma is the sweetest person I think I've ever met."
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"She really is."
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"She works here?"
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"She owns it. My dad bought the place out and built it for her after retirement so she'd stay on her feet."
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"Wow."
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I understand why he was so excited to come here now. He was excited to see his grandma. She was so happy to see him. Her face lit up the minute she realized it was him.
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"Why does she call you Lion?"
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He smiled.
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"She said when I was a kid I used to be obsessed with lions. I was too young to remember but she's been calling me that since elementary."
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I see where he gets his kindness from. Maybe it runs in the family.
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"Here you go a large couple shake. Enjoy"
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The worker placed one large glass filled with a strawberry shake and a scoop of ice cream on the top with sprinkles and two straws. The glass had a heart on it with a cupid symbol in the middle.
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Ian looked over at the counter where his grandma was and she just looked at him and winked.
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"This looks so yummy."
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"Really? I'm glad you think so. I've never had this one."
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We dig our straws through the ice cream and down to where the shake is.
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"Wow this is amazing."
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I take my straw out of the glass and grab a spoon from the table and start eating the ice cream on the top. Ian sat there watching me with a face of amusement.
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"What?"
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"Nothing."
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"Why are you looking at me like that?"
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"Like what?"
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"Like that!"
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He chuckled at me and I just rolled my eyes.
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"Are you going to the charity banquet this weekend?"
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"I didn't know there was one."
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"It's for members only but they allow a plus one none member."
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"When is it?"
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"This Saturday at 7:30. If you're not busy that day I was wondering if you would be my plus one."
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"Ian I'd love to but this Saturday is when I need to move everything out of my house. My mom leaves for Chicago Saturday."
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As much as I wanted to go with him, I had bigger issues to deal with. I needed to pack my things and find someone to stay with. I tried calling my distant aunt but she hasn't answered yet. I tried to apply for a loan to stay in the dorm but they declined it, of course. Jordan's letting me stay in her dorm for a few days but after that It's up to me to find somewhere to stay.Right now I'm basically homeless. A banquet is the last thing on my mind.
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"And on top of that...I have nothing to wear."
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"If you had something to wear and had help moving your things out, would you go?"
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"Hmmm... maybe."
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"Let's go."
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He grabbed my hand as I took my last bite of the ice cream and pulled me off of my chair. He gripped my hand right to make sure I was still following behind him. We walked for a couple minutes before we reached another store.
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We walked into the store and in big letters behind the front desk it read Versace.
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"What are we doing here?"
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"We're getting you a dress."
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My eyeballs popped out of my head and I looked at him with my face stuck in a shocked expression. At Versace?
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"Good afternoon Mr. Pleasant."
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"Mr. Peters welcome back, It's been quite some time since I've seen you last. Are you here for something in particular?"
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"Actually, yes. I need a dress for my friend."
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"I'm Mr. Pleasant nice to meet you."
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He put his hand out to me and we shook hands for few seconds before he led both of us to the back of the store. There were hundreds of dresses in the back hung up on display behind glass cases. They all looked so elegant and colorful.
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A lady came out and quickly took my measurements before disappearing again.
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"Ian this is a lovely gesture but there's no way in hell I'm allowing you to get me a freaking Versace dress."
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"Why not?"
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"That's way too expensive. If you wanted to get me a dress couldn't you have just gotten me something from a different cheaper place?"
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"Why would you want a cheap dress?"
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"It's just one banquet it's not like I'll ever wear it ever again. There's no reason to spend too much."
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"I'm not spending too much."
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"Ian-"
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"Here you go ma'am. This dress compliments your skin tone. If you don't like that one we can try another."
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The lady that disappeared came back out from the back and handed me a crème colored ball gown with hints of glitter over the dress.
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I looked back at Ian and he plopped onto a chair and waited for me to try it on.
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With a heavy sigh of defeat I took the dress and followed the lady into the fitting room. It took 15 minutes to put the dress on because I was afraid to break anything on there. Once I had it on the lady came back into the fitting room.
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"You look beautiful in that dress ma'am."
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"Thank you. You don't have to call me ma'am, I'm V."
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"Nice to meet you V."
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I looked at myself in the big mirror in front of me and I felt like cinderella. The dress sleeves hung off of my shoulders revealing my collarbone and the glitter on the dress wasn't overwhelming. It hugged my skin tightly, but not too tight for me to move a little in it. It had an open slit on the right that ran up to my upper thigh and the rest of the dress was open. I hate to say I loved it but I did.
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I stood there looking at myself in the dress for so long I almost forgot the lady was waiting for me to comment on it.
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"I love this dress."
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"I do too. It fits you very well. Do you have a special occasion coming up?"
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"Not exactly. There's a charity event Saturday evening. I've been invited to attend but I don't think I should."
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"The Peters annual charity banquet?"
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"Yeah, I'm pretty sure."
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"You've been invited?"
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"Yes?"
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"You must be one special girl."
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"What do you mean by that?"
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"That banquet is closed to invites, the same people have been attending for years. I know because I myself tried to attend with my ex. They didn't allow it and he's been going for years."
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"Why is it like that?"
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"It's a traditional thing I guess."
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I took a deep breath and looked back into the mirror. What she told me made me even more nervous than before. I can't let him buy me this dress. It had to be well over a hundred dollars.
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"How much is this dress?"
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"$5,672."
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"What?!"
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I almost had a heart-attack. That much for a dress?! I need to take this off before I'm in debt.
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"I can't let him buy this for me." I said under my breath.
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I walked out of the dressing room and presented the dress to Ian. I did a little spin and curtsy to him and he looked aw struck. He didn't say anything for a good while, he just stared at me and the dress.
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"I don't like it." I lied. This is the only way I could think of to get him to not buy me the dress.
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"You don't?"
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"No."
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"Okay."
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"Okay?"
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"Okay."
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He got up from the chair he was sitting in and started walking towards me. He approached me and stood inches away, taking me in.
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"I think you look gorgeous."
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He raised a hand to my cheek and slowly cupped it. I didn't know if he was going to kiss me again but my body still reacted instantly to the touch of his palm. My face got hot and I turned away before he could do anything else.
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"Thank you. I'm going to take it off now."
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I walked back into the dressing room and the lady helped me take off the beautiful gown and put it back. I was sad taking it off but I knew that this was the right thing to do.
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I left the room and came back to Ian who was standing by the door waiting for me.
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"Do you want to try anything else on?"
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I shook my head. "Let's go somewhere else."
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He took my hand and led me out of the store. We stopped at various different shops and Ian continued to ask me if I wanted to try on any other dresses. I tried some dresses on in other luxury brand stores but in the back of my mind I knew none of the dresses I tried on would compare to the first one.
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That one stuck with me. But so did the price.
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Ian didn't buy anything and neither did I. We ended up pretty much window shopping at every store we went to. The mall closes at 6 and the time was 5:45. We were there all day.
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After a while I got tired of walking from store to store and we ended up going back to his car and he drove me back home.
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No one was home again.
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"Thank you for today."
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"I should be thanking you. This is the best day I've had all year."
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I smiled to myself. It was for me too.
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"Goodbye Ian."
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"Goodbye, Vee."
ns 15.158.61.8da2
