The Mall.

Chapter 1: Shirts

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My mother had broken her promise again. She’d been promising me for over a month now to take me to the mall. She called me a little over ten minutes ago, saying that she wouldn’t be able to make it because she had to work late. I calmly replied that I understood and told her I would see her later. Now, I felt like ripping my hair out and screaming, but of course I didn’t. Instead, I got off my bed and grabbed my cars keys. I skipped out of my room and into my parent’s bedroom. Inside my mother’s nightstand I found a small stack of money—enough for me to buy some new clothes. After grabbing the money I left the house and got into my car. I turned the music up and drove to the mall. After parking in the parking garage, I entered the mall.

I quickly made my way past the department stores to Tillys. As soon as I entered the store I gave a soft sigh and made my way to the girl’s section. I grabbed a few shirts, shorts and jeans and then headed to the dressing rooms. I quickly put on outfit after outfit; dissatisfied with all of them until I came to the last pieces of clothing. I ended up deciding on getting a pair of brown shorts, a red halter top and a pair of dark blue jeans. When I was done with changing I headed over to the accessories. There, I grabbed a black Volcom bag and headed to the cash register. After paying for my things, I left the store and headed over to Bath and Body Works.

A salesperson greeted me at the door and asked if I needed any help. I told her that I was fine and proceeded to walk over to the wall. I grabbed the vanilla spray I always used and went to pay.

“Hey Delilah,” Rose Summers greeted me as she rang up my spray.

“How’s it going Rose?” I asked; it was summer and I hadn’t seen her since school ended a month before.

“Good, I’ve been busy working here,” she said and gestured around the store.

“Have you heard from Keith recently?”

“Yesterday. He’s still out in the country with his grandparents. He said that the service is crap out there.”

“That sucks,” I said as I paid for the spray, “Well, it was nice seeing you. Tell Keith I said hi.” We exchanged goodbyes and I left the store.

An hour later, I had four more bags filled with clothes in my hands and I was getting ready to enter my last stop: Hot Topic. As I entered the store, I was greeted by the sound of loud, screamo music pulsing from the speakers. I made my way to the back wall where all of the band t-shirts were. Scanning the walls, I wrinkled my nose at the shirts I didn’t like. After staring at the wall for five minutes, I finally made my selections. I decided on a Plain White T’s t-shirt that said ‘I am Delilah’ and a Senses Fail t-shirt that had a pink dinosaur on it. After grabbing my size in each, I headed to the cash register. Of course I got stuck behind two giggling freshman that wouldn’t stop making fun of the people in the store and talking about how hot the cashier was. They finally left, after what felt like hours and it was my turn. I placed my shirts on the counter and looked at the cashier.

Those freshmen were definitely right; the guy was hot. I was a bit startled by his appearance though. He was the first worker I’d ever seen that looked normal. Instead of the usual piercings all over his face, black clothes and unusual hair styles, he had a skater look to him. He was wearing a black button-down shirt, ‘skater’ shoes and a pair of dark blue jeans. His dark brown hair was covered by a trucker hat that was on backwards and his dark brown eyes were smiling. He did have one piercing though; it was an eyebrow piercing. I usually didn’t like guys with facial piercings, but somehow on him, it worked.

“You like the Plain White T’s?” he asked, snapping me out of my reverie.

“I’m sorry?” I asked, blinking.

“Do you like the Plain White T’s? I was only wondering because you have the ‘Hey There Delilah’ shirt,” he said, referring to the fact that the shirt was made for the song, as he rang it up.

“Not really. I mean, I used to, before they became really popular. I used to love Hey There Delilah, but then everyone started listening to them, so I just…dropped them, I guess. I’m not really into following other people…” I said trailing off.

“Then why did you get the shirt?” he asked.

“Delilah’s my name. I thought it would be funny.”

“Interesting,” he said as rang up my Senses Fail shirt. He raised an eyebrow at the shirt.

“Now what?” I snapped.

He chuckled before he replied. “Is your nickname Dinosaur?”

“No. I happen to actually like the band.” I said and scowled at him.

“That’s surprising. You don’t strike me as the type to shop at Hot Topic and listen to screamo bands.”

“Well, you don’t exactly look like the type to work here,” I retorted as I handed him the money.

“Touché.”

“As much fun as this has been, its time for me to go. Nice to meet you, I guess…” I said as I picked up my bag and started to walk away. Ok, I’ll admit it. I did feel disappointed that I didn’t get his name and I was mad at myself for not asking for his number. I felt like hitting myself in the head as I exited the store. I was halfway to the escalator when I heard him yell, “DINOSAUR! STOP!” I slowly turned around—yes, a smile was forming on my lips—and raised an eyebrow.

“Look, I normally don’t do this, but would you be interested in going out sometime?” he asked and gave me a heartbreaking smile.

I pretended to think about it for a minute.

“I guess, as long as you don’t call me Dinosaur again.”

“Fine. Here’s my number,” he said and pulled out a black sharpie. He proceeded to write his number on my arm and gestured for me to do the same. “I’ll call you soon.”

With that, he turned and walked back to the store.

“What’s your name?” I yelled.

He turned around and smiled.

“Shawn. It’s Shawn Parker,” he said and walked into the store.

I drove home that day with a big grin on my face. Nothing could bring me down.

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When it all comes down,
to a sunrise on the east side,
will you be there to carry home,
the remains of my wasted youth,
this wasted time on you
has left me shaking in waiting,
for something more.

Coffee Shop Soundtrack- All Time Low.

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Right, so here is my brand new story that I absolutely adore. This was made for an English assignment—I got an A(-)—and I liked it so much that I decided to post it on here. Hopefully, some you like it enough to review.

The title is subject to change. If I figure out a new name I’ll let everyone know before I change it. Suggestions are welcome. The next update may take awhile, so I recommend putting this on story alert because the next chapter will not be coming out before the end of this week. Plus, I need to update my other stories.

Reviews are always loved.

-Alicia