I check my phone, sighing in disappointment when I don't see any text. This would be the fifteenth time I've checked my phone in the past ten minutes.
It's been a week since I last saw Austin and there's been no sign of him, no calls, no text, nothing! Over the past month, we've gotten really close and we're almost always together.
I even tried going to his place but no one answered. If anyone has noticed how worried I am about him, they don't mention it, well until right about now.
"April, I swear if you check your phone again I will dunk it into a bucket of water." Macy growls out and I blink innocently at her.
"It's water proof." I stare and she glares at me, her eyes twitching and I sigh.
"I'm just kind of worried, he left without explaining and hasn't answered me for a week! Am I that hated that he will just walk out without an explanation?" I gasp and she rolls her eyes.
"Now you're just overreacting, come on, I heard Dana Crawford is at the mall and I am not giving up the chance to declare my ever burning love for her!" She grabs my hand and pulls me up.
"I thought you have a husband!" I exclaim, watching as she struggles to put on her shoes.
"For Dana, I can give up everything." She says and flings the door open, dashing for the car with my hand tightly in her grip.
Here we go.
°•°•°|°•°•°
Macy squeals and slaps my arm, jumping up and down excitedly. She purposely wore Dana Crawford's sneakers, Glamorous, just to get it signed.
"I'm third! Okay Macy, act cool, don't freak her out, this might be the only chance you have to meet her, don't confess your undying love for her, just get the signature, smile and laugh a little if she says something funny." She says and I roll my eyes. It's a pity she dragged me to this, really. I would have so loved to wallow in worry and drown myself in thoughts about him hating me.
"Oh my gosh, you're Macy Anderson!" Dana exclaims and stands up, eyes widening as she starts jumping and fawning over Macy.
Ha! Who's the fangirl now?
Macy laughs and I roll my eyes getting off the line. She knows where to find me.
I walk to the food court and see a familiar mop of unnatural blonde hair and I smile as I walk towards him.
His emerald green eyes glance up at me as I sit, smiling widely at him. He rolls his eyes and I see his jaw clenching like as if he's stopping himself from groaning.
"Hello! Oh you're having yoghurt." I say and he arcs a brow at me, his hand that's holding the yoghurt spoon pausing midway.
"Hey, can I have the yoghurt that this guy's having? Thank you!" I call out and the waitress looks at me like I'm sick. But I don't care so, whatever.
Devin shakes his head and his phone pings, he picks it up and smiles and it's the first time that I've ever seen him smile.
My brows shoot to the roof as his canines show and I almost gasp when I see how much they look like fangs. "Oh my gosh! Are you a vampire?" I ask as I get my yoghurt and he stops smiling to scowl at me.
"So, who just made you smile?" I ask after a while, putting the strawberry from the yoghurt in my mouth. He looks up from his phone to me, his eyes flat.
"Nobody you know." He snaps and goes back to his yoghurt, clenching his jaw. I roll my eyes and put my cup down.
"Hey, why are you always quiet?" I ask and he looks up slowly before blinking at me.
"There's nothing to talk about?" He says but asks and I sigh, leaning back in my seat. Macy walks up to me and I narrow my eyes at the creepy smile she has on her face.
"Hello April, oh and who is your friend! Dear me, are you Devin Rodriguez?" She fake gasps and I close my eyes.
She's going to embarrass me, she's going to embarass bad!
"Uh, yes?" He asks, looking at her strangely, I can almost see fear in his eyes. Well, he should be, for a girl at six foot two inches. I roll my eyes and slump in my chair, watching as she twirls her hair in her fingers, and batting her lashes at him. It's funny but really embarrassing.
"I'm sorry but I'm not interested." He says and Macy bursts out laughing. She looks at me and back at the guy, muttering to herself and laughing loudly, everyone looks at her.
"Boy, I'm married! Don't you see the ring? I'm definitely not interested in you, I'm just trying to embarrass this little piece of pickle here." She laughs and grabs a chair from another table, dragging it and sitting with her front resting against the back of the chair, so she's kind of sitting on the chair forward with the chair backwards.
She grabs my remaining yoghurt and starts eating it, watching Devin as chews.
"Hey, are you trying to get us kicked out?" I ask her but her eyes don't leave Devin as she replies,
"That's exactly what I'm trying to do."
°•°|°•°
We did get kicked out. But Macy got to sneak out some more yoghurt from behind the counter while I made a distraction. The lady was so furious, she looked like she was really going to kick us, with her feet out of the store. So now, we're walking on the road since Macy said she's in the mood for walking.
You can't argue with her, now that she's pregnant, she'll blame it all on the baby. She dragged Devin along and she made him agree that he has nothing else to do since he's now part of our friend group, as she called it. I think he was just too scared to say no to her because of how crazy she looks, with that rainbow colored hair to show her love for 6ix9ine, and those bright and crazy hazel eyes that are nearly gold, like Storm's own, only his are pure gold.
She sees a Build a bear and gasps, jumping up and down excitedly and pulls my hand and Devin's to the store. She pushes the door open and releases a wow, looking at the whole store.
Devin smiles and walks up to the stuffed animals, muttering to himself about something. I walk with Macy to get my own stuffed animal. A shark catches my eye and I walk up to it, smiling as I pick it up.
"Hey there, you're cute and you look vegetarian, so I'm going to name you Vegeta!" I smile and I hear Macy arguing with some store caretaker or something. I look up and see Devin grabbing about five bears, eyeing another one. Who knew he could be such a big softie?
I grab the shark and pause when I see another cheetah. Maybe Layla might like this, she seemed like she'd hate dolls. I grab it and meet Devin at the counter as we both wait for Macy to leave the poor guy that she's yelling at.
"Should we stop her?" Devin asks and I shrug.
"Nah, it'll keep her busy, better anyone else than us." I snicker and he shakes his head.
"Hey man." Devin says and I hear another familiar voice respond before they do a bro clap or something.
"It's been forever." He says and I turn around, gritting my teeth and narrowing my eyes at him.
"I could say the same thing about you." I accuse and his eyes widen.
"April!"
°•°•°|°•°•°
He gulps as Macy rounds him, her hands behind her back and a wide creepy smile on her face.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Writer guy?" Devin raises a brow and mutters a 'huh' but I shush him, loving where this is going.
"So, you leave the house, without a single word, don't reply to any of our texts and calls,"
"Actually mine." I chip in but she doesn't pay attention to it.
"And you let my poor child get heartbroken." She finishes standing in front of him.
"I'm not heart broken." I mutter and Devin just shakes his head as if saying I should give it up.
"I didn't mean to, I swear-" he starts and she laughs.
"Oh, but you did, if not, you wouldn't have walked out like that. April was speechless when I found her!" Austin visibly tenses as his eyes cross over me.
"I really didn't want to walk out like that, you have to believe me April, I just-"
"It's okay, I get it, Macy you can let him go now, he looks like he's going to pass out if he becomes any paler." I say and Macy smirks, almost like she's proud of herself.
She grabs Devin's hand and they both walk back the way we came, she's decided to use the car and now we have to walk back.
"So, where were you?" I ask after a very awkward silence. He looks up at me, those blue eyes scanning me up and down. It makes me feel exposed and I cover my arms, looking down.
"I was with my parents, my mom was sick." He says and I look up.
"Oh, I'm so sorry." I say and frown, that sounded weird, it even tasted weird, if it's possible to taste a word.
"Yeah, so a shark huh?" He gestures to the stuffed animal in my hand and I shrug.
"Yep, his name is Vegeta and he's a vegetarian. Vegeta meet Austin, Austin, Vegeta." I say and his eyes light up in amusement.
"Well, nice to meet you Vegeta." He says and grips the fin of Vegeta, shaking it and people outside the store start looking at us weirdly.
I look around but don't find Macy or Devin anywhere.
"Shoot, I gotta go, Macy will definitely leave me and then try to ground me for not following her home." I say and he furrows his brows in confusion but a smile still plays at his lips.
I turn around but stop, handing him the cheetah. "Here, I was going to give it to you for Layla whenever I see you but since I've seen you now, can you give it to Layla for me?" I ask and he smiles slightly.
"Why don't you keep it, I'll bring her around tomorrow and you'll give her yourself?"
My face stretches into a smile.
°•°•°•°|°•°•°•°
"You make me feel!" Adam sings, clutching his chest while the other flies out and he stands on his toes, his eyes closed and Macy sighs dreamily, watching her husband.
She asked for this out of the blues this evening, after a long nap with her husband, when she woke up, her hair was a mess and Adam cleared the space and started singing this Westlife song. I think it's creeping Chase out.
"Adam I think that's enough, Macy still looks half asleep, why don't you take her back to bed." I say and he frowns at me, but walks up to his wife and kisses her forehead, helping her back up the stairs.
I let out a relieved sigh, turning to Chase who already has his eyes closed.
"I never got to ask, how was your date with Fayette?" He looks at me and raises a brow, his lips tugging up at the edges.
"Some things. Some things that my dear sister should not know or imagine." He says and a perverted smile appears on his face.
"Oh my God, ew! Wait, are you still a virgin?" I ask and his face turns red.
"Goodnight April." He says and stands up, briskly walking up the stairs.
"But wait, are you?" I call after him and I'm replied with a slamming of the door.
Okay?
°•°|°•°
"No, why would you even think of it like that, he was just there as an... acquaintance." Temi says over the phone as she applies more mascara.
"Please, I saw the picture, I saw the look in his eyes, it was too obvious!" I scoff and she pauses to look at me.
"Oh, you mean the look Luke gives you when you're not looking?" She counters back and my eyes widen as I sputter.
"What? No way! Don't try to change the subject here Missy, we're talking about that cute guy that was admiring you, not me, so, yeah, don't change the subject." I defend weakly, and she cackles.
"I gotta go baby, I'll talk to you later." She says as someone knocks on her room door. I roll my eyes and shrug.
"Alright, and make sure you come back with a boyfriend, God knows me if I can save you from single hood, then I can surely save June and the rest of the world." I say and she laughs before blowing me a kiss and cutting the call.
I sigh and roll over, Macy is downstairs with Layla and they've bonded really tight, I'm sure she's thinking of how to turn her into a mini Macy. I throw my legs over the table and sigh out, grabbing my pencil and a book. I start sketching something that I don't really know when my phone starts ringing.
"April." I say and then hear giggling.
"Are you free tonight?" Mia's voice asks and I furrow my brows.
" I guess, why?" I play with the pencil as I twirl in the chair. I stop when I face the door where my calendar is.
For the month, I don't think I even have anything scheduled. I might just need to take Layla back him so I'm definitely free.
"Okay, Zeke McLane's meeting with you has been pushed for too long babe, you need to meet him tonight and get over with it." She says into the phone and I sigh.
Zeke McLane. Some musician guy that has been trying to meet me since forever. And now he's finally gotten his chance. Lord knows I only hope he doesn't creep the niceness out of me. Any chance he'd get, I'm sure he'll pull up that weird as hell crappy song he dedicated to me or something. I'll smack him with a guitar.
"Fine, but if by the end of the night you receive a call from the station that I committed murder, just know that it's Zeke that's dead." I say and she snickers.
"Don't worry, you'll be fine, give him the glare, I'm pretty sure he can take a hint." She says and I shrug.
"Alright, let me go put on the most vomit worthy clothes." I groans and she laughs before I cut the call.
"Hey Macy, come pick out something for me to wear!" I yell and open my closet doors. Macy and Layla barge in, Macy looking really excited to play dress April up.
"Let my talent show!" She says in a weird accent and I roll my eyes, sitting on the bed with Layla who's watching her mentor with excitement.
"Here, try this on. Then Layla will judge." She says and I narrow my eyes at Layla, making her tilt her head and smile goofily at me.
I walk into the bathroom and change into the flair dress. When I walk out, Layla makes a wow and I smile at her as she squeezes the life out of her cheetah.
"It's perfect! Please, applaud for me!" Macy dramatically cries and I roll my eyes.
"Sure, I'll just take this off." I say and walk back to the bathroom to take it off. I wear my other clothes and walk back out, hanging the dress on my chair.
"So, what's the occasion?" Macy asks, playing withy yo-yo.
"Have to meet Zeke McLane tonight, Mia says it's been forever since I've been pushing the meeting date." I say and flop down on the bed. Layla walks to my table, looking at my drawings.
"Well, it has been forever. Just get it over with." She says and cuddles into my pillow.
I sigh and look at Layla who's holding one of my drawings. "Hey, you like it?" I ask and she nods.
"Alright, it's yours, now let's get you home." I say and she smiles.
°•°|°•°
I stop the car and open the door, waiting for Layla to come down. She still has her ice cream cone and she's smiling like she just won a million dollars.
I walk to the door and ring the bell, waiting for Austin to open up. Layla hugs her cheetah to her chest while waiting for Austin to open the door.
"Is he even in?" I ask after a while and the door swings open.
"Yes he is! Hey little one." He says and ruffles her hair. He looks up at me and I swallow, trying to keep myself from looking down at his shirtless body.
"Hey, uh, thanks for watching her, I needed the break. Um you wanna come in?" He asks and I look at the time.
"I still got a few hours, sure." I mutter and walk in, walking to the living room. Layla must be in her room because I don't see her anywhere.
"I hope she wasn't any trouble?" He says and stands in front of me.
"Oh no, but Macy seems to like her a little too much, I won't be surprised if she starts calling her little minion next time she sees her." I say and he chuckles, closing some of the books that are left lying around.
"Want some pizza? I ordered some and it just came in." He says as he returns from somewhere. I shrug and he walks into the kitchen, grabbing the box of pizza.
"Thanks, so, you're working on a new book?" I ask and sit down, seeing his laptop. He laughs and closes the laptop, sitting down next to me.
"Yep, but I might not get it published, just something to get me back in the mood." He says and grabs a slice.
"So, it's awkward between us again." I say and he throws his head back and laughs. I smile and bite into my slice.
"April, is it weird that I always leave you at some point?" He asks serious all of a sudden.
"Well, I guess you leave for a reason. The first time was about something that hurt you, and this last one was about someone dear to you, we have to leave at some point. I know that from how many people have left me, but sometimes it's good." I say and he chews in thought.
"You're weird April." He says after sometime. I smile and toss my hair.
"But you love me." He laughs and I can almost hear the whispered words.
"That I do."
°•°•°•°|°•°•°•°
I walk into the restaurant to meet Zeke McLane. Cliché right, I mean, you meet a girl over dinner, talk about boring shit and at the end, make her lose the remaining brain feels she'd been managing.
At least that's what I think will happen.
I spot him and walk over to the table he's already sitting at, putting on my fakest smile. His eyes widen when he sees me and he straightens. I sit beside him and look down, fiddling with my fingers.
"Hey, April, this is so awesome, I don't know what to say so I'll shut up right now." He says and I nearly roll my eyes.
"Yeah, I think we should order now." I say and he nods, calling for the waiter. The guy scurries over and eyes me with a weird glint in his eyes and I feel like puking.
"Yes sir, what would you like to order?" He asks, taking his eyes off me for a second and I breathe in relief.
"I'll have the lobster with some salad on the side." He says and I nearly choke.
"And you, Milady?" The waiter looks at me and I sigh.
"Do you have Mac and cheese?" I ask and their brows shoot up, but the waiter nods.
"Yes, is that what you want to order?" He asks and I nod.
He eyes me again before walking off. Zeke laughs nervously and we just sit in silence, waiting for our food.
Ugh, I hate awkward silences.
"So, um, how's things going? With your um, art stuff?" He asks and I look up.
"It's good, I'm taking a break from all of it though." I say and he nods before we fall into silence again.
The food arrives and a smile covers my face as I remember the first time I went out with Austin, he took the kids menu.
He gets his plate of lobster and I nearly puke. I start eating my Mac and cheese when he pauses to look at me.
"Isn't that like an afternoon food or something?" He asks and I pause.
"Does it have to be labeled?" I ask and he shuts up. We eat in more awkward silence until he gets the brilliant idea to cut out of his lobster meat and force it into my mouth while smiling like a fish.
"Try it, it's so good!" He says and I choke on it, swallowing accidentally.
My eyes widen as I stare at him just as I feel my chest tightening.
"What's wrong?" He asks and I quickly grab water, gulping it down.
"I'm allergic to lobster you fat oaf!"
"Oh shite!"