Once inside Mayfair Mall, I head to the food court on the third floor looking for Syd. I scan over the hundreds of people stuffing their faces with fast food until I catch a glimpse of a cascade of neat, auburn waves.
Syd sits alone at a small table, her head resting on her hand as she scrolls through her phone with a nervous expression on her face. She taps her foot anxiously against the leg of the table as she looks up and glances over the crowd, probably looking for me. As if sensing my eyes on her, her head snaps in my direction and I offer her a small smile and a wave of my fingers, as she immediately jumps off her seat and bolts in my direction. She crashes against me, almost making us topple down to the floor as she wraps her arms around me tightly as if fearing I'll escape her embrace.
"I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry. I was such a bitch and I hate myself for it. I just went off what Tyler told me when I should've taken the time to listen to your side of the story. I just hate seeing my friends hurt, and I know that sounds hypocritical because I ended up hurting you but I didn't mean to. I love you and I never want to fight with you again, please forgive me." She word-vomits, rushing through her apology and I almost laugh at her worry. I hug her back.
"It's okay. I understand, and I'm not mad at you."
She lets go of me abruptly to hold me at arm's length and look me in the face with a confused expression. "You're not?" she asks incredulously.
I let out a small laugh. "Of course not." I assure you, "I get it, and I can't blame you. I asked you to put yourself in my shoes, and when I put myself in yours, I realized that I probably would've reacted the same way you did. I know you just want the best for me and for Tyler, and that you were just looking out for me. So don't worry, all is forgiven."
"Oh, thank god," she deflates with a sigh of relief, placing her right hand over her chest. "You were right, I was upset and I was completely unfair to you and to Noah. If he makes you happy and treats you the way you deserve, then that's enough for me. I'm so sorry."
"Syd, stop apologizing." I grab her by the shoulders so she'll stop freaking out.
"Yeah, okay," she nods nervously, "I should shut up now. I'll stop talking. Sorry. Dammit!" she curses herself and I laugh, hugging her close to me. "Can we just forget all about this and go buy some outfits that'll make us look like the bad bitches that we are?" she asks, her voice muffled as she's pressed into the crook of my neck.
I chuckle, "I would love nothing more."
***
"So you two are official now?" Syd asks as I pick up a red top for the stoplight party after I finish recounting the events of the last few days.
"Pretty much, yeah," I nod.
"Well congratulations!" she smiles genuinely, "You somehow managed to lock down Westpoint High's most eligible bachelor, and that deserves a round of applause." she claps and I smile, not even caring about the attention she's drawing to us.
"I guess I'm pretty lucky. He's so sweet, you should see the way he acted around my parents. My dad even called him son, twice," I point out.
"Damn, I thought Marcus would be a little harder to win over. Noah must be one hell of a sweet talker."
"Tell me about it," I shake my head as I skim through a messy pile of clothes on sale.
"Well, if your parent's council approves, then Judge Syd approves too. Congrats Noah, you've entered probation." Syd announces, and I give her a warning look. "Kidding!" she sings in a high-pitched voice and I roll my eyes.
"I am, by the way," I add after a pause.
"What?" she asks, confused by my out-of-context comment.
"You asked me if I was in love with him," I explain. "And I am."
"Wow," she takes a second, processing my words, "Have you told him?" she asks.
"Of course not,"
"Why?"
"What do you mean why?" I ask "We've only been dating for a few months and we've been official for barely a couple of days. I can't just drop the L-bomb. I'll scare him away!"
"You don't think he feels the same way?" she asks me, raising an eyebrow.
"I don't know, he might not be there yet." I shrug shyly.
"Hmm," she thinks, coming over to stand in front of me and studying me closely. "That's a really nice necklace you got there Mads," she says, taking the little heart pendant hanging from my neck in between her fingers. "Where did you get it?" she asks.
"Noah gave it to me," I smile at the memory, "He said when he saw it, it made him think of me, so he wanted me to have it."
"That's so fucking adorable it's actually disgusting," she says, and I bump her shoulder. "But you're right, a guy who buys you beautiful jewelry, drives to your house in the middle of the night to comfort you while you're crying your eyes out, and who makes waffles with your mom probably doesn't love you." she shrugs.
"You think you're so funny don't you?" I ask.
"No. I just think you're super easy to mess with." She replies, linking our arms together as we walk into the last store for the day to buy our costumes for the Halloween party.
"Okay, so now that you have a boyfriend, you're probably going to want to match your costumes. Do you know what he's dressing up as?" Syd asks.
"An NFL player," I reply as I look through the racks of clothing.
She gives me a disapproving look that says «Seriously?»
"What?" I ask innocently.
"The quarterback, of a high school's football team, is dressing up as an NFL player," she says condescendingly "Creative."
"What happened to being nice?" I ask.
"Fine," she sighs, "I won't comment on your boyfriend's mediocre and cliche costume ideas," she says shuffling through a rack of costumes. She meets my gaze and I give her a warning look. "Okay, now I'm done," she says and I roll my eyes suppressing a smile.
"If there are no more snarky comments in your repertoire, could you help me find a decent cheerleader costume?" I ask, unable to find what I'm looking for.
"Why bother? You can just borrow my uniform."
"I hadn't thought of that actually, thank you," I say.
"What would you do without me?" Syd flatters herself.
"Probably spend 50 dollars on a second-rate cheering outfit." I shrug.
"Jerk," she glares at me and I laugh.
Syd pays for her costume and we exit the store, our hands full with bags that hold our special outfits for each party, enough swimsuits to last a lifetime, makeup, and some toiletries. We head back to the food court to grab some lunch, deciding to stand in line at a McDonald's since I have a hole in my stomach begging to be filled with fries and chicken nuggets.
The cashier puts down my order on her monitor and tells me my total. I struggle to get my cash out of my purse and Syd grabs my hand, saying "It's on me," as she digs through her wallet.
"No way," I hurry to find my money "You're not-"
"Sweety," she interrupts, "I wasn't asking," she says as she hands her card to the cashier and the payment goes through. "Don't be such a grump," she says as I cross my arms.
"You know I don't like it when you pay for me."
"I'm just getting even. I acted like a bitch and now I'm paying for your lunch, my debt is settled," she says grabbing her tray and walking away towards one of the individual tables in the food court.
I sit across from her and dig right into my food, almost letting out a moan as I shovel fries into my mouth. "Someone's hungry," Syd says as she opens a packet of ketchup with her teeth and I scowl at her.
"Anyway," I brush her sarcastic comment off, "What happened with you and Jackson? I saw you bought a green outfit for the stoplight party, so I'm guessing things didn't go too well on your date...?"
"I don't know," she says, "I mean the date was good. He took me bowling, and I pretended to suck at it so he could do that cutesy movie shit, where he came up behind me and guided my hand to make the shot. He paid for my food afterward, even though I was very adamant about splitting, and he was overall really nice. There's nothing necessarily wrong with him, it's just the chemistry wasn't really there, you know? We have fun together, I just don't see it developing into anything serious." She shrugs.
"Yeah, I get what you mean."
"It's a shame though," she says, biting down on a fry, "He's packing. You should've seen the size of that thing, it was like-"
"Oh my god, too many details! I do not need to know that!" I say, interrupting before she can finish showing me the measurements with her hands.
"Aw, I'm sorry. Am I hurting your little virgin ears with my profanity?" she pouts, mocking me.
"You're the worst," I say, trying not to let the blush on my face show.
"I know," she grins, pleased with herself. "I'm also right," she adds, teasing me even further.
"I'll have you know, I've done...stuff," I say, losing my confidence at the end of my sentence.
"Really?" Syd questions perking up.
"Really," I stand my ground.
She leans in, being secretive "How far?" she asks, narrowing her eyes.
"Third base," I mumble almost inaudibly.
Syd slams both her hands on the table loudly "SHUT UP!"
"Could you keep it down!" I loud-whisper.
"Look at you taking off your chastity belt!" Syd leans back on her chair and folds her arms over her chest.
"I fucking hate you." I shrink in my seat.
"Come on, you know I'm just teasing you. This is huge!" she stops, coming closer to my face again. "How was it?" She pries.
"I'm not telling you about that! It's private." I frown, hugging myself as I try not to let the heat of the conversation get to me.
"Fine, I don't need the deets right now, you'll spill eventually. You always do," she says, wiping the grease off her hands with a clean napkin. She's not wrong.
"Now come on," she says, standing up.
"Where are you going? I thought we were done shopping." I say.
"We were, but that changed after what you just told me." she says before leaning down to whisper in my ear "We're not leaving until you buy some lingerie for your grand debut." She says, grabbing me by the arm and dragging me with her before I can object.
This girl is going to be the death of me.