chapter 20

Bad Things- Machine Gun Kelly, Camila Cabello

I'm dedicating this chapter to Achiyabegum for the voting! Thanks!! :)

"Honey, what about this dress?" Mom asks me, holding up a blood red dress. We were shopping London for tonight. The hotel was holding a party for someone's birthday and everyone staying was invited.

After hearing the news, mom squealed and insisted we go dress shopping. This was the 13th shop we'd be into and I still couldn't find anything to wear. At this rate, I'll end up going in jeans and a t-shirt.

"That will bring too much attention." I tell her, walking over to the party area. So far, everything mom has picked out is either too short, too revealing or just too ugly. I haven't liked a single one yet. And even if I did choose one of the dresses she picked out, dad will refuse to let me wear it.

"Aww, honey. You're going to have to choose something." Mom whines, going over to a sparkly silver dress that shows off too much boob cleverage. "How about this?"

"I don't want to be a star mom." I deadpan, sighing in frustration. We are in the heart of London, where there are shops everywhere that have expensive clothing. Surely there is a dress that's reasonable somewhere.

"Well, you're already a star to me -- you shine brighter than anyone else." She comments.

I cringe at it. Who even says that anymore? "Don't say that again mom."

"I'm only complimenting you sweetie." She sweetly says, giving me her innocent smile.

I ignore her and continue to find something. The store we're in looks very high class and expensive so I try to be careful with what I do. I don't want to go and ruin one of the dresses.

Just as I'm about to give up my search in this store, a certain blue dress catches my eye. Immediately, I rush over to it and pick it up. Its a knee-length blue dress that shows off some curves and not too much cleverage. Its dark blue and has a few sequences on the waist area. I don't know why but it really catches my eye; I fall in love with it.

This is the dress for me.

I didn't even notice mom was stood beside me until she said something. "Its beautiful honey. Do you want to try it on?"

I nod my head and we walk over to the fitting rooms. I hope this dress fits me and looks as good on me as it did on the hanger.

I go into the room and try it on. I nearly gasp when I look in the mirror at how good it looks. How good I look.

I'm not normally one to brag about how I look but this dress makes me look...amazing. It makes me feel like a princess. Twirling around in the changing room, I giggle.

"Do you like it, honey?" I hear mom say from the other side of the curtain. I give her a quick 'yes' and get changed back into my t-shirt and jeans.

I exit the changing room and we go to the till to buy it. I get my purse out to pay for half of it, knowing that I should at least pay for something on this trip. The dress isn't cheap and I know that my parents should save some of their money for the date they're going on tomorrow.

Its the least I could do for them.

Arriving back at the hotel a few hours later, I lie on my bed in exhaustion. My feet are killing me after shopping for the dress and a few accessories to go with it. I don't know how some people can spend the whole day shopping. I only went for three hours and I nearly died.

I can't believe we have been here for so long,  this is our 3rd day. Its already Tuesday and tomorrow I'm going out with Jules. When I say going out, I don't mean a date, I just mean a friendly meet up.

Yesterday, we went to the National Museum and the art gallery. Dad thought it would be a good idea to get the tube there. Of course, he didn't realize how busy it actually is so we were crushed throughout the journey.

Apart from that, going to the museum then the art gallery was exciting. On Thursday, we're going on the tour bus so that we can see all of London. And then Friday, I think we're going on the London Eye which I can't wait for.

Anyways, I'm about to have a nap when my tablet goes off. Groaning, I roll over to the bedside table to pick it up. I see its a Skype call from Ren and Cora.

I smile, answering the call. I haven't spoken to them since the video I sent of me and Jules singing. I've kind of been so busy sightseeing and other things that I haven't had time to speak to them.

"Annabella, how dare you not answer our calls." Ren's scolding face pops up onto the screen. She looks pissed, really pissed. Oh dear.

"Sorry," I say sheepishly, giving her a small smile. "I've been busy."

Ren huffs, rolling her eyes. "Too busy for your best friends I see." She mutters. "Oh and by the way, who's the hottie?"

Of course, Ren would ask, she couldn't resist.

"Jules. We were placed next to each other on the plane. He's really nice, in fact, I'm even meeting up with him tomorrow." I tell them, watching both of them raise their eyebrows.

"What?" I ask, slowly.

Ren and Cora share a look at each other making me feel even more nervous. Am I missing something here?

"Guys...what is it?"

"Well, we didn't really mean to show it to him, he kind of just saw it yesterday at lunch and well, he wasn't very happy," Cora explains. I have no idea what she's on about though. Who did she show the video to?

"Who saw it?" I hesitantly ask. Deep down I already know the answer but I just don't want to admit it.

Cora takes a deep breath before answering. "Xavier."

Oh god. That's not what I need.

"Annie, he literally went ballistic when he saw that guy, Jules, with you. It was quite scary actually. I don't think you should take any more videos or pictures with him just in case Xavier decides to...attack him." Cora looks a bit shaken up which tells me how scary Xavier was. Cora's a strong girl so for her to be scared of Xavier then it must have been bad.

"More like crush him." Ren mumbles to herself, loud enough for all of us to hear. I have no doubt Xavier would beat Jules up but I think Jules would manage to get a few good punches in.

I don't even know why I'm thinking about that. I should really stop.

"Did you see him today at school? Was he calmer? Was he less pissed?"I throw questions at them, afraid of what Xavier could do. I'm dreading going back now, I'm dreading seeing the look he'll give me. I bet he will give me a whole speech about making a friend with a guy.

Once again, Ren and Cora share a look. I bit my lip in anticipation, hoping he was okay but doubting it.

"Annie, he wasn't at school today. Nobody's heard from him since that lunchtime. Not even Derek." Oh dear. That's not good.

An angry Xavier isn't good. At all.

Where has he gone though? To blow off some steam? To go and punch somebody in the face? Hopefully, he hasn't gone to do something reckless.

I can't believe I just said that. I sounded like I cared.

Do I? Do I actually care about Xavier?

I think I do.

I think I care about Xavier King.

Shit.

Word count: 1388

Hi! So yeah, not my best chapter but hey, its a chapter. Sorry its short, I had mocks so I had to focus on that.

Where do you think Xavier's gone? How mad do you think he was?

Comment below! Please keep voting, it makes me happy to know you enjoyed the chapter!

Next update: 14th January