Sophitz: A Week to Find Love

Chapter 17

Dex's P.O.V.

"Ah! I can't believe it! I'm in a real-life scavenger hunt! This is super exciting!' Linh exclaimed. I always loved how Linh got excited about pretty much everything. It was really sweet and cute. 

"Where do we go first?" I asked her. She smiled and grabbed the piece of paper. She nodded along as she read it, her facial expression changing along the way from happy to excited to surprised. And then she flipped the page over and got a curious look. 

"You found the secret bonus clue!" she read aloud. "Here's the secret bonus - you actually don't need the final 5 items on this list! Good luck and have fun!" Linh squealed upon realizing we had found the secret clue then grabbed my hand and rushed off. 

"Where are we going?" I asked, tripping over my shoelaces. Luckily Linh caught me in time and pulled me up just to keep running. 

"We have to hurry!" she replied. "First it's off to the clothing store!" I had no idea why we had to go to the clothing store - but the one place I did need to go to was the jewelry store. 

"Do we happen to need to go to the jewelry store for one of the items?" I asked casually. Linh glanced at her list, stopping only for a moment to observe it before taking off again. 

"Maybe!" she exclaimed. "We could go there for the two matching things!" I nodded along with what she was saying. 

"Of course," I agreed. Normally I wouldn't be extremely interested in a jewelry shop, but this time it was urgent I went to one. 

We got to the clothing shop in record's time before anyone else had arrived. And then a few seconds later, Linh pulled me behind a rack of clothes. 

"Sorry, I just saw Keefe and Marella," she explained. Keefe had run into the store with Marella on his back as they headed towards the pajamas section. "Looks like they're in some sort of important conversation..." Knowing Keefe and Marella for years now, I highly doubted this conversation was about something important. 

Linh bent as low as she could and ran through the store, hiding behind whatever she could find. She tried ducking behind what looked like a mirror before realizing it was actually a window where she could see our friends up close - and they could see her. 

"Oops," she murmured, relocating her position. "Come on, Dex! This is really fun!" I couldn't help but smile as I walked through the store to catch up with her. 

"If you do it in a spy-ey way, it's more fun!" she informed me. She continued this method until we reached the "Fancy" section, far enough away so Keefe and Marella couldn't see us. 

"Eek! I love shopping!" Linh exclaimed. "This is so exciting!" She started browsing through all the clothes, pulling out a short, red summer dress with small flowers and a strapless pink dress with a black belt. 

"Sophie and Marella would totally love this!" she squealed. "Of course, it'd have to be for the summer. It's way too cold right now." I grinned. 

"I think they would like it - but what about you?" I asked. Linh always thought of others before herself, one thing I really liked about her. 

"Right!" she exclaimed, dashing back into the clothes. She came out a moment later with a bright yellow dress that had long sleeves and a layered bottom. "What do you think?" 

"Looks great!" I told her. She smiled happily, picking out a pair of shoes and neatly placing it in the shopping basket. 

"What are you going to wear?" Linh asked. "A tuxedo?" 

"Well..." I said, thinking about it. I didn't really like tuxedos, but I'd at least go for a nice, collared shirt. "How about that one?" I asked, pointing to a light blue shirt. Linh grabbed it and measured it against me before nodding. 

"Perfect! And what about pants?" I took a gray pair of dress pants off the rack and placed them in the basket. 

"Okay, are we done now?" I asked. 

"We still have 2 more to go!" Linh laughed and took the basket, skipping to the "Sports Wear" section. I didn't know how she always managed to be so positive - and I could always use a little more positivity in my life. 

She came back with a sky blue tank top with the sun on it with navy blue shorts and a PJ set with a long-sleeved shirt and shorts - both of which were silver with small golden stars. I figured I should pick out my outfits as well, so I grabbed two shirts and two pairs of shorts in different colors. It didn't really matter all that much to me.

"Okay, now we're done," Linh announced with a smile. We waited in line for a few minutes before paying for our clothes and moving on to the next store. 

"Let's go to the jewelry store," Linh suggested. "We can find matching things next!" I nodded; I definitely wasn't going to object, being as that was one store I really needed to go to, as I kept repeating to myself. 

The jewelry store was only a few stores down from the clothing store, so we reached it fairly quickly. Linh immediately went over to admire all the necklaces and bracelets. Okay, it's now or never. I slipped away from Linh's view and used her secret spy method to reach the ring section without being detected. Well, until I got detected by a worker. 

"Um, are you alright, sir?" the lady asked. She looked like she was in her mid-thirties with wavy brown hair and gray eyes. I straightened up and nodded. 

"Perfectly fine," I assured the lady. "I just need a ring of some sort?" The lady grinned and led me to a section where there were so many rings I was nearly blinded by it all. 

"I'm assuming this is an engagement ring?" the lady guessed. I felt my face flush and nodded reluctantly. 

"Um, yes..." I told her. I pointed to where Linh was talking to another worker. "That's my girlfriend so I just don't want her to find out, is that okay?" 

"Perfectly understandable," the lady reassured. "You want to surprise her, right?" I nodded yet again. This lady was really good at her job. "Any ring, in particular, you think she would like?" 

I looked over the many rings, but they didn't really seem like there were any that Linh would like. I knew she loved color, but all these were kind of regular with just a clear diamond on a silver ring. 

"Do you have any that's... A little different? Maybe one with some colors?" The lady scrunched her eyebrows - she probably didn't get this request very often. 

"Hmm... Let me check real quick. I actually think I have a ring you'll really love." She disappeared into the back room and came out a few minutes later with a small blue box - already a very good sign. She opened it to reveal a single blue tear-drop-shaped stone on a bright, golden ring. 

"Linh is going to love it," I murmured to myself. "Thank you..." I glanced at her name tag. "Thank you, Cindy." 

"No problem," Cindy told me, handing me the box. "I'll meet you at the check-out counter." I wanted to glance at the ring one more time, but I heard Linh coming up behind me and quickly shoved it in my pocket. 

"Hey, Dex! I think I found something." She pulled out two colorful strings of yarn. "I figured this was something we could both wear! And it's really pretty!" She tied hers, double knotting it tightly before slipping it over her head, and then wrapped the other yarn around my wrist a few times before tieing that as well. 

"What do you think?" she asked. 

"It looks really nice!" I told her.

"Really? That's awesome since it was free! The nice lady over there said she wouldn't charge us anything for them." Linh smiled and took my hand, racing out of the store. I followed along for a few steps before realizing I still had the ring in my pocket. But it was too late and the alarm started ringing loudly.