Where The Sage Shrubs Grow,

Chapter 37

Hallie's POV:
I was walking up the front steps of Sage's house. I hadn't seen her all summer and I wanted to surprise her with a visit.

I rang the doorbell and to my surprise she wasn't the one who answered the door. It was some random lady. I quickly stepped back to make sure I was at the right house.
"Yes, can I help you?" She asked
"I- I uhm uhh sage?" Was all I could get out

"Yes, yes come in!" She ushered me inside
Am I getting trafficked? I stepped in, it looked like the right house... only, Is that a dog toy? The lady led me into the kitchen where I saw Apollo doing paperwork at the island. I have never been so relived to see a familiar face.

"Apollo!"
He looked up from what he was doing taking off his reading glasses and smiled.
"Hi Hallie."
"Um, where's Sage? Who's uhm her?" I asked pointing at the stranger in the living room

"Well Sage is out right now, and that is our housekeeper. Sage has been doing a lot this summer and I'm working so I had to hire someone to help us keep the house clean." He explained
I nodded "do you know when Sage will be back?"
"She's been out for about two hours so she should be back pretty soon, feel free to make yourself at home. I think you've come over often enough to know how we work." He laughed

I got myself a glass of water and sat down at the island with Apollo, mainly cause I was scared to walk past the house keeper. Apollo asked me about my summer and I asked about what he was working on. Apollo always felt like my brother and he treated me like he was too.

"Listen, I don't want you to be too shocked when Sage gets back. She's changed a few things, her hair and her appearance and well someone who hasn't seen her yet and it's past halfway through summer. It might be a shock." He laughed
I nodded along, Sage told me she'd been working out and that it was going well and that she was excited to see me so she could watch my jaw drop but Apollo was making me nervous.

"I'm back! I'm gonna go take a quick shower!" I heard Sage yell
I moved to get up but decided to wait till she was done. That's when I heard it, a bark. I quickly looked at Apollo who slowly looked back up at me.
"I might have forgotten to mention, we got a dog too." He nervously laughed

He got up and left the room, promptly coming back with the cutest damn dog ever. He was a English cocker spaniel and according to his dog tag his name was Rosemary. Apollo handed him to me and the dog started licking my face. He was the sweetest dog, I might just steal him! Nah my cat would hate that. It's so sad she can't bring him to school.

"We call him Rosey. We got him a few weeks ago but we saw him in the pet store first day she got back from school." He explained
"So she has an owl and a dog? I'm jealous." I laughed

"Hey, where did Rosey go- HALLIE?" Sage yelled
I spun around to face the door, my jaw dropped the moment I caught a glimpse of my best friend. She had lost all her extra arm and belly fat but still had no thigh gap. She had that hourglass shape with a larger chest. Her vitiligo was also more prominent but somehow accentuated everything, kinda pulled it all together. What the hell? She looked like a whole damn supermodel.

She had dyed the underside of her hair white and her hair had grown out to her waist. She had a nose stud and more piercings in her ears. No girl has the right to be that gorgeous, I mean I thought she was beautiful before but now everything is enhanced like ten fold. If things don't work out with men, I mean. Ok I'm joking but she truly did look amazing.

"Yeah, it's me! I missed my best friend!" I laughed
She ran over and wrapped me in a hug, I returned the hug and we started talking and squealing.

"You look amazing Hallie! I'm gonna have to keep the guys away!" Sage squealed admiring me
I guess I did look kind of different, I had more hips, I was dressing more confidently, I had cut and dyed my own bangs, I got a septum piercing, and I had mastered the no makeup makeup look.
"I know you aren't talking, you look like a goddess." I said dramatically

We both laughed nervously, remembering that neither of us are used to compliments. It donned on me that we both thought the other was pretty but we never really said it. We need to normalize compliments.

We went up to her room, I was still carrying her dog. We talked about our summers so far and our plans. I really had missed her. All summer and I haven't seen the one person I can tell everything too. Quite tiring if you ask me.

I found out Sage was taking a painting class, and obviously had gotten a dog. Her room was pretty much the same only her book collection had grown exponentially. Sage asked me about my summer, when I'd done my hair and changed my style. She kept telling me how amazing I looked which made me happy cause I know if Sage gives a compliment she means it.

We talked till it was 10 at night and my sister had arrived to pick me up. She ended up staying long enough for us to eat dinner together.
"Remember when we thought it would be cool if Serenity and Apollo got married." I laughed
"Yes!" Sage wheezed

"Hallie! It's time to go!" Serenity called
We headed downstairs exchanged hugs promising to see each other soon.

1003 Words