Rebels Without A Clause

✧7

☃︎❅✧˖°･::｡･::･ﾟ.𖥔 ݁ ˖

"I'll meet you here at 1:00, okay?" I tell Cole. We talked it over in the car, I told him I plan on shopping separately. He was fine with the idea, luckily. Cole nods his head and walks off in another direction. I tell myself to cherish the time away from him.

My notes app on my phone has all the gift ideas. I opened that up and decided to shop for my Mom. The candle store is near me, so I'll go check in there first. I've been saving my money from my job back at home for gifts. I saved a bit, but I still want to be mindful of what I buy.

The mall here is completely indoor. It's warm and very spacious. I'm thankful for that because I'm very cold and there are a lot of people here. I'm relieved to see the candle store isn't too busy. Sometimes too many people can ruin a shopping experience. Especially if the store is small like this.

I go around sniffing some candles. In front of the holiday section, I see two younger teens doing the same. They laugh and giggle at the candle names. They remind me of Poppy and me when we were little. Honestly, we still do create chaos around stores. But it's almost normal for us now.

I go to the other side of the display and start looking at the candles. I see what the other two girls are laughing at now. Some of these candle names are questionable. I pull out my phone and take a picture of one that reads "Resting Grinch Face". I look down at the actual scent to see it's pine-scented. I've had enough of the pine scent lately. Cole's cologne is pine-scented, and now I think my car is permanently pine-scented. I pick it up and decide to buy it for him. I might as well buy him a gift.

I decided to buy my Mom a lavender candle and some vanilla lotion I also found in the store. Both items were on sale, so I got a really good deal on them. I check the clock on my phone and realize I still have some more time.

"I'll meet you here at 1:00, okay?" I tell Cole. We talked it over in the car, I told him I plan on shopping separately. He was fine with the idea, luckily. Cole nods his head and walks off in another directio

He stops and puts his bag down to open his wallet. I watch carefully as he looks through his wallet. From where I stand, I can see his chest deflate. Cole picks up his bags and keeps walking. I guess he's only using his money for Christmas shopping, or he spent it all. People scoot me forward in line and I can't see Cole and more.

I turn back to the menu and quickly decide on my order before approaching the employee.

"Hello, I'd like two soft pretzels, please. Some cheese sauce as well. Thank you."

Immediately, I got my order. Thank goodness, because of the pretzel stop I'm late to meeting Cole. It's not too late, but not being punctual is rude. Even if it's Cole I'm rushing for, it's still important. I try to blend in with some nearby speed walkers. Just to make it look obvious that I'm in a rush.

☃︎❅✧˖°･::｡･::･ﾟ.𖥔 ݁ ˖

I finally get back to the place I agreed to meet Cole. He's relaxed in a massage chair. His bags are by his feet and his eyes are closed. Does he not realize he could be robbed like this? As vulnerable as he is, it sure does look like he's enjoying that massage chair.

I'm also exhausted from walking around all day. I sit down next to him in the other massage chair. I grab a pretzel out of my to-go bag and turn to Cole. I nudge his shoulder and his body goes stiff. He opens one eye and looks in my direction to see who touched him. Cole relaxes as soon as he sees I'm the one who bothered him.

"Care for a pretzel?" I ask him and present the beautiful soft pretzel in front of him. His face lights up in excitement and I hand him the snack.

"No way! I was craving one, thank you," Cole exclaims. I can't help but smile at his reaction. It was so wholesome.

"I also got some cheese sauce, if you're into that," I say and pull the sauce out of the bag. I set it on the armrests between us.

"It's like you can read my mind," Cole tells me with a mouthful of pretzel.

I take my time and cherish my food. Cole eats his pretzel-like he hasn't seen a piece of food in years. To avoid looking at Cole, I look down at the ground. At his feet, I can see there are lots of different store bags.

"Wow, you went shopping everywhere," I start to say, but my thoughts are interrupted. "Is that a Victoria's Secret bag?" My eyebrows shoot up. The thought of Cole walking around that store is amusing. He's either the type to not care and act like everything in there is normal, or cover his eyes and stumble through the store.

"Yeah, it's for you," Cole smirks at me. I almost jumped out of my seat. His expression is followed by laughter. My face is still frozen in shock. What could he have gotten me from Victoria's Secret? I feel like that's something you get for a close friend. I wouldn't consider us close like that.

"Calm down." He laughs and picks up the pink bag. "It's for my Mom," Cole says, that makes the situation better. What could he have gotten his Mom from there?

Cole pulls out a bottle of perfume. Just a normal bottle of perfume. "It's her favorite kind. Sorry if I had your heart rate racing. I'm not the creep you think I am."

I relax back into my chair. "Oh. No, I don't think you're a creep. Just surprised me a little," I say defensively.

"Whatever you say, Rose."

"Don't call me that."

"Whatever you say... Rose."

Deciding I won't win this argument, I stand up and throw our snack trash away. Cole also gets up and gathers his bags. He also grabs mine as well. I turn back to him and open my mouth. He holds up a hand to silence me.

"I'm going to carry your bags because you got me a pretzel. Now let's go," Cole explains. My jaw snaps close and I follow him.

Up ahead, there is a big crowd of people circling something. We get closer, and I see it's for mall Santa photos. A kid is screaming at the top of his lungs while his parents try to force him to get on the old man's lap. I don't blame him.

"We should get a picture with Santa," Cole turns to me and says. If he weren't holding all of our bags, he would probably drag me over there.

"I would rather die," I tell it to him straight. There is no way I'm doing that. The whole setup is a sad sight. I'm not supporting them. "Until they stop bringing the live reindeer inside the mall to stand around forever, I won't even consider it a little bit," I say. The reindeer is truthfully what upsets me the most. They just sit here all day and be poked at by strangers. That's no way for them to live their lives.

I let out a dramatic sigh while gesturing to the reindeer. "My only Christmas wish would be to free those sad animals."

Cole shakes his head after spotting the reindeer. "Oh come on. Be a little more spontaneous, will you? The deer don't even look that sad," he says, but I still refuse.

Eventually, I get Cole to give up the idea and go back to the car. It wasn't easy, but I managed. He piles our stuff back in the car and races me to the driver seat. He sits down and acts like he's going to drive my car.

"Nah uh, get out and go be a passenger princess," I tell him while kicking him out of my seat. He'd probably crash the car if I let him drive.

"You're no fun," Cole pouts, but goes to the other seat.

☃︎❅✧˖°･::｡･::･ﾟ.𖥔 ݁ ˖