‘Thanks for coming with me today, Lou.’ Adam beamed at me as we strolled past rows of shops in the cold winter air. ‘I have literally no idea what to get.’
‘We’ll find something.’ I reassured him, staring confidently ahead. ‘Somewhere.’
Sarah’s seventeenth was coming up this month, and Adam was stressing out. No matter how much thought he put into his presents, he never seemed to think that they were good enough without a female’s input. And he seemed convinced that Sarah would know the exact price-tag on every item. Currently, he was swinging the two ‘secondary’ presents in gift bags by his side. One held a heart-shaped box of chocolates, the other a tiny teddy bear that I’d tried to persuade him against.
‘I just don’t know what she’d like. Do you know?’ He stressed, running his free hand through his newly shorter hair.
‘I already told you, she’ll be happy with whatever you get.’
Turning suddenly to the left I dragged Ad into a jewellery shop. We’d be sure to find something good enough in here. Behind display cases, silver jewellery glittered but failed to capture my attention. Feeling subconscious under the gaze of the muscular bouncer, I tip-toed over to a glass display window. Behind it lay a simple silver chain bracelet.
‘That.’ I whispered in Adam’s familiar ear. ‘Is gorgeous.’
He peered into the case, presumably inspecting the price tag, before nodding in agreement. ‘Do you think I should get it?’
Feeling a pang of jealousy, I agreed. Besides, I’d never be able to afford anything like that. Ad spent a couple more seconds looking at the bracelet before summoning an assistant to take it out from behind the case. The girl unlocked the window and handed Adam the bracelet to take a closer look.
My best friend turned to me. ‘Do you like it?’
Before I could control them, I felt my cheeks flaming. ‘I think it's lovely.’ I said in a strained voice, looking over at the assistant who was smiling sweetly at us.
‘We’ll take it.’
The girl led us over to a till where she proceeded to place the bracelet in a suede box and wrap it in dark purple tissue. She tied the gift box she’d put it in with a long ribbon and spritzed it with a flowery scent. Once Ad had handed over the money, the assistant handed the bag over to me with a jealous smile on her face.
‘You make a lovely couple.’
‘I…Um…’ I stammered, considering how to say it. ‘We…’
‘We do.’ Adam smiled, taking the bag from the elegantly French manicured hand. ‘Thank you!’
The lady returned his greeting and watched us leave. Once outside the posh doors of the shop I shoved Adam into a wall as he exploded into laughter, tears rolling down his cheeks. He struggled to compose himself before turning to face me. I crossed my arms across my chest and glared my famous unimpressed face.
‘What? We did make a pretty cute couple.’ His face turned serious, his lips moving into a straight line.
I stopped glaring and slowly unfolded my arms. A kid shoved my shoulder and I realised I was stood in the middle of the pavement. Around us the buzzing of conversations continued, people swung their plastic bags back and forth, marching through the street. Making my apologies, I shuffled to Ad’s side, with a concerned look and a twisting knot in my stomach.
‘Are you being serious?’ I asked, squeezing his arm nervously. ‘I wasn’t embarrassed to be with you or anything but we’re not like that anymore, so…’
YOU ARE READING
Getting Over Charlie Miller
Teen FictionBreak ups suck, everyone knows that. But they suck even more when your ex just refuses to be forgotten... Louise and Charlie had the perfect relationship. They were that cute couple that could never stay mad at eachother; the couple that seemed like...
