Shallow

3

"Hey, how you feeling?" I heard Chloe ask as I rubbed my eyes waking up. "Okay I guess." I said sitting up. I looked on my night stand to see food on a tray with Starbucks coffee. "What is that?" I asked in a sleepy voice. "Breakfast in bed." Chloe smiles. "I got your favorites! French toast with powdered sugar, sausage, eggs sunny side up, and of course you're infamous caramel frappe!" She listed to me. "Thank you, that means so much to me." I smiled cheek to cheek at her. I grabbed the tray and started eating. I looked over at her and seen she had an off look on her face. "What's wrong?" I asked her, putting a piece of French toast in my mouth. "I'm just so so sorry about last night. I never thought in my wildest dreams he'd ever do that to someone! Especially someone he doesn't even know!" She then starts rubbing her lip between her thumb and pointer finger. "Chloe, you can't put this on yourself. It's not your fault. He was just your friend's brother, so it's not like you really knew him, you know? I'm okay, I promise." I spoke softly reassuring her. She looked at me with puppy eyes, "Are you sure?" "Yes, I'm sure." I softly smiled at her. She made her way to my bed and rested her head on my shoulder, "I love you." She said. I smiled as I picked up a piece of French toast and brought it up to her mouth feeding her, "I love you too." I placed my head on top of hers.

"C'mon, Zoey!" Chloe announced. "Chloe, I don't want to." I whined. "No, I'm going to make this up to you. We are going shopping whether you like it or not. So hop in my car and I'm driving your beautiful ass to the mall!" She said. I looked and her and made a face as I got up. Now it makes sense why she randomly wanted to do facials and play dress up. She wanted me to get ready to go out. Smart.

"Which store do you want to go in first?" She asked me. I just simply shrugged, "It doesn't matter to me." "Well, Forever 21 here we go." She smiled as she linked her arm with mine and we made our way to the store. "We should definitely look at all the accessories! You need a cute hand bag and some necklaces in your life." She laughed, teasing me. I just gave her a mocking face as I laughed too. She showed me these super cute butterfly necklaces and matching bracelets and rings. "I know how much you love the butterfly aesthetic. So I'm getting you these." She smiled grabbing the accessories. "No, Chloe. There's no way I could possibly ask you to buy me those." I said, trying to grab them from her hand. "Good, I don't need you to ask. I'm just doing it. And even if you did ask, I would still buy them, because when do I ever listen to you?" She blew a kiss at me as she walked away. I just groaned as I followed behind her.

Chloe had walked away to grab a shirt while I looked at all the rompers and dresses they had. But one had caught my eye. It was a forest green silk dress, it was a kind of low v-cut, spaghetti straps, and would probably reach my mid-thigh. But it was absolutely beautiful. I just stared at it, lost in it's beauty. "Hey, Zoe did you see-" Chloe paused. I seen her in the corner of my eye look at me, then the dress, then me, then back at the dress. "You like it, don't you?" She said. "I don't like it, I love it." I smiled, still not taking my eyes off it. "So then buy it, Zoe." She offered. I then snapped out of my gaze, "What? No, no. I can't." I said looking to the ground. "Why not? You will look absolutely beautiful in it!" She smiled. I shook my head, "No. I'll look way too fat in it and plus my DD boobs would look weird in it not wearing a bra." I stated. "WHAT?! Zoey, you are not fat! And your boobs would look amazing! You have perky boobs for crying out loud, so it won't even look off." She tried convincing me. I just shrugged and started walking away. "Zoey, just wait out the store for me real quick, okay? I'm gonna pay for my shirt and the jewelry, it'll be like 2 minutes max." She said. I nodded my head as I walked out the store.

"Okay, let's go get Starbucks. You look down and I know your caramel frappe will cheer you right up!" She smiled linking her arm in mine again. I just smiled as we walked to the food court and went up to the Starbucks. We then ordered and I tried to pay, but Chloe of course wouldn't let me. "Everything is on me today." She stated. I wasn't really comfortable with it, but I knew if I put up an argument I'd lose, so there was no point to waste my breath. All I had to do was go with the flow. We sat at a table with our drinks. "Hey, so you know Gabriel from our improv class?" She asked. "Yeah." I giggled. "Well you know he's totally screwing Rebecca, right?" I made a face, "Really? Out of all people, her?!" I questioned. "That's literally what everyone is saying! Like not only is he totally hot, he's like one of the sweetest guys on the planet! And she's such a two faced skank!" Chloe ranted. I just simply laughed. "I'm serious! I just can't believe he'd stoop so low, he really must not have any self respect." She sipped her double chocolate chip frappe. After a beat I finally spoke, "I'm thinking about visiting California soon." "Really?" She questioned. "Yeah, it's been so long since I've seen my friends and family over there. I also miss the beaches, the weather, and so many other things." I smiled. "Well, whenever you decide to go, just know I'm gonna miss you!" She smiled back. "I was thinking if maybe, you'd like to join me?" I asked. "Me?" She pointed to herself. "No, the dude behind you. Yes, you!" I laughed. "Zoe, I'd love to! But I feel like your first visit, you should go alone. So you'd enjoy it more. Then the next one, I can go." "Are you sure?" I asked. "Yes, I'm positive." She smiled. "Okay." I replied.

We went to basically every store and we both go outfits and shoes. We even got matching shirts and hoodies! Today was really fun, I wouldn't trade Chloe for anyone in the world! She's so amazing. But she's not Maria. I miss her. We've both been so busy that we barely talk. She's like my sister, we haven't talked in 3 weeks already. Maybe I'll try to text her tomorrow. "Ready to head to the dorm?" Chloe asked. "Yes ma'am." I fake smiled. "Good, we need to work on our lines anyways. We're expected to be off book for all act one by next Friday." She said a bit worried. "Hey, we got this. Easy peasy." I smiled to reassure her. She smiled as she grabbed my hand, "I'm so damn glad I met you!" "I'm glad I met you too, donkey." I laughed, teasing her of an old nickname her brother would call her when she was younger. Her jaw dropped, "Okay wow, rude!" We both laughed.