• Chapter 3: Landon

    I woke up the next morning to my mom shaking me, at seven o’clock. I mumbled and groaned as I woke, but my mom just kept babbling random things, trying to get me up.
    “Wake up Lauren, C’mon!”
    “Eh.. what mom?”
    “I forgot to take you shopping yesterday.”
    “Oh, well I forgot too, it’s fine.”
    “No it’s not, I feel bad. I broke a promise.”
    “Mom, it is fine.”
    “No, so I’m taking you shopping all day today.”
    “Ok? Wake me up around nine.”
    “No, you’re getting up now.”
    “Ugh!”

    Then I dropped to the floor, not noticing how close to the edge of my bed I was. I went into the bathroom along with a towel and some clean clothes. I examined my clothes to make sure they were presentable, a red T-shirt, some normal jeans with a small stain on them, and my grey converse. I decided that they were fine; then, I turned around to shut the door, and my mom was standing there. I gave her a funny look, realized that she was following me everywhere, I pointed my finger to let her know to get out, and she did so. Then, I shut the door, took a shower, brushed my teeth, straitened my hair, and put some mascara on, poking my eye a few times. I tried the blush that my mom got me a few months ago, I never really had any interest in makeup other than mascara, but I gave it a shot. I dabbed blush on my face a few times, and with my hand, I smeared it around. I didn’t know if that was the way to do it, if it was wrong, it didn’t matter to me. After I struggled with makeup, while looking like a complete idiot, I walked downstairs and had a quick bowl of Cheerios. My mom saw me, and asked if I wanted eggs. I shook my head and finished my breakfast. My mom opened the door, we jumped in the car, and went on our way.

    We got to the mall, after a long, twenty minute search for it. The mall was tall, and it looked futuristic. I didn’t really know what to say about it, other than “wow.” Mom parked the car far away from the front doors, so that it was least likely she would get dinged. We walked through the front doors and I looked all around me. There were restaurants, a carousel, and stores. To me, it seemed like they had everything. The mall in Mayfield just had some stores in it, nothing special. My mom walked around with me as I looked at each store that we passed. They had jewelry, clothing, gifts, toys, food, electronics, shoes, and even cell phones. My mom pointed out a store called Claire’s. I smiled as she told me that she had a surprise for me. I walked into the store, and my mom sat me in a seat next to a small booth looking thing. An employee walked over and showed a tool in front of me. I gave my mom a suspicious look, and she told me something that I was getting my ears pierced. I then felt something on my ear that felt like a pinch, that hurt ten times worse. My mom held my shoulder as I almost screamed, but held it in. I held in my scream while I got the other pierced too. My mom told me that I wasn’t aloud any more piercing until I’m eighteen. I didn’t think about having any more, but my mom was just watching out for me I guess.

    I got a few pairs of earrings, including my first pair of small hoops. My mom then brought me into Hollister for the first time. I walked around looking at the clothing, purses, and perfume. I sprayed a little perfume on me from the sample bottle and smelled it. I knew that it was different, but I didn’t know whether to like it or not. I just walked away from it and met back up with my mom. She was looking in the clearance section at some shirts. I then spotted a white T-shirt with a small seagull on it and the word Hollister. It was laying in the clearance section, so I asked my mom for it. She looked at it for a few seconds then, said “Sure!”

    Later, we shopped in a few stores, and the Hollister shirt, the earrings, and another T-shirt from American Eagle were the only things I got. My mom got a candle, a shirt for herself, a new pair of jeans from a cheap clothing store that she found, and she got an Abercrombie shirt for my dad. I told her that he probably wouldn’t wear it, but she didn’t listen to me. She then started pointing out cute boys for me, that were all not cute. I rolled my eyes every time she got excited when she saw one. I continued looking around at all the stores, while my mom picked out “cute” boys for me. I looked at all of the little gift and candy shops until my mom turned me around and asked “How about him?” I looked for my mom’s sake and there standing just a few feet away from me was Landon.
    “Mom!”
    “Wha-”
    “I’ve met him.”
    “Oh. Is that the boy Timmy you were telling me about the other day?”
    “No, that’s Landon, I didn’t tell you about him.”
    “Why don’t you go talk to him?”
    “N-”
    Then she started pushing me toward him until I was right next to him. He didn’t notice me right away, but he did notice me standing next to him when my mom left.
    “Lauren, Hey.”
    “Hey Landon.” I said awkwardly.
    “Shopping?” Then he pointed to the Hollister and Claire’s bags I had.
    “Yeah.”
    “Cool.”
    I had nothing to say. So, I just waited for him to fill the awkward silence between us.
    “Is this your first time here at the mall?” He said filling the silence.
    “This mall, yeah.”
    “Cool.” He said with a small smile.
    “Yeah, this mall is big compared to the other one I’ve been to.”
    “Oh. So do you like it?” He asked.
    “Yeah! It.. It’s great!”
    “Cool.”
    “Yeah.”
    Then there was another awkward silence that I didn’t want to fill. So, I waited for him. Then a minute passed, and then two. I had nothing to say, so I started to walk toward my mom. She sat in a chair in the food court and waved her hands for me to stay with him. I just ignored her and continued to slowly walk toward her, trying to make sure Landon didn’t see me chickening out. I was only a few feet away from him, then I looked back to make sure he didn’t notice me walking away. But then, I saw his eyes meet mine.
    “Oh, your leaving?”
    “Yeah, my mom called me over.” I fibbed.
    “I’ll see you later?”
    “Sure.”

    I reached my mom and listened to her nag about boys and being smooth. I just looked around and imagined Landon walking right next to me. I thought to myself “Why do I like him so much? I barely know the guy!” Then I pictured him in my head, his amazing eyes, his gorgeous hair, his smile that took my breath away, he is really nice, sweet, and he really talked to me when I first met him. He didn’t talk to me like I was the new girl around; he talked to me like I was someone who fit in, someone who blended in, not someone who stood out as the new chick around. He acted like he had known me for a while, that I wasn’t the person from an alien universe called Mayfield. I feel like I fit in when I’m with Landon. He is just different than most people around here.

    Later that day, when my mom and I went home, I went to my room and decided to decorate it more. Struggled to get the tacks out of my closet in the mountain of clothes I had piled up. I grabbed a hammer and a nail out of one of the kitchen cabinets. And nearly broke my hand getting my cork board up on the wall above my desk. I got a few pictures of me, Zoë, Tracy, Nick, and my parents. I hung them up on the board and admired it. I stopped admiring when I heard my mom holler for me downstairs.
    “Lauren! You have a visitor!”
    “Ok, just a second!”
    Who could be visiting me right now? I mean, it is around dinnertime and I only have about two or three friends here that I barely know. I rushed downstairs and saw Meg in the doorway. I walked to her and greeted her.
    “Hey Meg.”
    “Hey, you know how I said I was going to introduce you to some people here?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Well, are you free?”
    “Yep!”
    “C’mon. You mind if we go to the pool? You will need your bathing suit.”
    “Oh, ok.”
    I ran upstairs and grabbed my best bathing suit I had. It was a black and white polka dot bikini. I wasn’t really into bikini’s or bathing suits at all. I usually would wear a big shirt over it. I wasn’t really into people seeing my body, or my stomach for all that matter. My mom said that I shouldn’t wear giant shirts over myself, that I would just ruin them, and I don’t look presentable in them; but I did it anyway, except this time. I dealt with myself and not wanting to show my body in front of people that I don’t even know, people that I will be with in school, people that I might be attracted to, people that might end up being the most popular people around.
    “Uh.. Meg.”
    “Yeah?”
    “I don’t know If I want to swim, I mean I’m not really the water type.”
    “Well then maybe you can tan with a few of my friends. So, go put your bathing suit on silly.”
    “Oh. Okay!” I said nervously.

    I walked nervously to the bathroom, and changed into my bathing suit; I looked at myself in the mirror, and thought. “It’s better than I thought. Maybe I wont have a miserable time, maybe nobody will judge me on my looks, including my stomach. Or my bathing suit, my thighs or anything. Hmm.. Maybe this pool party thing will turn out pretty good.”

    I walked downstairs with some flip flops in my hand and asked if my bathing suit would do. Meg just nodded her head and smiled. She also told me that it was a good bathing suit for my long, blonde hair. I fiddled around with some streaks of hair, grabbed a giant T-shirt to put over myself on the way, and slowly walked out the door.

    Meg and I walked to the pool together and stopped at a few houses on the way. We picked up a few of her friends and she introduced them to me. Her friends were Bridgett, Matt, Kevin, and Rachelle. On our way, Matt seemed like he was trying to hook up with me. I just ignored him and continued to walk. Rachelle tried to help me by punching Matt’s arm every time he used a corny line to get me to like him. They continued doing the same thing over and over until we arrived at the pool. Meg opened the gate and Matt stopped. My mouth dropped because once Meg opened the gate, the first thing I saw was Landon sitting on the side of the pool, with his feet dipped in the water, talking to one of his friends.

    Meg noticed me looking at him right away.
    “Do you know Landon?”
    “Oh, Uh, yeah I guess.”
    “Ah. I thought you would meet him, he is only a few houses down from you.”
    “Y-Yeah. I know.”
    “Why stuttering?”
    “Umm. Nothing.”
    “Hmm..” Meg looked at me curiously.
    “It’s nothing, I swear.”
    “You’re crushing on him.” Meg guessed.
    “Psh! Uh-No!” I stuttered. I had no idea what to say.
    “Admit it.”
    “I don’t.”
    “Okay, then go talk to him.”
    “Alright I will.”

    I walked confidently over to Landon and sat next to him trying not to stutter or make a complete fool out of myself in front of him. He didn’t notice me at first, but he did catch on after a few seconds. He smiled when he saw me and his eyes glistened when the sunlight hit them. I smiled back at him, not looking away from his gorgeous, deep, blue eyes.
    “Hey Lauren.” He said still with a smile on his face.
    “Hey.”
    “You like swimming?” He asked.
    “Somewhat. It’s okay.”
    “Cool. So what’s with the big shirt?” He pulled gently on my sleeve.
    “Oh, just a cover-up. I don’t want to walk around the neighborhood in my bathing suit.”
    “Hmm. Ok.”

    I rushed to stand up. I walked over to a chair that was almost laying flat. I slipped my T-shirt off, and laid it on the chair. Landon then signaled me to go over to him. So, I did.

    “Do you want to go for a swim?”
    “Uh. Sure.”
    “Hop on my back.”
    “Wha-?”

    Landon stood and bent down so that I could climb onto him. I struggled to climb onto him, but I managed to do it with his help. I felt his muscular arms while I could, then he jumped into the pool. I could open my eyes under the water, so I opened them. I floated off of Landon’s back and smoothly swam to the surface. I gasped for air and rubbed my eyes. When my vision became clear, Landon was not one foot away from my face. He laughed as I realized that I was at the surface.
    “What was that?” I asked in shock.
    “Ah, I do that a lot.”

    I giggled shyly and dropped in the water. I opened my eyes under the water and saw Landon swimming about three feet away from me. I didn’t bother following him, so I stayed in place. I swam around the 9 ft. area, while Landon swam around the 9 ½ ft. area. I didn’t want to start any conversations with him, I didn’t want him to think I was trying too hard, or trying to annoy him. I just swam around by myself, and waited for someone to talk to me. But, after a while, I noticed that Landon just continued swimming, and did nothing else. I swam a little closer to him, hoping he would notice my loneliness, but he didn’t even give me a glance. I floated on my back in the water, just soaking in the fresh air, and smell of chlorine. I enjoyed myself, just relaxing. I enjoyed myself until Matt came over to me, and pushed me under the water. I spit water out of my mouth when I came to the surface. I snarled at him as he laughed hysterically. Landon noticed, making the scene ten times worse. He swam over and asked if I was alright. I just moped to myself and answered “Yeah.” In an annoyed tone. I crossed my arms and gave Matt a glare as he continued laughing.
    “Ugh.” I whispered to myself.
    “What? You can’t take a joke?” Matt asked.
    “That wasn’t a joke!”
    “Oh alright.” Matt said pretending to agree with me.
    “Ugh.” I said again.

    I swam away without turning around to listen to Matt continue on abut jokes and reality. I sat in the 2ft looking around at everyone. Then, I felt a light tap on my shoulder. I turned around and saw Meg with a girl standing next to her. Even though they were both upside down in my view, I still noticed everything about Meg’s guest. She had short brown curls that came to her shoulders, freckles that you could spot miles away, and a small smile that seemed innocent.
    “Lauren, this is Sophie.”
    “Hey Sophie!” I said with a grin on my face.
    “Hey.” She said cheerfully. Then Meg left us to have our own conversation.
    “So Sophie, do you live in the neighborhood?”
    “Yeah, whatever. Look, I just want to get to the point, I see you looking at Landon like he is your little eye toy. Well, he is going to be taken pretty soon, sorry to crush your little fairytale, but he is going to be mine. Ok?”
    “Uh.. Wh-?”
    “It’s not complicated! Just back off of him, he is with me.”
    “Ok, me and Landon are just friends first of all.” I started.
    “Second, I do like him, if you have a problem with it, then you need to just deal with it.”
    She started to stand up, but I stood with her, to get my point across her.
    “And third, you can dream all you want, but I have dreams too. They were never to crush yours, apparently yours is to crush mine. But, It is going to be a fair game. I never was planning on hooking up with Landon, but I guess you are. Landon and I are just friends. If you see it any other way, then you are blind.” I finished my last breath, and saw her staring at me with a “Are you serious” look. I turned around and walked away.

    I never knew that Landon would be the guy that had competition for him. I thought that he was just like any guy around here. I guess I thought wrong. I wasn’t going to try to become flirty with him or anything, just going to act normal around him. Maybe later, me and him will turn out to be more than friends.