My Brother's Best Friend Is My Mate

"Are you crazy?" I ask my visibly crazy bestfriend. She laughs as I try to wriggle out of her grasp, knowing that I can't. Because the truth is that even if I work out seven days a week, Spencer will still be stronger than me, always. It's something I've accepted over the course of our 15 years of friendship. "Can you chill? Loosen up a bit, and have some fun." By now we are at the entrance of Victoria Secret but I have not given up just yet. I'll keep distracting her by taking and try to get away. Brilliant plan Emerald. I mentally give myself a gentle pat on the back for being so smart. "Can you stop fussing?" Spencer continues, her eyes wandering down to my arm where I am wiggling like an earth worm. "There's that Alex guy!" I shout in desperation and Spencer's head snaps around. I take this as the perfect opportunity to get away. Free! I run even as I hear Spencer's frantic voice calling me, more like shouting that I should 'get back here!' For the first time, the crowds in the mall actually have a good enough purpose. Spencer will never find me in this heavy crowd. I run to the bathroom and stand in front of one of the the stalls, somewhere Spencer will never find me. She knows how much I hate public bathrooms. They're disgustingly filled with all types of germs and bacteria. Nope, I'd rather die from diabetes after eating too much nutella. I get out of the stall and look at myself in the mirror, trying not to go too close to the washing basin. I comb through my hair with my skinny fingers ignoring that one maverick loose strand sticking out at the side of my head. I decide I look good enough to go out in public and leave the bathroom before anyone comes into the bathroom. As I leave the bathroom, I spot a familiar face. "Emerald!" Alex says and a smile instantly appears on his face. "Hey." I return the greeting. "You work here?" I ask after observing that he had on a shirt that brandished the name of the mall on it. "I didn't mean it in a bad way though." I ramble. Alex laughs, making me feel less uncomfortable and awkward. "Yes, I do work here. And I did not take your statement as a form discrimination." He laughs again. We started walking and then he stopped and turned to face me. "How are you?" He asks and I tell him I'm doing fine. He nods, then starts telling me how he just moved here from Manhattan, and how he's enjoying his work so far in here in one brief synopsis. After he's finished we start talking about random stuff, like the weather and other things. "Oh, I want to apologize about last night. My bestfriend gets carried away sometimes. " I say to him. He shakes his head. "No need to apologize." He says and I think about how kind Alex is. "Did you hear what I said?" I look up at Alex and his cheeks flaming red. Is everyone built like a tree or am I just getting shorter? "Sorry. I didn't hear." I tell him sheepishly. He laughs. "I was just asking if you wanted to grab coffee this week. If you want to, I understand if you have plans and-" The poor guy's rambling his head off. I guess this is the least I can do, since he has been so nice to me. I push the nagging voice of Spencer to the back of my head, put it in a box and nail it shut. "I would love to." I say and he smiles that bright, warm smile. Like bread. "There you are!" A voice behind me snaps and I freeze. Maybe it's the police. I close my eyes and turn around with hands in the air. "I'm sorry I took a cupcake from the Lucky Pucky Cupcake Club when I was ten, even though the age limit was eight years old." I confess. Ever since that day, I have been looking over my shoulder, and now that the police have finally caught me I feel free, in a way atleast. Damon had convinced me I was going to go to hell for that, surprise surprise. I hear a laugh and open one of my eyes to see my bestfriend laughing her heart out. I put my hands down and stare at my bestfriend, who doesn't even realize that Alex is standing right behind me. I was kinda hoping that it was the police; seeing Spencer is much worse than spending a few months in a jail cell. Spencer finally stops laughing and somehow she sees Alex behind me. Her smile vanishes completely and I gulp as Spencer barges after Alex, letting out a animal like growl.