~Dear Diary, ~
~There's this girl named Connie, I met her at the mall, and she's sweet. We did go shopping together for the rest of the time I was there, it's nice to not be solo for once. ~

~Not sure if it'll lead to anything, but it's going well and I like it.~ 

~P.S; not sure if the gossip girls will shut their mouths or I need to say something, either way, probs should ignore it for a while.~

-Rosetta H. 
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As I walked into the mall again, with hope and a bit of pep in my step and a lighter feeling than normal, then again, it could have been the pancakes the maid made this morning, I passed by a few stores, looking around and trying to see what I could possibly find or buy when I passed by those same gossip girls from last time, it feels like the only thing anyone can talk about is how the "great and charming" Andrew "dumped" his loser of a girlfriend for Mckayla, "the coolest girl around" and so bravely won her heart. 

All he had to do was crush the beating heart of the girl he did date, and everything settled out perfectly for him, just like always. 

It's unreasonable that Andrew and Mckayla are getting all the attention of being the it couple, but I only guess it's because of the "popular boy" virus, meaning whoever is lucky enough to get bitten, you get everyone to fawn over you, but if you're me, you just get jealous stares and bitch rumors being spread around. I saw Mckayla and Andrew again from across the food court, while some other kids watched and ogled them like a fancy exhibit at an art musemen. 

Seeing their happy faces and them kissing relit the fire I felt all over again, so I looked down and walked as fast as I could, avoiding as many looks as possible, just the thought of seeing Mckayla's evil green eyes say "I win" again would have been enough to make me snap! For a bit, I walked into the first store I could find and with my luck, it'd probably be some different, alternative universe of some kind, and I was so very right. 

On the inside, the walls were pink, yellow and blue, flowers and big hearts well plastered all over the place, the workers had shirts that read "Everyone's a princess, even you." I felt like I stood out like a sore thumb and that I didn't fit in at all, but then I saw a big, burly guy stocking the shelves with the princess shirt and it was hard to hide a smile. 

The place smelt like sweet, like a brand-new bakery open for sale, some pop music was playing on the loudspeakers, and everyone was just quietly shopping about, minding their own business. I mean, it couldn't hurt to just look around for a bit. 

The biggest thing that was shocking was how soft everything was, the floors, sweaters, skirts and dresses, even the hangers looked fluffy, it was like a sheep family came in here and gave away their wool for pennies! Feeling on edge would be impossible here, I'd smile, even if I just hit the floor! 

I grabbed a shopping bag and began the trip, people were chatting with each other, smiling and laughing, girls were squealing together and holding hands. It was like I was in a different world all together, a pastel color world with fluffy sheep clothes, stars and hearts! 

But as I was moving, from the corner of my eye, I saw this older white lady with her hair tied up, talking to a girl that looked around my age, from the back of her head, I could only see her locs reaching to her shoulders. 

"Miss, please... I was going as fast as I could." 

"Well, you need to hurry it up! I don't have all day you know. Some of us have jobs to get done and places to be!" The lady sneered, the poor girl was shaking like a leaf, the memory of being all alone and scared push me to do something that I'd never thought I do, stand up to someone for someone else. 

"Oh my gosh! Hey Bestie!" I smiled really big, the two of them looked at me confused, I kept smiling and stood very close to her, for the first time in a bit, I was actually taller than someone. 

"Sorry, huh?" She asked, I flashed a smile and looked at the older lady again. "Look miss, I don't doubt that you're having a rough day and I'm so sorry for that! But being impatient towards my friend here isn't the best move. She's only trying her best..." 

The lady was at a loss for words, she was trying to say something, but nothing could come out of her mouth, she opened but then closed, till finally...

"Uh, you know? I need to go." She chuckled nervously and walked away, with her tail in-between her legs. I breathed a huge sigh of relief; I'd never ever stood up to an adult like that before. 

The girl looked at me and smiled. "Umm, thanks. You really uh, helped me out there." 

"Totally! Sorry about the whole, you know, pretending to be your friend? it seems like the best choice to make." I chuckled, she smiled and nodded. 

"No, it's fine." She looks up at me, her glasses looked a bit techy, and she smiled. "Uh, my name's Connie Stevens." She held out her hand. "What's yours?" 

"Rosetta Hazel, nice to meet you." 

Connie nodded her head "That's cool, so, are you new here? I don't think I'd ever seen you around before." 

"Nah," I said, "I'd been in this town for a while, I guess we'd just never met before." 

Connie thought for a moment and chuckled. "Yeah, I suppose that's the case. So, what are you doing later?" 

"Probably gonna shop till I drop." I shrugged. "If you want, you can join me." 

"Sure." 

I blinked in shock and stare at her. "Wait, what?" 

"Sure. I mean, it'd be fun, you did help me, and you seem sweet, so why not?" Connie shrugged and was moving forward as I staggered behind, we payed for our stuff and walked together, while I thought about how crazy it was a girl like her actually wanted to hang out with me! Me! I mean, I'm okay but seriously? Me!? 

To say I was a bit suspicious would have been an understatement, but I tried to not so cynical, even though the past few days made me learn into it by the second. 

The next store we went had a bunch of gamer themed clothes, hoodies, jean skirts and extremely overpriced headphones that'd probably break in a few weeks. Connie walked past me to the clothes rack, her hands touching the sweaters and hoodies but disregarding them for a bright, fuzzy hoodie with a grey gaming control on it. 

"Hey, what do you think of this hoodie?" Connie asked. 

"Oh? Uh, it looks good." I shrugged. "You should get it." 

"Sounds good." Connie giggled and nodded her head, as she went to get more clothes, I did look around the store, but nothing really interested me, although it was nice to know that I wasn't going solo shopping by myself for once, I'd never knew how good it feels to not be alone. 

As I glanced outside the door, I saw Mckayla, Tracey and Chase together at one of the stores, shopping, giggling. I felt that weird feeling again, I looked away and looked at how happy Connie was, and it was hard to not smile again, a sense of calm washed over me, like everything bad just went away...

Maybe, just maybe, being friends with Connie wouldn't be so bad. 

~End~
(Author: And just like that, a friendship is born! let's go!)