Chapter 10 - Dollar Store Chic

Author's Notes: I appreciate you guys not staging a revolt and stringing me up by my toes. Honestly, I'm late, and I know it. Let's just say that I had someone who claimed to be close to me get into my stories and delete everything I had on my laptop. It took me awhile to bounce back not only from their betrayal, but also get my chapters back to where I wanted them to be, since I was trying to recreate what I lost. For my total lateness, I apologize greatly, but I appreciate your patience in this update. Thank you. All of you. =)

The song used in this chapter is Shower Becky G. I do not own the song, or The Mortal Instruments and their characters, or any institution I mention in the City of Pittsburgh. I do, however, own the storyline, the mistakes, and Dahlia.

A run to the Dollar Tree and Walmart in West Mifflin, then Family Dollar in South Side, and then out to lunch. Dahlia's idea of trying to get me out and away from all the shit that went down with Simon over a week ago. And I'm trying, I really am. Since in the time I've gotten to know her, Dahlia's become a very good friend to me.

"What about this one?" My roommate asks me, holding up a pink sundress, modeling behind it as if it's the latest thing straight from Paris.

It's safe to say that she's also trying to get me out of my funk, too. "I dunno...maybe let's add these..." I grabbed a pair of cheap dollar sunglasses, bright neon pink ones, because we had to stick to the theme here, and stuck them on her face. She struck another pose, with such a big grin on her face that it made me snort.

"What?!" She squawked indignantly, as if I'd done some great offense with that single snort. "Do you not like my all pink ensemble?" She tossed her chestnut brown hair over her shoulder as she said this, looking down at me in such a way that she dared me to defy her.

Honestly, the girl was so flawlessly beautiful that I had no doubt she could walk around in a potato sack after getting hit by lightning and still manage to turn most heads. Bride of Frankenstein hair and all. Of course, since she asked... "It's too pink. I think you need some purple and orange. With lime green flip flops!" Pink was her favorite color. And she loved purple and orange, but hated the colors together. And she detested lime green on anything.

"Do you value your life?" She asked me simply, a hitch to her voice that I caught...one that said she was trying to remain in character and not burst out laughing.

"Mostly." I answered her innocently, and with such a sugary sweetness that it made her snort. "But, I also value Oreo brownies, Ritz, Ramen noodles, and whatever the hell else is sitting in the trunk of your car and I can claim all of it in the event of a death threat."

That did it, she started getting the giggles, and so did I. Honestly, this was something I needed. Just getting out and enjoying myself, after holing myself up in my room for nearly three days straight after the whole thing with Simon happened. I'd only gotten up to go to the bathroom, use the vending machines in the dorm halls, and then return to my darkness. That is, until Dahlia busted in with a trayful of food, since I'd barely eaten a stitch of anything since that night. She'd come in with a bowl of her own homemade special Ramen, a salad, and a tall bottle of Dr. Pepper, which she knew was my personal weakness as far as soda, something she and I shared. And no matter how much I'd screamed at her to get out, threw various pillows and other things, like my alarm, at her, she never left, stoically telling me that now that she was in here, she wasn't leaving until we talked, since she's not going to turn away from me just because of something Dipshit and Bitchtits (which is what she refers to as Jace and Amanda now) said.

"You also forgot the Dr. Pepper, white chocolate blueberry cookies, and the slew of horror movies for girls' nights this month." She told me, removing the sunglasses with a grin and more giggles.

I blinked at her in confusion, as she hung the dress back up on the rack she'd grabbed it from. "When did you get horror movies? And what ones?!"

"When you were distracted in the book aisle in Walmart." She told me simply, with a shrug and a little shit-eating grin. "And to tell you these movies would take away the surprise of seeing how many holes you'll leave in the ceiling."

Despite myself, I got the visual and started giggling. "You devious bitch!" It was meant to be an insult, it really was, but my giggles pretty much ruined it.

"Why, thank you so much! I love it when people call me devious. Or a bitch. You just combining it makes it even better!" And, naturally, Dahlia being Dahlia, took it as an utter compliment.

"I think all that Dr. Pepper you're drinking today is going to your head." I cracked with a laugh, because when she drank a lot of it without eating much of anything, she got hyper. It was also a lot of the reason she didn't drink alcohol or take much in the way of prescription drugs. A Tylenol could put her to sleep if she wanted it to and a Benadryl outright would.

"Is that your way of telling me you're hungry and trying to pin the blame on me and my hyperactivity?" She asked me in return, eye wide.

"Yes. Totally. Because I didn't eat that coffee cake muffin this morning in the coffee shop. Your mind is just telling you I did." I returned in a deadpan, my face equally dry as the desert sands of Arizona. Or so I imagine.

"Ugh." She shuddered at the memory of this morning, becoming serious once again as we left the clothing area, heading for the candle aisle. "God, I can't believe you let Bitchtits get you that thing. At least tell me you kept your eyes on her so that she couldn't spit on it, cough on it, or poison it."

I started laughing by the time I heard the words "cough on it" come out of her mouth. "Why would she-?"

"Because. She wants Simon, and with you in the picture, he won't look at anyone else, honey." The protest was instinctive, which is why she barreled on before I could even bother to take in the breath to begin speaking. "He'll come around. He's just all butthurt that you didn't realize he liked you after years of knowing one another. When, in retrospect, with you guys physically not seeing each other for three years, really, how were you supposed to know?"

I don't point out that she said that night that she could see he loved me the moment she saw us together. "Well, it doesn't help my case much that he's been hanging out with her, too."

"True." Dahlia agreed with me, as we wandering into the candle aisle and she grabbed a cinnamon bun candle without even smelling it. "God only knows that that maniacal bitch has been filling his head with."

"I thought you were also a maniacal bitch." I point out to her helpfully, as she also grabs a vanilla cream candle, also without smelling it.

"I am, but I'm the good kind." She tells me with a grin, and grabbing a third candle that has apples on the label, so I'm going to imagine that it smells like fresh apples and not an apple pie. "I use my powers for good and to help my friends, rather than be a selfish skanktart like her."

"I'm guessing tart comes from the label you just looked at?" I crack, referencing the fact that she just looked at the labels to those candles and didn't pick them up and smell them like most people do.

"I've had these candles before, Dwarf." She retorted, just before she took off at a run for the spice aisle...mainly since I was hot on her heels for calling me a freaking dwarf!


After checking out of Family Dollar, after Dahlia grabbed crushed red pepper, since she can't eat anything without nearly blowing her head off from how spicy it is, we were on Carson Street, singing along to Shower by Becky G at the top of our lungs, since we were stuck in traffic on our way to Hello Bistro, the small cafe we'd chosen for our stop for lunch on our way back to the dorms. Of course, Dahlia just got me into the song a day or two ago, so I was still rusty on most parts, save for the chorus.

Which is why, when it came on, save was the one dancing in her seat as we waited for for traffic to clear, singing and pointing at me the entire time, making me just dance and smile.

"I don't know, it's just something about ya
Got me feeling like I can't be without ya
Anytime someone mention your name
I be feeling as if I'm around ya
Ain't no words to describe you baby
All I know is that you take me high
Can you tell that you drive me crazy?
Cause I can't get you out my mind

Think of you when I'm going to bed
When I wake up think of you again
You are my homie, lover and friend
Exactly why...

You light me up inside
Like the 4th of July
Whenever you're around
I always seem to smile
And people ask me how
Well you're the reason why
I'm dancing in the mirror and singing in the shower..."

She took the entire first verse...since this is all I really knew. But, I joined in with gusto, the both of us screaming it out, because hey, we were out to have a good time, and that's exactly what we were doing.

"La La Di, La La Da, La La Da
Singing in the shower
La La Di, La La Da, La La Da
Singing in the shower!"

Okay, there wasn't any shower present, but the point was made.

It took us a good twenty minutes to arrive at Hello Bistro, singing and dancing in the car the entire way, since we hit every red light at every spotlight we hit and then had to find a parking space. Neither or us minded. We were out, in the city and away from school, just the two of us. And Dahlia and I were just fine with that.

"So, what do you usually get here?" I asked my roommate curiously, as I looked around the small restaurant. Quaint, cozy, and perfect for a date, because it didn't seem like a rowdy type of place. "And how did you find this place? Because it's awesome!"

"I found it when I went out with an ex-girlfriend." She replied with a shrug, not looking up from her menu. Dahlia's bisexuality didn't bother me in the least, though the way she outright promised me she wouldn't try to hit on me or anything like that, made me think that someone close to her, or once close to her, did have a problem with it. "Relationship with her didn't stick long. But, the relationship with this place has been going strong for a year now."

I just gave her a grin as I grabbed my own menu. "Is the food really that good here?"

"The food here is fucking excellent." She told me honestly, as she put away her menu quickly and then waited for me to decide.

And holy crap, how did she decide so freaking quickly?! Burgers, sandwiches, salads that you could make yourself in giant bowls with a freaking LIST of toppings and additions. What the hell was I supposed to do? Or how was I supposed to decide what to choose?

A snort next to me made me look over, seeing her looking at me with a small smirk. "God, I love seeing the first time look." Nudging in close so that I could smell the Tokyo Lotus and Apple Blossom perfume she wore, (which she knew I was totally freaking jealous of, the bitch!) she pointed at the menu. "Grab a small salad or a sandwich and a soup. So this way, you can try something to start it off, and don't have to stand here and just take in an endless amount of salad stuff. I'll grab a menu to take with us, so you can look it over, because I'm bringing you back here again."

Luckily, the menu wasn't as intimidating when the freaking endless list of salad options were off the menu. I decided on an Italiano Grilled Cheese, which was a grilled cheese made with Provolone, pepperoni, and marinara sauce, and a cup of chicken noodle soup. Dahlia went the exact same way as far as soup went, but she ended up getting what was called a Superburger, which pretty much looked like a Big Mac when it came out. The both of us got diet Pepsis.

"Cheers!" Dahlia crowed, holding up her cup of diet soda as we waited for our food to finish being made

Unable to refuse, as this was the best day I'd had in what felt like a long time, I couldn't help but do the same. "Cheers!"