Back at the mall...
Jenny and Victoria walked around the mall trying to decide which store to shop at first. Neither of them knew which store to even go into first, seeing that there was just so many that were in this large building alone. There was only one thing that Jenny knew, and knowing the drama girl, she knew that they weren't going to be hanging out at either the arcade, the comic book store, or the video game store. She knew whichever store that Victoria shops at around here, she knew that it was probably going to be one that she ignored whenever she came here. She just hopes that they go to a place that's actually worth shopping at.
Eventually, the two did end up finding a store to shop at, or in other words, Victoria was the one who found it first. The store that she had selected for them was a fashion store that sells a lot of the items that the drama girl wears on a daily basis, like dresses, berets, scarfs, boots, make-up, and a lot of things that were pink. Victoria seemed excited to have stumbled upon this store first, while Jenny on the other hand seemed completely indifferent and even reluctant to have this place be the first store they shop at. She was about to tell her friend that they should probably just ignore this store, but before she even could say a single word, Victoria just quickly entered the place. Jenny reluctantly followed her friend into this store.
Throughout a majority of their time in this store, Victoria was just shopping around, looking at whatever she can find to either buy or check out. Whether it would be a new beret, a new scarf, lipstick, eye-shadow, earrings, necklaces, or even a new shirt or two, the girl was looking at everything. Jenny, on the other hand, was trying to find anything that was remotely geeky in this store in order to find some good things about this place, but unfortunately...she couldn't find anything around here that was. The song 'Poker Face' by Lady Gaga was playing throughout the entirety of the store as this was happening.
During their time in this store, Victoria was just passing by a couple tables that had different pairs of boots on top of them. She wasn't really planning on buying any sort of boots today, as the ones she currently has on were ones that she still liked. However, one of the pairs had caught her eye when she was just about to walk pass them. They were black boots with silver buckles on the sides of them. They didn't seem like boots that she would wear, but when she saw them, she was instantly reminded of the same type of boots that Ray would normally wear. Having to be reminded of her crush again, she cringed while shaking her head in disappointment.
'Woe is me...even at my favorite store, I'm cursed to be reminded of my forbidden lover...' Victoria said in her thoughts. 'It would seem like no matter where the location may be, I can't manage to escape being reminded of Ray. Fate truly is conspiring against me at such a time.'
Victoria then took a glance behind herself, wondering where Jenny even was at the moment. The two had been wandering around the store for at least twenty minutes now, but the two had separated from each other the moment they had gotten to the dress section of this entire area. After that, she hasn't seen Jenny since. She just hopes that geeky girl didn't run off to the arcade while she wasn't looking, if so, then their friendship would've ended very quickly and that this entire 'Girls Day Out' would've been nothing more but a complete waste of time. Hopefully for Victoria, her new friend didn't just abandoned her here.
After she glanced around the area for a bit, Victoria finally found Jenny walking passed the exit of the store. From the look on her face, the geeky girl seemed rather confused as she was frantically glancing around the entirety of the store. It would appear that Jenny was actually looking around to try to find where Victoria was. They did lose each other a couple minutes ago. Seeing the geeky girl was lost, the drama girl decided to wave her hand for her friend's attention.
"Oh fair Jennifer!" Victoria shouts, catching the the geeky girl's attention. "I am over here!"
Jenny heard her name being called almost instantly. She turned towards the direction that she was hearing her name being called from, seeing Victoria standing there waving at her. Once she saw the drama girl in her sights, Jenny began to make her way over to the boot section of the store. When she reached up to Victoria, Jenny spoke.
"Finally, I was wandering around trying to find where you are." The geeky girl said, while pointing behind herself. "For a moment, I thought you'd up and left to another store."
"Oh, nonsense, dear girl." Victoria said with a smile. "Personally, I absolutely adore this store amongst all of the ones here. Where dost thou think I collect my berets and scarfs from?" The drama girl patted the side of her own beret, while Jenny rolled her eyes at this.
"Right...I haven't noticed..." Jenny said, sarcastically. "Anyways, what are you looking at over here?"
"Oh...just these..." The drama girl turned her head left, seeing the goth boots that she was previously looking at before. She pointed at them, as a cringe formed onto her face in the process. "...Just these boots right here."
"Those boots, huh?" The geeky girl saw the same boots that the drama girl was previously looking at moments ago. "Well, those look kind of nifty. They seem to stand out in a place like this."
"This is the first time I am actually seeing them in here, so I believe this pair came in today. Indeed, they do seem rather nifty." Victoria picks them up debating whether or not she should buy them or not, only for Jenny to chuckle in disbelief at the fact that she was really picking them up. The restrained laughter didn't go unnoticed by the drama girl unfortunately. "Might I ask what is so...humorous to you?"
Jenny stopped laughing, before pointing at the boots. "Oh nothing, I'm just surprised that you're actually going to buy them." She then pointed at the girl now. "I mean, knowing you, I thought you'd be going for one of the many pink things around here."
Victoria giggled a bit. "Well, pink is indeed my favorite color...but, no, I couldn't buy these boots." She then places the boots back down onto the stand in front of her. "Besides, I know for a fact that my father would never approve of me wearing them anyhow. My father would probably even say that these boots belong to that of a delinquent rather than somebody like me." She then turned towards the exit. "Anyhow, shall we head off to another store, or shall we continue shopping around here?"
"I think we should head off to another store...all of the pink stuff in this place is starting to become unbearable for me..."
Victoria then scoffed as the two began to make their way towards the exit of the store. "Well, remind me to never lend thou any of mine berets or scarfs then." She said in a joking manner, causing both girls to laugh as they left the store.
Right as they went through the exit, the two girls halted immediately, as both were hearing what sounds like an argument ensuing out in the distance. They looked forward seeing a teenage boy arguing with one of the employees at a store across the way. Neither of them knew who the employee was, but they sure as hell knew who the boy was. The man has incredibly blonde messy hair in a black baseball cap, a black t-shirt with a circle with a line across it, and baggy blue jeans. This person is Derek, the bully that a lot of the people from the Royal Academy hate the most, even Victoria, who constantly thinks that James is the worst person that she knows.
"Oh brother...this prick..." Jenny mutters, seeing the bully in an argument with the employee at the store across the way. "I knew this asshole was just going to get himself into more arguments after he attempted to steal from Gino's Pizzeria in the past. I always hated that prick, don't you?"
"I must say that the feeling is much mutual when it comes to that buffoon, fair Jennifer." Victoria said, as she crosses her arms while keeping her glare focused on Derek. "I still can never figure out why such a rascal roam our neighborhood after all the trouble he hast caused."
"I don't know either. Though, I wish Shirley sent his ass to juvie for a longer time than only a year."
"I couldst not agree with thee anymore than I already do. I sincerely hope to the Gods that karma casts its shadow upon him."
"Don't we all wish, Victoria." Jenny groans before facing away from where Derek was located at. "Anyways, let's go find a different store already."
"Alright."
As the two walked away from the area, Derek stormed his way out of the store he was in, flipping off the clerk as he left the area. "I don't care if you're kicking me out of your store anyway! The rugs that you sell here suck!" Derek shouts, before heading off to a different store to enjoy his time at.
A couple minutes of walking later...
The two had searched around for a bit, but couldn't find any store to shop at yet. A lot of them were shops that Jenny didn't really like at all, while the ones that she seemed the most interested in Victoria declined, most likely because Jenny kept picking stores that were types that her and James would be interested in. So they were left to walk around the mall some more until they found a place to shop at.
During a couple of minutes went by, both girls decided to take a rest on one of the many random benches that were in this facility. They've walked around for so long that they've gotten fired after awhile. So they both decided to take a bit of a rest before they continued to look around for a place to shop. During their rest however, Jenny decided to stand up from the bench.
"Hey, I have to use the restroom. I'll be right back, okay dude?" Jenny asked while pointing off to a random direction in the mall. Victoria nodded in agreement, as her friend headed off to find the bathroom.
Victoria remained sitting there in the bench and waited until Jenny came back. While her friend was off to find the bathroom, the girl decided to pull out her phone to see if either her father, her step-mother, or her step-brother had left a text or attempted to call her while she was out on her 'Girls Day Out' with Jenny. From the looks of it, none of the three seemed to have called or texted her throughout her entire time at either the coffee shop or the mall. All of them must be busy at the moment...or in James's case, not caring about what she is doing at all. Not that she cared if she got any sort of calls or texts from her step-brother, knowing that he'd probably tell her nothing that benefits her.
Placing her phone away, Victoria just sat back and resumed to watching the other people in this mall pass by her bench. She didn't really have anything much to do, and she couldn't go off to one of the nearby stores, knowing Jenny might return at any second. She didn't want the girl to assume that she abandoned her out of nowhere. So, all Victoria remained doing for the rest of the time was just sit there by herself.
During her wait, she just continued watching people passing her by, until she looked to her left, seeing two familiar faces about to pass by the bench. She honestly couldn't believe that they were here right now, of all times and of all places. It was almost coincidental that they were here at this very moment, considering that she had only seen the two of them earlier this morning at the coffee shop.
It was quite obvious that the two that Victoria was seeing were none other than her crush Ray and his girlfriend Raven. The drama girl was very curious why they were here right now, as well as where their two other friends were. Whatever the reason is, she felt like going over to them so that they can talk. She knew that James and Jenny already told her that attempting to ask Ray out is a very bad idea, but to her, it didn't mean that she couldn't be friends with him. Regardless, Victoria stood up from the bench and made her way over to the goth couple so that she can try to befriend them. She felt herself growing nervous as she was slowly walking over to them, but found herself continuing to head over to the couple anyway.
Once she approached the couple, Victoria finally spoke aloud to them. "Ah, this is certainly a surprise." She said. "Here I thought we would reunite with each other at my step-brother's house, Ray."
"What the?" Ray said, as he and Raven turned around to see the girl standing behind them. "Oh, Victoria! I didn't even recognize you for a second there. I didn't expect to reunite with you here, the mall didn't seem like your type of place to hang out at."
"Well...me and fair Jennifer are here for a 'Girls Day Out' together." Victoria then took notice of Raven standing next to her crush. "Oh! I almost had forgotten about thine girlfriend! Thou must be fair Raven, yes?" She held out a hand to the confused goth girl. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance."
"Um...same to you..." Raven said, still seemingly confused by all of this. "I'm sorry, how do you know my boyrfriend? I don't think Ray has ever talked about you before."
"Dost James never spoken about me to thee? Thou art his closest companions, art thou not?" Raven shrugs her shoulders, before the drama club girl places a hand on her shoulder. "My name is Victoria Verily. Before graduation, I was one of the many students to be in our school's drama club, alongside thou boyfriend, Ray...and his ignorant simpleton confidant, James...whom happens to now be my step-brother." She then glances over to Ray with a smile, before holding up an arm towards his direction. "I must admit, fair Raven...thy boyfriend was quite the gentleman towards me and my other colleagues throughout the entirety of the twelve grade. He was probably one of the most generous, kind, and most honest man that mine eyes hast ever laid upon." She then pointed at the goth man now. "Ray, dost thou remember when we both had lunch together out in the school's courtyard one wonderful afternoon?"
"Yeah, I remember." Ray said with a hint of a chuckle, causing Raven to glare at her boyfriend with a mixture of suspicion and jealousy. "You said that Spring day was so beautiful, you didn't see any point of eating indoors. I only ate outside so you didn't feel alone." Raven's glare disappeared from her face as she turned towards Victoria again.
It was at this moment, Raven finally said something to their Victoria. "You know what...now that I think about it, James did bring you up a couple times to us before." The goth girl said while tapping her finger on her chin. "However...compared to Jenny, I don't think he had said anything good about you. He told me that you were the most impulsive person that he has ever met, but so far, you seem totally nice."
"Oh, typical James...that man is always so cynical over such petty reasons..." Victoria mutters to herself while rolling her eyes. "There is a reason why neither of us were friends throughout high school."
"Right..." The goth girl then took a step backwards, before pointing behind herself. "Anyways, I wish we can talk some more, but...we really should be going now. Me and Ray were just heading off to our favorite store here, and...we have plans with Goth Boy later on, so...we'll be seeing you and James at the house one of these days."
"Ah, yes." Victoria then looked over to Ray, giving him a smile. "It was a pleasure to have stumbled upon thee once again, Ray." She said to the goth man while bowing her head.
"It was nice to see you again too, Victoria." Ray told her with a smile, causing Raven to glare at this happening with jealousy visible on her face.
Victoria then turned her attention towards Raven now. "I certainly hope that both of us can become friends, despite me and James not being..."
"I'm sure we'll be friends." Raven said interrupting the drama girl in her words. The two shook hands, before she turned towards Ray. "Alright Ray, let's head off now."
"Alright." Ray said, before he and Raven began to head off.
While they were walking down the pathway they were taking, Raven decided to glance behind herself at Victoria behind them. The only thing that the drama girl did was just go back to the bench she was previously at, sitting back down onto it to wait for Jenny again. So far, she seemed nice...but another part of Raven felt like Victoria wasn't at all trustworthy, just throughout their short conversation alone. From the way that she was keeping a large part of the conversation focused on Ray, to her even glancing at him a lot, even having to hear them hanging out in the school's courtyard which she hadn't even known about until now...she couldn't help but not trust Victoria whatsoever.
"So...Ray..." Raven started off saying as she faced forward. "You and Victoria hanging out together in the school's courtyard, hmm? How come I haven't heard about this?"
"There's no need for you to jump to any sort of conclusions, sweetheart. Me and Victoria are just friends." Ray reassured her. "As for not telling you about our hangout in the courtyard, you were busy in science class during the time we were out for lunch. I could've texted, but...you know how Rosalyn gets when we're on our phones during school hours."
"Yeah, I know. She had to tell Travis constantly to quit texting his friends during class one time." Both goths laughed about that for a few seconds, before the male goth patted his girlfriend on the back.
"There's really nothing to worry about when it comes to me and Victoria, Raven. I don't think that there's any other girl that I would ever want to be with aside from you." He then kisses his girlfriend on the cheek, before lowering his arm. "Besides, I'm sure Victoria only sees me as nothing more but a friend too."
Raven smiled at Ray's word, nearly blushing when she heard everything he said. "Eh, I'm sure she does too." The two then silently continued to make their way to the store they were trying to find, as Raven's smile slowly turned into a frown.
'I certainly hope so...' Raven said in her thoughts as they continued to walk.