Oh hey there, Fanfiction! Long time no see! Or more like long time no procrastinate on HW and write . So this is not my best chapter MEH….
It was Friday. As Aria walked out of Rosewood High, Ezra grazed her arm, causing Aria to swivel to face him. "So for tomorrow…" Ezra began, and Aria let out a quiet, yet excited squeal, as in, "I can't believe this is happening!" and Ezra's eyes widened and he smiled, showing that the feeling was mutual. Although, Aria began to wonder… No. She stopped her own thoughts. Aria, you are just trying to psych yourself out. You are over-analyzing what Mona said in class yesterday and your conversation with Ezra right after.
"Anyways," Ezra interrupted her thoughts. "I was thinking we could go out to dinner beforehand. I already got us reservations at this nice restaurant near the hotel that's supposed to be really great, but I can cancel, that is, if you don't want to go to the restaurant.
"No. I want to. I'm always up for anything with you." Aria said with a smile, "And it sounds wonderful. Anyways, I gotta go. But I'll call you later."
"Don't worry, I'll reserve the table under a pseudonym, too" Ezra said with a smile. Aria ran towards Hanna, and the girls got in the car to go to the mall.
"Where to first?" Hanna asked.
"Victoria's Secret." Aria answered immediately, and they walked into the store.
"God, this is so strange. I mean, right now, you're picking out sexy lingerie to impress your English teacher!" Hanna marveled. Aria playfully punched her.
"First of all, you make it sound like I don't own any 'sexy lingerie' but I just want something new. Something special, for our special night. And second of all, please just accept the fact that he is my boyfriend."
"Hey, Aria, look at this!" Hanna pointed to a very revealing getup. "It's got a tutu and-"
"Hanna." Aria said firmly. "Please stop joking. I just want a push-up bra and panties. If you like the tutu so much, you get it to impress Caleb."
"Caleb wouldn't like that, are you kidding?"
"I'm only partly kidding. Now I'm just gonna try these on."
Soon after, Hanna bought a perfume and Aria bought the black lace push up bra and matching panties and they left the store."
"Now you're looking for what?" Hanna asked.
"A nice dress, something not too fancy and something easy to get in and out of, if you know what I mean." Aria waggled her eyebrows, "Ezra's taking me to dinner at a nice restaurant beforehand."
Hanna dragged Aria to Lipstick, a boutique she always shopped at. "This is cute! Try this one on!" Hanna pulled out a mint floral sundress. Aria shook her head. "Not my style" she said. Hanna then grabbed a skin tight, low- cut black strapless dress that had a gold zipper down the front, gold studs along the sides, and it fell just barely below the butt. Aria rolled her eyes. "Keep in mind I'm not a prostitute," She said exasperatedly. "But look, it would go really well with these fishnet tights and these seven-inch high heels." Hanna joked.
"Han, I'm serious. I actually feel a lot of pressure."
"You mean, like, pressure to have sex?"
"No... I mean like pressure to impress Ezra. I feel like it hasn't really hit him that he's dating a student. And then we're going to have sex and he's going to realize that I'm inexperienced and childish. So he'll… break up with me." Aria said glumly.
"Aria." Hanna said, her hands on Aria's shoulders. "Listen to me. You are pretty, smart, funny and nice. Any man, no matter the age, would be lucky to be with you. And if Ezra doesn't realize that, then screw him!"
"Thanks, Han," Aria managed a weak smile and changed the subject, "the search in this store is going nowhere. I'm going to look somewhere else."
Hanna quickly grabbed a pair of earrings, bought them, and followed Aria out of the store. Hanna quickly got sidetracked and wandered into Sephora, and Aria felt like she had no choice but to follow her. "I need the Naked Basics palette and the They're Real mascara," Hanna said as an excuse. She grabbed those items and checked out.
As they began to leave the store, however, Mona appeared, as if out of nowhere.
"Hey, Han, hey Aria!" She said chirpily.
"Hey… Mona," Hanna said, faking her excitement. Aria smiled a faux smile.
"Mind if I join you?" Mona asked, oblivious to her own intrusiveness. Aria nudged Hanna, as if asking her to tell Mona to politely go away.
"Sure…" Hanna said, and then winced at Aria, "Sorry," she muttered to Aria.
"What's in the bag?" Mona pointed to Aria's Victoria's Secret bag. For someone up so high on the social ladder at Rosewood High, Mona seems slightly lacking in social cognition. Aria thought to herself. "Bowling balls," Aria answered sarcastically. Mona began to take the lead, not even bothering to ask if they were shopping for an actual purpose. The girls wound up at Mac, where Mona bought a lipgloss and a few brushes. Hanna tested out one of the Nicki Minaj lipsticks, and eventually decided the color was too bold for her liking. Aria awkwardly waited for the girls, until finally Mona checked out. The store itself was pretty small, but it was very easy to get absorbed in, as if you were lost in time. The girls then followed Mona to Juicy Couture, where Mona tried on about 10 bathing suits, but after a long debate with herself, she decided to get only two and a pair of sunglasses. The girls left the store, and Aria spoke up.
"Mona, I need a dress, and that was what I'm shopping for in the first place. Can we please just get my dress and any store you want to go to we can go to afterwards?"
"Sure," Mona said, and gave Aria a smile. "So, what kind of dress do you have in mind? I'll help you find it!"
"I want something nice, but not too nice if you know what I mean," Aria said, trying to act normal.
"Oh, what for?" Mona asked.
"Um…. a dinner… party," Aria lied.
"Okay! Let's go find you a dress!" Mona grabbed Aria's arm and dragged her to Jessica McClintock.
"Mona... these dresses aren't exactly what I'm looking for…."
"Come on! Just try this one on! This color would look great on you! Oh, and this one!" Mona ripped dresses off he racks and persistently shoved Aria into a dressing room. "Model them for me!" Mona called. Aria rolled her eyes, wishing Mona would not be so intrusive. The first dress was a short, deep purple ruched taffeta bustier dress. Aria tried it on, surprised at how much she liked the way it looked. She reluctantly came out. Mona squealed. "Omigod, that dress looks adorbs! You can thank me later!" Aria began to open her mouth to protest, but Mona interrupted her. "Han, doesn't the dress look absolutely gorge on Aria?" Hanna just nodded her head.
"I think I'm going to try the next few on, you know, to keep my options open." Aria rushed back in to the dressing room, in order to avoid Mona getting too excited. Mona was awfully stubborn when it came to things she wanted or liked. Aria just waited in the dressing room, pretending to try on the dresses. She then walked out, telling Mona, "The rest of them didn't look right."
"Okay! So come on, let's by the purple one!" Mona grabbed the dress and headed for the register.
"Mona… I don't want the dress. It's not my style and it's too fancy for the dinner!" Aria practically yelled. Mona was taken aback. "O-okay… But you could have told me!"
"I tried."
Mona bounced back and put a smile on her face. "So this place was a bust… let's try somewhere else."
Mona dragged the girls to 344 and made Aria try on a coral high-low dress and a zigzag print belted dress. Once again, they were not what Aria was looking for. The girls went to Free People where Mona found Aria multiple maxi dresses. Aria was not fond of any of them. They then went to BCBG Maxazria. Mona found Aria a light pink short sweetheart A-line dress, a red body con v-neck dress with an open back, and a royal blue sleeveless sheath dress with cutouts at the bodice and back. Aria tried on the dresses. When she got to the blue one, she was surprised at herself for loving it and the way it fit her. She walked out of the dressing room. "It's the one!" she squealed.
"Damn, girl! Look at YOU!" Hanna exclaimed.
"Perfect!" Mona grinned. Aria then looked at the price tag and her eyes bulged out. "Holy crap, I do not have enough money for this dress!" She reluctantly put it back on the hook and then headed to Nordstrom. Aria tried on a turquoise and charcoal striped dress. She modeled it for Hanna and Mona, who both scrunched up their noses. She tried a yellow lace dress. Hanna stuck her tongue out, and Mona shook her head. Hanna grabbed an emerald strapless dress which they both agreed was very pretty, but when Aria tried it on, Mona decided it looked "awkward" on her. Finally, Aria found a wine colored peplum dress that fell around five inches above the knee with cap sleeves. She tried it on and then came out. "I think I'm going to get this one!" She said excitedly.
"Aria, I actually like that one more than the blue one! It looks gorgeous!" Hanna gushed.
"I love the color on you!" Mona said, and Aria bought the dress.
"So, are we looking for shoes?" Hanna asked.
"Not today," Aria replied, "I'll just wear my black flats with the gold detailing."
"Okay, sounds good. Wanna go to Red Mango to celebrate?" At Red Mango, Hanna got a vanilla froyo with boba, and Mona got a vanilla coffee chiller, and Aria got a strawberry banana smoothie.
A/N: smoooooooooothie. Made from real stuff, don't cost too much. Oh sweet surrender, straight from that blender. (Who gets the reference?)
The girls wandered around the mall a little longer, Aria feeling freer, like a weight was lifted from her shoulders.
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