Page 4 of The Good Char
“But a hotdog shop?Really?”
Nicole quietly ate her corndog as she stared over both our shoulders.I was too excited to be as bothered as Cindy wanted me to be.There were so many things that I could do with this extra money and there was nothing she could do or say that would take my excitement away.
Taking a bite out of my corndog, my stomach purred in satisfaction.I happily turned around and waved at my new boss before taking another bite.We devoured our amazing food and drank down our pink lemonade with a giant gulp.Cindy and Nicole finished up their meals and quickly got up to throw away their paper trays.
I took one last delicious bite and waved at my new boss once more before tossing my food away but kept my drink.He stared at me with a blank expression but I knew he was excited to have me on board as well.
“So where are we going next?”Nicole asked.
“I don’t know but I have loads of energy now that my stomach is full!”I giddily answered before taking another sip.The cold liquid was refreshing and gave me a pep to my step.
We continued to explore the stores on the bottom level and I couldn’t take my mind off the fact that with my new job, soon I would be able to do all the things I wanted to do.
“Girl, what you need to do is party more,” Cindy called out to me from across one of the clothing racks.“Greg took me to Deadman's Hill last night, and girl, he pulled out his little dick and asked me to suck it.I told him I wasn't interested in cocktail weiners,” she laughed.
I choked on the remnants of ice in my cup, spitting it everywhere.Feeling flush from embarrassment, I quickly wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, hoping no one saw me.
“That is so funny.I mean, how uncool can someone be?Like, eww, but you really need to calm down,” Nicole told her with nonchalance.“You are going out with a new guy every week and I mean, are you sleeping with them?”
Cindy gave us a sly smile before tapping finger at the corner of her mouth in consideration.“Well, only if they have a nice large?—”
“Okay!”I exclaimed, tossing the rest of my drink away in a nearby trash can loudly.“I don't want to know!”I placed my hands over my ears and began humming.
She was my best friend and I know I'm not supposed to judge her but she was becoming a tramp and didn’t realize it.Cindy needed to understand that she was so much more than what her body had to offer.
Nicole bursted out with a laugh and they both turned into a fit of timed giggles by the end of it.I rolled my eyes and gave them a smile, unable to help myself.It was contagious.
We exited the clothing store after Cindy bought some sexy lingerie and looked left and right.The Pizzeria Arcade enticed everyone nearby with animatronic laughter and a bustle of teenagers constantly streaming inside.All of the stores lined up near us offered everything a person could want.It was no wonder teenagers loved to hang out here, getting lost for hours on end.
“Where should we go next?”I asked the girls, my eyes straying to the Dark Spells Comic shop.
“Girlfriend!Is that you?”
We all turned to see several people coming toward us, none that I recognized.They must be Cindy’s other friends from her subdivision from the looks of them.I stood there silently as they began chatting up.
“I see you brought your pet with you,” a tall red headed girl, dressed in a fashionable checkered dress and high top sneakers noted.The other two girls giggled at her joke, which I didn’t understand, when Cindy quickly put them in their place.
“Pet?”she snapped.“She’s my friend and a hell of a better friend than you!So if you don’t like her, see yourself the hell away from us.You got that?”
She grabbed my arm and pulled me right between them, splitting the crowd like the red sea.Most of their mouths hung open, some of them glaring but I innocently turned my head away and continued to let Cindy lead me from the wolves with Nicole following right behind us.
I didn’t know what happened, but I also didn’t like the vibe I got from them by the way they looked at me.I hope Cindy wasn’t mad because of me being awkward around them.
“Let’s go.We don’t have time to talk to losers, Kimmy,” she said aloud for them to hear even though we were already a few feet away.“They let anyone in here, don’t they?”
I blinked a few times.Was she mad at them and not at me?
She began to giggle and then Nicole joined in over her crazy antics.I pretended to laugh boisterously with her but that red headed girl really did hurt my feelings now that I knew she was talking about me.I get it.I wasn’t the prettiest and I didn’t look like them with my obvious straight black hair.I didn’t have the money they have.
Maybe Cindy would be better off without me.She should be hanging out with people like them, shouldn’t she?Instead of keeping a sore thumb like me around because she was being nice.
As if reading my change in mood, Cindy quickly piped up again.“Girl, you know what would cheer you up?Photo booth!Let’s take some bestie pictures!”she squealed.Her enthusiasm made me smile because sometimes I didn’t feel I deserved such a good friend.
She dragged both Nicole and I across a few stores until we spotted one.We all climbed inside the picture booth together and began making funny poses, holding up peace signs and making a lot of other bizarre moves while the camera flashed.Once it was done, we spilled out of the booth in a fit of giggles as we impatiently waited for the pictures to print.
We hugged each other while the pics finally decided to print out.They looked so cool.I pulled out my trusty scissors from my purse and began to cut each picture individually.
“Smart, Kimmy!”Cindy crowed.“Who knew your nerdiness with sewing would come in handy, eh?”
