LAILAH #2
It took me a minute to get out of the car and get my equilibrium back.
Once I got past the dizziness, I finally had a chance to look around.
The little town of Nettleton had been well-preserved.
All the modern cars that were parked along the stone-faced shops looked so out of place.
The tires of the cars passing by sounded funny as they rolled over the cobblestone roadway.
Each shop had a hand-painted, wooden sign that let shoppers know what they offered inside.
Groups of students, full of energy, laughed and dashed in and out of the stores with loaded bags.
“Come on, the sandwich shop is just around the corner,” Cami said, locking the car and walking away.
Slipping my purse over my shoulder, I jogged after her.
For a person with such short legs, she moved superfast. I couldn’t get over the feeling that I was on a movie set or something.
There’s no way a place like this could be around in real life.
Maybe it was just because I hadn’t traveled out of my home state, but this felt strange.
The sandwich shop was cute. We ordered our sandwiches at the counter and then found a place to sit and eat. We decided to eat inside since the last of the summer heat was still hanging on.
“Besides your school supplies, is there anything else we need to get you while you're in town?” Cami asked as we cleaned up after our meal.
“Not that I can think of, but I’m sure I’ve missed something. Guess we’ll just have to make another trip,” I said, smiling because I liked the idea of having a friend to go shopping with.
“To make the most of today, I figured we need to stop in every shop, so you at least know what is available. For research, of course,” Cami said, winking at me.
Cami was going to be good at helping me get out of my own bubble. “Where to first?” I asked.
“Seeing as we just finished lunch, I think dessert is in order. There is a kick-ass bakery just up the way that you have to try,” Cami said, holding the door open for us to leave.
Cami wasn’t lying when she said the bakery was awesome.
Everything they displayed looked so decadent.
As I scanned the case, I stumbled upon the cookie section and was immediately drawn to the colorful ones.
Sugar cookies were my favorite thing in the world.
My mother made the best soft-textured sugar cookies ever.
She promised to send me a care package of them at some point, but I knew I would have to find a new dealer for my obsession.
“Would you like a sample?” the older woman behind the counter asked.
“Yes, I would love to try them,” I said, practically bouncing with joy.
“Did you want to try the frosted or soft kind?” she asked.
“Um, the soft, please,” I said, lifting my hands to take the chunk of cookie she’d cut for me.
I popped the morsel into my mouth and hummed with delight. It was almost as perfect as my mother’s recipe, and that was singing some high praise. “I would like to buy two of them, please.”
The woman wrapped up the two cookies for me and handed them to me when I’d paid.
“You seemed pretty happy to get those cookies,” Cami commented, giggling.
“They say that diamonds are the way to a woman’s heart, but for me, it’s through sugar cookies.” I laughed and pulled out a cookie.
As we exited the bakery, I lifted the cookie to my mouth, when I bumped into someone and dropped the cookie. I stared in shock at the crushed bit of cookie on the sidewalk and looked up to glare at whoever ran into me. Cami beat me to it.
“God! Parker! You’re such an idiot! Don’t you know to look where you're going? You totally smashed her cookie, asshole,” Cami snapped at the guy who’d run into me.
“Fuck off, Cami, it was an accident,” Parker said, going toe to toe with Cami.
Parker was handsome, like came-down-from-Mount-Olympus handsome.
He was tall and buff like a football player, but I could tell he would still move with agile grace.
His spiky red hair, warm brown eyes, and full lips perfectly complemented his strong facial features.
He also seemed to have quite the female posse shadowing him.
There were five girls behind him frowning at us.
“At least buy the girl another cookie to make up for your complete incompetence,” Cami said with her hands on her hips, eliciting gasps from the other girls.
Parker looked up at me as if he was noticing me for the first time. “I’m sorry I killed your cookie. I wasn’t expecting an angel to come crashing into town, let alone crash into one myself. If I’d known, I would have been paying better attention.”
I almost choked on my own spit hearing this guy making a pass at me. I had only ever had one boyfriend before, and that hadn’t ended very well. I cleared my throat quietly, trying to pull my act together.
“It happens. But make sure you’re watching out for people next time,” I said, trying to sound as disapproving as I felt, though I was flustered by his attention.
“Let me make up for it by getting you another cookie. It’s the least I can do,” he said, ducking into the shop without waiting for an answer and ignoring the fact that Cami came up with the idea first.
Cami and I waited awkwardly outside with the other girls he had been hanging out with. I couldn’t help but fidget uncomfortably. Thankfully, Parker didn’t take long, and he reappeared with a fresh sugar cookie for me.
He handed it over with a flourishing bow. “Might I know the name of the fair maiden this cookie is for?”
“Lailah, that’s my name,” I said lamely. Avoiding his eyes as I added the cookie to the bag with the other one I bought for safekeeping, not wanting to risk it while he was still around.
God. Why am I so awkward when it comes to good-looking guys?
“Lailah. A lovely name for a lovely lady. Where are you guys off to next? I would like to offer my escort services to make sure this cookie remains unharmed,” Parker said, grinning again.
“We don’t need your help! It looks like you have enough women you're dealing with today. No need to worry about us. I’ve got this covered,” Cami said, grabbing my arm and pulling me away without a second thought.
“We need to hit up the bookstore before we have that leech trying to attach himself to us for the rest of the day.”
“What’s his deal?” I asked, surprised at how much he’d gotten under Cami’s skin.
“He’s one of the five that live in The Manor,” Cami said as we crossed the street and headed for a building that had a line wrapped around the corner.
“Cami. Lailah. Wait up,” Parker yelled from behind us.
I looked over my shoulder to see him running after us, free of his fan club. Cami didn’t slow at all but sped up instead. Parker jogged up to us and then fell into step on my other side.
“Did you guys hear me?” he asked.
“We heard, just didn’t care,” Cami retorted.
“Geeze, Cami. Why do you have to be such a hard-ass all the time?” Parker grumbled.
Cami stopped and looked at him with a frown. “Parker, we’ve known each other for almost our entire lives, I know Lailah is not going to be your next plaything. I am doing you both a favor, just trust me on this.”
I felt like there was more to that statement than I got at face value, but it didn’t seem to matter to Parker.
“Whatever; I can be friends with Lailah,” he said and turned to me. “Would you like to be my friend?”
My head was spinning from all their back and forth. “All I want to do is go to school and keep out of the drama. I just want a normal college experience.”
“I didn’t hear a no in there,” Parker said, smiling and walking with us toward the bookstore.
As we approached, I noticed a familiar security guard at the front of the line. “Wow. They need a bookstore bouncer?” I asked.
“Yup, that’s Tony. He is a nice guy; he also works for the school security team,” Parker said as he walked up to Tony.
“Hey, Lailah, good to see you again,” Tony said, winking. “I see you’re already making more friends. You let me know if Parker here ever gets out of hand, I’ll straighten him out for ya.”
“Not cool, man. Don’t be spreading lies about me,” Parker said, punching Tony’s arm.
Ignoring Parker, Tony turned to me. “You got your list of books?”
“Yeah, I have it right here,” I said, showing it to him.
“Well, in you go then,” he said, holding the door open for us and grinning. “Not you, Parker, I know you don’t need anything from the bookstore,” Tony said, grabbing Parker’s shoulder.
Cami proceeded to stick her tongue out at him as she passed him into the bookstore. “Thanks a million, Tony. You’re a real gem, and don’t let anyone tell you any different.”