After school with Devon was different now. We never went out again and we didn't talk that much. We would do our homework in silence and only talk if needed too. Once we were done, we would say a small good-bye and I would go up stairs to find Marissa, finally alone. 

 

Marissa constantly gave me worry looks as I sat on my bed. My head always faced down and everything about seemed so gloomy. 

 

"You could tell me what's wrong you know. Sabrina isn't here." Marissa commented a few times after school in our dorm. 

 

"You wouldn't understand." Was my answer every single day. "So, the dance is in two days now. Anything new to tell me." I tried changing the subject. 

 

"Can we please stop talking about the dance for one day?" Marissa grunted. "I get tired of that." 

 

I shrugged and for a long time, a smile appeared in my face. It felt comforting and warm but not enough.  I looked up at Marissa to show my smile to her and I could tell she became a little less worry. 

 

"Are you sure though? You're not going to the dance? It'll be fun." Marissa encouraged me. 

 

"I only have today to go shopping." I answered. I played with my fingers. 

 

"Then, we can go right now." Marissa said getting up. Reaching for her jacket and her shoes. 

 

"I though you hated shopping." I commented in her odd behavior. 

 

"I know, but you need to lighten up a bit." She said with a soft smile. She put on her jacket and shoes. She tossed me my black jacket and my shoes. I grabbed them and put them on. I pulled my jacket sleeved down on my right hand to cover the scar. I looked up to see Marissa already by the door holding the key to our dorm, swirling it in her hands. 

 

"Ready?" She asked as she pulled open the door, holding it for me to exit first. I gave a small nod, saying I was ready to go. I walked out of the door and gave a quick glance on what I was wearing today and it was a white Aeropostale sweater with long skinny pants. My hair let loose. As for Marissa, she wore a long sleeve shirt with a sweater over it, skinny pants, and long boots.

 

We both walked out of the school in silence and as soon as hit downtown, Marissa attempted to start a conversation as she looked at the windows of the stores to see what they had.

 

"What type of dress do you like?" She asked, glancing at a window store again. 

 

"For the last time, I'm not going." I said, annoyed by her protesting. 

 

"Just in case." She commented as she stopped at a window. It had many elegant gowns in it and Marissa gave a small smile. "We could shop here. Since it is the Winter Ball." 

 

"No." I argued. I didn't look at the window. 

 

"Stop being a grouch and lighten up." Marissa said as she grabbed my hand and dragged me in the store. 

 

The store had gowns and dresses all over the place. On racks and on shelfves. Everywhere. They was an area for a fitting room, accessory area, and shoes area. I gave a heavy sigh as I looked at the store. Everything was in color order.

 

"Come on, it can't be that bad." Marissa whispered softly. She started to walk towards the gowns and dresses area and gave a quick glance to see if I was following, I was.  

 

Marissa looked at racks and immediately went to the blue and purple section of the store. Finding outfits for me was hard, due to my hair color and I could tell Marissa didn't want the dress to clash to much with my hair. She pulled a blue dress from the racks and shook her head. She didn't give me a chance to see it. I guess because she already knew I was going to say no to everything. She walked right past me and looked at the purple dresses. She went for the darker colors but not the to dark colors. She pulled out several dresses shaking her head every time. It seemed like months went past until Marissa handed me a dress. 

 

"Try this on." She gave a light smiled and pointed to the fitting rooms. 

 

I gave a small fake smile and walked towards the fitting room. I got a number saying how many dresses I was taking in and found a empty room to change in. It probably took me five minutes to change in the purple dress. When I was done I looked up to see how I looked like. The purple dress was poofy, like what the princess wore in movies. The first layer was sparkly and the rest were just layers of dark purple and purple. The top part of the dress had small straps that ran across my shoulders, but were invisible, so it looked like the dress had no sleeves at all. The top was very silky and smooth and it had a small jewels running across it, forming a small belt. The small jewels made it look like snow and I knew immediately I loved this dress. It looked great on me and it suited me well. I had to say it was one of those dresses that you would have seen in TV. I gave a smile to myself and unchanged. As I walked out of the dressing room and gave my number to the woman in the front Marissa waited for me outside.

 

"You like it don't you." She said with a smile. 

 

"Yes. Yes I do." 

 

"I knew it. I already have shoes you can borrow. Do you have accessories?" She asked as she pointed to the accessory area. 

 

I nodded my head as I tried my best to keep the dress of the ground. Marissa took the dress from my hands and carried it in her hands. "Lets go pay." 

 

 

 I was surprised with the price. (Around 90 bucks.) As we walked Marissa looked at me as she carried the dress in a box. "I'll be right back. I'll just put this way okay." She zoomed off and came back less than a minute later. 

 

"Welcome back." I said with a smile. 

 

"Now that's the Arya I know."

 

For the rest of the day we probably just walked around and talked nonsense. We made sure nobody was close enough to hear is because if they did, they would think we would need to go to a mental hospital. It was a fun day I could recall. No drama, no worries, and a bonus was it was just Marissa and I. 

 

"Want to go eat at Carl's Jr?" Marissa asked as she pointed to the closest eating place available. "Or do you want to keep on walking?" 

 

"Lets eat." I decided, since I could tell it was about 6 o'clock. 

 

We walked across the street to get to the Carl's Jr for a short stop to eat. Once we arrived, it was very deserted and we we're very glad about that. I ordered a Buttermilk Ranch sandwich with a side of fries. While Marissa got a chess burger with also a side of fries. We to the number plate and chose a table in a secluded area blocked off with a glass window and the only way to get in there was by a door. Once we entered, sat down, got our food, Marissa surprised me with a question.

 

"So how was your past time with Devon?" She said as she took a bite out of her hamburger. She made it sound like it wasn't a big deal, when obviously to her it was. 

 

"How did you know?" I asked, avoiding to answer. 

 

"Answer, first. Then I'll talk." Marissa said as she took yet another bite of her burger. She was eating very slow and not making eye contact with me. When her black beady eyes was what I wanted to see in this conversation. 

 

"Fine, I suppose. Now your turn." I replied, slowly taking a bite out of my sandwich. 

 

"Is the burn scar still there?" She asked, yet another question. Without saying a single word, I pulled up my sleeve and showed her my scar on my hand. 

 

"Now, your turn." I said, my anger was rising. 

 

"I'm not stupid, first of all. Second of all, I see how you walk in the room. Like you had the best day ever. Except, for the past few weeks." Marissa said with a small smile on her face, as she finished her last bite of her hamburger. 

 

"Okay, so?" I said. 

 

"Arya, you like him. That's my problem." Marissa said, plainly. She didn't make eye contact with me at all.

 

The room began ice chill cold and my eyes darken, "No! I don't! He's ignorant! Stupid! And most importantly has issues!" I said, the room started to chill with a cool breeze rushing by that would make you shiver, but not Arya. She felt nothing. 

 

"Chill." Said Marissa with a smile smirk at her own witty comment. Arya sat down and the room soon became room temperature. 

 

"I don't like him." I muttered as I took my final bite and crossed my arms. 

 

"Just admit it and then you'll calm down." Marissa said as she got up to throw the trash away in a quick flash. 

 

"I hate him. I hate him. I hate him." I muttered to myself over and over again. Even as we walked back to school. I had to get that conversation out of my head, but what really bugged me was Marissa was smiling the whole time. I didn't like him and I wouldn't want to anyway. 

 

By the time we got back to school it was 7 pm and Marissa wanted to take a shower so I let her before we went to bed. After both of us took our shower, Marissa went straight to sleep. While I was wide awake. 'I hate him' was all I could think of that night, but I knew it was the truth. I absolutely did know, but deep down, it felt wrong.