*Key’s POV*

Thankfully the zoo wasn’t very crowded. In fact, there were so few people that at first sight I thought it was closed. I mean it wasn’t as big as Bronx Zoo or anything, but it was fairly large which made it even more surprising.

“Gift shop!” Taemin exclaimed as we crowded into the main building. He ran toward the little store, but stopped when he remembered Carolyn was on crutches. He came back and walked at Carolyn’s pace to the gift shop, though it was obvious he was itching to go explore.

“Yes, you kids can go look around while I check us in,” the manager said, waving a hand at us before walking over to the front desk.

We explored the little gift shop together. Since there were so many of us we practically filled the room ourselves. One woman sat behind the cash register flipping through a People magazine while twirling a strand of her curly brown hair. She barely paid us any mind.

We “split up” the best we could, all with the same idea in mind: Find something to buy for our lover. I racked my brain for all of Brianna’s likes and dislikes.

Brianna likes jewelry, ne? She’s always wearing those stretchy bracelets. Maybe I’ll see if they have any here! Oh Key, that’s tacky! Okay, I’m going to buy her something NICE.

I hurried over to a table filled with trinkets and jewelry, but got distracted by all the pretty watches and rings. For being a small store they definitely sold some valuable stuff!

“Oh-Ehm-Oh this is the ugliest monkey I’ve ever seen,” Vanessa whined behind me while making a disgusted face at the plush toy in her hands.

Nicole, who I was standing next to me admiring the animal necklaces, turned to look at the toy.

“Yeah, it looks like you,” she said casually while turning back to look at the jewelry.

I couldn’t help but let out a snicker.

“What?” Nicole asked, still not taking her eyes off the peacock necklace in one hand and the tiger necklace in the other.

“Oh, it’s just what you said was so funny,” I explained. “By the way I think the peacock one would look best on you. It’ll bring out the green flecks in your eyes while the darker shades tie in your deep hair color.”

“You think so?” she asked, holding it up to her and looking in the little mirror that was placed on the table.

“Yeah; here let me show you,” I said, setting down the bracelet in my hands and taking the necklace from her.

I unlatched it and slipped it around her neck while she lifted her hair. After attaching it again she let her hair fall and stared at herself in the mirror.

“See how this green part is making your eyes pop more?” I asked, reaching around her to point out the part of the necklace I was referring to.

“Oh, yeah! I see it! Thank you,” Nicole smiled, turning around to face me.

*Brianna’s POV*

I was so consumed in my search for the perfect ‘key’ chain for Key that I didn’t even notice what was happening on the other side of the store. I looked up with a smile at the sound of Key’s cute laugh, but my smile immediately faded. Key and Nicole were talking, but they seemed to be acting reallyyyy friendly.

What the heck?! I thought as Key slipped a necklace around her neck. The worst part was when he reached his arm around her. Finally I couldn’t take it anymore and I marched over to where the two were standing.

“Key,” I said, causing him to immediately turn around.

“Oh, hi Brianna! I need your opinion. Doesn’t this necklace look much better on Nicole than that one?” He pointed to a tiger necklace on the table.

“I think they’d both look good,” I shrugged.

“Ahh, that’s because you’re not looking at it through a diva’s eyes. If you look closely this tiger necklace is just average, while the peacock one has more flair and looks better. Therefore you’d be getting a better look and better quality for the same amount of money.”

I stared blankly at my fashion-sensitive boyfriend.

“Thank you soooo much Key,” Nicole said, breaking the silence. “I think it looks fantastic. I couldn’t imagine accidentally picking the wrong one!”

“It’s no problem,” Key smiled back.

Nicole reached up and hugged –yes HUGGED- Key before flashing him one last smile and waddling off to the register. Key turned to face me, his face immediately dropping when he saw my expression.

“What’s that look for?”

“What the heck was that?!” I asked.

“What are you talking about?” Key raised a confused eyebrow at me.

“You hugged her, you smiled, you laughed, you told her fashion advice and you made me feel like an idiot!”

“Okay, first off I was just being helpful. When someone is in need of fashion advice, it’s my job to help them. It’s my contribution to eliminating bad fashion.”

“Well that’s good for you,” I said sarcastically.

“Okay, you seriously need to calm down. And what were you talking about, saying I made you feel like an idiot?”

“Wow, Key. Are you serious right now?”

“Yes! I’m dead serious!”

I just shook my head, unable to believe my boyfriend’s insensitivity.

“You know what, if you don’t want to tell me; fine! I was planning on picking out a piece of jewelry for you, but apparently my fashion opinions aren’t allowed here! So why don’t you just pick one out yourself!” Key snapped.

“Fine! You want to know which one appeals to me?!” I grabbed the tiger necklace off the table and shoved it into Key’s hand. “Let’s see if this will ring a bell for you. Or maybe my likes and dislikes are too average for you to remember!”

I stopped off in anger, leaving Key to stare at the necklace with my favorite animal print on it.

He knows I like that print! He was even the one to suggest making a tiger print dress as his next design. Yet, there he goes calling it average. AVERAGE. Well fine! Maybe he’d be better off this that fashionista Nicole anyway, cause you know she wears NAME BRAND while I wear AVERAGE. Average will never be good enough for him.

The word rattled around in my head while I sat all alone on the bench outside the store waiting until everyone was done.

Average.