▌│█║▌║▌║Chapter 3║▌║▌║█│▌

I felt primal instincts rise up in me as I walked toward him. It will take everything in my power to not beat him on the spot. I purposefully walked to them, and I interjected my body in-between Romantica and the old man. I stared daggers at the old man, and he looked at me with fear in his eyes, though his body didn’t show it. “I-is she with you?” He asked me timidly.

I could feel Romantica digging her hands into my back, holding onto me as she clenches her eyes shut. I clinched my fist as I told him, “Yes, thanks for keeping an eye on her, but you aren’t needed anymore. Goodbye.”

“Y-yes.” He squealed before he ran away like a hurt puppy.

“You okay?” I asked, and I could feel Romantica’s head nodding on my back as she still clinched to me.

“Let’s head to the food court and meet up with everyone again. That would probably be best. You’re probably really hungry by now.”

She released her grasp from my back, and she moved beside me with a red face. “Was she crying?” I thought to myself.

As we walked through the maze of clothes, Romantica stopped multiple times to look at clothes in the aisles, and taking notice, I asked her, “Did mom get you any clothes, or did she only get Gia some?”

She hesitated for a bit, but finally shook her slightly after a while. I grabbed the last outfit she stared at that the mannequin had on, and she had a surprised look on her petite face. The outfit was pretty normal (Just a skirt, a shirt, and a small purse), but it would probably look better on her since she is better looking than the normal girl her age. It’s the least I could do for her since I made her wait for me for so long that she had a predator locked onto her.

I went to the cash register to pay for the clothes, and the cashier (who was an older lady) asked me, “Awww…Is this a present for your girlfriend there.”

I turned to see Romantica’s shy face looking at the cashier, and I turned back and said with a warm smile, “No ma’am, we are just friends.”

She beamed back a smile as she scanned the items, and she told me, “Ohh…You don’t usually see a guy buy a full outfit for just a friend.”

After she finished scanning the items, I took them and said, “Let’s head out Romantica.”

Her face seemed to look even redder than before, “Was she crying again?” I thought to myself.

We finally made our way out of the maze of clothes, and it was somehow easier finding my way around the store than it was earlier by myself. When we made our way into the mall hallway, there didn’t seem to be as many people wandering around as before. We wandered around the hallways for a bit, and we even saw a person performing on the mall piano. Romantica seemed to be really happy hearing the rhythmical notes emanating from the pianist fingers. Her energy started to glow upon hearing the song that was playing. After the song was over, I gave him a dollar for doing the song, and we left to the food court.

The food court was huge. The food shops lined the outside of the big room, while tables were set up in the center of the room. In the middle of the huge room, stood a tall fake tree that doubled as a playground for little kids.

Once we entered the food court, there was many choices to choose from. Before we went to meet up with my mom and the kids, I decided we should go get some food first. We went to a place that sold fried chicken, and I got a two for ten-dollar deal for a meal for the two of us. I texted my mom, asking her where she was seated at, and she answered back saying, “We are in the center of the court, by the big tree.”

I turned and told Romantica, “They are near the big tree in the middle of the court. Danny and Gia probably wanted to play on the tree playground to be honest.”

Romantica seemed to giggle at this as we walked toward the tree. I looked for mom around the tree, and I saw her sitting with the two kids waving at me. I started to walk over to them, but before I got there, I felt a slight tug on the back of my shirt. I turned around to see Romantica standing there with her head facing slightly down and away from me. “You can call me Rom. All of my friends call me that.”

I smiled at her. “Rom huh?” I thought, “I guess I made her feel better after that experience.”

“Well, I’m really hungry let’s go sit down and eat uh Rom.”

She let out a satisfied smile when I said Rom, and we went and sat down to eat with my family. I sat next to mom, and she sat next to the other two. Mom leaned over and asked me, “How are you feeling? I noticed you didn’t take your medicine today.”

I sat there and thought for a minute before answering, “I feel fine. I feel pretty good actually.”

I just noticed now, but for some reason my pounding headache has been gone for a while now. It’s actually really relieving. Gia broke through my reflective thoughts saying, “So what did you two do during all that time huh?!”

“Gah, I can feel my headache already coming back.” I thought to myself. I want to go home again now.

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