❝ Forget our friends, girl, I love it when we chill together.❞

— Stormzy, Burna Boy, Ed Sheeran, Own It.

I laughed at something Harper said as we walked out of the Girl Up meeting.

"You're one of the cheesiest people I know, Harper," I told her.

We were making our way to our lockers when Kaleb came along, panting. "Hey guys."

While Harper smiled, giving a small wave at him, I answered, "What's up?"

"I need your help," he took a breath in. "We used many balls for practice today, and coach asked me to take all of them back to the store room because I was the last one to leave the court. So, I need your help to take back the balls," he explained.

"Okay, stop saying balls... it's- it's disturbing," I cringed.

"But... they're balls," Kaleb raised an eyebrow and Harper chuckled, causing Kaleb to look at her, "Tell her to get her mind off the gutter." He looked back at me, "So? Are you down?"

"I'm sorry, but that can't work," I ran my fingers through my hair. "Remember I told you me and River have to go pick up a dress today?"

Kaleb facepalmed, "I totally forgot."

"I'm sorry, dude," I rested a hand on his shoulder.

"I- I can help you with it... if that's okay with you," Harper said beside me.

"Really?" Kaleb looked at her.

I noticed a bit of pink splash across her cheeks as she nodded.

"Cool," Kaleb said in relief. "Thank you so much. Lets go."

Harper turned to me, "I'll see you tomorrow, Renée?"

I smiled, "Sure. Bye!"

I raised an eyebrow, a little smile on my face as I watched them leave.

My phone buzzed, indicating I had a text, and it was one from River.

In order not to keep him waiting when he got there, I grabbed my backpack and made my way out of the school building. I stood by the parking lot where I knew he would be able to see me easily, when I heard my name being called.

"Renée!"

I looked back and was surprised to see Sydney approaching me. I pushed my hair away from my face. What now?

"Renée?" She called again, her voice brittle.

"What do you want?" I shot.

"Can we talk? For a few minutes?" She asked.

"No, I have nothing to say to you, so if you want to talk then go ahead."

She looked down for a second, unable to meet my eyes.

"What do you want, Sydney? I'm leaving soon." I pressed.

"H- Have you seen Kaleb?"

I shook my head, "No."

"I'm sorry, alright? I know I was terrible to you... all because I felt threatened by you. Yeah, I admit that. And I'm sorry because there wasn't exactly a reason to be," she swallowed. "I never started dating Kaleb for the wrong reasons, but I guess I got so wrapped up in the fact that I was dating him."

"You shouldn't be telling me these things. You didn't hurt me. It was Kaleb you hurt."

Why did I feel bad for her?

"Yeah, but I hurt you too. The- the posters on the board... that was me "

I chuckled humorlessly, "Tell me something I don't know. But, you think you hurt me? No, Sydney, you didn't hurt me."

"Well, I know I wasn't the best person to you."

"It's whatever," I shrugged. "You should look for Kaleb and talk to him."

A car pulled up beside us, and I saw Sydney's face mask surprise. I looked to see it was River, and I almost laughed when I realised why she was surprised.

"I have to go. I don't know, find Kaleb. Have a nice day." I told her.

I got into River's car, eyes on Sydney as I watched her walk away. I bit my lower lip, feeling ridiculous for feeling so bad for her.

"What's up?" River threw a quick glance at me. "Wasn't that Sydney? Did she say anything to you?"

I rolled my eyes, letting out a breath, "She came to apologize for "hurting" me, and she was telling me some story about Kaleb."

"So, in other words, she wants to get back with him?"

"Hell if I know," I shrugged.

He kissed my cheek, "I missed you. How was school?"

"Eh, it was alright."

"Ready to do some shopping?" He grinned, pulling away from the parking lot.

"How are you so excited about it?" I laughed.

"You see, my heart..." he started dramatically. "It's just super full when I'm with you."

I chuckled, bumping his shoulder, "You're so silly."

*

I had made up my mind. I was only going into three shops. Nothing more. One, I wasn't going to drag River into every shop, because knew that could be tiring. Two, I didn't want to get tempted at other shops. I had a budget for a dress and a little something I could get for River, and I didn't want to spend more than I had planned.

"Where are we going?" I heard River ask.

"I have 3 shops in mind. Macy's, Fred Segal, and Forever 21."

"Are all three shops at the mall?"

"Yep," I nodded.

"Great. This will be so fun."

*

"Uh... too short."

"That looks too loose."

"Won't lie, your ass looks great, but will you be able to breathe in that?"

"That gives way too much aluminium vibes."

"The color's too bright."

I sighed after hearing River's comments on all the dresses I'd tried on, "This isn't fun." I came back dressed in my normal clothes, "You're enjoying the fashion show, aren't you?"

"Kinda," he smirked.

"The goal was not to stress you," I told him.

"Well, we've got two more shops, right? We should go to Macy's."

"You're so getting a kiss if I find a dress there."

*

I looked at myself in the mirror, eyeing the burgundy sheath dress I had put on. It was cute, but the breath I had to suck in wasn't.

I walked out of the fitting room to where River sat, looking down at his phone.

"How's this one?" I asked and his head snapped up, "One, it's too plain. Two, are you comfortable in that?"

I shook my head, "I had to suck in a breath. God, River, this is so hard. I'm getting hungry."

He stood up and kisses my forehead, "Let's try maybe three more? After that we'll go get food."

"Fine," I nodded.

I walked back into the fitting room, picking up the second dress out of the seven ones I'd picked out.

It was a short chiffon dress with ruffles for layers. I liked it, plus it was very comfortable. Feeling confident, I went to meet River.

"Babe, this is stunning."

I smiled lightly, "Really?"

He nodded, "I love it. Don't you like it?"

I nodded too, "I do. I'm just happy we found a dress." I examined the dress on my body when I caught a glimpse of the price tag.

I blinked.

How did I not see that this was a couple more dollars above my whole budget?

"What's wrong?" I heard River ask in concern, and I looked at him, "I didn't see that it's so expensive. I don't have enough for it."

"You don't have to worry about it. I got it."

I shook my head, " No."

"Well, okay, I could always add to what you already have."

I looked at him, adoring him. "Thank you, River, but I can't let you do that. It's fine, I'll go try another one."

He nodded, "Alright. But, do you know if this place has a bathroom. I really need to pee."

I chuckled and pointed the way to the bathroom.

"I'll be right back," he told me before walking away.

When I saw that he had gone, I quickly grabbed the one grey sweatshirt I'd been eyeing.

Satisfied, I walked back to the fitting room to try on another dress. This one was a short royal blue dress. Off shoulder, it was tapered to the waist and had a flare to the knee. Without reservation, I loved it. I looked at the price tag and smiled.

Excited, I walked out to River who was now back from the bathroom.

"River," I called.

His eyes widened when he saw me, "You have to take this dress. It's better than the other one. It's... It's beautiful."

I nodded, agreeing with him. "I love it."

"So, we're taking it?" River smiled.

"We're taking it," I smiled back at him.

*

"Why is that shopping bag way bigger than what's in it?" River asked, taking a sip of his cookies and cream milkshake.

Lucky for me, I'd paid for my dress and the sweatshirt I got for him when he received a call from his mom and moved away from the cashier, so he didn't know that I had bought him something. Right after leaving Macy's, we went to Chick fil-A where we got milkshakes, chicken nuggets and spicy deluxe sandwiches.

It was amazing having a boyfriend who loved to eat just as much as I did.

"I have no idea," I shrugged, answering his question. "I'm just happy we found a dress."

"You owe me a kiss," he teased.

I chuckled, "I haven't forgotten."