I didn't know why, but the rising excitement I felt as the elevator stairs lifted me higher to level two of the shopping mall all but consumed me.

"What are you grinning at, young lady?" Came my Moms voice as she guided me off the top step.

She tilted her sunglasses to take a better look at me. "You're excited about something. What is it?"

I couldn't explain what on earth I was getting tingly feelings about. All I knew was that I had butterflies in my belly and felt my heart skip a beat.

What was all this about?

I caught my reflection in a shop window, and my image morphed into a mannequin half my size. "Woah, I love that dress!" I gasped.

In the mirror reflection, the dress fitted me perfectly. The way the dark red crimson body-con dress fitted every curve in my body and that it came up just above my knees. A mini bow at the very top of the dress added a sort of end piece to it, making me fall in love with it even more.

I wanted that.

But I couldn't.

Where would I wear that to? I didn't even go anywhere that was exciting. But, it would be nice if I could wear something other than sweatpants and sweaters everyday.

"Sweety, that would look beautiful on you." Mom commented, whilst wrapping her arm around mine. "My treat." She said and I looked up at her wide-eyed.

My eyes searched hers. Seeing no indication of it being a joke, I ran into the store and headed straight to the section. As soon as I grabbed ahold of the dress, the fabric fell straight onto my hands and I got the sudden urge to scream and dance. It was so pretty!

"Why don't you go and try it on?" My Moms voice brought me back into reality and She brushed my hair back behind my ears.

All I could do was nod before practically skipping to the fitting rooms. As I shut the curtain behind me I caught site of my Mom taking a seat on one of the big poof chairs.

I smiled to myself and turned back to the dress that was in my hand. I undressed myself and slipped into the dress - and surprisingly it fitted me well. With it on fully, I stared at myself in the mirror. It was exactly how it was on the mannequin. The straps unbelievably fitted my arms, the dress was wide enough to fit my hips, and it wasn't too long that I looked like a weirdo. It fitted perfectly, and for the longest time in my life, I actually felt pretty.

I dragged the curtain to one side and stepped out.

Immediately my Moms eyes lit up and she tossed the magazine to the side. She stood up and made her way over to me, her eyes wide in awe. "Let me grab my phone! I need to send this to grandma!" She squealed and grabbed her phone from her bag.

No, no. This would end up going all over Facebook for all the forty year old mothers of five to see. "Mom, no!" I shook my head in panic but it was already too late. She was already taking pictures of me and they likely had me looking like a moody bitch. That would be something grandma would comment on because she always had something to say about every little thing I did. Mom said it was because she was very opinionated and wanted the best for me. But sometimes the things she'd say, would be flat out rude.

Like, 'You need to get more meat on your bones,' 'You're awfully skinny for a seventeen year old,' 'Maybe you shouldn't wear that because it doesn't work well with your figure.'

But apparently she was only telling me this because she wanted the best for me. But she didn't know what things went on inside my head. She wouldn't like me to comment on her problems now would she?

It was probably just because I was a kid that she felt she could comment on every little thing or make me feel bad for something I couldn't change. Yes I was skinny, yes it looked weird and not normal, but I couldn't help that my body wasn't allowing me to properly grow and fill out on my bones.

I rolled my eyes at my thoughts and grimaced as my Mom took another picture. Then another, and another, oh, and another one. "Stand up straight for me sweetie!" She had the audacity to ask but I complied anyway. It would save us all from all the nonsense she came out with - like how I should always listen to her because she was older, and that was apparently how things worked.

I groaned, and straightened up my back and placed my hands on my hips. "If anyone I know sees this, I'm on the next flight out to somewhere you'll never find me." I stared at my Mom pointedly but she just nodded in response, her phone snapping a couple more pictures.

"Right that's enough. You've had you're fun." I said after a minute and turned around to get dressed back into my normal clothes again.

After Mom paid for the dress, I slid the bag off the counter and made our way out of the store; a happy smile plastered my face. "Thanks, Mom."

"It's nice to see you happy." She kissed the side of my head as we headed down the escalator. She pointed to a little mini café. "Why don't we grab something to eat, honey?" She asked and I followed her over there.

"I like this idea." I comedically commented as I came to walk beside her.

As we entered the little mini café, I was right away welcomed with the strong smell of coffee beans and the sweets smells of the pastries and brownies that were displayed out in cases. My stomach growled for a brownie.

"Hey guys, what can I get for you today?" A friendly looking guy with crazy, cool pink hair asked and for some reason, his attention seemed to be only on me. But it wasn't just a usual glance, his eyes were awkwardly staring into mine.

"Hi, one one black coffee one cheese toasty please." My Mom said and the guy nodded, tapping it down onto the register.

"Is that everything for you?" The guy asked and my Mom looked at me. I walked in front of her and glanced at the menu board on the wall.

"Can I get a blueberry smoothie and one of those brownies there please?" I pointed to the baked good displayed on a stand. I didn't feel that hungry to eat something filling right now.

I shivered in discomfort as the guy sent me a toothy smile. His eyes were on me for too long for it to be normal. What made it worse was that Mom was nudging my side and sending me the eyes of 'he's cute.' He was not cute.

"Are you guys eating in or out?" He asked and his eyes dropped to my chest.

"In, please." I replied and felt overwhelmingly embarrassed.

Then he smirked.

Was he some some freak?

"He likes you." My Mom whispered to me as we walked over to our table. I puffed out my cheeks and sat down in a seat.

"He's just being friendly." I whispered. He was being way too friendly, and looking down at my chest. Who did he think he was?

"Too friendly for it to not mean something. Trust me. I've lived longer than you, I know about this stuff." She said and sent me a weird wink. I ignored her words for a few seconds as a guy placed down our drinks.

"We'll bring over with your food once they're ready." He said, putting the tray under his arm before walking away.

I sighed and looked up to see that same guy grinning at me just before he helped another customer. I almost vomited in my mouth as I saw him smiling and winking to a girl half his age.

He really was a weirdo.

"Why don't you do the napkin number thing?" My Mom said.

"The what?" I asked her and she she quickly grabbed a napkin from beside her and gave it to me.

I stare down at it in disbelief. "I'm not in a movie Mom. No way am I doing that." I told her.

"I did this once, with your father actually. That's how we met." She leant forward, her arms crossed on the table.

"What happened?"

"Well, I thought he was cute so I wrote down my number on a napkin and told the waitress to give it to him for me. He later on phoned me up and it went on from there." Her voice trailed off at the end and I noticed how she looked spaced out. Her voice managed to get quieter as she looked out the window, a burdened thought on her mind.

"You guys really set the bar high." I said and she scoffed, swirling around the coffee in her hand.

"I guess you could say that. He was a real charmer back in the day." Her lips curved downwards into a slightly sad smile. I caught her eyes faltering as she looks down at the table.

"Are you okay Mom?" I asked, leaning in closer, (well, as much as I could from sitting across from her).

She quickly snapped her head up at my words and immediately broke out into a q smile.

"I'm fine sweetie. Don't worry about me." She placed her hands on top of mine and gave me a warm, but uncertain smile, almost as warm as her hands. I decided to trust my Mom and ignore the weird feeling in my stomach. I was sure it was nothing.

"Are you ready to go back to school sweety?" She diverted the conversation rapidly and I leant back in my chair, hands playing with the straw of my smoothie. I quickly took a sip.

Not only did I hate school in general, but not having Betty being by my side to keep me company was going to be one of the hardest things.

I had always relied on her to bring me out of my shell. So, was I really ready to go back to school?

I shrugged, taking another sip of my drink to get it to push the frightening and sickening feeling bubbling up in my stomach.

"I understand. I used to have many problems in school and it wasn't nice." She took a sip of her coffee and I leant forward on my elbows, eyes urging for her to carry on.

"So what happened?" I asked.

She lets out a cut short breath. "Oh, nothing." She took another sip of her drink and my brows knitted together.

"What do you mean nothing? You didn't do anything?" My voice raised.

"Yes."

"Aren't you supposed to be saying stuff that's reassuring?"

"Not really. I'm not going to sugarcoat how amazing High School was for me. It was bad to an extent but it did get better."

I hummed in response. "I just don't know what to do Mom." I said honestly. I didn't know if my last year, the year everyone was excited for, was really going to live up to its expectations. Up to my expectations.

I didn't want my last year of High School to go to waste when I should be enjoying life. Going to parties, hanging out with friends, drinking like any other teenager does. Instead, I found more comfort in staying in room watching Netflix and eating junk food.

"I was in your exact position until I met Lydia in College. Things do get better, but for the meantime, you're just going to have to make the most of High School. I know we don't have the perfect house, the perfect family, but you're a bright girl that I love dearly and I know you're going to be okay. I'm always here for you, you know." She squeezed my hands as she looked at me, her tone of voice soft as silk.

My Mom had always been there for me, and I couldn't thank her enough. She would never understand how much she impacted my life. Without her, I'd be lost. So lost.

She let go of my hands to take our plates from the waitress who had swiftly arrived with our food. "Thank you." My Mom said to the girl and I took my plate from my Mom. I licked my lips before taking a big bite out of my brownie.

Suddenly, with my hand covered in chocolate and my mouth packed with the brownie, my phone started ringing. I groaned and swallowed the mouthful of brownie down. Dang, I wanted to enjoy that.

I wiped my hands on a napkin, "Is that Betty?" My Mom asked I shrugged, immediately pulling my phone out from my bag to check the contact number.

I felt a happy smile fall onto my face and I give my Mom a quick nod. "Say I say hi!" She whispered and I walked away, finding a hallway to speak to her that was away from all the loud coffee machines and blenders.

I quickly picked up the call, eager to hear her voice and to find out how she was doing all the way over there in London.

"Where have you been, I was starting to think you died!" I said as soon as I picked up. I was met with a chuckle from the other side of the line.

"You're so positive." She commented, a hint of humour lacing her tone. I rolled my eyes playfully, even though she can't see me.

"What do you expect when I don't hear from you B." I retorted and she sighed happily.

"You worry too much."

"Don't act like you wouldn't worry about me if I was flying to a new country and wasn't picking up the phone two days after the flight!" I replied with a slight laugh.

"I'd only worry that you'd end up getting yourself arrested or something crazy like that." She laughed and I leant back against a wall, letting my head falling against it too.

"How is it over there then?" I asked. I was really excited to know all about how London was. I had heard great things and I really wished to visit there sometime.

"Well, looking outside right now, it's pitch black. I'm totally jet-lagged too." She sighed and it sounded like she just had just thrown herself down onto her bed.

I slapped my hand on my face. "Course! It's night time there! I forgot about the different time zones." I must've been so caught up with everything to even remember that she was eight hours ahead.

"I'm way ahead of you over here. I didn't think it would impact me massively, but I was wrong." She groaned and I switched my phone into my other hand.

"Why did you call me when you should be relaxing?" I questioned.

"I wanted to see how you are. I miss you." She whined.

"I miss you too. It feels really weird having you not with me." I said. It felt weird not being around my best friend. "How are things over there? Is everyone treating you right?"

She laughed. "Will, I have only just got here." She told me, amused. "But yes, everyone has been very kind so far which is great. But that's not what I'm worried about. It's mostly how my new school is going to be like. What if they won't like me? I mean, they've already settled in, I'm the newbie who's also American." She frantically said and I could sense the overwhelming panic in her voice.

"Trust me, everyone at your new school is going to love you. You're a great person. You have nothing to worry about." I reassured her and she let out a long, tight breath.

I wished she could just come back here already.

"I hope so." She said, her voice sounding downcast.

"Wait, does that mean you're in the future?" If she was eight hours ahead and I was eight hours behind, that surely meant I was speaking to her from the past.

The line went silent and I knew she was sighing to herself. I always had these weird thoughts and normally she'd just rugby tackle me to the ground. "I have not a clue about the science behind it."

"But it's a proper question that needs an answer." I whined.

"Will, I'm too tired to even comprehend all of that shit if I'm honest. Why don't you search it up?" She suggested but I groaned in response.

"It takes too long doing that. Plus it'll probably give me some weird science facts that won't answer my question." I said, and she sighed heavily. I could tell she was done with me. I did tend to annoy her quite a lot. But all that did come in my friend description.

Hey, guess what?" I said and she hummed.

"What?"

"Mike's asked me out on a date this Friday. To a drive-in cinema." She gasped.

"No way! He's been out for you ever since he laid eyes on you're fine ass." She laughed again and I shut my eyes, grinning to myself. If anyone could see me right now, I definitely looked like some sort of weirdo who smiles at phone calls.

"So, how do you feel about that? Are you into him?" She questioned but I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"I kind of said yes to him because I was afraid to say no." I muttered quietly, not sure if she could understand what I just said.

She snorted loudly. Yep. She definitely heard me. "So you're telling me, that you said yes because you couldn't say no?" She let out a loud belly laugh and that made me groan into my hand.

"That's what I said, wasn't it?" I mumbled in frustration. I really did feel bad for Mike. I didn't want to play with his feelings. It was even worse because he was extremely nice - too nice, actually.

That was why I wasn't attractive to him.

"Yes, yes. I just wanted to hear it again." She said whilst still laughing, but thankfully her laughter soon died down eventually. "If I was there when he asked you I would've shut him immediately."

"But that's mean, isn't it?" I whined and she scoffed.

"Girl, you literally said yes to him because you didn't want to say no."

My mouth opened but then closed straight after. "I'm still going to give this date a try, though. I could surprise myself and actually like it."

"I'm sure he'll take good care of you. But be careful." She warned me amusingly.

I slammed my eyes shut. "Whatever! I don't want to know!"

She laughed. "Don't forget to thank me when the time comes."

Betty had always been good like that. She had always had my back. She'd always do anything for me if I asked, sometimes when I didn't ask. Like the time when we went to a carnival and some kid took the last of the Cotten candy which meant I couldn't have any so she had a right go at them and made them cry.

Yeah.

Least she had my back, I guess.

"Do you think I should go tomorrow? I don't know now." I groaned, regretting my decision.

"I think you should go. Look at it on the bright side, Will. You're watching a free movie and eating free food that he's paying for. That's a win win if you ask me." She said, somehow it made me feel even worse. Going on a date I didn't even want to go on and he was also paying for. How ungrateful was I being?

"I guess." I mumbled.

"Make sure you tell me all about it afterwards."

"Don't worry, you'll be the first to know." I told her and she giggled. "How's your family finding it being over in London?" I asked and my eyes regretfully caught onto the boy behind the counter. I swiftly turned to my side, where his beady eyes couldn't see me anymore.

He gave me the chills. He was so creepy.

"Tommy likes it here, Isaac not so much. He's the older one so it's affected him more, I guess." She sighed and I nodded in understanding.

"That seems fair enough. But I'm sure he'll come around soon."

From the other side of the line I could hear Betty's Mom call for her. "Will, I've got to go bed. but I'll definitely make sure to call you again tomorrow." She said and I cleared my throat, my heart dampening at her words. It felt like I was saying goodbye to her all over again.

"Okay, speak tomorrow." With that, the call ended, leaving me staring down at my own reflection on my phone. I pressed it against my heart and took in a deep breath before sliding it back into my pocket and walking back over to the table where my Mom was.