Remember this Face, Baby.

I applied a layer of lip gloss, rubbing my lips together to keep them smooth. I straightened away from the mirror and narrowed my eyes at my reflection, tilting my head to the side. A heard a soft giggle and looked over my shoulder, seeing Alexis sitting on my bed with pearls around her neck and lipstick smeared across her cheek. I laughed, quietly and shook my head, turning to look at my reflection, again.

I looked . . . decent.

"Knock, knock. Your chariot awaits," Kayla's voice rang throughout my room, making me look over at my door. She smiled, excitedly and walked towards the bed, grabbing Alexis who was crawling towards her. Kayla pulled Alexis up from her armpits and placed her against her hip, kissing Lexi's check that wasn't covered in red lipstick.

"Okay, let's go," I stated, grabbing my Guess purse and walking behind Kayla.

"Lexi, you look gorgeous!" Kayla laughed, staring at the baby watching her. Alexis smiled, showing her couple of teeth and grabbing a handful of Kayla's hair. She didn't pull, as I thought she would, but pet it as though it was an animal and smiled.

"Hey girls! Oh God, Karissa. What did you do to Alexis' face?" my mom asked, in complete horror.

"It's lipstick, mom. She wanted to look pretty, didn't you Lexi?" I said, childishly, giving Lexi a wet kiss against her chubby cheek. She giggled and with the back of her small hand, wiped the lip gloss away, smearing a red mark across her skin.

"Come on, let's go. I'll have her home before Monday morning," Kayla said, jokingly, kissing Lexi and handing her to my mom.

"I'm so sure," my mom said, sarcastically, letting Alexis bounce in her arms.

"I love you, baby. Mommy'll be back soon, okay?" I paused, kissing her small hand, then kissing my mom on the cheek.

"Behave yourselves, ladies. No getting into any trouble," my mom demanded, following behind us as we made it towards the door. Kayla opened the door and stepped onto the porch, heading towards her car parked in front of our house. I stepped onto the porch and turned on my heel, kissing Alexis and kissing my mom on the cheek, again, before walking towards Kayla's car and climbing inside.

"Bye, mom!" I called, waving out the window.

"Bye sweetheart!" my mom said, waving back at me and sending me a soft smile.

Kayla pressed on the gas and the car jerked to life, sending the car flying forwards. I settled myself into a comfortable position on the seat and placed one of my legs on the dashboard and one hanging out, slightly from the opened window. Today seemed perfect for a day to hangout with friends, it being one of the warmest day in October where sweaters and such, didn't have to be handy until later tonight.

Kayla tossed her straightened hair over her shoulder and looked over her shoulder, seeing if any cars were behind her and moved into a different lane. Slowly, she pressed the brake and stopped, just as it turned red. Kayla turned to me and smiled, jumping in her seat and grabbing my hand, shaking it, gently. I laughed at her giddiness and turned to the radio, switching stations.

"I'm so happy you came with me today, Karissa. I missed hanging out with you," Kayla squealed.

"I don't understand what you miss from when we hung out," I chuckled, lightly.

"Oh my God, did you really just ask that fricken question? What do I miss? Ugh, you're my fucking babe! You and me are just like a heart; you're one half and I'm the other. Without the other half, a heart isn't a heart, now is it? It's just a piece of one. When the two halves are together, they make a whole heart," she said, and I could see how much she meant it. Her eyes sparkled with care and sincerity, I wish I hadn't said anything.

I looked away from the radio and stared at my best friend, smiling down at me with compassion. I rolled my eyes at her and grinned, feeling giddy inside. "I like your theory," I declared, leaning back up and shifting into a comfortable position in my seat.

"Good, because we're fucking best friends and no one and nothing is ever gonna change that!" She exclaimed, loudly, catching the attention of a few teenage guys riding in the next car beside us. They grinned and sent smirks our way, making me flush, lightly and smile. Kayla waved at them, slowly and sent one a wink, before stepping on the gas and zooming past them.

I hadn't realized how much I truly missed spending time with my best friend.

◊

The mall, as Kayla had said, was ginormous and very beautiful. Everything seemed to sparkle and remind me of clear crystals, just the way the sun came from the open view windows above the mall. The sun was reflected on mostly everything I saw, giving the mall an elegant look. Each store in the mall had it's own style of fashion, if not a mixture of each. Not to forget the fabulous food court Kayla was so anxious to visit.

"We're here!" Kayla said, happily, outstretching her arms and almost hitting an elderly couple in the process.

"Sorry," I said, sending the couple an apologetic smile, as they grumbled how rude teenagers were nowadays. I rolled my eyes, as Kayla strutted towards a table near the middle of the food court and sat down, crossing her slender leg over the other in a graceful manner and flipping her hair over her shoulder. I watched as people stopped and stared at her, with longing and utter admiration.

Then, there was me.

I walked towards the table Kayla had claimed as hers and sat down, rather clumsily at that. Kayla looked around the cafeteria with fascination, trying to figure out which food place would be the best for her. I watched her eyes instantly light up as she stared at La Casa de Mexico and her hand slid into her purse, grabbing her wallet and standing up.

"What are you getting?" She asked, cheerfully.

"I'm not sure, but as you already picked what you're going to eat, go on," I chuckled, nodding my head towards the Mexican food place. She nodded, eagerly, turning on her stiletto heel and clicked away.

There were the times I wondered how Kayla had chosen me for a friend and well, how she wasn't embarrassed of being seen with me. She had always promised me that no matter what I did, she'd never be ashamed of me because I was her best friend and nothing about me bothered her. Truthfully, deep down I was jealous of Kayla and I knew that was a feeling I shouldn't be having, especially for her because she was like a sister to me. But, Kayla was the kind of person people turned their heads to stare after her as she passed by in the hallways, the streets, where ever she was. She had an atmosphere around her that made everyone love her and well, the odd people seemed to hate her to death. She was gorgeous in every aspect.

"I'm back," she paused and I watched as she looked over her shoulder and a small smile spread across her lips. She sat down and crossed her legs, pulling the try of tacos and quisadillas towards her. I raised an eyebrow as she gazed back up from her food and sighed, keeping her mischievous smile plastered on her face. "Before you ask, there's a hunk staring your way right now," she stated.

"He's probably looking at you," I replied, rolling my eyes and running my fingers threw my hair.

"Oh no, he's been staring over here like a hawk since I left. I've been watching him stare at you. He wants to talk to you," she said, matter-of-factly.

"I'm not going to argue with you. I'm going to get some Chinese," I mumbled, shaking my head as I got up and walked towards the Chinese stand.

My stomach grumbled, quietly as I paid for my Chinese food and walked towards our table, where Kayla was purposely ignoring a guy trying to pick her up. As I got closer to the table, I could hear some of what he was saying. I nearly laughed, as he bent down towards her level and smirked, flirtatiously.

"Awh, come on, sweetface. Why can't I join you? Why should such a beautiful girl like yourself, be sitting here alone? Why can't a gentleman like myself join you?" he asked, gently.

"No, no. I'm fine. I don't need anymore company than the one my friend is providing me. I don't want to repeat myself, I'm fine," she replied, in her melodious voice. Her voice sounded like bells ringing, chiming their own little song that entranced people.

"Well, I don't see anyone," he said, and only slightly, could I hear a hint of annoyance. Kayla looked up from her taco and sighed, heavily. She, finally, spotted me and sent me a pleading look. She didn't care that the boy trying to catch her attention watched her mouth, "Help," and ignored him, entirely.

"Hey, Kayla," I said, loudly, placing my tray of food on the table and pushing him away from my seat. He narrowed his eyes at me, then turned and stared at Kayla. "Sorry I took so long. I didn't think we would have such a nuisance," I added, ignoring the glare he sent me, once he realized he was the nuisance I was referring, too.

"Oh, it's okay. He was just leaving," Kayla replied, bitterly, glaring up at him.

"Fine," he said, abruptly and turned on his heel, walking towards a table filled with guys. I smiled, as they shook their heads at him and laughed as he got rejected.

"Why didn't you give him your number?" I asked, with mild curiosity.

"Well, at first I thought I might, but his pick up lines. Oh please, the bum on the street could have gotten my number quicker than he would've," She said, smugly, rolling her eyes and shaking her head, making her golden locks dance over her shoulders.

I grinned, shaking my head, "Why don't you go ask a bum out then?" I asked, sarcastically.

"If the bums cute, I will. I'll bring him home, clean him up and make him my play toy. But, I'm sure I won't be finding a good-looking anytime, soon. For now, I'm sticking to the guys chasing after me," she replied, with a satisfied smile. I rolled my eyes and stuffed a forkful of chicken-fried rice into my mouth, dropping a few grains on my lap.

Angrily, I dusted my thighs off, scowling to myself, quietly. I could hear Kayla giggling to herself, while she ate her taco and used to a napkin, smoothening the sauce away from her pink lips. I sent her a playfully glare and started grinning, until I caught a stranger's eye. His eyes were the clearest of blue colours, as I could see from where I sat and instantly, I felt my body feel entranced to them. I didn't want to look away because of the way they made me feel and because of the sudden flood of emotions they showcased.

I could feel my eyes start watering and a feeling of dryness, as the urge of blinking suddenly came. I didn't want, too, though. If I could've stayed here and stared into this stranger's eyes, I would've for eternity. But, my eyes betrayed me and as soon as I blinked, I focused back to where the stranger had been sitting and he no more was there. My heart lurched forward, feeling a sudden emptiness I recognized, sorrowfully. My eyes scanned the area where he had been and once my eyes found nothing, I sighed, heavily and let my eyes trail back onto my food.

"Karissa," I looked up, instantly, hoping that it'd be the stranger with the entrancing eyes. My heart fell once I realized the voice belonged to Kayla and I smiled, weakly.

"Sorry, what did you say?" I asked, dazedly.

"Finish your food so we can go shopping! I'm so excited. Oh, I stole a chicken wing. You totally didn't notice and chop my hand off," Kayla smirked, patting her flat stomach.

"Oh, sorry, I dazed," I mumbled, shoveling a pile of food with my fork and putting in my mouth.

"Hm, you seemed really interested in something, too," she stated, looking slightly curious.

"I'm not. I was just thinking about Alexis. I thought about buying her something today," I replied, hoping she didn't see my lie through my eyes. But even if she did notice I was lying to her, she nodded and smiled.

"There's a lot of baby stores here and with the cutest clothes ever," she declared, before adding, "but hurry up! I want to go shopping!" I rolled my eyes, but nonetheless, I nodded and shoveled more food into my mouth.

◊

Kayla excitedly walked into a store called Jean Machine, leaving me seated on a bench across from the store with tons of shopping bags on either side of me. In those thirty bags of clothes, only five were mine and the rest were Kayla's. I winced as I slipped my shoes up and bent down, laying my chest on my knees and rubbed at my aching feet. We had walked for several hours, going to store to store, or going up stairs to reach a new level in the mall. The weight from the tons of clothes bought didn't help much, as I had to help Kayla carry some of her bags.

"Karissa, oh my God! Look at this cute shirt!" Kayla exclaimed, making people turn to stare at her and the employee of the store eye her suspiciously. She ignored all the stares and ushered me over.

"What about these bags?" I asked, outstretching my arms over the many bags spread along the bench.

"I'm going to help you, just grab some and come in here," she said, turning on her heel and disappearing into the many racks of clothes. I scowled, as I grabbed as many bags as I could and walked into the store, searching for a blonde head amongst the few people in the store.

"Over here, Karissa," I, finally, spotted Kayla waving me over like a maniac standing near the cashier. The girl behind the counter glared at Kayla and shook her head.

Quickly, I walked over to the back, placing the many bags behind the counter. Kayla walked around me and placed the remaining bags beside the bunch and strided away. I thanked the girl, quietly and ignored the glare she sent me, as I walked away. Kayla didn't bother me as she was already in a search for something she had in mind and only she had in mind. I looked at remain items, pulling them off the racks and measuring them against my body. If it was too big, I put it back and moved onto another rack.

I'm not like Kayla. Shopping bores me, I thought, miserably, leaning against an empty wall beside a full-length mirror. My eyes scanned the pricey store, before my eyes dropped to my cellphone. It was close to five in the afternoon and Kayla still wasn't satisfied with the things she had. I watched her pile clothes on her arm, with a huge grin on her face. I couldn't help smile, as she reminded me of Alexis, suddenly. I bit my bottom lip as I suddenly wanted to hold my daughter. I missed her, even though I knew she was fine at home with her grandmother. My arms felt empty without her always being with me everywhere I went.

I sighed.

"See you later, Courtney," a deep male voice said, from afar. I looked up from my hands and stared at the back of a teenage guy, waving at the girl behind the counter. She giggled, giddily and waved, sending the guy a wink. My stomach tightened, as I felt like I would vomit. Why couldn't girls like that just evaporate? They made us well-mannered girls look horrible and gave us a bad name, too. Just looking at this Courtney girl, I could already tell she was a whore.

Just as I was in the middle of mentally ranting, my gaze moved up the slender and lean body of the male, walking quickly past me. My eyes reached his smooth face and my heart did a somersault. Those electric blue eyes; why do they seem so familiar to me? I knew, for a fact, that he hadn't saw me leaning against the wall, but he looked so familiar.

I watched the familiar stranger walk, gracefully out the store. Just as he made it out, he looked over his shoulder and looked, directly at me. My heart raced as I finally realized those eyes belonged to that stranger I had been staring at in the food court. We stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. Everything around me seemed to stop and it was just me and him; the beautiful stranger. Then, he was gone. My eyes searched for him again, hoping to make that sudden contact that meant so much to me. I wanted to call out to him, but what would I say? Would he even come back and talk to me?

Kayla was a colourful blur, as I rushed past her and skidded to a stop just as I rounded the corner. Frantically, I searched for him, looking one way, then the other, but I couldn't see him. My heart was beating crazily against my chest, while my breathing came out in a choppy pauses. How could one person, especially a stranger make me feel like I was overflowing with emotions? I didn't even know who the hell this person was, but somehow, he knew how to make my heart race faster than someone running a marathon.

A thought hit me, suddenly.

Could it be. . . ?

Could it be Deryk?

I shook my head and found myself, silently chuckling. No, it couldn't have been him. There were a lot of teenage guys who wore their hair in that usual shag cut, it was the hairstyle of the century. For heaven sakes, why was I thinking about Deryk? He was just a random guy I met and well, it was done and over with. Sure, he was very attractive and he did make my heart race, but no. No, it wasn't him. Get a grip, Karissa. Jesus, maybe you are horny.

I walked back into the store, looking at a disheveled Kayla. She pouted when I walked towards her and furrowed her eyebrows. I couldn't help think she looked like a little girl who didn't get the Barbie she wanted. I smirked at the thought, watching her pout turn into a miserable expression. I arched an eyebrow as I stared at her and waited for an explanation.

"Where'd you go?" She asked, miserably.

"I, uhm, I went to answer a call," I paused, pulling out my cellphone and waving it in her face, "Alexis is fine," I added, with a smile.

"I thought you were leaving and I mean, I wouldn't blame you. I'm such a bore," she said, with a small pout, leaning against one of the clothes racks.

"No, no. I was just answering a call. I probably should've said something, but I thought it was something important. So, I answered it and it was just my mom. She was asking when I was getting home and that Alexis missed me. I told her you were still shopping, but I bet we'd be leaving right after you got everything you needed," I explained, shoving my phone back into my jean pocket. "Stop pouting, unless if you want to get lines," I added, hastily.

The pout was replaced with a smug expression, I recognized all too well. "Oh please, me? Lines? Never," she said, tossing her hair over her shoulder, dramatically and swaying her hips to the back. I shook my head, chuckling gently and followed moments later.

Kayla put all her items on the counter top and smiled, politely. When Kayla didn't get the smile in return, her face turned grim and she arched a slender eyebrow. The girl scanned all the items and sloppily, folded them and shoved them into two separate bags. She pushed the bag forward, nearly making Kayla drop them. I watched Kayla narrow her eyes and grimace, as she watched the girl smile, knowingly.

"That'll be $126. 73," she stated, before adding blankly, "Platinum or cash?"

"Platinum," Kayla said, with a sarcastic smile. She ripped the mini ATM from the girl's hands and swiped her credit card across it, vertically. She pressed a few numbers and the okay button, before pushing it back towards the girl. A receipt appeared from a little machine beside the computer, afterwords and the girl grabbed the piece of paper, handing it to Kayla and smiling, fakely.

"Have a good day," the girl said, mockingly and rolled her eyes. I had already grabbed most of the bags, pushing some of the bags out from behind the counter and moving them towards Kayla. We needed to leave, before there was a cat fight between these two. I didn't understand why the girl was acting like this; Kayla hadn't done anything wrong to her.

"Thanks. Oh and, let's see," Kayla paused, squinting as she looked at the girl's name tag over her right breast, "Courtney, I hope you choke on your own tongue. And I'll be calling back to talk to your manager about how bad of a employee you are and hopefully, you're stupid ass gets fired, you stupid bitch," Kayla snapped, grabbing her two new shopping bags from the counter. She grabbed the other millions of bags and walked away, with her chin high in the air. The girl watched her dumbfounded and completely shocked. I snickered as I followed behind Kayla and laughed, loudly.

"Holy, Kayla," I laughed, shaking my head.

"Who does she think she is? I don't understand why she was acting like, especially towards me, who hasn't done anything to her. I'm sorry if she's on her rag, but please, don't take it out on me. I'm calling tonight and getting her ass fired. I feel sorry for people who have to go through this everyday with her," Kayla said, angrily, shaking her head and sighing, angrily.

"Come on, let's go home."

◊

By the time we were back in town, it was close to ten. Kayla dropped me off and promised to be back tomorrow after lunchtime. Kayla left, still complaining about calling Courtney's manager tomorrow and having her fired. When I entered the house, my mom was sitting on the couch, snoring, quietly. Little Lexi was sitting in her play pen, watching Barney on the television. She smiled when the purple dinosaur started singing and clapped her small hands, giggling, quietly.

"Hey, baby," I said, softly, placing my shopping bags by the couch and walking towards her play pen. She outstretched her arms, showing me a large grin and giggling, cutely. I picked her up from the blanket and pulled her against me, placing a sloppy kiss on her cheek. She wrapped her small arms around my neck and laid her head on my shoulder, scrunching her nose as she yawned. "Let's put Lexi to sleep, boo," I whispered against her small head.

When I got into my room, Alexis was fast asleep, sucking on her thumb. I changed her, quickly and placed her in her crib, pulling her blankets just above her chest. I leaned, gently against the crib, resting my hands on the railing as I looked over and stared at the pale-skinned baby. I reached over and ran my fingers along her smooth forehead, wondering how such a beautiful creature could come out of me.

I glanced over my shoulder one last time, before walking into the upstairs corridor and walked downstairs, seeing my mom was still asleep. I grabbed a blanket from the couch and spread it over her body, hoping not to wake her. I tip-toed towards the television and shut it off, pressing the off button on the DVD and turning off the large lamp. My mom stirred only for second, before falling back to sleep and snoring, loudly.

The house was silent, as I walked into my room and closed the door. I slipped out of my jeans and tossed them somewhere, not feeling up to doing anything, but sleeping. My eyes were heavy from the day's events and all I wanted was to close them. I crawled onto my bed and cuddled under the sheets, pulling them over my shoulder and snuggling with the many pillows I had around my bed. I could feel my body easing, melting into the mattress.

"Good night, Lexi," I mumbled, before completely crashing.