Imperfectly Beautiful

"Nick, why did you have to drag me here?" I complained, walking through the semi-crowded mall with my brother, watching as his eyes traveled across the girls we were passing instead of the actual stores. He glanced over at me and rolled his eyes, "Lighten up. You're in the house too much anyway."

"Plus, I need your help picking out a new watch." Nick stated, walking into the small Kay jewelers store, which was basically empty. I glanced over at an older couple, the only other customer at the time. Nick was already leaning over the counter which housed plenty of watches.

"Joe, what do you think about this one?" He had a silver plated rolex displayed on his wrist, which truthfully, looked just as tacky as the fake diamond rings they had for sale in Walmart. But, I decided it was best to just smile and nod at Nick, so I wouldn't have to bicker with him anymore than I already had today.

I walked aimlessly over to the other displays, bypassing the earrings and necklaces. I leaned down and studied a couple of rings, being immediately drawn to one. The simplicity of the three stones set into the white gold just seemed to catch my eye. I've always enjoyed simplicity, and the way the light reflected evenly off of the princess cut stones, was stunning.

"Can I help you?" A females voice broke me out of my gaze, and I looked up at her, noticing the bored expression on her face. I stuttered and shook my head, "No, Just looking." I smiled at her politely, and she just nodded, walking away from me and back to the older couple, who were still undecided on what they were going to be purchasing. I quickly walked back over to Nick, who had three different watches laid out on the glass counter.

"Make a decision yet?" I asked him, and he stared down at the three watches intently. "No, I think I like this one though." He tapped a smaller sized white gold rolex on the far end, which looked almost identical to the one I received from Camilla on my twenty-first birthday. I tried to push all my thoughts to the back of my mind, but all of a sudden I felt very conscious of the watch weighing down my right wrist.

"I like that one too," I mumbled, leaning against the counter, watching as Nick placed the watch back onto his wrist. 28 different watches later, Nick finally decided on the watch he had tried on over 20 times, and discovered over an hour ago. Nick was good at many things, but decision making was defiantly not one of them. He swiped his credit card, and left the store with the watch on his wrist, seeming just as happy when I received mine a little over a year ago.

"Let's go grab something to eat." Nick suggested, as he fixed his watch for the fifth time in ten minutes. I nodded silently and followed after him, and he walked towards the escalator on the other side on the mall. I glanced up from my converse when I heard that familiar, contagious laugh.

My feet stopped short when I spotted her blond hair, which stood out against the crowd. Nick had noticed my abrupt stop and turned around and looked at me questionably. "Dude, what?" I nervously glanced past him, towards Peyton, who was leaning against an empty store front, Harmony standing next to her.

"Joe?" Nick called again, but I watched her every move carefully. Nick followed my gaze, and a smile appeared on his face almost instantaneously. "Isn't that the waiter chick?!" Nick almost shouted, and I slapped a hand over his mouth quickly, turning around and pulling Nick with me.

"What the hell?" Nick asked, pushing my hand away from his mouth. "Be quiet, and keep walking." I mumbled, pulling Nicks hand in the other direction. "Joe, stop it." Nick pulled his hand out of my grip.

"Lets go say hi," Nick smirked and I panicked and shook my head. "Lets not." I mumbled under my breath, trying to get Nick to walk the opposite direction. "Joe, why not?" He crossed his arms, planting his feet firmly on the ground. I groaned and helplessly tried to pull him out of the view of Peyton and Harmony, but he wouldn't budge.

"If you don't tell me, I'm going over there anyway." He smirked my way. I sighed and decided that Nick would find out somehow. "I'll tell you, If you walk this way with me." I pleaded, feeling my palms start to sweat as I watched Peyton from a distance. I knew I'd have to face her again one day, but I didn't plan on it being so soon, and definitely not with my brother.

"I'm waiting," Nicks voice was full of humor, and that made me even more nervous than before. "...I kissed her!" My voice was louder than expected, and I nervously glanced at Peyton again, hoping she didn't hear my angry outburst. I watched as the corner of Nicks lips curled up into a huge smile. "Nick, lets go." I said, tugging on his arm again, "Joe, wait.". Nicks voice was soft, and I turned back to him nervously, watching as his eyes traveled behind me.

"What?" I asked him impatiently, Nick's smile was still plastered onto his face. "Thank you, bro." He smirked and I rolled my eyes at him. "Nick, I'm leaving. You can stay. Have fun getting home." I turned on my heel, and stopped short, knowing that I fell right into my brothers trap.

Peyton's blue eyes were set on mine, and my ears were filled with the loud beating of my heart. "Hi," I said lowly, watching as Harmony turned to me, an indecisive smile on her face. Nick was now standing next to me, and I didn't need to look to know that he had a dumb smile playing on his lips. "Uh... hey." Peyton whispered awkwardly.

"Oh! You're Peyton, right?" Nicks voice was cheery, and the knot in my stomach tightened when I heard his tone of voice. "Yeah, Nick right?" Peyton asked, smiling over at him, avoiding my eyes. As Peyton and Nick said a few words, I glanced over at Harmony, who was biting her lip, her eyes right on Nick. She looked over at me and that confusing smile was back on her face.

Once I saw the nervous glance she threw at Peyton, I knew she knew the entire story. "I'm Nick." He introduced himself to Harmony, a seductive smirk playing on his lips, which caused Harmony to giggle. "Harmony," Her voice was loud and bubbly, the exact opposite of Peyton's. It always amazed me how Harmony seemed to be so much like Peyton, but completely different at the same time.

As Nick continued to put his moves on Harmony, I ignored them, and looked back awkwardly at Peytons eyes, which were on her bracelet, the nervous habbit of hers kicking in. "So, how are you?" I asked her, and she glanced up at me shrugging.

"Joe, are you really trying to make small talk with me?" She questioned, a noticeable edge in her tone of voice. "Well, it's obvious you're not trying." I shot back, feeling Harmony's and Nick's eyes on us. "Joe, I'm not doing this now." Her voice was sharp, and she turned around walking away from me. I stared after her for awhile, watching as her hands clenched into fists at her sides, exited through the sliding doors and into the parking lot.

"Uhm," Harmony's voice seemed to be affected by her best friends sudden outburst, "I think I should go get her." Her eyes were glued to Nick's, not even bothering to look at me. "I got it," I whispered, walking quickly after her, glancing back at my brother, who didn't even seem to care about me anymore. His hand was behind Harmony's back, leading her down to the food court, but Harmony's eyes met mine for a split second, and something in her stare made me realize. Harmony had heard the wrong side of the story.