Secrets

“We are such STALKERS!” Mandi exclaimed gleefully. I couldn’t help but smile at her.
“Why, yes I guess we are.” I replied. She looped her arm through mine and we kept pursuing Conner. As he walked I watched the way the muscles moved through his back. I shivered and had to look away. “Hey, Bath and Body Works is having a half of sale today. We should stop by later.” I said looking over at Mandi.
“I’ll buy,” Mandi stated.
“Mandi… I don’t know…” I said slowly even though the offer was appealing, I didn’t want her to spend her money on me.
“Don’t you dare say no, Missy! I am getting something for you no matter what you say!” she huffed.
“Anything I want?” I asked skeptically. She paused for a second, slowing our walk.
“Ya… I guess so… why?” she questioned me.
“Okay then… Carson.” She laughed. Then looked at my facial expression.
“Oh… you’re serious. Well I can’t promise that. But I can promise you you’ll smell good when you go on your first date.” she said winking at me.
“Why are you always so optimistic?” I asked.
She looked at me again. “Well you’re always so pessimistic you know. And two make a whole. Soooo… I take up the optimistic side to make up for your doubtful ways.” She chuckled. I thought about it and laughed because I know she was kidding. Wasn’t she? Well I was to distracted to care, we had reached the entrance of JCP’s. We emerged in the shoe section. It wasn’t as good as Dillard’s but still adequate. I spotted him talking to a woman behind one of the shoe racks. She must be younger than him but not my much. I began to worry. “Mandi! Oh my gosh! He’s cheating on me!” I gushed, worriedly. She snorted,
“Honey, first of all. You guys aren’t dating. Second of all, Look at her.” We both turned our attention to her. “Look at both of their detail.” I began to get annoyed,
“You’re point?” I said huffing.
“You’re going to have to be a better detective than that. Look at them. They are both tall. They have the same hair color and the same face shape. Shauna, they’re siblings.” she concluded.
Then it struck me. I hadn’t noticed anything until she spoke the obvious. I was to busy worrying about the possibility of him already being with someone. But, I pieced it together. He looked stressed and she looked pissed. “Let’s move closer.” I said quietly to her.
“Okay.” We took the long route around the jewelry section and luckily Mandi kept her mouth shut. Finally, interested in what was going on. She could be a good spy… when she wanted too. Along the way we grabbed hats, jackets, and scarves. Pretty much anything we could grab. Putting them on as a disguise as we snuck forward. Mandi ended up having a big puffy coat covering her leather one, a long thin purple scarf, and wide sunglasses. As for myself, I had on a robe, a sun hat, and a beach bag. Not the most smart disguise, but we definitely looked different. Pretty much insane looking, but it worked. We tiptoed into the isle beside them and pretended to be interested in the shoes. We listened in,
“Ya but it’s not supposed to be a human,” the female voice ranted.
“It’s not like I chose her!” he spoke angrily.
“But, it looked like she chose you!” she retorted. That made him falter a bit.
“What are you talking about?” He asked softly.
“Wow, you seriously don’t see it do you?” She waited for him to reply. When he didn’t say anything she sighed and continued. “She LIKES you. That is the ONLY reason her friend came over. To introduce her to YOU!” She was obviously on her period or seriously peeved… maybe both. We squeezed in closer to her better bumping some of the shoes. “Have you known about this?” She asked a little softer.
He sighed, “Yes…” He looked ashamed. I expected her to blow up again but was surprised when she placed a hand on his shoulder.
“She can’t know about this.” He looked up at her and saw her seriousness.
“I don’t know.” Carson replied obviously disappointed. Then something struck her odd. Her eyebrows furrowed.
“But you know what I don’t get.” She paused for him to look back at her. He shook his head slowly.
“How does SHE know about YOU?” She waited for his answer. She gasped and looked around we ducked down and talked nonsense messing with some of the shoes. She took his hand. “We will talk about this later.” And with that she pulled him towards the parking lot. Mandi and I stood there for several minutes. Finally we began slowly pulling of the borrowed pieces we throw together to hide our identities. I looked up at Mandi. I bet all she needed was a bowl of popcorn and a Pepsi and she was set. She had always loved to watch dramas. She never did well IN the drama but, that was besides the point.
“I know what they were talking about,” She spoke quickly but clearly.
“What?” I said mad that I still couldn’t piece it together.
“Not a what a who,” She said.
“Okay this isn’t a language class. Tell me, please.” She looked disappointed that I didn’t know. Then I figured it out. I felt my mouth drop and my eyes widen. I looked at her and she urged me to speak. “Me?”
“Bingo,” she said and patted me on the shoulder. I noticed my breathing had stopped for a second as I wrapped my head around the possibility of that. I gulped and she said, “Good job, Shauna. I have taught you well.”