Our Promise

After receiving a return call from Ty last night, we talked until one o'clock in the morning. He said he didn't mind because of everything going on and he knew the move was putting a lot on my mind. We then talked about random things until I ended up falling asleep.

Opening my eyes, I frown when I see my dad towering over me. "Selena, wake up." I roll my eyes before slamming my eyes shut again and pulling my pillow over my face. "Don't make me pour freezing water over you." He says with a grin in his voice, making fun of my incident at my old Boarding School.

"Argh! What do you want?" I mumble, opening one eye.

"You need to wake up and get ready. I am taking you shopping for your uniform."

"Why now? It's to early." I grunt, forcing myself to sit up in my bed. "Take Lewis instead." I say, pulling my knees up to my chest, not feeling like waking up or getting out and going shopping. "Besides, you suck at shopping."

My dad chuckles. "You'll get to pick, but I have to be there to make sure you get the right thing. And Lewis is hanging out with someone named Vince." Really? At first he couldn't even have a decent conversation, now they are becoming bestfriends.

I sigh. "Fine. Why can't we just got at two?" I glance over at the wall clock which shows that it is 10:15 a.m. Sliding back down in my bed, I shut my eyes again, hoping my dad will just leave me alone and let me return back to my peaceful sleep. When I feel the covers being pulled off me, I realize that he won't let me go back to sleep. "Okay! I get it, now please get out."

"Okay. Be ready by 11:35."

I don't get out of my bed until I hear my bedroom door slam. Sliding out of my bed, I brush my hair out of my face and glance around the room. The bracelet that Ty got me is sitting in the box on my Bedside Dresser, where I left it last night. I grab a clean towel and washcloth and some undergarments and head into the bathroom. After taking a five minute shower, I switch out my pajamas for a classic pink and white romper and some white gladiator sandals.

Going down the steps, I walk into the kitchen. My dad is crunching on some bacon and cheese eggs and a plate with toast and bacon on it is sitting on the opposite side of the table. I plop down and say my grace before digging into the food. "What store are we going to first?"

My dad grins. "I am taking you to Rodeo Drive. You can get anything you want, but you really need to look for your uniform. After that you can get whatever." He says, looking at me as if this is supposed to cheer me up.

"Yay!" I say, forcing a fake smile.

"Hey, where'd you get that from?"

He points towards my wrist and I take my time eating the rest of my bacon before answering.

"Ty gave this to me before we left."

"Oh...really?"

I nod my head, finishing off my food, and then gulping down the Orange Juice in front of me. "Yes, he is so sweet." I say, grinning at the thought of Ty. "I need to get my nails done." I mumble, scanning over my nails.

"Well, after you go school shopping, you can get them done."

Without responding, I stand up, grab my plate and toss it in the sink to be washed. "I need to go fix my face." I say, climbing the stairs back up to the bathroom. I apply cherry lipgloss, and a little blush to my cheeks before slipping in white studs and the matching necklace. Pulling my hair into a high bun, I snap a flower clip into my hair and then admire myself in the mirror. "You looking good." I say, smiling at myself in the mirror.

When I hear my cellphone ringing in my bedroom, I flip off the bathroom light and then sprint towards my room. Grabbing my phone, I see Lia's face on the screen. Pressing ANSWER, I hold the phone up to my ear. "Hey, Lia!" I say, sitting down on my bed and pulling out my laptop.

"Hey, hun. How are you?"

"Okay. My dad is about to take me shopping on Rodeo Drive."

"Oh my gosh! Bring me back some UGGs and a dress." Lia says, with a grin in her face. "I always wanted to go there."

"Well, then how come you couldn't have moved here and I got to stay in London." I mumble, signing into Facebook. "But, okay. I'll see." I begin reading some of my messages and responding to some before hearing my dad calling me down the stairs.

"Whatever! You better bring me back some." She laughs.

"Where are you?"

"At the Plaza with my mom. Her art exhibit is being showcased there." Lia says quietly. I can hear her mom in the background yelling something, and then Lia smacks her lips. I shake my head at her.

"Selena! C'mon!" My dad appears in my doorway with his arms crossed. "Get off the phone and hurry up." He raises his eyebrows and I roll my eyes, becoming irritated.

"Whatever." I snap my laptop shut and I follow him down the hallway and out to our car. It takes Lia a minute to return to the conversation, and when she does, she has an attitude in her voice.

She sighs, "I have to go because my mom is being a bitch. Talk to you later." She ends the conversation and I press END on my phone. I stuff my phone in the front pocket of the romper.

It takes my dad a moment to get to Rodeo Drive. He pulls in a parking lot and then yanks out his keys. "We just have to turn the corner and we're there. We have to walk, though." He says, glancing over at me.

I frown. "Didn't we walk enough yesterday?" I mumble under my breath. Yanking open the car door, I step out and the sun blazes down on me. I hold my hand in front of my face, hoping that I don't get a tan. Whenever I end up tanning, I usually turn a red color and it irritates me a lot. "Why do you have to chauffeur me around? I can find stores myself."

"You've never been here before. I don't want you to get lost."

I glance over at my dad in disbelief, "Dude! It's only stores and stuff over here, so how could I get lost? I have my cellphone." I exclaim, crossing my arms. My dad ignores my statement and pulls me along as he starts on his trek towards Rodeo Drive. I roll my eyes and yank my arm free, and follow behind him a couple of feet away. I look around at all the stores as if I am alone, and I marvel at how many people are here shopping.

A lot of music plays from various stores, and then there are a few people chatting on their phones, and some carrying numerous shopping bags. I decided that I wanted to be one of the people who is carrying numerous shopping bags. I grab my dad's shirt and pull him back towards me. "I want to go in that store." I say, glancing at a store which reads Juicy Couture.

"Okay."

We both cross the street and head into Juicy Couture. The store is decorated in light pink and black. I look around and the clothes and shoes that I see so far are really cute. I head over to a pair of neon green shorts. I pick it up and spin it around to look at the back. My dad walks over with his eyebrow raised.

"Uniform, first, Selena."

"But this is really cute! Let me get it." I whine, batting my eyelashes. When my dad rolls his eyes and nod his head, I scan through the sizes and stop at a size two pair of the shorts. Then spinning around, I spot some cute dresses. "Look at those." I say, walking over to them. My dad comes over and grabs my hand from gripping the dress. "I can wear this as a uniform."

"Fine. Listen, I am going over to Starbucks down the street. Call me when you are done shopping. And if half of your bags are not of uniform, then I will personally return all of the things you bought." Right as he says that, he turns on his heels and walks out of the store. I roll my eyes, and then continue my shopping.

I grab a lot of things before I shuffle to the fitting room. Trying on one dress, one pair of shorts, one pair of jeans, a romper and a shirt, I determine that I will get everything I grab. I walk towards the cash register and I place the clothes on the counter. The cashier glances at me with a skeptical facial expression. "You want all of this?"

I nod my head. "Well,...isn't it your job to try and sell it all?" I say, forcing a fake smile. I pull out my credit card and place it on the counter. The cashier grabs it and rings my clothes onto it. "How much was it?"

"One-thousand, five-hundred twenty-eight dollars."

She hands me my card back and I stuff it in my romper front pocket along with my cellphone. "Thanks." I wait for her to bag up all of the clothes before grabbing all six bags and shuffling out of the store. The next place I make my way towards is St. John. I swing open the door, revealing expensive clothing, jewels and evening wear. I go over to the Jacket spot and I grab the first jacket that catches my eye. It is a Shimmer Parisian Jacket and it costs 1,495 U.S. Dollars.

I take only that jacket and go over to the cash register. The cashier smiles at me warmly before grabbing the jacket. She glances over at my Juicy Couture bags and nods her head in approval. I guess if you cashed out in other stores, they figure you are loaded. "Nice choice of a jacket. I have this one, too." She says in a low voice.

"Okay. Do you know a store around here with shoes?"

The cashier laughs, "Of course! We have some, but you may be to young to like them." She mumbles before pointing out of the window and across the street towards a bigger building. "Valentino has many shoes that you would like. My daughter goes there all the time. Perhaps you know her? Mary Sole?"

I scrunch up my eyebrows. "I just moved here from London. I live in Los Angeles now, so no...I haven't really met anybody."

"Oh. Better now that never." She holds up her finger indicating for me to wait. Turning around she rummages through her purse and pulls out her cellphone. After a minute she is yapping her mouth talking to someone on the other end. "Mary...I have someone that I want you to meet, she just moved here from London. Meet her at Valentinos."

After a second, she returns back to me. "Go ahead and go over there. Mary will meet you there. She has jet black hair and is very thin. Her skin is a pale white. You'll see her as soon as she walks in."

I nod my head, grab my bag, and then quickly shuffle out of the store. Are people always this nice here in the U.S.? I cross the street and step into Valentino.

There are a numerous amount of shoes in the front of the store and clothes are more in the back and side of the store. I walk up to a cute pair of platforms and scan over them. They are lace platforms with a bow in the front of it. When the door behind me buzzes, I turn around to find a girl who fit the exact description the lady across the street gave me. She is wearing a red tank top and black shorts with black pumps. An anklet is bouncing on her ankle as she walks toward me. Her hair is down over her shoulder and a blue streak is going down a few strands of her hair. Her face is made up with red lipstick and pink blush. "Are you the London chick?"

I scrunch my eyes confused. "I am Selena...from London."

"Hi, I'm Mary. Welcome to California!" She says, extending her arms. "I see you've cashed out?" She says grinning at the amount of bags that are surrounding me. I set the bags down right as I was about to grab a pair of the platforms I was looking at. "You want those?" She asks, motioning towards the platforms.

"Yes."

Mary bends down and grab a pair of the shoes and plop them down in front of me. "Try them on. A size six, no?"

I scrunch up my eyebrows confused, "I wear a 3 1/2."

Giggling, Mary shakes her head. "No, here in the United States you wear a six. It's a size conversion." She says, pointing towards the pair of shoes, "Try them on."

Obliging, I slide off my sandals and replace them with the platforms. I lean back on the shelf which holds the shoes and examine the shoes on my feet. "This are very cute." I say, smiling.

"Yes, they are! You should totally get them." She says, clasping her hands together. "You look hot in those."

"I guess I'll get them. Help me find some babydoll shoes, some sandals and some more platforms." I say, slipping the platforms back in their box and setting them off to the side.

**

Mary wraps her arm around my shoulder as she laughs hysterically at a girl who just tripped trying to run across the street. Her bags fly up in the air and she quickly stands up and try and gather all of her items. Her face is flushed and I feel bad for her. I start to turn back to help her get her stuff, but Mary grabs my arm and pulls me back towards her.

"She'll be okay!" Mary says, biting her lip to keep from laughing anymore.

I shrug my shoulders, knowing that I should've helped the girl. "I guess." By the time I left Valentino, I bought about eight pairs of shoes and a few dresses and skirts. Mary also bought some stuff and she is helping me carry all of my bags down to Starbucks where I promised my dad I would meet him when I was done. "How old are you?" I ask, glancing over at her.

"Sixteen!" She exclaims, throwing her hands over her head and giggling even more. "I go to Beverly Hills Highschool. What about you?"

"I am sixteen. My dad is making me go to LAHS with my older brother Lewis."

Mary looks over at me with a look that can scare the living shit out of you. "You have an older bro?" I nod my head. "How old is he? Is he cute?" I cut my eyes at her, but try my best not to say anything smart towards her.

"He is seventeen and I don't know. I don't pay attention to my brother!" I exclaim, tossing my head back.

"Oh. You should let me meet him."

Mary spins around and begins walking backwards so she can face me. "I don't know. He is a bitch." I mumble the last part, but continue walking. "He is difficult sometimes and-"

Cutting me off, Mary places her hand over my mouth. "Be quiet and just introduce him to me." She winks her eye at me before swinging open the Starbucks door for me. I saunter through the door, looking around for my dad. When I don't spot him, I pull out my phone and dial his number. When he doesn't answer, I frown and stuff my phone back in my pocket. "What?"

"He left." I mumble. "I guess I have to walk home."

Laughing, Mary shakes her head. "No, you don't! I have a car! C'mon." She says, grabbing my wrist and pulling me back out into the hot air of California. I roll my eyes, knowing that she just wants to see Lewis, and this is the perfect chance for that to happen. WIthout objecting, I follow her to her car.