Falling Stars

2:13 PM

“I thought these days were supposed to be about me?”

“But they can’t all be about you, can they?”

“You told me these next handful of days would be to help me.”

She looked at him over the rack of clothes she was sifting through. He looked about as annoyed as she felt. “I’ve school shopping to do, Zayn. Why don’t you find the books section? I’ll be along soon.”

Zayn sighed loudly. Patrons glanced at the two, casting disapproving looks. Adalae swatted him with a clothes hanger. The clothes in her arms slipped during her swift movements and some fell to the floor. He chuckled, dodging her hanger attack, and ducked down to pick up the clothes she had dropped.

“I’ve got a better idea,” he began. Snatching the blouse from his fingers, she eyed him suspiciously. “You try those on and I give you a thumbs up or down.”

“I’ll try some, you cheeky boy,” she giggled. Her hand wound with his and she led him toward the dressing rooms.

She disappeared behind a door and left him to sit directly outside. He fiddled with his fingers for a while, itching for his phone. He wondered what was happening in his emails. He couldn’t begin to wonder how many missed calls and messages he had. He hoped the anxiety would wane soon enough. How had anyone ever survived like this before?

In order to diminish the worries regarding his lack of connectivity, he started asking questions to the door. “When do you leave again?”

“Ermm,” she stammered before falling silent. The door eventually swung open. She stepped out from behind it. His eyes widened.

“Christ, Adalae,” he breathed. He wiped his palms on his jeans. She twirled slightly, the skirt on the dress spiraling around her.

“I head back to the states on the thirteenth,” she told him, standing still in the dressing room doorway.

He nodded dumbly. She smirked at the look in his eyes before shutting the door on his view. He shook his head to break his daze. He squirmed in his seat. God, he couldn’t believe he had just looked at her in such a way. “Have you gotten everything you need for the new quarter?”

“Not quite,” she replied through the door, struggling to pull a shirt on over her head as she spoke. “I’m hoping to finish it all today.”

“What do you need?”

She inhaled deeply, held her breath, and hopped up and down while shimmying her hips. The button on the perfect pair of pants wouldn’t close and she refused to put them back. “Christ,” she cursed, defeated.

“You need Christ?” Zayn asked, utterly confused.

“I need oil and tape and magic,” she listed. She could sense the confusion on his face. She pried open the door and stared out at him, pants unbuttoned. He screwed up his face at the sight of her. “They won’t close,” she explained. She tugged at the pants to show him.

“What are you on about? Get a bigger size,” he said, as if it were truly that easy.

“They haven’t got a bigger size in these,” she snapped. “Now help me get them closed so I can justify purchasing them.”

Zayn sighed as he stood. Pushing his way into her dressing room, he nudged the door shut behind him and gripped the pants. He stared at her for a moment, amused that this was truly about to happen, then nodded. “Suck it in, love,” he ordered.

She inhaled, squeezing her stomach in. He tugged the pants upwards, then in, and almost had them shut before he lost his grip on the fabric. He muttered ‘again’ and she braced herself into the corner as he tugged mercilessly at the pants. A few attempts later, he finally managed to snap them shut.

“There,” he admired. “Perfect.”

She stood in front of the mirror and continued to hold her breath, stomach clenched tight. They looked great. Except for one little problem.

“I can’t breathe,” she wheezed.

He smirked and smacked her bum. She startled, turned to face him with a glare, and smacked his arms and hands away from her.

“Stop, you cheeky lad!” she scolded. “Best friends don’t do things like that in public.”

Zayn laughed loudly, fingers fumbling with the button and zipper. His smile faded when he couldn’t get them undone. He muttered for her to keep sucking it in so she wouldn’t pop the button but she couldn’t hold it forever. She exhaled deeply, surprised when the button didn’t go flying. Together, they managed to finally release the button and he helped peel the material from her legs.

“Alright,” she said as she caught her breath. “You find the books. I’m going to re-dress.”

“Pants are a no, then, yeah?” he asked. He tried to hide his smirk but failed. She thumped his arm numerous times as he scrambled for the door, rushed to get out of the room. He took the too-tight pants with him.

With him gone, Adalae tried on the remains of her choices with little complications. Once dressed in her own clothes, she handed the items she didn’t want to the clerk and wandered through the department store.

She was equipped with a list of items to buy today but a sale rack caught her eye. She was peacefully sifting through hanger after hanger, admiring certain ones longer than others. She was contemplating one particular shirt when she felt the entire rack shift. Thinking it odd, she took a tiny step back to hopefully figure out what happened. A rather large woman had passed by with a shopping basket and so she assumed it had been that, and stepped forward again to resume her shopping.

The clothes shopping continued for another few minutes until a hand grabbed her ankle and a shrill shriek escaped her lips. Zayn’s laugh filled the air as he poked his head through the clothes.

“You foul, rotten boy!” she shouted, smacking at him. “You startled me half to death!”

He emerged fully from between the clothes. Placing a kiss to her forehead, he couldn’t stop the laughter falling from his lips. “I couldn’t help myself.”

“I thought you went to the books section?” she questioned.

“Couldn’t find it.”

She took the list from her satchel and tore it in half, handing him one piece. “You find these things, then. We’ll meet back here once we’ve finished.”

Scanning his section of the list, he nodded. “Same things as usual, yeah?”

With a nod and a reassuring wave, she headed in the opposite direction of the store. He went for the art supplies and wondered how this would help him see the “falling stars” she spoke about. Spending the day in bed was perfect. He liked that idea. Shopping for her? He just couldn’t see the purpose.

Picking up a hand basket, he dropped various pens and colored pencils and packets of charcoal into it. He spent at least an hour gathering the items on the list. When he finally came across the journals and sketchbooks, he picked out a few she had written down and found a few extras for his own purposes. Right behind that aisle, he found the books and music, and lost himself in the section for a while.

When he looked down at his watch he saw how late it had become. He dropped the book into the basket and scurried back to their designated meeting area, expecting her to be there. He waited a few minutes before wandering into her half of the store.

He looked up and down every aisle he passed with no sign of her. A bit of panic instantly settled in his chest. He thought of Niall, and how protective he is over his sister. He would never let Zayn live another day if anything happened to Adalae under his watch. Panicked, his pace hastened and he started calling for her quietly, not wanting to draw attention to himself.

A few more failed attempts at finding her, he resorted to calling for her over the announcement system at the front desk. As he walked in that direction, he had to think of a clever name for her. He couldn’t call for Adalae Horan without it possibly going awry.

“How may I help you?”

Zayn looked up, startled that he already reached the desk. “I’ve lost someone.”

“Shall we call for them for you?”

Zayn nodded. “Call for Parsons Brown. But make sure it’s Parsons, not Parson. She’ll get it.”

The girl behind the desk boredly picked up the phone and called for Parsons Brown, pointedly hissing the last s in Parsons. He sat himself in a chair off to the side of the service desk to wait. It took another five minutes before she strolled up.

“Parsons Brown. Clever, as I attend Parsons in New York,” she commented, amused, licking an ice cream cone. “I’ve already paid. And gotten ice cream. I was on my way back in when I heard them calling for me.”

Zayn stood, rolling his eyes. He traded his basket for her ice cream cone, eliciting a mouthful of protests from her. Once all of the items were scanned, he plucked his wallet from his back pocket and handed a card to the clerk.

“What’re you doing?” she demanded, trying to intercept the payment. The young boy behind the register looked slightly unsure of what to do. Zayn just waved him on. “This is my school stuff, I don’t want you paying for it.”

“You scared me when you just disappeared like that,” Zayn told her bluntly, ignored her other comment, retrieving his card and bags from the boy.

“Yeah,” she huffed. “I was thinking about what we do next.”

“And what’s that?”

“We disappear.”