The Alien Agenda (#Wattys2018)

[Chapter 32: A Break From Mayhem]

Lin tugged me into the posh boutique, not bothered about my hesitation a single bit. Though being her best friend for over ten years, has taught me not to question her taste in exorbitantly expensive fashion. She was rich. Period.

But I hated being a freeloader and letting her buy me stuff I knew I could never afford. Nevertheless, she always insisted. Which was why I tried to decline all her possible offers to go shopping with her.

But today was an exception.

Seeing her smile without a care, made me sigh in relief. I was glad that she had forgotten about the entire conspiracy. I was glad that she was now not involved. I was glad that her life was not at stake because of me.

Vivid images of the gun pointing at her head, replayed in my mind.

I would never let her go through that again.

So, I felt that doing what she loved-which was shopping- would indirectly be a way to repay her, for all the suffering she went through for me, whether she remembered or not.

Lin threw a bunch of dresses into my arms and pushed me into the changing room.

"Get changed! I have to see you in those dresses!" She squealed.

I rolled my eyes,"And when on earth would I wear a dress this fancy?" I asked. She gasped in fake shock.

"I can't believe you don't remember Victor Marshall inviting us to his New Year's Eve Party! THE Victor Marshall has invited us! And you expect to go dress like..." she made a disgusted noise.

I shook my head with a smile. Lin got invited, but insisted that she would not go without me. Thus, me receiving an unlikely invitation from one of the most popular boys in school.

However, I decided shopping and partying were just what I needed. The stress over the past month, only piled up, causing not only mental but physical problems as well. I needed a break.

Uncle Elias was right.

I shut the door to the changing room and hung the dresses on the hooks. I pulled a navy blue one and stared at it. Then grunted in frustration.

"Lin! You know I don't wear skimpy stuff like this!" I yelled from the changing room.

"And that's going to change today!" She yelled back.

"Laila, you've seriously gone down. You're slimmer now. Might as well make good use of it while it lasts!" She continued.

I sighed looking at myself in the mirror.

I was going to fight an alien armada, and here I was worrying about how I would look. Heck, I might not even live through the whole war.

I shrugged. Life is short.

Then I slipped the dress on.
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Surrounded by shopping bags, Lin and I were savoring our sundaes at an ice cream parlour. After a few hours of exhausting shopping, we surrendered to our hunger.

Lin licked her spoon,"Hey, speaking of which, you've been hanging out a lot with that hot new guy. What was his name?"

"Axel. Yeah, he's Uncle Elias's nephew. So..." I replied.

It felt a little weird, telling her all of this again. Though somewhere inside of me, I was sort of glad she had forgotten about Axel. Maybe I felt a little jealous that she previously admired him as well.

I did not want to admit it, but I was slightly overprotective towards Axel. He was mine.

Okay, that sounded wrong.

Lin was giving me mischevious look," I think something's going on between you two..." she said.

I shook my head,"N-no it's not like that."

"Oh believe me girl, I know when my best friend has a crush on someone," she said, flipping her hair.

I blushed,"I-I don't have..." I trailed off, then sighed to myself.

"Oh, who am I kidding? I do," I murmured loud enough for Lin to hear. Then came the expected squeal of delight from Lin.

"I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!" She chirped. I was already embarrassed enough, but I felt relieved admitting it to Lin.

"Is he coming to Victor's party. Oh I bet he's invited. You have to dress to impress. Oh my god, I already have a hookup plan!" Lin went on, rambling about her matchmaking ideas.

I rolled my eyes and chuckled.

She had no idea, confessing to Axel was the least of my problems. Saving the world was.

I wished that my life would have been just worrying on whether my crush liked me or not.

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Yeah sorry for the pretty lame update. The action will continue in a bit.

Just bear with a bit of fillers till then. ;)