Trudy had been wanting to lift her spirits up, so when Evangeline suggested to go shopping and then party away at Ryan's birthday party, Trudy immediately agreed. If it was up to her, Trudy would have went for a spa day instead, but a shopping spree and getting wasted was the next best thing and Evangeline was in a sensitive spot emotionally, so Trudy, being the supportive friend she was, complied to Eva's wishes.

Trudy didn't mind going to the mall - the mall was her kingdom along with the highschool - as much as she minded Ryan's birthday party. Trudy was still coping with what happened in the last party she attended, but she knew she needed to make an appearance in order to show all the unfaithful wannabes that their farfetched rumors were wrong and prove her worth. The wicked Trudy couldn't be taken down that easily, she was strong, so Trudy sucked it up and did the only thing she mastered; bottling her insecurities and being a bad bitch.

What Trudy didn't expect was that Celene, Eva's fourteen-year-old sister, would tag along. The teen was even prettier than Eva - big spacious eyes that Trudy couldn't tell if they were hazel or green with thick and dark eyelashes that should be illegal, shiny silky hair that was a natural blond that would put Sandra's fake ombre to shame, and baby soft skin that wasn't put through the horrible phase of puberty and acne - and what annoyed Trudy the most was that the girl had the attitude for it as well. She was so confident, witty, and rude - She was Eva's own Sandra. The only thing that didn't seem to work for her - that satisfied Trudy enough to hold back from breaking her - was the punk aura she tried to achieve around her with her black nails, lacy choker, and Bring Me The Horizon shirt that looked straight out of a Hot Topic shop - ew.

Trudy had a feeling that once Celene grew up a little, she might make alternative the new cool because she was that confident. If Celene was Trudy's age then the girls would either be best friends or straight on enemies. Trudy didn't like a challenge - maybe she did when it came to guys but not so much with girls - and Calene wasn't only a threat to her dominance, she was also extremely rude to Eva. Trudy wanted nothing than to bring the young, annoying beauty back to earth and spill an icy bucket of insults that were merely facts in Trudy's eyes on her, but Trudy knew that that would upset Eva. Besides, Celene had been gone for more than two months, and it was a miracle enough that the uptight Hannah let her beloved children party away the night, so Trudy tolerated Celene for Eva's sake.

See? Trudy spoke to her emotionless shell, I can be a good friend when I want to.

The three girls were in a Saks store. Celene was rummaging through a rack of black studded clothes - Trudy rolled her eyes, Typical - while Evangeline was being tied down to her financial crisis as she kept checking the tags, jaw dropped and hazel eyes widened, and dismissing the items that weren't approved by her budget - which was everything in the store. Trudy could tell that Eva was embarrassed that she couldn't afford half a thing in that store, and Trudy felt slightly guilty for dragging Eva to the most expensive store in the mall.

Eva kept dismissing piece after piece at the price tag, not even offering the clothing a proper inspect. Her eyes were suddenly on a pair of jean shorts and, like love on first sight, Eva held the luxurious fabric in her delicate hands and eyed it with longing.

"Nice choice," Trudy nodded in approval, her eyes on her friend as her hand clutched at the numerous oufits she had put together, the other hand going over the crop tops in search for one good enough for her liking. "It's Ksubi Rise N Hi, a classic for jean garments."

"And it's also 200 dollars." Eva sighed before dismissing the shorts as well, an embarrassed blush caressing her exposed neck. "It's fine, I'll just wait for you to finish and then I'll stop quickly by Forever 21 or something."

Trudy's nonexistent heart broke at Eva's misery. "You know..." Trudy trailed, "200 dollars is nothing for me, just add it to my pile and I'll-"

"No, I can't accept that." Eva shook her head, soft lips quivering. "Don't get me wrong, I appreciate your offer so much, but they're just shorts, you know? I don't really need them. I'm sure I can find better ones for much cheaper somewhere else."

Trudy smiled depite Eva's awkward blabber. Yes, Trudy did feel a little rejected, but it was overpowered by warm and fuzzy feelings - Eva is not in it for my money. Eva wasn't a gold-digger like everyone else, she was genuine, and that fact was like the cherry on top to Trudy's will to get better. It was decided, Trudy would appreciate Evangeline and try to make it up for her, no matter how hard it was to ignore the usual pangs of jealousy.

"I'll find myself a cart." The ghost of the smile still evident, Trudy walked away because her chosen items were getting heavy and she needed both her hands free so she could feel the quality properly despite everything in that store being authentic. Trudy didn't walk two meters when an employee rushed to her.

"I'll take care of that for you," The very young employee took the arranged outfits from Trudy, he was so young that he looked Celene's age despite his athletic body under the uniform. "Please tell me if there is anything else I can do for you." The teen placed each clothing piece carefully on the cart, his voice a bit high-pitched due to puberty.

"I will." Trudy didn't bother thanking him for helping her since that was his job and settled for a shrug his way. She turned around and was about to head back to Evangeline when her brown eyes fell on three troublemakers passing by the store - Hey, I know them! The three guys were the same boys who basically eye-raped her weeks ago when she met Zarek in the parking lot right before The Spring Ball, the three were leaning on the abounded cafeteria. Trudy cringed, she could clearly remember the vivid image of one of them having his hands in his pants. Perverts.

The three troublemakers seemed to recognize her too. They stopped in their tracks and pointed their fingers at her through the glass of the store's entrance. "Look!" The One Who Jerked Off howled, his obnoxiously loud voice a trigger to painful headaches. "She's the black girl who was with that blond guy in that highschool."

His tanned friend snickered, thick hair in tight braids on his head. "She's so black she's the color of my dump, man."

Bandana Guy laughed, his golden front tooth reflecting the light. "You must have a problem if your shit is that dark, homie."

They went on their way down the hall of the mall, laughing at their genius remarks, not caring that they just crushed whatever left of Trudy's self-esteem. Trudy shouldn't have cared - they were wannabe blacks for hell's sake - but she was still affected, and she hated it. She hated how hard it was to pick up her broken pieces and how effortless it was for them to be scrambled again.

A sob was strangled in her throat as the tears threatened to fall. Trudy was about to run her way to the restroom when the employee - Trudy read his name as Nathaniel in her blurry gaze - held her shoulder, a strange something swirling in his eyes.

"Don't listen to them, you're better than that." Nathaniel spoke softly, his voice stuck between a squeak and a hoarse tone. "They don't know you so they can't judge you. Besides, it's the 21 century, doesn't anyone have any common sense yet?"

Miraculously, Nathaniel, a complete stranger, managed to lift up Trudy's spirits again. Trudy would've hissed at him and flaunted away, claiming that she didn't need a pep-talk while dying from the inside, but Trudy forced her lips the closest thing to a smile because she was so tired of faking the strength she didn't have. "Thank you," Trudy mumbled at the young employee.

"You're most welcome," Nathanial patted her shoulder, a warm smile in his childish face. "Please, take care and don't let people like that bring you down."

Trudy nodded, not knowing what to say. She was feeling so awkward that she just walked away from the kind boy, heading back to Evangeline. Well, that was until she bumped into people she didn't want to see; Ryan and Raven who were holding boxes of beer that were most likely for the party tonight, along with Janie who Trudy remembered her being all over Ryan in The Spring Ball. Janie creeped Trudy out with her glare that wasn't only full of envy - which made Trudy's mood significantly better - but their color was yellow, resembling those vampires from the movie Twilight.

"Hello, Trudy," Raven greeted, looking Trudy's figure up and down, her gaze so intense that it made Trudy's smooth skin prickle with goosebumps. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm shopping, duh," Trudy snapped, "What do you think, genuis?"

Ryan's shoulders tensed but he was too much of a coward to step up and defend his twin. Ryan had a faded blackeye hiding behind a layer of makeup that a normal eye wouldn't have caught up to. Trudy refrained from asking him about it because she didn't really care.

Raven blushed furiously, her hairy arms fumbling with her man-bun. "Oh, yes, right," she stumbled, "Hope you're shopping for our birthday party, right? Did you buy us a gift yet?"

"Please," Trudy sighed, flipping her much neater wavy hair. "My mere presence is more than enough."

"Well, yes, that and the sight of you in a little, sexy dress." Raven's forest green eyes glistened with... lust?

Trudy was weirded out with Raven - is she hitting on me? - so she focused her attention on Ryan. "Did you get everything you need?" Trudy said, "It's your birthday after all, so if you need to pay for something..." Trudy trailed off awkwardly.

"That's fine," Ryan was surprised with Trudy's sudden generosity, but he kept it to himself, finding it suspicious as he eyed Trudy cautiously. "Zarek already got us the drinks with his fake ID and paid for everything, so we don't need you."

Okay, that was harsh. Trudy knew he had all the right to be rude to her, she had always nagged him. The rejection wasn't worse than accepting her offer, because by flaunting her off Ryan proved that he was actually hurt from Trudy's actions and that he wasn't a greedy one. Gosh, I just keep pushing all the genuine people away.

"Hey, speaking of Zarek," Janie spoke for the first time, "Where is he?"

Raven - that could've been Celene's sister since they shared the same taste in clothing and liking for the alternative aura - smirked as she looked ahead. "There he is."

Trudy glanced at where Raven was hinting. Eva was holding the previous Ksubi Rise N Hi jean shorts - she must really like them despite being a bit revealing for her taste - oblivious to an angry Zarek strolling behind her. He snatched the said shorts and yelled at her, even calling her a disgusting whore. Trudy took a quick scan on the Saks store and almost everyone was gawking at the pissed, blond guy as he harassed the redheaded beauty. Among that crowd was Celene's distorted face in shock, pretty eyes showing fear for the first time.

Trudy rushed to the scene. Zarek held his arm up - if he fucking touches her... Trudy hurried enough for her to catch Zarek's arm midair, putting her muscle memory from all those self-defense classes into use as she pushed Zarek's body away. Trudy was lucky she caught him off guard, Zarek crashing against one of the racks. He quickly regained his balance and stood to his hight, nostrils breathing fire and electric green eyes blinded by pure venom.

Zarek made his way again towards Eva who was literally shaking with fear, but Trudy got in the way. "Back off," Trudy hissed, "Or I swear to god I'll circumcise you with my bare nails, Zarek, don't test me."

Zarek's body was leaned over, his fists clenched and ready to swing, but Trudy maintained eye contact, hiding how afraid she really was. Zarek wasn't sane anymore, the look on his eyes was too twisted and crazy, so he was unpredictable now more than ever. Zarek's eyes weren't focused on Trudy or her threat, but on Evangeline behind her. He showed a friction of sadness before he let out an ear-deafening scream, that was so horrifying and dark that it sent all kind of chills on anyone in hearing range. Zarek pulled at his blond hair, his chest breathing rapidly before he flipped a random basket filled with leggings to the ground.

Zarek pointed a finger at the trembling Evangeline, throwing the pair of previously snatched shorts at her face. "You're nothing but a fucking slut," he roared with rage, "You don't deserve anything, you don't deserve me."

If it wasn't for the tension in the room, Trudy would have laughed at Zarek and called him a whiny bitch. Zarek glared a couple more seconds at Eva, Trudy truly thought he would pop his eyeballs with all that pressure, before he finally took a step back and stormed out of the store, leaving everyone confused behind him.

Trudy turned around to face her friend, ignoring the annoying curious eyes of the crowd. "Are you okay?" Trudy cursed herself at her wrong approach, but it wasn't like Eva was actually listening since she was stuck in her own overthinking world.

"Why can't he just leave me alone?" Eva heaved out a breath, tears rolling down her freckled cheeks but wiping them away with too much force. "No, I promised I won't be weak," Eva mumbled mostly to herself. She bent and picked up the cursed jean shorts, heading for the cashier. "I won't let him step over me, I'll do what I want."

Evangeline bought the shorts just to piss Zarek off. Trudy admired Eva's bravery - she can be such a badass.

Trudy suspected the reason behind Zarek's anger attack was Eva's relationship with Ashton, but that didn't give him the right to let it all out on Eva. Eva had the freedom to be with anyone she wanted. Yes, getting Zarek upset was the whole point of this plan, but the other goal was to push him away, yet it seemed like it had the opposite effect - his bullying intensified.

Fuck the guilt. Trudy needed to do things the good old fashioned way. She slipped to a quiet corner and texted Sanderson.

"Remember when you cheated and I covered for you? It's time to return the favor."

A second later came Sanderson's reply.

"Too fucking bad, Sandra and I just broke up for real this time. But I gave you my word, and I don't break promises. What do you need?"

Trudy had to fight the urge to ask him about what happened with Sandra and focus her attention on getting her original plan on action - jump Zarek at night and send him to the hospital, if not straight to his grave. Trudy stopped any hesitation from crossing her mind as she sent the message to Sanderson because Zarek deserved this.