"Is everything okay?" Sophie's voice snapped me out of my trance. 

I have a full day of classes today, and I'm trying my best to not bump into Cyrus. 

I feel as if he knows something is going on with me, or at least he's suspicious of me in some way. The way I behaved last night really wasn't the most subtle, with the shaking and rushing back into the house. He must know that something is up. Or he might think that I'm weird. Either way, I don't want to see him today. 

"Yeah I'm fine, honestly" I tried to sound reassuring, but I failed miserably. What is wrong with me? Usually I'm an amazing liar, not that this is something to be proud of, but I am proud of that particular skill.

"You sure? You keep looking around like someone might attack you or something" she joked, although I could sense a serious undertone in her voice. 

"No... I'm just looking for Dylan, that's all" I slightly exaggerated the truth. And by exaggerated I mean I lied.  Again. 

"Okay listen. I don't know what's going on with you and I don't mind whether you tell me or not, it's your choice. But the one thing I do know, is that there's something on your mind and you definitely need a distraction. So... we're having a girls night tonight. And you can't say no" she kept wagging her finger in my face, trying to look stern. 

I thought about her offer for a second. Maybe she's right, maybe I do need a night where I don't think about all my problems. 

"Okay, let's do it" I told her, causing her to have a beaming smile on her face "There's one problem though... I never really had a girls night before" I admitted sheepishly. 

"What do you mean??? How are you 20 years old and never had a girls night? That's a crime against nature I tell you" her shocked face was amusing to watch.

"No I mean I've hang out with girls before but it was never just girls you know? There were always guys with us, so I wouldn't count that a girls night" I explained to Sophie. 

"Don't worry I will show you everything you need to know. Meet me after classes by my car and we'll get started then. I'm so excited!" she jumped slightly on the spot, making herself look like a little bobble head. 

I agreed to meet her after classes, and as we parted ways, I once again got lost in my own thoughts. 

After my day with Cyrus yesterday, I couldn't sleep. My thoughts were swirling around in my head like a powerful tornado that destroys everything in its path. I have realised that I have been straying away from my plan.

I was going to stay here for a few months, save up enough money for a flight and a few weeks living expenses, and I was going to go back to New York. 

What happened to the plan? What happened in the past few weeks that made me alter the entire idea that I had for the near future? 

Now... I know that my original plan was not the best for long-term living. With the way I planned, I was only going to be able to support myself for a few weeks, maybe a few months, depending on how much money I would manage to save up. But it was still my plan, my idea and my future. For once, it wasn't anything that my mother had organised or forced me into. This was all me.

And now, it has all been fading into the background without me even realising .

_____________

The mall was buzzing with people, everyone moving in different directions like ants. I was surrounded by the sounds of shoes tapping against the tiles; some even managing to create the squealing sound as the bottom of the shoe was dragged across the floor, causing the goosebumps on my arms to rise. The appealing smells were wafting up to my nose from the food court, reminding me that I haven't eaten anything apart from a small apple before I left for college this morning.

Noticing that I stopped near the food court and the way I was clutching my stomach, Sophie grabbed my arm and led me towards a burger stand that was tucked away in the corner of the food court and was barely noticeable.

The stand itself was relatively small, with only one man standing behind it whilst he was flipping burgers and preparing the sesame-seeded buns for the orders. The sizzling sound of the burgers being flipped was ringing in my ears as my stomach started to growl louder and more frequently.

 "Not many people order from this burger place, since it's so small and hidden. But believe me when I say that it has the best burgers" said Sophie, whilst smiling at the man behind the burger stand and giving him a small friendly wave.

We both walked towards the smiling man as he continued to prepare his orders. As we stopped in front of his stand, he stopped what he was doing to greet us both.

"Hi honey, how are you? Haven't seen you in a while" said the friendly man whilst looking at Sophie with a caring smile.

"Hi Henry! I'm sorry, college has been a bit hectic so me and Amber here decided to do some retail therapy" she answered, gesturing towards me when mentioning my name to the man, who I now know is named Henry.

"Oh hi there sweetheart, I'm Henry! But you should call me 'the guy who serves the best burgers in town' haha" he introduced himself to me, chuckling at his own joke.

"Hi there, I'm Amber" I replied, smiling at the carefree man. He reminded me of my dad, from a long time ago. I instantly took a liking to him.

"Alright, enough of the introductions. Can we please get my usual for the both of us?" said Sophie, preparing the necessary cash to pay for the order.

"Sophie usual coming right up" said Henry, turning his focus back towards the burgers on the grill. The way he moved behind the stand, flipping and preparing the burgers made it look so easy. You could definitely tell that he's been doing this for a very long time.

"So what's the Sophie's usual then?" I asked her, curious about what concoction I'm about to eat. From what I've seen of Sophie's food choices, she has an.... unusual taste. I mean, the girl dips her pickles in Nutella, so yes I do have a right to be slightly cautious.

"You'll have to wait and see, my impatient friend" she turned away and led us to a table nearby to wait for our food to be ready.

We had a light conversation for the next few minutes as we were waiting for our food. We joked, we laughed and it felt good to talk to someone, even if it wasn't about all my current problems. I finally had a chance to feel slightly more normal, and not like an addicted girl who couldn't get her life together.

"Here you go ladies; two Sophie's specials. Hope you enjoy" came Henry's voice from behind me, as he placed two red plastic baskets filled with a burger and fries. He came back two seconds later with two plastic cups in his hands that were filled with drinks.

The burgers looked insane, with sauce dripping out of them and the fries looked like they had some sort of seasoning sprinkled all over them.

"Okay, try the burger first and then I'll tell you what is in there" Sophie pointed towards my burger and urged me to have the first bite.

I lifted the burger out of the basket and brought it towards my mouth. Swallowing my hesitation and slight fear, I took a bite.

"Omg this is amazing! What is this?" I asked through the mouthful of food, definitely not expecting what I have just tasted. This was, by far, the best burger I have ever tried.

"I know right! Haha you are so welcome girl" she finally took a bite of her own burger, as she was waiting for my reaction this whole time. "The secret ingredients include grilled halloumi, caramelised onions and a sprinkle of blue cheese" she revealed and continued to munch on her burger as if she has been starved for the past few days.

As we ate our burgers and continued with light conversation, something or more specifically someone, caught my attention from behind where Sophie was sat. As I focused more on looking over her shoulder, Sophie's words started to slur together and her voice slowly started to fade into the background. It was like in the movies, when the main character gets distracted by something and they focus all of their attention on this one particular thing.

That thing for me was Dylan.

He was near the fire exit of the mall with a hooded figure, leaning against the wall and looking around every few seconds, I'm guessing to make sure that no one was paying any attention to them. Dylan was waving his arms around quite a lot, making it seem like he was annoyed and arguing with the hooded figure.

The hooded figure hasn't turned around, or even really moved ever since I first noticed them. I had no idea who that person was or why Dylan was talking to them.

All of a sudden, Dylan pushed the hooded figure away from him in what looked like frustration, and balled his hands into fists.

"Hey are you listening to me?" fingers snapped in front of my face, bringing my focus back on Sophie who was sat opposite me, finished with her burger and who was now taking small sips of her soda. 

"Umm yeah, I was just... Umm.. I thought I saw someone I knew, that's all" I said quickly, not wanting to really talk about it. The main reason being that I wasn't sure there was anything to talk about.

As I once again focused my sight on the fire exit behind Sophie, Dylan and the hooded figure were gone.

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you had a lovely Christmas break and let's hope the new year will be better for us than 2020 was.

I'm back to work from tomorrow, but I'm hoping that I'll be able to update the story at least once a week. If not, I'll be updating you on my profile so make sure you're following me :)

Hope you enjoy this chapter, and don't forget to vote and comment :)

Until next time xxx