As we make our way to the mall, the bad mood I'm in still doesn't lift.

"I know what you need. Cheesecake!" Lara advises.

The more I get to know this girl, the weirder she becomes.

"Cheesecake?"

"Yes. Cheesecake. To sweeten you up."

"I don't need sweetening up."

Lara rolls her eyes.

"Of course you do, just like I'm Australian," Lara sarcastically remarks.

"You wouldn't sound Australian if you tried."

"Let's go have a barbie, mates," Lara fails at an Australian accent.

I burst into laughter and Lara joins me.

"There we go: a smile," Lara approves.

Instantly, I frown.

"Well, at least there was," Lara comments.

Because we've been chatting and joking around, none of us notice that we're now in the mall. One of the restaurants has a sign saying:

'The Cheesecake Factory'

"No cheesecake could beat The Cheesecake Factory, right?" Lara states.

"I don't know. I haven't tasted any cheesecake in America."

Lara fake collapses.

"YOU'VE NEVER TASTED CHEESECAKE FROM THE CHEESECAKE FACTORY?"

"Never."

"OMG! I need to get you in there and taste cheesecake stat," Lara insists, grabbing my hand and sprints into the restaurant, bringing attention to us.

A waitress, who's been entertained by our entrance, walks over to our table.

"Hi. Welcome to The Cheesecake Factory!" she welcomes us, giving us two menus.

I don't know which cheesecake to pick. There's the original, strawberry, chocolate, caramel, pineapple upside down, oreo, cherry, lemon, marshmallows, peanut butter, red velvet, banana, raspberry, vanilla, tiramisu, limes and strawberries.

Lara chuckles at my facial expression.

"You can't pick?"

"Yep."

"If it helps, I clear my mind and the first flavour that comes into my mind is the one I pick."

The same waitress from before approaches us.

"Are you ready?"

"Luna?" Lara prompts.

"Yeah. Let's pick."

"I'll take the Hershey's Chocolate Bar Cheesecake, please," Lara says.

"Great choice. And what about you, miss?" the waitress asks, scribbling down the order.

"I'll have the Tiramisu cheesecake, please."

"Fab. Do you want something to drink?" the waitress questions.

"Yes. I'll have a Coke, please."

"Make that two, please," I add.

"Kk. Your orders will arrive shortly, girls," the waitress tells us before walking away.

Not long after, both of us are tucking into what could be the best cheesecake in the world!

"Do you now see why I shouted in the mall and practically collapsed onto the floor?" Lara smugly explained.

"To show the rest of Florida how much of a drama queen you are?" I tease.

"I'm not a drama queen. Everybody collapses!"

"Technically, you fake collapsed."

"Same thing."

"No it's not."

"It is.

"It's not.

"Do you know what I'm going to stop because we're just going to be here all day."

"Or it's because you know I'm right."

"Or it's because I'm mature."

I splutter.

"Please! You don't have a single mature bone in your body."

"Look who's talking: the girl who ignored the boy who was calling for her earlier this afternoon, probably over the silliest reason."

Lara gasps, taking in what she just said.

"I'm sorry, Luna. I didn't me-"

"The silliest reason!" I snap," How is falling right on top of the boy that has a crush on you the silliest reason?"

I blurt it out, realising what I just said when it's too late.

"What happened, Luna?" Lara asks, confused.

"It was awful! We were playing basketball and Logan was trying to pass the ball to the player I was marking and I managed to intercept it. But...I was so strong that I lost my balance and fell right on top of Logan and I brought him to the ground. I was so close to him I could smell his hair gel and I was so shocked that instead of getting back up onto my feet again, I froze. The rest of the boys started wolf whistling and Logan turned a shade of crimson. When sense was finally knocked into me, I ran and texted you."

"I'm sorry, Luna."

"So am I. I'm going to quit the team."

"WHAT? BUT YOU CAN'T!"

"I can't, Lara. The boys will just keep on teasing me and will never make me forget it. And I think I ruined my friendship with Logan."

"Hold on! How did you know that Logan has a crush on you?"

"Um...I may have eavesdropped on you two's chat at the party."

"Luna!"

"I know. I regret it because today wouldn't have been so bad if I didn't know Logan had a crush on me."

"True, the boys will tease you at school but they'll soon get bored."

"And Logan?"

"You need to talk to him and sort everything out."

"Ok. I will."

"But not now. Unless you want to go home, we still have more shopping to do."

"Sure. Shopping will distract me."

"Ok. Let's explore!"
‐-----------‐--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I know somewhere you'll like," Lara tells me, leading me into a DvD store.

Now that there's Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube etc., DvDs are being used less. Therefore, shops don't sell them that much anymore. However, this store is full of DvDs, varying in genres. There were films on romance, adventure, action, history, performing arts and at the very end: sports.

I flicked through basketball movies and documentaries on players.

In the back of the store, there was a sign saying:

'Bookflix'

Underneath this sign, were rows of shelves of books. While I was flicking through the DvDs, Lara was browsing in the mini-bookstore.

"What do you want to be when you're older, Lara?" I ask, suddenly realising that there's a lot that I still don't know about her.

"A journalist."

"Cool. Just remember to mention me when you're famous."

"I think it's going to be the opposite."

"It depends if I'll have the guts to walk in that arena by myself...and not with Ella."

"You will have the guts if you learn to believe in yourself."

"Yeah. I'll have to learn."

"I'll help you and so will..."

"Logan?"

"Yeah."

"I think I'll get this DvD. It looks interesting. And for a cheap price, as well."

"I'll get this book too."

We pay for our items at the till and walk back into the mall.

"Your turn," Lara says.

"What do you mean?"

"To pick where we're going next."

"Why don't you?"

"Because I chose to go to The Cheesecake Factory, then I suggested to go to the DvD and book store. So you have two turns to choose where we go."

In the end, I decide to go to Victoria's Secret because I felt guilty of ruining her plans with the party so I planned to buy her a bottle of perfume. However, I leave with an extra bottle - for myself - because I got tempted.

We leave Victoria's Secret and go to Topshop. Lara and I try on so many clothes that no wonder the shop assistants got annoyed. At the till, I pay for my oversized beige hoodie and blue, ripped jeans while Lara purchases a hot pink curduory jacket with black jeans.

"I think we should start heading home now," I suggest.

Lara agrees.

"See ya at school on Monday, Luna," Lara waves as I start approaching the bus.

"See ya. And, Lara?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. You're a great friend."

"Wow. I never thought you'd say that."

"Don't make me take it back."

"Ok. You're not too bad yourself. That is when you're not causing drama, of course."

I laugh as I board the bus.

Tomorrow, I'll go see Logan.