~*~*Natasha's P.O.V*~*~

"Mom! Please can I go out?", I question in a high pitched whiney voice.

My mom places a hand on her hip, a stern look on her face. "Natasha, no. You need to rest." She replies strictly; eyebrows raised.

"But Mom-

"No, Natasha. I've made my decision."

I cross my arms over my chest, a scowl on my face. I half expect my Mother to see my annoyance at not being able to go out, and change her mind. But no. She doesn't.

I sigh in exasperation, letting my arms fall to my lap. "Mom. Please. I haven't been out in a week. I've been stuck at home all week, and I have to go back to school tomorrow. I need oxygen. Fresh air. It'll be good for me. Please?", I plead frustrated.

Ever since I had gotten home from the hospital that day, my Mom basically put me on house arrest. She made me take a week off school, and I had to sit at home and rest. For some people, that's a reward. Not for me. I value my education very much. I have to go back to school tomorrow, so I just wanted to go out and get some fresh air today.

"But sweetheart, I-

"Mom, I'll be fine. I promise." I assure her.

For a few moments, she stands there, deep in thought. Most likely contemplating whether or not she should let me go. She sighs, her tense shoulders relaxing.

"Fine. But be careful. And I want you home by dinner. Understand?"

Smiling like a maniac to my mom, I grab my hand and place it against my head, saluting her. "Yes ma'am."

She chuckles to herself; ruffling my hair as she pulls me into a hug.

"I love you." She whispers into my ear.

I smile into her hair; her strawberry shampoo engulfing my nostrils. "I love you too."

As I pull away from her, I gently place a kiss on her cheek. "You're the best." I tell her.

She flips her hair over her shoulders; pretending to brush of some dust in the process. "I already know. Don't need to tell me." She says; placing her hands on her hips, her voice full of sass.

I see where I get that from.

Laughing loudly; I proceed to make my way to my bedroom to get dressed.

***

As I step into My bedroom, I carefully shut the door behind me. I swiftly walk over to my wardrobe, and grab the first thing I can find to wear.

I'm going out to explore. Not to a Victoria's Secret fashion show.

Suddenly, I am hit with a wonderful idea. I speed walk over to my dressing table, and grab my phone. I scroll through my contacts, landing on his name. I don't take two seconds to dial the number. After a few rings, he picks up.

"Hello", his voice isn't as happy as it should be.

"Hey. Brody.What's up?"

"Oh Natasha, hey. Erm, nothing really. Just taking a nap." He answers.

Something's definitely up.

"Sure you're okay?" I persist.

"Natasha, I'm fine. Let it go." He answers exasperatedly.

Geez. What crawled up his pants and died.

"Oh. Ok. Erm, I was going to go out today, since I'd been locked up at home all week. And I haven't seen you all week either. So, wanna come with?" I ask.

"Oh. I'm sorry, I can't. I have somewhere to be."

I frown sadly, my eyebrows furrowing. "Where are you going?"

"I....erm....I have to go to a family dinner." He answers, after some hesitation.

"Oh. Ok then." I say dejectedly.

"Yeah."

"Well, have fun." I tell him.

"I will. Bye." He replies .

"Bye." I greet.

And then, I hang up.

I put my phone down on the table; a glum, sorrowful expression on my face.

I guess I'll just go alone then.

I collect my chosen outfit from my bed, and walk into the bathroom to get dressed; locking the door behind me.

Once I am dressed and ready to go, I make my way downstairs.

"Mom! I'm ready!" I shout.

"Just take the car keys and sit in the car, I'll be there in five!" She answers.

"Okay." I take the keys from the rack, unlock the front door, and go outside. I walk over to my mom's car; unlocking it with the button on the keys. I swiftly walk over to the passengers side, and take a seat. Then, I buckle my seatbelt, and wait for my Mom.

"I'm here." My mom opens the door to the drivers side, and takes a seat. She puts the key in the ignition; the engine roaring to life.

"Shall we?" She questions in a posh British voice.

I chuckle to myself, "We shall." I attempt a British accent, but fail miserably.

She laughs to herself; shaking her head in amusement.

She then starts the car, and drives out of the driveway.

***

"Be careful, and just call me whenever you want me to pick you up." My mom says as she pulls up outside the shopping mall.

I nod my head in acceptance, "Okay." I reply.

Leaning over her seat; she places a quick kiss on my forehead. "Bye, stay safe."

"Don't worry, I will." I pull her into a hug; resting my head into the crook of her neck.

"Bye." I greet as I pull away from her embrace. I then open the car door, and get out of my seat. I wave at her as she backs the car out of the parking spot.

I watch as she pulls out of the parking lot, and drives onto the road, until she is no longer in my line of sight.

Turning around, I begin to make my way over to the entrance of the Mall.

Reaching the entrance, I start to walk inside. As I enter, I am suddenly pushed and shoved around in the large crowd.

Well. I was the one who decided to go to the Mall on a Sunday.

Going further into the Mall, I walk past many different shops; all sorts of different brands. Each shop is like a magnet; dragging me towards it, tempting me to enter.

Where should I go first?

After a good ten minutes of deciding where to go first; I settle on starting off at Starbucks.

Who doesn't love a good hot chocolate?

I make my way over to where Starbucks is situated; enticed by the sweet smell of perfumes as I walk past a fragrance store.

As I locate the store, I stroll over to the entrance; noticing the plethora of people sat inside. I reach the front counter of Starbucks; standing in the queue, waiting patiently for my turn.

As I near the front, I reach into my bag and grab my purse; taking my credit card from it.

"Hello. Welcome to Starbucks. What can I get you?" The guy at the counter says in an extremely bored voice.

Geez. Enthusiastic much.

I know how to cheer him up. Watch this. "Hi. Can I get a hot chocolate, with whipped cream. And a chocolate chip muffin, please." I say politely, in an extra feminine voice.

Just as I had expected, the guy's head immediately shoots up at the sound of a girl's voice; his face lighting up in excitement.

"Sure thing babe, that'll be $6.95." He replies with a flirtatious smirk on his face, as he notes down my order.

Man Whore.

I smile kindly; handing him my credit card. As I place the card in his hand; his palm brushes against my fingertips. He chuckles cockily, putting the card in the machine; extracting the full amount of money.

"Take a seat, your order will be with you in five minutes", he tells me in a deep voice, attempting to be sexy, as he hands me my card back; winking seductively.

Desperate much?

I place the card back in my purse, and put it into my bag. I then turn on my heel, and go to sit on a table as I await my order.

Tapping my fingers against the wooden table, I don't notice when the same waiter from before strolls over to my table.

"Here's your order babe. Enjoy", he says; adding a coquettish wink.

"Thanks", I say as I grab my food from the table, ignoring his inviting behaviour.

Ugh. Horny teenage boys.

I then turn on my heel, and exit the shop; my heels tapping against the ceramic floor.

I take the cup of hot chocolate out of the bag, and put my cupcake in my handbag; saving it for later.

As I go to take a sip from the cup, I notice some handwriting scribbled onto the side.

I squint my eyes in an attempt to read it.

Ryan. 8436293. Call me.

I stifle a laugh at how desperate the guy is. And he has terrible handwriting.

Seriously?

I shake my head; laughing to myself to as I take a sip of the piping hot drink. The taste of chocolate engulfs my tastebuds, filling them with delight.

I gulp it all down in a matter of seconds; licking my lips in an attempt to savour the delicious flavour. Call me greedy, but that was amazing. Once the cup is empty, I throw it away into a nearby trash can, without taking a second glance.

No thanks Ryan. No thanks.

I walk towards the main part of the shopping mall; overwhelmed by the amount of people there. Abruptly, I stop near the side of the fountain in the middle of my current location; deciding where to go first.

Where should I go?

After a good few minutes of deep contemplation, I decide to go to Macy's to shop for some jewerelly and clothes.

Finalising my decision ,I begin to make my way to the store. As I reach the entrance, I quickly walk inside, excited by the thoughts of all of the possible things I could buy today.

Hey. I'm a girl.

I look around the clothing Isle, and find a cute, pink, off the shoulder cropped top. I also find a pair of black ripped skinny jeans, and a ton of other cute stuff. I go over to the changing rooms and try them on. After seeing myself in the clothes, I decide what I want to keep and what I don't want to keep; separating them into two separate piles.

I then go over the jewellery section, and pick out some cute accessories. Bracelets, earrings, and necklaces. All that jazz.

Collecting all of my chosen items together into a shopping bag; I proceed to stride over to the till to pay for my items. As I reach the front, I place everything on the counter. The woman then takes all of the items out of the shopping bag. Scanning the items swiftly, the woman at the counter- Ariana- as it says on her name tag, places them into a plastic Macy's bag. Once all the items have been scanned, she adds up the total.

"That'll be Forty dollars and sixty seven cents", she says politely; a warm smile on her face.

Smiling in return, I take my credit card from my purse in my bag, and hand it to her. Taking it from me; she puts it into the card reader machine. I type my pin into it; using my hand as a shield to cover it so that nobody sees. Wouldn't want a case of fraud now, would we?Once the transaction is completed, I take my card out of the machine, and place it into my purse; which I then place back into my bag. I grab my shopping bags from the counter; smiling at the woman. "Thanks for shopping at Macy's, have a nice day." She tells me kindly.

"Thanks. Bye." I smile at her warmly, before exiting the building.

She was a nice cashier.

After that, I spend a few hours going from shop to shop, mostly window shopping because I can't really find anything I like.

Ah. The struggles of being a teenage girl.

Satisfied with the amount of shopping I have done, I proceed to make my way out of the shopping mall. I had already asked my Mom to come and pick me up, she should be here in about 15 minutes.

As I round the corner near the exit, the sound of a familiar voice catches my attention.

"Amelia. Seriously. Stop." Says an extremely deep, manly, sexy voice.

Brody?

"Sure. I'll stop. Later." Replies an unknown feminine voice.

Well. Unknown to me.

Then, the voices stop, and all I can hear is the disturbing sound of kissing.

Peeking my head around the corner; I see an extremely attractive girl, snaking her hands around Brody's neck, running them through his hair, whilst pushing him up against the wall as she attacks his lips with full force.

Brody's hands sit carefully against her waist as he kisses her back with equal passion.

Tears brim in my eyes as I stand there Silently; watching this horrifying scene unfold in front of me.

He lied to me.

I silently begin to cry as I see the reality. Of course. Of course he would like somebody like her. She's so beautiful, and has nice hair, and a nice face, and she's just so beautiful. She's just so much better than me. I can't believe I thought that maybe, just maybe, he liked me back just as much as I liked him.

I was wrong. Clearly.

Clearing my throat, I cause both of them to abruptly stop with their passionate make out session, and turn to look towards me.

I discreetly wipe the moisture from my face; making sure that nobody sees, and smile a fake smile.

"Natasha......I", Brody struggles to form any words as a guilty expression takes over his features.

"Hi. Brody. I was just walking past, and I heard some noises, and I thought something was wrong, so I came here to see what was happening. Clearly, everything is all good." I say, biting my bottom lip to hold back some unshed tears.

"Oh, erm, yea..........", Brody stutters, finding it difficult to form a sentence. Not even one word.

"Care to introduce us?" I say; using my head to gesture to the girl, who is still clinging onto Brody.

"Oh. Yea. Erm. Amelia, this is Natasha. And Natasha, thi-

"I'm Amelia. Brody's girlfriend", Amelia cuts him off, moving closer towards me.

My heart shatters, and tears threaten to spill as I take in this newfound information.

Girlfriend.

Girlfriend.

Girlfriend.

She's Brody's girlfriend. He's her boyfriend.

Tears start to brim in my eyes, but I blink them back repeatedly.

I pull myself together before Brody or Amelia see how much this has affected me.

"Oh.", I say, surprised that my voice doesn't come out shaky.

"Yeah. He asked me out yesterday. We had been speaking for quite a long time. Right babe?" She trails a finger up and down Brody's jawline, her other hand resting on his chest.

"Right.", Brody answers almost immediately, looking anywhere but at me.

He looks happy. He doesn't need me.

"Erm. Congratulations. I hope you guys are always this happy." I say joyfully, although on the inside I am falling apart ,bit by bit.

"Thanks so much." Amelia exclaims, a little too sweetly.

Okay then.

"Anyway, my Mom is probably here to pick me up by now. I gotta get going. Bye." I say as I turn on my heel, and begin to walk away, not sparing them a second glance.

Stopping midway in my tracks, I turn my head around to look at the two of them. Brody's eyes make contact with mine as I begin to speak, "Have fun at that family dinner, Brody." I then continue to walk away, ignoring the guilty expression on Brody's face.

Dodging several different people, I quickly run out of the Mall, and into the car park. Tears sting at the back of my eyes, but I don't dare let them fall.

I'm strong.

I'm not weak.

Frantically looking around the parking lot, my eyes land on my Mom's black Mercedes pulling up in front of me.

Without any further ado, I hurriedly walk over to the passengers side, open the door, and sit inside.

"Hey sweetie. Did you have fun?" My Mom questions as she drives the car out of the parking lot, and onto the main road.

Keeping my voice steady, I reply happily, "It was great! I did so much shopping. It was a lot of fun."

"That's good." She says, a smile etched onto her features.

For the rest of the journey, no words are exchanged, there is a comfortable silence. And I am more than grateful for that, because I don't really have the will to speak right now. I would most likely turn into a blubbering, crying, mess.

As the car pulls up outside of my house, tears begin to blur my vision; threatening to spill at any given moment.

No.

Don't cry.

You're not weak.

You're strong.

Biting back the tears, Quickly, I get out of the car; slamming the door shut behind me. My mom locks the car with her keys, and walks to the house. I follow suit; trailing behind her as she twirls the keys around on her finger. Unlocking the door, she twists the handle, allowing me entrance to the house.

"I'm just gonna set these in my wardrobe." I say, gesturing to my bags of shopping, as I kick off my shoes.

"Ok. Be quick. I'm making your favourite for dinner today." My Mom replies; walking into the kitchen to prepare dinner for us.

"I will." I answer shakily. And I'm so glad she doesn't notice. Now what would I answer to that?

I rapidly run up into my bedroom, tears threatening to spill. As I walk inside, I quietly slam the door shut behind me.

Leaning my back against the door, I slowly slide to the floor.

And then, I can't control it anymore. One lone tear glides down my face. Followed by another. Then another. And soon enough, I am crying vigorously; burying my face in the space between my knees. I can't control the tears that come out of my eyes, they're not tears of pain. They're tears of sorrow. Of heartbreak.

I'm strong.

I'm strong.

I am.

But I'm not strong enough for this.