That Girl

Chapter 5

It was after school when I started to panic.

"Lia, I was wondering if I could catch a bus to go to the mall. I'm in desperate need of new clothes." I said, emerging from the hallway to the living area.

"Doesn't Vanessa have a car? You can ride with her, then you won't be alone."

"She's at detention." I remembered this afternoon in the lunchroom, she got in a fight that she didn't deserve.

"Alright, go ahead. Just be safe, okay?" She said in a silvery voice, and I was soon out the door and headed down the block towards the bus stop.

There was a homeless man on the curb playing a rusty ukulele, I gave him an apple I had in my pocket from Dylan that afternoon. He's been pursing me to eat every meal, every day. The man smiled at me with slightly yellow teeth; he's new to the streets. I might add he was quite young, maybe a drop out.

"Oh, bless you, young lady. We need more people like you in the world."

The bus dropped me and three other teens off at the mall. It was a small mall for a small town. But I was determined to at least find something for tonight. I walked in and a blast of warm air hit my face. I headed toward a store named, 'Aeropostale'. I've walked by there plenty of times and have seen some things a scene like me would consider.

"Hi! Is there anything I can help you with?" An ecstatic young woman said as I walked in. She had the most fake smile on her face, more fake than mine.

"Um, I'm just trying to find a party dress," I said quietly. I knew I looked abnormal in that store.

"Okay, well over here we have some dresses - is there a specific color you would like?"

"Well, I would prefer gray or black, but red would be okay, too." The saleswoman gave me a horribly judgmental look, as if she didn't already realize I was emo.

"Alright, I'll let you look around and if you find anything, just holler and I'll find you a dressing room if needed. Okay?" She gave me another fake smile.

"Thanks," I said quietly, and with that she swiftly walked away to never return. She was done with me like everyone else.

I looked around, there was color and liveliness all around, and yet I couldn't relate to any of it. I found a few dresses that I would consider, but then I found the perfect one. It was thickly black and white striped. Very simple, yet sophisticated. I bought it and got out of the mall and decided to walk home, I needed the fresh air and time to think about the events lying ahead.

"Hey, did you get anything?" Lia asked as I walked through the front door with bag in hand.

"Yeah," I said, walking over to her and sitting beside her on the couch. She was watching American Horror Story, season 4 with that bat-shit clown. I opened my bag and took out the dress.

"Oh Beth, it's gorgeous! Go try it on," she was so excited for me. "When is the party, anyways?"

"Dylan is picking me up around seven tonight. I'm not sure what time I'll get home, though." I glanced over at the clock on the television stand, it said 5:12 p.m.

"Okay, I'll see the dress when you put it on," she got up from her coziness and almost skipped next to me. "I can go do your hair, come on," She walked past me and towards the bathroom in the hallway. I noted that she looked really bloated in her baggy sweatshirt today; she's a very petite and skinny person, and bloats easily, like me. But this was a different level of bloating. I kind of just ignored it and went on, following behind her.

"Can I curl it, or what do you want me to do?" she asked as I sat on the toilet cover and she stood at the sink.

"Um, sure," I said, and she got out her pink curling wand and plugged it into an outlet.