The New Life of Amaya

Chapter 7

The drive to the shops were short. Though it seemed long while Andreas spoke in Spanish and Zhi kept quiet while driving. He would also pull over in specific spots on certain roads and wait until another car of Andreas' showed up. Frowning I looked out the window only for my eyes to widen and my mouth to drop open a bit in amazement. It was almost something I'd have seen out of a story book or hallmark movie. The shops all lined a brick road where people walked. Zhi pressed into his earpiece speaking something into it and suddenly half of the fleet of cars drove in front of Zhi and the other half drove behind us as we pulled onto the brick road. 

There everyone, including Zhi stopped and all the cars in front of us and behind us let out a guard. The guards that got out walked to stand along the line of shops with a decent amount of space between them. Zhi made a call and spoke briefly before getting out and coming to open the door to the back door. 

"Miss Amaya, Rex, we're here." Zhi said. He was making it a point to not make it know that Andreas was in fact Andreas Amato. "Mr. Braxton, thank you for allowing us to give you a ride as well." 

Andreas nodded getting out of the car, "Thank you."

I poked my head out the door and saw the gawking looks from my classmates who managed to make it here and those I'm assuming go to our school. There were whispers among them. 

"Oh my gosh...is that him?" A girl gasped.

"No! that's Andreas Braxton. He's in our Elite classes." another girl said standing next to her.

"Then who's that girl?" the first girl asked.

"I think that's Amaya. She's in our Elite too. All I know is that she's living under the protection of the Amato family." The second girl said.

"I heard that she works for them." one of the boys from our class said.

"Impossible, I heard she was adopted." the first girl spoke. 

Maybe I should have paid attention to their names. I frowned looking at Andreas who could see my discomfort. He held his hand out to me and gave me a reassuring smile. I took his hand uneasily and climbed awkwardly out of the car. Rex jumped out staying close to me. 

"I'll just park the car and meet up with you." Zhi spoke

I shook my head, "Please no... people are already staring."  

Zhi glanced at Andreas for a brief moment before nodded, "Okay. I'll be parked around the corner in case you need anything."

Andreas gestured towards the stores, "Shall we?"

I nodded, "Where to first?" I asked. 

"Riding clothes. They'll be the hardest to put together but the easiest to carry around." Andreas said.

"Lead the way." I said following him through the small town of shops. 

 "You'll be able to find just about everything you may ever need here." Andreas said pointing to the various shops, "Ah, here it is!" He led the way to the store that had mannequins dressed in riding attire. 

Together we walked in and were greeted by an overly chipper young woman dressed in a long all black dress. "Hi there, my name is Reina. Is there anything I can help you with?" 

"Hi, we need to get her riding clothes for the Equestrian class at the college." Andreas said.

"Part of the Elite Equestrian class?" Reina asked. I nodded and she assessed me, "Okay! Follow me, I will get you squared away." 

We followed her toward the back right of the store and there she pulled out a single size in a riding outfit and she handed it toward me. It was a shirt, pants and jacket. She looked my up and down and eyed my feet as if eyeing my shoe size. Soon she left and came back with a pair of black riding boots and socks.

"Here you go, you can go in there and try them on. They should fit you just right." Reina spoke gesturing toward the changing room. 

I nodded my head holding the clothes close to me and entered, Rex right on my heel. 

"Wait, he can't be here." Reina said pointing to Rex, "His fur can get all over the clothes."

Rex turned toward her sitting down next to me in defiance a low growl coming from him. He sounded one bark and stared Reina down. He was holding his head high to show off the A on his collar as if to say that he works for the Amato family. Rex is a smart dog, and no one can put anything past him. 

"Especially if he's acting in that state" Reina said, "He must go!" 

Just as Andreas was getting ready to pick up his phone to make a call I decided it was time I spoke up. It was just the four of us including Rex and no one else was in the store. Maybe I can overcome myself.

"And what state would that be?" I asked stepping forward to lay my hand on top of Rex's head and petting him. "Could it be the state that he is in right now by trying to show you his collar to show you that he belongs to the Amato family? Could it be the state that he's calm and very well behaved?" I questioned, "Because frankly I don't see any reason for Rex to be removed."

"Yes, but-" Reina began but I didn't stop to even take a breath, I continued. 

"If you like, and as much as I don't like the guards outside, I can make a big scene. I can have them come running in here to confirm that Rex belongs to the Amato family and that they are unfortunately babysitting me today. I can hand these back to you, and just have Mr. Amato find my required riding clothes elsewhere. I don't think it'll be that hard, being his standing and all. I also don't think he'd appreciate you trying to kick his dog out for simply working."

"No! Oh, please no. If you do that I'd lose my job.. My family could be in a lot of trouble. I'm so sorry. He can stay." Reina rambled half pleading with me. 

Rex barked making her jump a bit and I stepped into the changing room, Rex following me. I pulled on the socks, white riding pants. Next was the white shirt and then the blue jacket with gold lining. Everything fit perfectly and made me feel even more out of place. I looked down at Rex and pet his head again.

"What do you think boy?" I asked him receiving an approving bark from Rex. "Good! Now it's time to get it off."

"Amaya, can I see? How does it fit?" Andreas' voice came through the door.

I heaved a sigh and opened the door. Andreas looked up from his phone and his jaw dropped. It took a moment for him to collect himself but he did it fairly fast.

"That fits you rather well. Do you need a different size in anything?" Andreas asked.

"No.. It fits just right." I replied. 

"Okay, I'll tell her you'd like two more outfits and another pair of boots. Go ahead and get dressed and we'll get the school stuff and I'll show you an extra special part of town." Andreas said.

I nodded and went back in changing back into my regular clothes I had on previously. Rex stayed with me and offered little nudges here and there for encouragement. Once I was fully dressed I refolded the clothes I picked them and the boots up and together Rex and I left to the register. There I paid for everything and the three of us left while Reina was apologizing over and over on our way out. 

One of the guards came up and took my bags from me then walked to where Zhi had parked. Then Andreas and I went to another store where I was getting school supplies.