Brick And Blossom

Shopping Trip

"And he just went along with it?!" Bubbles asked in shock.

"Yeah, he was pretty convincing too, he had Mandark running for the hills," I say as Bubbles and I laugh.

"Wow," Bubbles said through he giggles. "That's pretty interesting."

"I know right, it was kind of sweet though," I say and I feel my face heat up.

Bubbles looks at me strange and I notice that my finger is twirling around a lock of my hair. I hurriedly put my hand down and look away, my face growing warmer by the second.

"Riiight," I hear Bubbles say suspiciously.

It's awkwardly silent for a few seconds before I decide I can't take it anymore. I say the first thing that comes to mind.

"We should go shopping," I say instantly regretting it.

I hear Bubbles inhale dramatically excited. When I turn to face her, it looks like there are literal stars shining in her eyes.

I pull my lips up into a wavering smile, resisting the urge to cry. Bubbles doesn't notice though as she's already preparing for our spree, strategizing as though we're going into war.

THAT FRIDAY:

Immediately after school, Bubbles met me at my locker and literally dragged me through the air to the mall. Professor gave us a card and told us (mainly Bubbles) not to go over $3,000. With that much money, I could buy myself a really nice backup calculator, notebooks, and enough colorful pens, pencils, and sharpies to last me to high school.

But no, we had to spend it on dumb clothes. I'm perfectly fine with my current wardrobe, but Bubbles says I dress like a middle aged prude. But just because I only wear pencil skirt, pants suits, blazers...ok I see her point.

It's not that I don't like other clothes, it's just that I don't look or feel nice in them. Bubble's sense of style is impeccable, she looks good in everything. I wish I could be like that, but everything made for people my age somehow seem...off when it's on my body. That's why I stick to my business casualties attire. I look nice, and people of all ages take me seriously.

Bubbles dragged me into a store I didn't bother catching the name of. It was color coded, which made me a little less anxious. My sister led me to the pink section and started looking through all the clothing.

Within a few seconds, Bubble's pile began to grow. I wanted to look around and find something for myself, but everything I would pick out would probably be ugly to Bubbles...and the rest of the school.

My mind then wanders to Brick. I wonder what he thinks about me. Does he think I'm a middle aged prude too? Probably. He's never really liked me. But he did save me from Mandark the other day. He must have some ulterior motive that I don't  know about...there must be something he gained by helping me. Maybe he just wanted to scare Madark to death. But he ran away in less than 10 seconds. Maybe he wanted to embarrass me. He did walk me outside the school after I told him I was meeting Bubbles. That's not really embarrassing, just annoy-

"BLOSSOM!!!" I heard Bubbles yell.

"Huh?" I reply, shocked out of my state of thinking. I notice my finger in my hair mid-twirl and my bottom lip feels tingly...probably from biting it.

I look up and take in the scene around me.

The fee people in the store and looking at us wide eyed...most likely scared to death at Bubble's outburst.

I feel the heat rush to my cheeks as I grab Bubbles and speed off to the cash register. I grab the pile of clothes and throw them on the counter, ready for this to be over. The cashier looks a little scared too, but rings everything up quickly.  The total came out to $326. I gave the lady the card, and she swiped it, tapped something on the computer, and handed it back. I grabbed it and stormed out leaving Bubbles to carry everything.

I was already tired and homesick, but Bubbles said we had to get shoes and accessories. As she was leading me to another pointless store I decided I'd had enough.

"Hey Bubs? Is it ok if I sit the rest of today out?"

She turned around with the most heartbreaking look on her face and I almost couldn't do it. "You aren't having fun?"

No. I wanted to say but I had to at least try and spare her feelings.

"Well Bubbles, I like spending time with you, but this really isn't my idea of fun. I'm glad you're enjoying yourself though, and I don't want to spoil your fun. You keep going and I'll be over at the food stands studying a little."

She didn't look upset anymore, which was a relief.

"But what about your clothes? Don't you want to pick out something? After all, you are gonna be the main one wearing them."

I ignored her "main one" insinuation and just shook my head.

"I trust your judgement. Think of this as the makeover you've been trying to give me since birth."

At this, her eyes lit up and she looked like she was about explode any second.

She hugged me entirely too tight and bounced up and down while yelling "THANK YOU. THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!" over and over in my eardrum. Bubbles raced off in a blue blur while I take the bags she left and head toward the food court.

Once I'm there, I order a soft cinnamon pretzel and cherry slushy, sit down with my bags and pull out a book I snuck in, Pride and Prejudice.

Now this is my version of fun.

At least it was until someone very rudely cast a shadow over me. I didn't even have to look up to see who it was, and I honestly would rather it be anyone else but her.