Misfit Parade

02

"This was a bad idea," I groan, sighing.

"Why?" Michael asks worriedly, looking over the top of the hanger we were currently searching.

"I have no idea what I'm doing" I state sadly, putting the shirt I was previously looking at back on the rail.

"Guess what, then," He says excitedly with a big smile that I return with a huff.

"What."

"I did some research and I, do in fact know what I'm doing," Mikey announces proudly and I return his wide smile with a look of awe, not believing anybody would do something like that for me. Pulling him into a hug as a wordless thank you was all that was necessary and as soon as we pulled away he went straight to work pulling many pieces of clothing off the rack we had been searching previously.

"Size?" He asks quickly and I shrug before responding.

"I actually have no idea," I say with a small giggle and he holds a shirt up to my body before handing it to me along with a couple other articles of clothing.

We continue that way as we walk through the large shop until we make it to the change room so I can make sure they all fit and we make our way to the counter so I can pay for the clothes we decided to keep.

"Whats next?" Mikey asks me and I scoff at him as we walk out of the shop we just spent forever in.

"I don't know, you're the one in charge." I give him the reigns and I laugh as he runs forward, excited about dressing me up as if I'm his own little doll. I follow him into a shop after shop, spending a large amount of money in each but this is necessary. I needed change and if changing the way I present myself was the way to do it I was going to do it and, besides, it was fun.

Mikey definitely knew what he was doing and I'm glad I chose him to come and do this with me considering Mali was at school and has a tendency to go a little overboard. By around 4 o'clock we had made our way through almost all the shops and were now sitting in the food court, Michael with an Oporto meal and having a plate of Indian food for myself. The only things we had left to do was jewelry which we were both excited about and I had to get a trim for my hair and after we could get on the train back before dinner which I was having at the Clifford household.

"How short are you going with your hair?" Michael asks, breaking the comfortable silence we had fallen into.

"Just a trim I think. I might go to the shoulder blades though but I'm a little nervous." I confess as he smiles at my nervous rambling.

"I really think going a little shorter wouldn't be bad. Besides, it's hair, it always grows back," He says and the words he said definitely hit me hard even if they were just about a haircut but he was right, it will always grow back.

Jewelry was a simple thing to do, just a simple set that I could easily dress things up with or even wear casually so that was one of the cheapest shops the whole day and now it was time for the haircut and after talking with Michael I decided that it was time to cut at least some of my hair off. It was time for a change and the only thing I've had with me for so long is my hair.

///

The train ride home was quiet from everywhere except for us because whenever Michael is talking to anyone he forgets that everyone else can hear exactly what he is saying. The train station then brought us to a bus stop which meant we then caught the bus to Michaels little suburb that was only a suburb away from mine and Cals.

Walking into Mikey's house, the air conditioning hit us quickly which was a nice relief to the scorching hot air that we had gotten used to.

"Paige, darling how are you?" Karen asks as she pulls me into a hug before Daryl, greeting me happily.

"I've just been going you know, nothing exciting," I respond as we make our way to the already set table. "Thank you so much for letting me stay for dinner," I thank them for their hospitality.

"Oh, don't be silly we haven't seen you in so long. It'll be great to have a nice chat." She insists and starts serving pasta onto all of our plates.

"Paige, what do you want to drink?" Michael asks me from across the island.

"Just a water please," I say quietly and he quickly goes to the fridge, pouring out a glass for me and grabbing drinks for his parents as well before he sits down at the table with us.

"So, you bought our son shopping today," Daryl asks yet states at the same time with a completely straight face, scaring the life out of me. Was I not supposed to that? Was he mad? Did he not like me?

"Yes," I respond, hiding all the thoughts going through my head at the time.

"Did he get bored halfway through?" He asks, staying stuck on the fact that Michael went shopping with me which was so confusing to me.

"No actually, he's quite good at shopping," I explain, chuckling lightly at all the fun we had today and Daryl started laughing too which makes me feel 100% better about the whole day. Angering his parents was not the aim at all, I just wanted some help and comfort when trying to change a very large amount of things about myself.

"Oh, you've cut all your hair off!" Karen exclaims, practically jumping out of her seat and grabbing my hair.

"Just a little bit but it's still long and it'll grow back so it's just a nice bit of fun," I explain, shrugging gently as she returns to her seat and continues eating.

///

The rest of the dinner was full of chatting and Karen insisting that I was welcome there whenever. When it hit 7 thirty I decided I should get home and Michael insisted walking the short distance with me.

"Thank you for today, by the way. You went so above and beyond," I thank him and he shakes his head lightly.

"You honestly don't have too, I know you know nothing about fashion so I just thought I'd help a friend out. I know you'd do the same for me." He explains with a small smile and I chuckle lightly.

"Now I have to figure out what to do about my uniform." I groan, rolling my eyes.

"Let's at least wait until Calum's birthday before worrying about that." He suggests and I nod in agreement. Michael hands me the bags he carried and I open the door and say hello to mum before dumping my bags in my room and start putting them away in my completely messy set of draws. It felt weird to see the contrast between the colours and the black I'm so used to seeing.

It was going to take a while to get used too but this change was good, it was fun and it was good.