Who Knew

2

I threw on a simple t-shirt and a pair of denim jeans. My hair was in a ponytail as I would wait until the day before school to style it.

I loved to shop especially with Ranea. That was one of the things we had in common. I enjoyed being around Ranea since we were young.

Ranea and I had been friends since daycare. Growing up with her had been fun. Although we were different, we shared some similar ways. Ranea and I were both outgoing. That was how we clicked so fast. I didn't remember much we were younger. But my dad told me that our daycare coordinator told him that we were the only two that interacted on the first day. Everyone else was scared since they were in a new environment, but we adapted in that setting well. We loved to talk to each other. Sometimes, people would say we talked too much.

Ranea and I had our differences. She carried a more carefree attitude while I was the more wary one. Her way of thinking concerned me. She believed in learning the hard way. Ranea did what she felt was right for her. She ignored other people's warnings because everyone was different and experienced life in their own way. That was what she desired. To do things in her own way despite of what anyone else told her.

I, on the other hand, questioned everything and everyone. It was important to know the details of everything. I had to know if something was safe or dangerous. It feared me to have bad things happen. 

Ranea and I grew up differently. She was raised mostly by her mom. Like my mom had been absent in my life, her dad had been absent in hers. It was an unfortunate situation for us both. My mom and her dad left while we were young, and we grew up to dislike them. 

My dad and Ranea's mom didn't get along well. Like I was my dad was also cautious of everything. And like Ranea her mom was carefree. Their different parenting styles clashed over the years. However, for the sake of us, they decided to be cordial.

My dad dropped me off at Ranea's apartment. Her mom answered the door. After talking to her a little, I went to Ranea's room. Her head was under the dryer. When she saw me, she held up her finger signaling me to hold on. So I sat down in her chair. A few minutes later she turned the dryer off.

She came to give me a hug.  "Hey,"   she said.

"Hey, you ready to go shopping?"

"Yeah. Let me finish my hair, and we will be on our way."

When she took the rollers out, her hair fell down around her shoulders. She separated them, which made her hair look fuller.

"How does it look?" She asked.

"Flawless as usual."

"Okay. Great now we are ready to go."

Her mom took us to the mall. She had plenty of money, so she decided to go crazy. We went into every single women store there. Ranea bought at least three different outfits from each store. I wasn't buying as much clothes as she was, but I did pick out some nice outfits. If I wasn't buying anything, I  helped her pick out a few tops and skirts. She even bought herself a new purse.

I thought she had everything she needed until we were about to pass Victoria Secret. That store sold some of the best perfume. However, I wasn't allowed to where it. 

"Miesha you have to at least get one of these," she told me.

"No way. My dad will have a fit if I buy that."     

My dad was very strict about what I can wear. That is why when we go shopping I  limited what I buy. Any clothing that he feels is too short or shows too much skin, I wasn't allowed to wear. I couldn't wear make up cause he feels that it's for women. He also said Victoria Secret is a woman's store and not for teenagers, so I can't wear that either.

After we left there, we went into bath and body works,  which my dad felt was more appropriate, so I got some fragrance and lotion from there instead. It was the first store we went into where Ranea didn't get anything.

"Now we can eat," I said.

"Yeah I am hungry," she agreed.

We started our way to the food court. I walked behind her until Ranea made an abrupt stop in front of me causing me to bump into her.

"Why did you just stopped like that?" I asked irritated from her sudden stop.

She pointed to a store that was a little bit ahead of us and walked to the window to look inside. It was make up store.

She glanced around. "This store has everything I want."

"So are we going in?" I asked.

"I don't know," she said.

She still stood there looking through the window fascinating by the all the different make up she saw.

I grabbed her arm. "Yeah we are going in."     

I dragged her into the store where she instantly picked up everything from lip stick, lip liner, eye liner, mascara, blush, eye shadow, concealer, and face powder.

After she was done, she threw all of it on the counter when she checked out. The man there gave her strange look as he scanned all the items she picked out. He probably thought she was too young to wear all this make up, but it didn't matter to her. She liked to wear a lot of make up plus her mom didn't mind.

Once we left out the store, Ranea vowed that she would not spend anymore money after we bought ourselves some food.

"With all these new outfits, I am definitely going to get a guy's attention."

She told me when sat down.

"Ranea why do always want to get a guy's attention?"         

She looked at me crazy.

"Don't you?" She asked lifting an eyebrow.

"Yeah I do. But what I mean is. Don't you sometimes just want a guy to catch your attention instead of the other way around. You never just have crush on someone."

"I get what you mean. But with me, it just doesn't happen that way," I told her.

Ranea caught guys' attention all the time. They always talked to her first. She preferred a guy to come up and speak to her unless there was a person who really caught her eye. But majority of the time, guys were interested in her.

"Yeah I guess that doesn't have to happen with you."        

"What about you?" She asked.

"Oh no I'm not looking for a guy."

"Why not Miesha? I know there are some that think you are pretty."

Maybe so. But guys didn't like me. I never attracted any guys. People preferred Ranea over me. I considered myself as the unlikable one out of us two. The guys like in the past never returned the feeling. 

"No one really ever likes me."

"Well Miesha maybe you should learn to just relax and go with flow."

I shook my head. "Never."

She shrugged. "Fine. I respect you for sticking with being who you are. And some guy is going to accept you for that."

"That's cool. But you know I need to know what kind of person he is first." 

"Well if he gives a good vibe and want a relationship, I would definitely go for it. I can always get to know him while we together."

She was the type that if a guy wanted a relationship and she did too,  there was no waiting until they knew each other. She would go ahead and go out with him.

"I prefer the old build a friendship way first."      

"I guess if that is what you want."    

We continued to talk while we finished our food. Then we took all or bags, and she called her mom telling we were ready to go.

I decided to come back to her home when we left the mall. When we got back, she went through all her clothes.Together, we had over fifty shopping bags. Most of them belonged to Ranea.  As she looked at her outfits, her excitement grew about the school starting again. We would find out what our semester brings.