New Names

4

I dump our plates in the dishwasher and wash my hands before heading to the back. Camren is sound asleep, their body curled into a ball. I walk over and drape the small knit blanket over them, before leaving out the kitchen. They can rest more, especially considering exactly how little sleep they got this week.

"Clothes?" I ask on the way out. The mall is only about a mile down the road, it wouldn't take any time to get there. Adam nods and turns into the road. We're basically the only ones on the road, besides the few travelers just driving through on their way to a bigger, brighter city. After a few minutes, he pulls into the mall parking lot. I check the time; it's already 12, but the entire mall is still open. Funny, how small our town was, but it seemed everything was always open. Probably to get as much business as possible. Adam and I get into the mall and head to the nearest clothing store.

"Patterned shirts, buttons ups, baggy, bright colored, shirts that are baggy in the stomach and tight around the arm. Sweatshirts and hoodies but they can't hug your waist. straight cut jeans, nothing too skinny or baggy. try pinned jeans, nothing tapered. Boots are a must."

We browse through the store, Adam piling up clothes for me to try on. We reach the back of the store, and I can barely see through all the clothes he's given me. He sneaks me into the men's dressing room and gets me to try on everything.

Every.

Single.

Item.

By the end of it all, we've discarded almost half of the clothes. A lot of stuff I actually like and makes me pass, even without the binder. We gran all of the things we're getting and head to the counter and heave the piles in front of the wide-eyed cashier. He looks at me, then to Adam, then back to me. Eventually, he just shakes his head and starts checking out the items.

"Do you think this is enough or no?" I ask as we walk out, each of us carrying multiple bags in both hands.

"Like I said, you'll need shoes. Besides, the ones you have are falling apart anyways."

I look down at my beat up shoes and shrug.

"Will you even be able to pay for all of this?" I try and keep my priorities.

"I've been saving up for this for who knows how long. I have way more money than this. Plus, you know how much I like shopping. Why not for my best friend?"

I swing the clothes around and hit him on the side playfully.

"Let's drop these in the car before then, It'll be way too much to carry."

"Are you stalling?" Adam asks, raising his eyebrows. I shake my head.

"No, there's just a lot of clothes here."

He sighs and smiles at me, heading for the door out to drop the bags off. It doesn't take even ten minutes to get back into the mall and into the shoe store.

"Three hundred?!" I say, looking at the price of the shoes that Adam held out to me.

"Oh come on Wallace. I already said that I could afford all it. Besides, We gotta book to get to the hairdresser in time, it's almost four."

We actually spent four hours here?! Time flies, I guess.

I sigh and we check out the shoes and head out the mall, and for the third time tonight, we're in the car.

"So why'd you tell me to bring the binder and packer?" I ask as we drive.

"Well, you know how my hair stylist is gay right?"

I nod.

"I called him right after you did earlier, and he agreed to do something special for you. Free of charge."

The smug smile on his face shows that he's very aware that he didn't answer my question in the least. I give Adam a look, but it's obvious that he won't tell me what's going to happen. So, I turn the radio up and close my eyes, humming along to the song.