"How do I look PJ?" Mary asked in a sing song manned with a tone that resembled a temper tantrum throwing thirteen year old, and not my closest friend who had just turned eighteen.
Sighing with irritation at her behaviour, not to mention at mess she was leaving in front of the change rooms. The sales clerk had already huffed and puffed like an unfriendly dragons about it.
"Like I said five dresses ago, you look great...that dress was made for you...oh wow that's sooo it" I was bored and I was about to flip my switch and lose all remaining sanity I had left.
I hated shopping...yes I know 'wow a girl who hates shopping surely that's a lie'...but no sadly it's the cold hard truth. When you have been raised since you were fourteen by two very manly males, all the girl qualities you have left slowly disappear. And whola you have me.
"Oh god PJ liven up a little, we have only been here for like two hours" Mary hissed from behind the closed curtain as she was no doubt trying yet another dress.
"Shit Mary two hours already, you knew I needed to be home by three" I hissed looking down at my watch. Yep it was already 2:45pm and the game kicked off at three.
"hey hey girl calm down, just tell me which dress to get and then we will go" I frowned and looked at the rack where so far almost fifteen short skanky and horrid dresses hung, all of which Mary had tried on.
Scrunching my nose up and holding my arm out, I moved each dress around so I could see it better like it was something I could catch a disease with.
"I don't know" I sighed squinting to maybe find at least one that didn't look like a stripper had thrown up
"Go the blue one" I quickly said, it wasn't hard to tell which one it was, after all it was the 'only' blue one she had tried.
I knew what ever one I picked out, Mary being Mary would instantly go for the exact opposite. So excusing myself quietly, I informed her I was heading to the toilets and would meet her at her car. Running into the loo's I sighed as I took my place in the empty stall and closed the door.
I gasped, there written in black sharpie was the worst thing I could imaging
Mary Mace is a skanky hoe, call 5555**** for a good time, but wear protection she has STD's
I was in shock, ok I knew Mary wasn't the most saintly girl around, but those words and her cell number to be printed for plain viewing in a public restroom was just horrid! Riffling through my purse I shrieked in delight as I found my own black sharpie and pulled it out. The putrid smell from the pen over took my small stall so I opened the door a little to air it out as I started scribbling over her number and name.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING YOUNG LADY" a stern voice shrilled making me jump and drop the pen. Looking up I frowned when I saw the Mall's manager standing in front of me with her arms crossed and an angry scowl on her face.
"Um...I...here....friend...shit" I stumbled as I hung my head in shame and followed her out of the toilets when she beckoned me to do so.
"Sit there" she crowed pointing at a worn leather arm chair in the corner of her dingy office
"I have no choice but to call the authorities and of course your parents" she warned
All I could do was nod my head and sink further into the chair in shame. She got on the phone and after explaining what she had caught me doing she hung up and stared at me with her pointy little eyes.
"Can I at least explain" I pleaded to her in earnest
"Save it for someone who cares" she snapped as she continued staring at me. She had, by the sounds of her tone and the way she had turned her nose up at the way I was dressed, informed me she had already decided I was some kind of delinquent.
After what seemed like hours a loud knock on her office door made me jump and I shook in my seat as she opened the door and welcomed a police officer and my dad to come in and take a seat.
"Vandalising public property is a criminal offence" the tired looking officer said to me
"I should be taking you down town, but I am sure we can come to some agreement here" he added before sipping on his warm looking coffee.
"Yes I do agree" my dad spoke for the first time since he had arrived
"Paige has never been in any sort of trouble before, and I am sure she has a good explanation, not that it clears what she has done"
"I do dad, I promise but no one has let me talk" I sobbed, I hated it when my dad looked at me with disappointed eyes, I was his angel and I knew being here killed him. Plus he was missing the first game of the season.
Once I had explained my actions the best I could I was asked to leave the room and wait in the hall. Leaning against the wall I cried to myself and sunk down to the floor. After a long period of time had elapsed and my eyes were red raw from all the tears I had shed, the door opened and I was beckoned back inside.
"Well it looks like we have been able to come to an agreement" the manager hissed with a disappointed tone, I am sure she was hoping I would be court marshalled and hung in the streets.
"Yes, Paige as punishment goes you have managed to get off lightly" my dad sighed as I twisted my hands in my lap and waited for it to be said
"You have been signed up for fifty hours community service, which will start on Monday afternoon"
"So like picking up rubbish...cleaning up graffiti?" I questioned
The officer shook his head and lent forward on the desk
"No as of Monday afternoon you will be volunteer coaching the new show team at Rutherford Stables that means 2 hours a day three days a week"
My stomach dropped and my palms started sweating... did I just hear him right...me...horses...stables...riding...oh hell no!
"I can't" I cried looking at dad with panic stricken eyes, he just returned my stare and shrugged
"Honey it's either that or one hundred hours picking up rubbish at the marina" I couldn't do that either, bile rose in my throat just at the word 'Marina' I was stuck between a rock and a hard place, my two biggest fears to choose from and one of them becoming my reality.
Nodding my head in defeat with fresh tears rolling down my cheeks, I agreed to the lesser punishment at the stables and stood up with dad to leave.
"It was a big thing you did for Mary" dad said as we got into my truck, I wondered how he had gotten here but didn't want to question him just yet. I looked up at his face and sobbed quietly as he wiped away a fresh tear rom my cheek
"But honey, vandalising...really...so not the way to fix the issue" he added as he turned the key and put my truck into drive.
The trip home was silent. I was waiting for dad to explode, to scream, and cuss...something just not stay quiet. Closing my eyes and leaning against the window I shivered in fear of the thought of being near horses again...of dissapointing her again.
"Dad?" I sighed opening my eyes and looking at him once he had parked my truck in the drive
"Dad I don't think I can do it...I don't think I can go near the stables again...not yet...it's too soon"
"Paige" he replied turning in his seat to look back at me
"It's been four years almost...it's about time to try and move on don't you think?"
I stared at him with wide eyes, surely he doesn't mean it like that, and how can I just move on?
