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when gabe snapped
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. ✧ ・゜. +・o ✧
Alina was (how about that?) actually enjoying herself. This was the third outfit she'd tried on—an exquisite black tank top with spaghetti straps, showing off her thin arms, and a rainbow skirt that started just at her belly button and skimmed the top of her thighs—and she looked good in it. This wasn't a twisted hellscape of being forced into dress after dress, this was Alina Fairgrieves-Byers finally, after fourteen years, truly finding her style. It didn't mean she wouldn't still wear goofy comic t-shirts and Star Wars paraphernalia, but it meant that she had finally expanded her horizons.
El looked like she was having fun, too, spinning round and round in a white dress held up with a belt until she collapsed, giggling, into her friends' arms. And Max, not to be left out, tried on pair after pair of sunglasses, seeing which ones would work with her complexion and the red of her hair.
This day was golden, not just because of the streams of light that had shined through her window this morning, but because Alina Fairgrieves-Byers was hanging out with friends, friends she rarely spent time with alone. She had no idea that on the other end of the mall, the four boys she wasn't planning on hanging out with were struggling immensely. Still.
They'd gone through what felt like the entire mall—although, realistically, it had probably been about five stores—and still hadn't found anything as a present for El. This was probably due to the low, low pocket change of three dollars and fifty cents Mike had in his pockets, but even gifts that cost less than that weren't enough for him. They were too cheap (which was saying something, because, again, Mike only had three dollars and fifty cents), or not good enough, or would melt before he got it to her (an exhausted Will had suggested ice cream). So, Gabe was stuck in the mall, trying to resist the urge to ask Will if he wanted to leave. For the two of them to hang out, alone.
Because, come on. He couldn't be that obvious.
Unfortunately, not knowing where they were going, the four boys stopped in front of an underwear store. A woman's underwear store. Highlighted in a pink glow, Gabe's eyes widened as he took in polished mannequins with lace bras, lingerie, and thongs. Lady's things. Gabe wasn't a girl, but whatever those things were sure looked uncomfortable to him.
