Living on Blue Time

Chapter One

“Ray!” Sidney yells in my face, waving her hands in front of me.

I blink and ask, “What?”

“You were a million miles away. Why?”

I shrug. “I was thinking.”

Sidney rolls her eyes, “Yeah. I think I got that.”

“Leave her alone, Sid. She’s nervous,” Wesley says from behind the dressing room door.

Mom made Sidney take me shopping for my Meeting.

As soon as mom handed Sidney her credit card (she doesn’t trust me with it), Sidney has dragged Wesley and I all over the mall.

You have to get purses, she says.

I have 1, I say.

You need shoes, she says.

I have plenty, I say.

You need to be in a dress, she says.

I don’t like dresses, I say.

Our conversations have started and ended like that ever since we entered the mall. I imagine Wesley is feeling bored too.

Though that’s not possible.

He’s Sidney’s soul mate.

He has to love shopping to be with Sidney.

“I’m not nervous, Wes,” I call out to him.

“Don’t call me that!”

“I’m rolling my eyes, Wes.”

Sidney pinches my arm.

“Ow!”

“Be nice.”

I glare at my friend as she instructs me to pull my hair away from the zipper.

“It fits! Turn around and look in the mirror!”

I sigh and do as I was told.

“What does it look like?” Wesley calls.

In the mirror I see Sidney open the door for her boyfriend.

Wesley stares at me with wide eyes.

“Close your mouth, Wesley,” Sidney says, patting his shoulder.

“Wow. She looks like a girl,” Wesley whispers.

“I have a good reason,” I say, turning around.

“But you look like a girl.”

“Sid, I think you need to take him out of here.”

“Good idea,” she says, studying her boyfriend.

When Wesley is safely out of the dressing room, I allow myself to look at myself in the mirror.

Wesley was right.

This dress is amazing.

I feel like a girl in this dress.

Sidney picked it out.

But of course she picked it out. I would never choose a dress.

“How about this one?” Sidney asks.

“I think I like it,” I answer.

Sidney smiles 1 of her blindly dazzling smiles, the rare ones.

She knows I hate dresses. I hate a lot of things. I hate dresses more.

But she knows what makes me feel better.

Things like frozen yogurt and pineapple make me feel better.

And also things that make me feel beautiful.

Things like this dress.

“You think your Match will like it?” Sidney asks me, wrapping her arms around me in a hug.

“If he’s my Match then yes. I think he will like it,” I say, reaching for the zipper. “Let’s buy it.”

Sidney smiles as she helps me out of the dress.

“How long do you have?”

I push up my gold bracelets. “0005d 03h 17m 48s.”

“Are you excited?”

My silence gives her the answer.

“I see. I was this way too,” Sidney says, gently placing the dress on its hanger.

“You were jumping off the walls. I know because I was there.”

“I was excited. You’re supposed to be excited about this kind of stuff.”

“I don’t have to be,” I say as I exit the room with the dress in my hands.

After purchasing the dress, we find Wesley sitting on 1 of the benches outside. He smiles and looks at the bag over my shoulder.

“You got it?”

“Of course, Wes. It makes me look like a girl,” I smile at him. Wesley glares at me as we make our way towards another shoe store.

“Do you think you can pick out shoes?” Sidney asks me, taking Wesley’s hand.

“Yes.”

“Alright. We’ll be over there,” Sidney points to the boot section, “Yell if you need me.”

I nod and watch my friend and her Match walk towards the boots. Shoes are Sidney’s weakness. Hang a pair of stilettos in front of her face and you can get her to do anything you want.

I make my way over to the heels. With my dress, I need heels. Serious heels.

I scan the racks and pull out a pair of shoes.

I fasten the clasps on the heels and stand up.

“Yep. Getting these,” I say, looking in the mirror.

I’m taking them off when Sidney walks over with a pair of boots in her hands.

“Did you find something?”

I hold up the box.

Sidney looks inside and gasps, “Oh, my gosh, Ray! These are perfect!”

Wesley peeks at them and says, “I hope you don’t have a limit on that card.”