Welcome to My World

Chapter 59 Rayla's POV {Dressed For Disaster}

"OH EM GEE, RAYLA!!!" Alesa squeals in my ear. "Shawn just asked me to Homecoming! Come dress shopping with me! I gotta get something to wear! And I need some good shoes for dancing!"

"Wha-"

"RAYLA!" Alesa yells. "PLEASE SAY YES! BESIDES, WHAT IF YOU GET ASKED TO HOMECOMING?!?!?"

"That's a lot of capital letters." Raine remarks, leaning against the locker besides mine. "Turn off the caps lock, you lazy author."

"I didn't know you went to Ivywood High." I comment.

Raine smiled mischievously. "That's the thing. I don't."

I squint. "What?"

"I was never here..." Raine chuckles before fading into thin air. A familiar crack! sounds from behind me, and I don't bother looking. Just the 'fourth wall'.

"Raaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyllllllllllaaaaaaaaaa." Alesa moans. "Come with me... Or I'll drag you there."

"I have stuff to do." I protest, but she has me with the next line.

"I'll buy you doughnuts from Dotty Delights if you come. With coffee."

Well... How could I refuse?

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When we get to the mall after school, the parking lot is full. We hitched a ride with one of our classmates, Luna. Her sister volunteered to take us (read: Luna threatened to tell their mom that the sister snuck out of the house to go to a party she wasn't supposed to) and her sister to 'archery practice'. But unfortunately, the basements of the mall are jammed full of vehicles in every color and size. So we get out and ditch the sister, walking to the department store while Alesa rattles on in my ear and Luna bobs her head in tune to her iPod. Out of curiosity, I take one of her earbuds, then immediately yank it out.

"The ice cream truck jingle on an infinite loop?!" I yelp. "Why?!"

Luna looks at me curiously. "Why ever not? You should listen to my other playlists."

"Nope, I'm fine." I say, holding my hands in front of me protectively. Alesa laughs. She waves to some other girls from school as we enter, and I immediately am blasted by a wave of cold air. Luna shivers and pulls on a jacket. How can she be cold NOW?!

"OK. Rayla, you need to get a dress." Alesa says. "Or no doughnuts."

Hey, that wasn't the deal!" I protest. "All you said I had to do was come!"

"I whispered." She says devilishly. "Now go. I'll pay for anything you buy to wear to Homecoming."

I grumble and head off, trailing Luna, who seems to be wandering around aimlessly. "What did you even come here to buy?" I ask her.

"That built! This! Town!" She hums quietly, before pulling out her earplug. "Wait, what?"

"The things you looked at have nothing in common." I point out. "What'd you come here to buy?"

Luna looks mystified. "Um... I'm not sure."

"You looked at watches, knee socks, headbands, and lotion."

"I did?" Luna asks in surprise.

I sigh. "Never mind." I tell her as I walk off to get a decent outfit.

To be honest, I was kind of hoping that Callum would realize that I still liked him even if he was a jerk in the past, but he hasn't asked me out yet. I mean, even Ez asked Ellis out. Even Aanya for asked out by some senior named Kasef, but she rejected him. I heard even some weird girl got asked out. I'm not sure. Some girl who's always in the pool, and even if she isn't, she's wet.

I sigh again, because I really want doughnuts and I know Alesa won't get me anything unless I pick something out. So I actually TRY to find something. Honest! It's not my fault I can't, is it? Ok, maybe a little.

I like orange and light blue, so I try looking based on colors. Despite all the dark colors or shades I wear, I actually prefer lighter shades. I find a few possibilities, then dutifully take them to that little corner thingy where you see if you're too fat to for in the skinny little dress you want to buy. A spiky haired guy stops me from beside the entrance. "Hey, if you see a brown haired girl twirling around in front of the mirror instead of watching a little black haired kid, tell her Green said to hurry up."

"Eh... Ok?" I reply in confusion. He nods in satisfaction and lets me pass.

True to his words, there is a girl in front of the mirror. She's not twirling around, though. She's arguing with a girl younger than me, around Aanya's age, about the dress the girl is wearing. She's protesting that she likes grey better than purple, so the tall girl tells her to change. I approach her. "Um, Green says to hurry up."

She rolls her bright blue eyes. "Of course he does. Moon, Whi-Two, have you finished?"

The shorter girl comes out again holding a grey dress. "I'm Moon, senior."

"And I'm Y." Another girl says, walking out. "C'mon, let's see what X and Sun got."

Well... That was weird. As they walk out, the curtain behind me swishes and a hand shoots out and grabs my wrist. I stifle a yelp as pale yellow eyes stare out at me. "He's coming." She says, sounding like she hasn't gotten a drink of water since forever. "Can't you feel him? He feeds off our energy. Tides, Moons, Suns, everything. He's getting stronger. He must have fed."

I try to pull away, but her grip is surprisingly strong. Her hand is wet, and I notice her hair is dripping. "You're the girl who stays at the pool." I realize.

She smiles. "Impressive, Rayla Lunarson. Time's running out. He struck at New Moon's New Year. He will strike again. Didn't you notice the storm on New Year's Day?"

"I did, but who? Who are you talking about?" I question.

Suddenly, she lets go and smooths down the dress she was trying on. It looks like the shimmering surface of water. "Good luck." She says before disappearing behind the curtain again.

I sigh in frustration and pick a dress at random, then go to rendezvous with Alesa and Luna. After Alesa pays for the stuff and Luna pays for hers, we go to buy doughnuts, then leave for the car. Luna's sister is waiting for us, so we take the elevator.

"So, what'd you buy, girls?" Alesa asks. She already showed us hers- a coppery colored dress that looks good on her dark brown skin.

"Um, a dress." I say, then show her mine. She compliments it, chattering about how she can fix my hair, then turns expectantly to Luna. Luna stares at her in confusion. "Ahem. Where did you go? What did you buy?"

"I, uh, um," Luna says intelligently before opening her shopping bag to check. "A Lemony Snicket book, a copy of Valiant, a mini-Roomba, a pocketknife, lettuce, a string of Christmas light thingies, cat food, and a kilo of potatoes. "

"Yes, what did you get for your outfit at Homecoming?" Alesa asks in exasperation.

Luna looks baffled. "You know, your dress?" Alesa prompts.

She snaps her fingers. "So that's what I forgot!"

Alesa shakes her head. "Girl, the stores closed already. You'll have to go again sometime." She pauses. "Also, what's that man doing by your car with a sack?"

"Oh yeah!" Luna says cheerfully. "I bought a 10-kilo sack of rice." She turns to the guy. "Thanks for bringing it down. It was heavy."

"That wasn't me. That was my girlfriend, Sapphire." He says. "She just went to get the car. Anyways, enjoy your rice." He added as a red pick-up truck splashed with blue paint pulled up. He got in and left.

With the three of us, we managed to shove the sack of rice in the trunk. Just before I got in the car, a flash caught my eye. The girl who had been wet, the one who gave me that crazy warning, was staring at me from across the lanes. She was still wearing the dress from earlier, and she was dripping, making a puddle. Then a car passed and she was gone. No sign that she'd ever been there.

"Rayla? You ok?" Alesa asks.

I force a smile. "Yep. Just thought I saw something."

Something weird is going on here, and I'm going to find out what. And I know who to ask.

Ellis and Ezran.