Primed: A Kayla Madison Story

Primed Part 4

CHAPTER TWO:  BUYER BEWARE (CONT)

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After the last bell of the day, I went to the courtyard to wait for Alyssa and Sophia. Since we were leaving from school tomorrow, this was our last chance to go shopping before the trip. According to Alyssa, we were now in "DEFCON 5" level of fashion emergency. Or was it "DEFCON 1" that was the worst case? Whichever it was, we had some serious spending to do and it would give me a break from worrying about my state of mind. I left my bike at school, so I wouldn't have to worry about it as we made our way around the town.

We walked down Orange Avenue, the main street in Coronado as Alyssa recounted the many wonders of Logan. Aside from finding out how long Alyssa could talk non-stop about a guy; our plan was to check every clothing store on one side of the street and then return to school via the other side.

We followed the curved street past the huge pine tree that marked the center of the shopping district. A tourist bus designed to look like an old-fashion trolley passed us as we walked. Stores on each block adjoined others forming solid stretches of shops, restaurants and banks. The façades of the stores were from various decades and gave the town a charming look. My favorite buildings were the masonry ones with columns, but the variety of styles was part of the uniqueness. Of course, the modern building across from the huge Victorian Resort had the fish tacos we all loved so that was a definite stop on our excursion.

Alyssa managed to find plenty of incredible-yet-way-out-of-my-price-range outfits. Near the end of our shopping spree, I finally found an affordable and, more importantly, cute sweater for the slopes.

We were passing a gift shop when Alyssa stopped us. "Wait, I need to go in here. It's my baby brother Blake's birthday—"

"Say that five times real fast," I said.

Alyssa motioned like she was going to hit me but her bags got in the way so she made a face. "Anyway, I promised my mom I would at least get him a card."

"No problem. I don't have to be home until seven," I said.

Sophia said, "I completed my homework already and practiced the flute before school so I'm good to go." Of course, she had. I always felt like a sloth that had ingested sleeping pills compared to how much our future valedictorian accomplished each day.

"Let's get Blake's card." I pushed ahead into the store.

Classical music played overhead but the lighting seemed to be rather dark. A little old lady peered over the counter and eyed us as we started walking around.

"Doesn't seem like she likes teens in her store," I whispered.

"Too bad. Until I get a car, you get your license, or Miss Social over here avoids hitting things during the road test; we're limited to what's here in town," Sophia gave us a push.

"Hey, it's not my fault I hit something." Alyssa furrowed her brow.

"Yeah, those parked cars can really jump out of nowhere." Sophia pointed out the window to all the vehicles parallel parked.

"Let's go pick out a card." I pulled them over to the birthday display.

Alyssa started viewing cards. "What should I do when I care enough but can't afford to send the very best?"

The tension that had started building broke and we stifled our laughs as we watched Alyssa trying to balance all of her purchases on one arm while examining cards.

"I'll be over there." Sophia nodded toward a display with recordable cards. "I don't want to watch you read through every single birthday card."

"Good point," I said. "I'll be shopping too... far away from Alyssa."