Noelle and Diana.

I found Sarah and Alice still in the shoe aisle. I walked up to them with worry and confusion plain in my face. “You still haven’t picked a pair?”

“It’s hard, okay?” Alice argued. “These look nicer but these ones are more comfortable,” she said, holding a pair of sneakers in each hand.

“And I can’t find good sneakers that go with these new pants I got,” Sarah told me.

“We’re hiking. Just pick whatever is most comfortable,” I told them.

“So… Not paying our looks any mind?” Alice asked.

“Exactly.”

The two blondes shared a look and sighed in unison.

“You say that, but you do realize that we look good because we put in the effort, right?” Sarah asked.

Well… That’s true. The girls put a lot of thought into their outfits, especially when we went out on dates. Can’t say I didn’t appreciate it, but…

“Comfort comes first,” I maintained. “Besides, soon I’ll see you walking around in sweats and pajamas with no makeup on the daily, remember? I think we’re past the point where you need to dress to impress every time.”

Sarah and Alice shared another look, this time with widened eyes.

“I guess he has a point,” Alice said.

“Well, yes, but… Ugh, my pride…”

Ah, there was that, too. It was my turn to sigh. “We can check other shops, too. Isn’t there one for shoes only on a lower floor?”

They both smiled. “Yeah. Okay, we’ll check there. Let’s see some new jackets, Alice. I hear it gets windy up there.”

“Where are the others?” I asked them.

“Grace and Mila went to check the swimsuit selection,” Alice said. “Diana went with Noelle, but I don’t know where they are.”

“I’ll go look for them,” I told them.

“Alright, but you need to give us the okay on the new jackets,” Sarah said.

“You don’t need…” I stopped myself when she raised an eyebrow at me. I sighed again. “I’ll be there in a second…”

Sarah smiled, kissed my cheek and walked away. Alice kissed me, too, and whispered, “Don’t get mad. She doesn’t want you to stop thinking she’s pretty.”

I smiled, resigned, and watched her follow Sarah.

I began to look for Diana and Noelle, but as I did I was a bit paranoid to find that woman again. Had to look both ways when coming out of the aisle like I was trying to cross the street. Maybe I should’ve just gone with Sarah and Alice.

It was as I was standing there, peeking outside, that I heard Noelle’s voice coming from the other aisle, right behind the towel rack in front of me.

“Oh, this one’s cute, isn’t it? Do you think I should buy it?”

I also heard Diana chuckle. “It looks good on you, so why not?”

“Why don’t you get one, too?”

“Mmm. I should. I don’t really enjoy wearing hats, but it’s dangerous to spend too much time under the sun.”

Ah, they were looking at hats. I was going to make my way to them, but then Diana asked a question that I didn’t want to get in the way of.

“You’re really into this trip, Noelle. Or more like you’re excited to go hiking. You do it a lot?”

“Ah. Hehe… No, actually,” Noelle said, now suddenly sounding very shy. “I… I’m really indoorsy. Even when I go out I normally just go to other people’s houses, like yours or Oliver’s. Before I started hanging out with everyone I stayed in my room a lot just playing games, building model kits or just watching videos. Not very interesting, I know…”

“But you enjoy it, don’t you?”

“Yeah. I like having my own space. It’s comfortable. In fact, I think I’m gonna miss my room once I move out.” Noelle giggled. “But you know, some of the videos I like to watch are these about people traveling to all sorts of places. The sights they see, the trains and planes they take, the sense of adventure… Sometimes I wish I could do that, even though I know I’d miss my bed after two days.”

I heard the two laughing and found myself smiling as well.

“It’s not like I want to travel to other countries or go on long expeditions, but this trip sounded like just the kind of thing I’d be up for. Grace and Mila ended up agreeing, but I still worry I **** them to do something they didn’t want to.”

“Relax, they’ll be fine. They’re a lot more forward with what they want, so them having to back down once in a while is good, especially since it was for you this time.”

“Ah?”

“You don’t normally push for what you want to do, right? I think it’s good that you did it this time. And besides, hiking is a good experience. Well, not that I’ve actually gone hiking per se. I was herding sheep while on a horse.”

“Oh!? That sounds fun!”

“It kind of is until you count them and realize one of them got lost. Then it’s a big hassle.”

The two laughed again. I was glad I got to hear that conversation, but I didn’t feel right eavesdropping so I went over to the other aisle. They saw me and Noelle immediately called to me.

“Oliver, look!” She put on this light blue bucket hat while having the biggest smile on her face. “What do you think?”

“That it’s perfect and you should buy it,” I told her. “I suppose I should get one too. See anything that would look good on me?”

Noelle took off her hat, walked up and put the blue bucket hat on me before stepping away. “What do you think?” she asked Diana.

The older woman looked me over. “Not bad, but the gray one would match his eyes.”

Noelle grabbed the gray bucket hat from the rack and replaced the blue one on my head with it. The two women nodded. “Yep, better,” Noelle agreed.

Diana didn’t see any hats she liked so we went to look for the others to see if they were ready. The first one we found was Sarah, not on her own but also not with Alice.

The employee that talked to me before was now talking to Sarah. And if my girlfriend’s frown was any indication, she wasn’t asking for help finding something.

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