To the mall!

ABIGAIL MALL

The girls spent the morning hitting store after store at the Abigail Mall just on the edge of town. Traci appreciated the fact that it was an indoor mall as she was starting to build up a sweat trying to keep up with the frenzied pace of her roommate.

Already, Kelly had picked out a new tube of lipstick, two “shades” of black nail polish (which Traci had to assume were somehow different from each other, let alone from the black polish Kelly was wearing on her nails already), and a number of tops in various shades of red, and maroon—and of course, black. And now, she was eyeing a pair of smiley skull earrings, which if Traci were completely honest, did look kind of cute.

Kelly looked over her shoulder at Traci. “Aren’t you going to buy anything today?

“Um, I don’t really need anything.”

“What does ‘need’ have to do with anything?” Kelly faced her, hands on her hips. “Sometimes you have to buy something just because you want it! Haven’t you ever bought anything just because you wanted it?”

“Of course.” Traci thought back to the last game she had bought for her Switch.

Kelly grabbed her by the wrist and led the way to the next store, a clothing shop with the dubious name of Candy. Once inside, Kelly looked her over with a surprising amount of seriousness.

“Wait here,” she said before disappearing from view. “Aha!” she called from somewhere deeper in the store.

When she returned, Kelly was holding two items of clothing which she thrust at Traci. “Try these on,” she said.

Kelly didn’t wait for a response, she just shooed Traci toward the changing rooms.

Traci held up the two items of clothing she had been handed and stared in silent shock. In her left hand, she held a (very) short pleated mini skirt. She did kind of like the way the shimmery black fabric caught the light, but… it was just so short! She would hardly be able to move around in it without having it ride up and exposing parts of her she would much prefer to keep covered.

Dismayed, Traci looked over at the item in her other hand. It was an off the shoulder crop top in a really nice, soft pink which she might have normally found kind of pretty, if not for the large red cartoon heart printed on its front winking suggestively at her.

“What’s the hold up in there?” Kelly called from outside.

“Uh, I’m not sure these are really my—”

“Just try the fucking clothes on!”

Traci got the feeling that her shopping companion was not going to let her walk out of that changing room without wearing the clothes that had been picked out for her. Taking a deep breath, she began undressing, starting with her t-shirt, then her capris before donning the miniskirt and crop top.

Just staring at herself in the mirror was enough to make Traci blush. There was no way she could wear an outfit like this! The skirt was even shorter than Traci had expected, and the crop top left her entire midsection fully exposed. She heard Kelly call out to her again.

“Let's get this show going, girl!”

Taking a deep breath, Traci parted the curtains and stepped out to the space where Kelly was waiting impatiently. She tugged nervously at the skirt, trying in vain to pull it lower and cover more of her thighs.

Kelly clapped approvingly. “Perfect fit. Damn, I'm good!”

Traci instinctively tried to cover her exposed bits of skin with her hands and just ended up fidgeting.

“Stop that,” Kelly said sharply. “Just stand still and let me get a look at you.”

Traci did as instructed but squeezed her eyes shut. Maybe if she couldn't see anyone else, no one else would be able to see her. She flinched as Kelly's finger prodded her in the belly.

“OK, this can definitely work,” Kelly said, clearly pleased with the result.

Traci shook her head. “I don't know about that.”

Kelly didn't acknowledge her. “Come on, we wasted enough time here. Let's get something to eat before we head back.”

Traci quickly ducked back into the changing room and changed back into her own clothes. She bundled up the laughably small pile of fabric that passed for the clothing she had just tried on and went back out to find Kelly waiting at the register. The other girl made an exaggerated show of tapping the nonexistent watch on her wrist and mouthed the words “let's go!”