Get The Best Side

[Deamon]

((Yasmin Carroll continued from A Breath of Fresh Air))

Yaz looked at the array of tops that were arranged in front of her. It was always awkward shopping for clothes, mainly because she didn't exactly like most of the styles that were popular at any given time and sometimes her small size made it difficult to buy something that wasn't ridiculously big. She ran her fingers over her necklace as she looked over the selection in front of her again. One of the tops didn't look too bad. It was just a question of how big the small would look on her. Yaz reached up and pulled the vest top down along with another top that had a printed design on it.

Truth be told Yaz didn't shop at H&M very often. It made her feel amazingly self-conscious whenever she did, like people where judging her based on whatever she picked up. It didn't help that it was always insanely busy in H&M meaning there was always people everywhere. The store always seemed full to bursting and Yaz being tiny and very shy always found that difficult to deal with. But then again that may have been the fact that one of the staff asked her if she had lost her parents. She had been seventeen. So when even the staff didn't think you were an adult it didn't exactly help with your confidence when it came to being in the shop.

As Yaz walked further through the shop she spotted a jacket that she liked the look of. She only noticed it because it stood out from the overload of leather that was the jackets section of the store. It was a khaki green biker style jacket that in all honesty didn't look too bad. Plus it would make a change from what she normally wore. Yaz subconsciously took a look at the Vans that she almost always wore, between them and the fact she tended to just wear t-shirts and slim fitting jeans it would have been nice to have some variation in her wardrobe.

She picked up the smallest size possible; otherwise it would look like she was wearing a full coat and moved on. She decided to check the jeans section before heading off to a fitting room to try her clothes on. Once she got in there it would be fine since she wouldn't have to move through the throng of people that always seemed to be in H&M whenever she decided to venture into it. Add that to the list of things she didn't like about the store. It was always busy whenever she went in it. Whenever she was with someone else and didn't want anything from it it would be empty but whenever she was on her own and actually looking to buy something the store filled up to the brim. It only seemed to happen with H&M, which Yaz was fine with; after all she only went into the store every so often. It was still aggravating though.

She checked the sizes on the jeans that were on display and decided against trying any on. It was a tactic she had picked up over time due to her size but if smaller sizes weren't being offered it was a pointless exercise. Yaz found even some of the small sizes too big so she had no chance with anything above them. It saved her money as well, the jacket on its own had a price tag of thirty dollars and she already had two tops she was thinking of buying so Yaz didn't want to add anything else to that total.

As she was making her way to the fitting rooms though she saw the shorts that were on offer. It was coming up to summer after all. She shrugged; it wouldn't hurt to look at the very least.

[Mimi]

** Summer Simms continued from... Scarlet Darlings

Summer surveyed herself thoughtfully in the changing room mirror, pulling her hair over each of her shoulders and contorting her body in an attempt to gauge how well the floral romper suited her. It wasn't something she typically wore, not nearly as loud or show stopping as much of her other wardrobe, nor was it something she particularly liked, but it had a more demure look, despite the amount of leg showing. People were more receptive when she dressed conservatively, but she couldn't deny liking the double takes when she showed up at school in something more outrageous.

With a sigh, she quickly changed back into her street clothes, deciding to buy it at the expense of her wallet. It'd pay for itself, at least, what with the way people perceived her. Shouldering the garment, she grabbed the rest of the rejects on the hanger figuring she'd save the sales clerk some time and put them back herself and left the changing room.

Noticing how busy it'd gotten since she'd entered the changing area, Summer scanned the store as she went to work returning the articles of clothing to their rightful spots. With the mall so close to the school, she was always running into peers. Shopping alone was no fun, but with Mara busy with the Newspaper, the Staceys off doing their own things, and the boys more eager to cut their hands off than shop with her, she was forced into it, but a little company was something she could use. Nothing was worse than being by herself.

Despite her small stature, Yaz stood out in the crowd, thumbing through a rack of shorts. They'd spoken a couple times before, never anything too deep, but if there was one thing Summer was good at it was talking, so she didn't hesitate to approach the girl.

"Hey, Yaz!" She exclaimed excitedly, still holding an arm full of clothes as she looked down at the girl, "You look super cute today, missy."

Yaz always looked cute, though. She reminded Summer of the American Girl dolls she had when she was younger, with her big eyes. She couldn't help feeling awkwardly tall in comparison though, standing nearly a foot taller and having to fight the urge to bend over to get at eye-level with the girl, positive it'd come off as condescending and offend the girl. The last thing she wanted to do was chase her off.

"I didn't know you shopped here?"

[jimmydalad]

((Aria Samuels continued from Guava Jelly))

This was absolutely horrible. Aria did not want to shop here. He would normally never shop here. This place was just something that made Aria cringe. However, it was one of his cousin's birthdays and his parents were insistent on him getting them a present at the very least. It wasn't like he talked to her very much and he certainly didn't like being around her whenever he had to visit her. She was just so annoying.

In any case, Aria was here now, trying to find something she liked. He didn't want to face an annoyed cousin in the future and he certainly didn't want to face his parents if the cousin didn't like the clothes. So he had to put at least some effort into what he picked out for her. The issue was however that he didn't know what she usually wore or what she'd like to wear.

"I can't believe I have to do this." Aria grumbled to himself as he analyzed clothes after clothes, trying to find something that his cousin would like. As he was looking though, he came across something that made him gasp in horror. Kids from Aurora High School. Here? Shopping? Now? No no no no no no no. This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all.

Aria tried his best to hide behind the clothes racks, hoping not to be noticed by the girls. After all, they wouldn't understand why he was here. They'll reach conclusions and make fun of him. He didn't want that to happen. That didn't need to happen. After all, he was doing so well. He didn't want people to have another reason to make fun of him. Hopefully they would ignore him and would leave him be.

Aria kept his fingers crossed, waiting.

[Deamon]

Yaz was looking through the shorts that were on offer when she heard an excited voice greeting her. She nearly jumped due to how loud the greeting was, coupled with the fact she hadn't been expecting it. She turned to see that Summer Simms was the one who had said hello to her. Summer was one of those girls that was always wearing the latest fashions so it made sense for her to be in H&M. Yaz sometimes wished she had the confidence Summer had since she always seemed to be wearing something that was eye-catching or bright. She wouldn't use that confidence for the same things as Summer did, but it would still have been nice to have it. Maybe then she wouldn't worry about what people thought of her all the time and she might be able to actually approach other people and have a proper conversation with them.

Yaz then belatedly realised that Summer had actually complimented her and said she looked cute. Yaz was very used to people using cute whenever they complimented her looks. It was very hard to be anything other than cute when you were all of four foot ten. She made people like Summer look giant in comparison; she was practically a foot taller than Yaz was. Still a compliment was a compliment and Yaz had gotten used to people calling her cute so she returned Summers smile with one of her own. Summer then asked about Yaz shopping in H&M.

"Oh, I don't normally shop here but I was in the mall and had the money...so yeah." She held up the clothes she had picked up to emphasise her point. "Every so often I find stuff I like though."

Yaz felt self-conscious showing Summer the clothes she had picked out. As if Summer was going to instantly make a judgement based on what Yaz was showing her. The fact she actually liked everything she was showing Summer just made it worse.

"I was just seeing if there were any shorts I liked, since its summer soon." Yaz said, trying to steer the conversation away from the clothes she liked and onto something she didn't have opinion on yet. She hadn't looked through all of the shorts before Summer had grabbed her attention. So it was safer than talking about the clothes she did like. Since she no bias towards the shorts. "I'm not quite sure if I like any of them though."

[Mimi]

"Oh gosh, bringing money to the mall is the worst mistake," Summer laughed, absently running a hand through her hair and positioning it over her shoulder as she thoughtfully observed the jacket in Yaz's hands, careful to keep the smile on her face lest her feelings reflect on it. It was different, not something she would wear or suggest for Yaz, the length seeming much too long and capable of drowning her small frame; but if Yaz liked it, so did Summer, whom was none to eager to take on the Big Bad Wolf role and blow Yaz's house down.

"That's really cute," She exclaimed, widening her smile and cocking her head in an effort to look excited, "Do you think they have it in my size or is 'Mammoth' discontinued?" She faked a laugh, though there was no way of knowing it was fake considering she could barely  remember what her real laugh sounded like. She'd been faking it for so long that it was second nature to fall back on the fake one, even when she considered something genuinely amusing. It was just easier that way.

"I could help you pick some out if you want?" She responded when Yaz mentioned shopping for shorts, "Summer is my favorite season, after all. I was specially made to find the best clothes for it,"

[jimmydalad]

"Come on. Move faster." Aria found himself mumbling, hoping that his whims would be answered and he would get an opportunity to go to the counter and escape the store before he was caught. He was ruing his luck and his decision to go to this shop out of all the possibilities that were given to him. Why didn't he go somewhere else or get her something like a toy? That would mean less of a chance to get caught and humiliated.

He had to act now though, or risk being caught by the two girls from school. He had to move fast or else. Picking the dress that he thought would best suit his cousin, Aria moved as fast as he could towards the counter. If he moved fast, maybe he could avoid getting caught by the harbingers of his doom. After all, if he was caught, they would make fun of him and then he wouldn't be able to make any more friends. He might even lose Lahela. That couldn't happen.

What Aria didn't take into consideration was the fact that he was accidentally treading on a piece of cloth from one of the dresses on display. In his attempt to move fast, he found himself tumbling and collapsing on the floor, right next to the two girls. His pain at tripping was almost immediately replaced with embarrassment as he blushed furiously.

"H-hey there..." Aria mumbled sheepishly, now realizing there was no way out. He prayed to god he wouldn't be ostracized by the school for this.

[Deamon]

Summer made a joke about how it was a bad idea to take money to the mall. It was true though, whenever Yaz went to the mall with spare money she almost always ended up buying something that caught her eye. It didn't when it came to making sure she actually had money that was for sure. Although Yasmin had been trying to cut down on the amount of money she actually spent, she found it hard when equipment for her drawing and photography cost so much.

Summer then commented on the jacket Yaz had picked out. The word cute was used again, as it was bound to be. Yaz hadn't really thought the jacket looked 'cute' when she had chosen it but at the same she was going to be the one wearing it. So it was to be expected that someone would say it was cute.

"I don't know I tend to only pay attention to the tiny sizes." Yaz said with a smile. She had deliberately tried to avoid directly answering Summer's question because even though it had been a joke she didn't want to say anything that could be considered insulting, especially since she didn't really speak to Summer all that much. It was harder to know what was considered too far; then again Yaz didn't speak much too many people so her social interaction was probably a little awkward in that sense. It wasn't that she had a problem talking to people; it was more what said people would think of her when they were talking. It was why she was normally quiet around people she didn't know and why she hate public speaking.

After she mentioned that she was looking for shorts, Summer offered to help her pick out a pair, she even made a joke about being named Summer. Yaz smiled at the joke and the offer.

"Yeah that'd be cool; I was having trouble picking a pair. I find it hard to decide sometimes without a second opinion."

Suddenly there was a loud thud that made Yaz jump. Looking at the source of the noise she saw Aria Samuels sprawled on the floor, she had never spoken to Aria before but his hair and clothes made him fairly recognisable, scruffy really didn't do it justice.

"Do you need help?" Yaz asked as she bent down to help him up.

[jimmydalad]

((Skipping due to noone posting in ages))

"I-I'm ok.." Aria muttered in reply, pushing himself up and quickly looking around for a way to leave. He didn't want to be here. He had to get out. Before he was caught. No. He couldn't be caught. The girls were going to wonder what he was doing and why he was here. He couldn't let them know. They would probably come to their own conclusions. They would tell the school and his chance at getting friends would be lost. Shot. Disappear forever. He wasn't going to let them get the upper hand. No. He had to get out.

"I-I was a-actually on m-my way out, so..." Aria quickly spluttered out, face flushing in embarrassment as he turned around and ran outside of the mall, not even bothering to look back. After running for a while, Aria let out a sigh of relief, brushing the dust off his clothes as he wondered about what he was going to do now. His parents would not be happy with his inability to get a present. Hopefully they wouldn't be too mad.

Letting out a sigh, Aria made his way back home, praying that he wasn't going to get shouted at.

((Aria Samuels continued elsewhere...))