Fire And Ice

Chapter 8 - Completely and Utterly Me

Natalia's P. O. V

Twenty-five stores and three hundred outfits later, Hail finally decided she was tired enough for a break. The boys and I practically crawled to a nearby food joint. Who knew shopping could be so tiring?

Hail headed to the counter as we collapsed into the chairs around a free table, sighing with relief. She'd been a tornado of movement, moving from one outfit to another then swiftly abandoning the shop for another when she'd seen enough. I'd tried on each and every piece of clothing that she deemed even slightly fitting for my personality, only to watch in dismay as she shook her head disapprovingly and moved on to the next candidate.

In the space of three hours, I'd tried roughly three hundred clothes; I lost count at two hundred and thirty-two. In that time, I'd found out that I apparently wasn't perky, quirky, emo, gothic, innocent, serious, fun, rebellious, uptight, princess-y, bitchy, coy, or slutty. As a result of the constant rejection of clothes, I'd bought nothing.

Keily, on the other hand, had bought five pairs of six inch heels, a very short dress that barely reached her thighs, twelve skirts and shorts of the same short length, seventeen tops (all either with a very low neckline or a very short length), five handbags and probably a lot more things.

Needless to say, she would have fit right in with the slut squad.

Candy chuckled tiredly, bored and exhausted.

'I hope we find something soon.'

She made a sound of agreement.

After devouring our food, Hail suggested we try one more store before heading out and we reluctantly agreed. As we were walking, a black leather jacket on a mannequin caught my eye. It had flames trailing along the bottom of the sleeves, frozen in a complex dance of destructive, fiery power. It was completely and utterly badass.

It was completely and utterly me. I loved it.

I walked into the shop with my slightly confused companions trailing behind me.

"Found something?" Hail asked.

I ignored her as I spoke to the clerk who got the jacket for me. I paid for it and walked out of the shop, feeling accomplished.

I turned to Hail, holding the bag with the jacket up, "Definitely."

After that, I was on a roll. I bought black jeans, blue jeans, red jeans, ripped jeans, jeans with thin chains around the belt loops, faded jeans, flare jeans; I bought dozens. I bought three camo pants, seven sweatpants, two khaki pants, five jeggings, six leggings, a black and red checkered skirt and a few black and blue jean shorts and skirts. I got five black, grey, red and dark blue hoodies and a variety of coloured shirts except yellow; I hated that colour with a passion. I got some ankle and knee length boots, combat boots, chunky boots, a few pairs of converse shoes, five sandals, three pairs of slippers and two pairs of trainers. No heels. I didn't do heels.

The only thing that I now owned and hadn't wanted to buy was the black and red polka dotted bikini that Hail had insisted on, saying: "It's summer, gurl. That means the beach. You are getting that bikini."

Then she proceeded to walk off, leaving no room for argument.

Most of the shops were closed when I finally became conscious of the time. The Geranomy brothers were leaning against each other, asleep. Miraculously, the shopping bags still hung from their arms.

Hail followed my line of sight and chuckled, "They've been doing this since we were seven, especially when we go shopping. They have it down to an art now."