Ignorance ➵ h.s. au

fifty first

Harry pulls her into the store against her will, pushing through the heavy glass doors with ease. There were even more clothes inside, racks neatly aligned all throughout the floor, holding all sorts of designs, the colours saturated in whites, blacks and grays. Despite the doubts flying around her head, Danielle's gaze wandered in curiosity, scanning the entirety of the boutique. She didn't need to inspect further to notice the familiarity, most of the pieces looking like something her mother would wear. Simple and Elegant, but still expensive.

The store was relatively empty except for the three other people walking around, all of them women. Tight dresses and luxurious handbags hanging from their elbows, skimming through the racks with their fingers while their eyes critically judged every piece of clothing they would hold out. Kind of like her mother. She didn't know what she was doing there, but she was a miss place, a wrong piece in the puzzle. And it wasn't too long before all their eyes were on her as Harry dragged her further in, her face heating up. Not in embarrassment, but in sudden self-consciousness. She wanted to cover up her face and hide, their harsh eyes staring directly at her. They were probably judging her just by the way she dressed and acted, a part of her stressing out over the idea.

Harry pulls her over one side of the racks in line, black suede dresses and pants in line. Danielle had always thought her mother's style was extraordinary, nevertheless she never really imagined herself wearing the same. It just wasn't her. She wore skirts and floral dresses, not black turtlenecks and knitted tops. She was already pretentious just by standing there and everybody could tell. Harry walks over to the racks and cautiously skimmed through the wooden hangers, eyebrows furrowed. Danielle makes the mistake of looking around again out of curiosity, meeting three pairs of eyes, the two cashiers by the registers, leaning into each others' ears and mumbling.

Dani clings onto his arm and tugs him off the racks to catch his attention, Harry turning to her. "M-Maybe we should go to another store." She whispers, staring at him.

"Why? You don't like it here?"

She shook her head as a response.

"At least buy something you could wear." He says, pulling out one article of clothing and holding it up his chest to show her; a white off shoulder top made of lace.

"There's nothing I want in here, let's just leave." She insists, lowering her tone as much as possible, keeping her head down just in case they notice her unease.

Harry sighs, returning the item. "Fine."

They promptly leave the boutique, Danielle's chest loosening in relief as she leaves the gaze of the women in there. She didn't know what it was about that store, but the atmosphere it gave wasn't any different when her mother is around observing every move she makes. The next boutique wasn't too far off the past one, Harry's first instinct was to enter it, and they did quickly.

There was a much wider variety of colours in clothing than the past one, some of them catching her attention the moment they stepped in. Mannequin displays were placed next to each line of racks, Even though there were a lot more people in there searching through the hangers, none of them stared at her with the same judgement. The theme was still sophisticated, music playing from somewhere around the store, the overall vibe was so much better, like a stick was removed from her chest. Other than that, there were things in there she actually considered liking.

"What was wrong with the other store?" Harry asks out of no where, slowly walking into an isle of hangers.

"Nothing." She quickly addresses, letting her eyes scan each corner of the boutique. She hasn't entered there before, her mother only buying clothes from department stores because they were 'so much more appropriate for her age' but she's always been intrigued to try out new styles, as long as they didn't reveal too much that is, however, stuff like that were difficult to find nowadays. Most of her clothing were prepubescent teens' attires, not for sixteen year old girl.