Une Fleure Fanée

Week 11 Part 2 (Monday)

     As we all pile into the car, Hannah mentions, "I'm really happy to go to the United Kingdom, but part of me wants to go back to Indiana. I was so excited to see my family."

     "Same," I agree. "I miss my dog and my family too. But I mean, the UK is pretty cool also!"

     We annoy Ms. Ann and Mom's ears by singing along to all the songs on the radio, half of them awful on purpose. At one point, Ms. Ann has to cover her ears, and Mom is begging for us to stop. Eventually, we do so to make sure Mom won't get angry.

     "What do you think you're going to get?" Hannah asks me.

     "Probably a bunch of shirts and bottoms. Maybe a couple of dresses. I'm just surprised that Ms. Abby isn't making us wear any merch other than when we're at the meet-and-greets," I answer.

     "And she says you guys have got a surprise for what to wear on Easter," Mom reveals as we pull into the parking lot.

     Me and Hannah share surprised looks before we crawl out of the minivan. We go to the boba place to wait for the other girls. It's strange to be the first one here. And for Elliana not to be here. As much as she may not believe it, she's a part of the team. Brady and Gia arrive next. They seem super hyper and excited. All of my energy has somehow dissipated, but I put on an act to seem hyper and excited. Pressley and Sarah arrive last, and the group of twelve set off into the mall.

     The game plan is to create a big loop so that we can end at the boba place and get boba afterward. To limit the time spent hauling bags, Pressley, Brady, and Gia literally bring these humongous shopping carts for all of us and Mom brings sticky notes and a billion Sharpies to place on our bags. We start from the farthest-away place and work our way back. First place, Claire's.

     This isn't really Brady's thing, but for the rest of us, we probably clear out the entire store getting accessories. Personally, for earrings, I get panda stud earrings, daisy stud earrings, yin yang drop earrings, pink seashell stud earrings, rainbow stud earrings, zirconia stud earrings, tie-dye earrings, cherry earrings, pink flower studs, and silver star stud earrings. I don't get a lot of bracelets or rings, just a silver charm bracelet, and a glow-in-the-dark yin yang ring. I get a few more necklaces, a daisy choker, a white pearl necklace, and a puka shell necklace. For hair stuff, however, I get a lot more. A black ribbed knotted headband, a pink knotted bow headband, a rainbow headwrap, a rainbow tie-dye bandana, and a holographic bow clip.

     Thank goodness they come in tiny bags because we get like twenty of them. After a thousand hours spent paying and getting receipts, we put our sticky notes on our bags and head onto the next store: Urban Outfitters.

     This store has a lot of stuff that is too big for me since I am four foot six and a disgusting 58.8 pounds, so I'm very limited in what I can even practically buy. A lot of the time spent is just seeing if Mom can even tailor the items. But we do end up nabbing some high-waisted denim shorts, a tie-dye sunflower crop top, and some neon green leather pants, which I really like. The crop top is a little iffy though. You're going to look so fat in the crop top, Lilliana.

     Next is Rackroom Shoes. Shoe-shopping takes forever, but I like it because my feet don't need to have tailored shoes because they're too short. We all get around four and five pairs of shoes. Mine are black platform sandals, blowfish tie-dye sneakers, white Chuck Taylors, and dusty coral wedges.

     People give us odd looks in the open space of the mall, which cracks us up. We get a couple of pictures from fans, but they seem so nervous to approach us. I mean, who wouldn't get nervous approaching a group of twelve people with three humongous shopping carts? Anyway, onto Forever 21.

     This is definitely a hot spot for me. They have a lot of stuff my size, so Mom and I nab anything we can get. And by everything, we mean everything. A mauve marled drop-sleeve-top, a black chambray puff-sleeve dress, some clean wash denim flare jeans, a tan looney tunes graphic tee, some black lettuce edge shorts, a black lettuce edge shirt, a cherry camisole with matching cherry shorts, and cherry gator clips. Thankfully, it is a hot spot for everybody, so almost an entire shopping cart is full of yellow bags with sticky notes.

     Honestly, as we walk into Old Navy, I'm surprised how security hasn't stopped us. None of us get almost anything. I only get a bunny pajama onesie. Same with francesca's and surprisingly, Hot Topic. At francesca's the only thing I get are some oversized round sunglasses, and Hot Topic only scores me a pair of galaxy overalls.

     Only two more stores to go to. By now, we've filled up two shopping carts. The moms are cracking up at the sheer ridiculousness of it all. It's crazy we can't repeat any piece of clothing, not even jewelry. How the heck are we going to get all of this on an airplane. Vacuum-seal?

     Up next, Nordstrom. This one scores me an average amount of clothing. A red rib t-shirt, a pink strapless romper, some pink quincy sandal heels, a white cropped denim jacket. All of the clothes and jewelry that I need have been acquired. Now I need the other half of my shoes.

     "Homestretch!" Gia exclaims as we walk into Foot Locker.

     "Thank God this is almost over! We look like lunatics," Ms. Joanne adds.

     I'm so tired as we go into the store. I've been shopping for hours. We started at nine, and now it's almost three. But, through the tiredness, I manage to snap some black and purple Nike blazer mid '77s, a pair of white Converse all-star high tops, Reebok Club Cs, some Ugg hot pink slides, and a pair of white Crocs.

     Once we bag and sticky notes, we all collapse on a couple of benches near the boba place. After a couple of minutes of recuperating, we all make our way to the boba. This is the cheat of the century. I haven't voluntarily eaten junk food. Most often, it's been at the movies and I throw it up right after.

     I have 367 calories. I decide the best way to play this is to get the least calorie thing. The simple milk tea with boba pearls. 190 calories. Somehow. It tastes really good, but it's filled with sugar and I feel like I can taste every granule of sugar in my mouth. Why did you get something so sugary, Lilliana? The boba is going to make you gain twenty pounds.

    I'm definitely throwing it up and I am never having this again. It's going on my fear food list, for sure. I feel a little pang of relief as I throw away the cup. It's over. We get more odd stares as we go to the parking lot, but it is funny.

     After we drop off Brady and Gia's bags in Ms. Tricia's car, along with the two shopping carts, we drop off Hannah and I's clothes in my car.

     The first thing we do as we get into the car is collapse over ourselves. Shopping has never been more tiring. I immediately crash, falling asleep right as we exit the parking garage. I'm so winded.

      "Yo, Lilly. Time to carry ten bags up to our apartments," Hannah says and I bolt up.

     I groggily stumble to the trunk and grab five of the ten bags. Mom grabs the other half and the keys. I feel so weak just waiting in the elevator. I have no strength because I've barely had any food today, but it's worth it.

     Mom immediately brings out a vacuum sealer once we set down all the bags and starts piecing together outfits with me, then placing them into vacuum bags. It's really fun debating what should go with what and if it fits the theme or not. Eventually, after we get that sorted out, Mom makes some salad. 58 calories.

     Today has been a good day. My wardrobe has basically doubled in size, and it has clothes that fit me currently. I step over ten vacuum bags filled with clothes to get to the shower. I hope the boba didn't make me gain weight. Beep. 58.3 pounds. Thank God I've at least lost half a pound today.

     I cut myself twice. I need the release. No reason other than the adrenaline the pain gives off. Not very deep either so I don't need bandages. I put on some yellow sweats and immediately succumb to a demon-filled sleep. I still get some rest along with the torment that the demons force me to partake in.

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