It all Comes in Waves: The Solitary Joy of the Ocean

Chapter 3

Este took off and started showing me a few things in the store asking if I liked it. It didn't take her long to get a sense of my style and like the true supermodel she is, she knew exactly what to pick out. I could tell she loved this.

Though, I didn't care what I got. I was just glad to have good new clothes that weren't too big on me and older than I was. It was almost overwhelming, an opportunity like this.

And for the sake of Este's excitement, I put forth effort into my own excitement despite not knowing anything about clothes.

I went around to look and found a couple things I liked. I usually wore dark colors so I ventured out to some brighter shades. I picked out a couple pair of jean shorts too. I needed summer clothes. It's way hotter here than I thought.

Finally, I tried on the stuff we picked out. Este insisted I come out and show her everything I tried on. Some of it was too big or turned out to not actually be my style, but I narrowed down to a small selection in the end.

I started to get a little exited. I haven't been shopping in a very long time. I usually only got other people's old clothes.

It felt very good to have new, clean clothes that were picked out for me, to match my style. I didn't really know what my style was until now. But these clothes are summer proof. I mostly wore jeans in Kansas.

"How about some new sundresses too? They're perfect for hot weather but also classy." Este exclaimed.

She quickly picked out a yellow, blue, and a red dress. They each had different patterns.

"These are perfect for you." She smiled, handing them to me.

I tried the first two on and then finally the red one. When I showed Este, her eyes lit up a little bit.

"Red definitely suits you." She smiled.

I looked over to a nearby rack and found a pink sundress.

"And how about this one for you?" I suggested.

"You're getting good at this already." Este smiled wide.

After a while of shopping for the new clothes we got, we were pretty hungry. Este mentioned a nice diner for us to grab lunch.

We head inside into the cool air conditioning, a relief from the hot Florida weather. Este picked a booth in front of the window for us and we sat down. The seats were red, the floor a black and white checker, and the more I looked around, I noticed how the place seemed older.

After a few minutes, we ordered our food and our drinks were brought to us.

"I know it's only been a day, but what do you think of Florida so far?" Este asked, taking a drink of her Dr. Pepper.

"I actually like it. Very different from Kansas."

"What kind of things did you do there?"

"Mainly worked all the time."

"You remember the time when we were five and locked all our parents out of the house?" She laughed.

I laughed too at the memory. I had forgotten about that.

After a beat of silence, Este spoke up. "Are you doing okay, Eileen?" A more serious tone appeared in her voice.