The Speed of Sound

To The Mall!

        A small, painful moan leaves your lips as you attempt to hold in the contents of your stomach. You and Amy have just arrived to an extremely large shopping center. The moment the hedgehog parkes her eco-friendly car, you open the door and fall to a heap on the paved ground.

        "Muh," you give a curdled burp and wince at the terrible smell.

        "That's so gross!" Amy shrieks, clasping her nose shut as she towers over you. You sigh and pick yourself off the ground, noting that the girl hadn't even offered to pull you up. I can tell this is going to be a great trip already, you sigh again. "My driving isn't that bad. Now come on, we're going to get caught in the weekend rush!" A white gloved hand clasps your arm and yanks you off toward the large sliding doors of the mall.

        Through the passing hours you don't bother to get familiar with your surroundings, just lumbering in a daze after the ever-so-persistent pink hedgehog. Amy continues to travel from fashion shop to fashion shop, chatting all the way about nonsensical topics. So far you had made only one purchase. Well, Amy had made the purchase, and you are to pay it off in the future seeing as you still have no money. At least it is a necessary purchase; new shoes, again. Somehow you just don't feel as attached to these new (f/c) shoes as the ones you had gotten with Sonic. They aren't even as cool looking as the ones before, having just a simple complimentary stripe running from the tongue to the tip.

        "How does this look?"

        You raise your eyes from the floor to see Amy posing in an unflattering, light blue dress. Yes, this is what you are doing right now. Dress shopping. Oh god that looks terrible. The girl has been trying on dresses for over an hour now, and this one is by far the worst.

        "Um," you nervously begin. "It's kinda...weird looking."

        The pink hedgehog lifts an eyebrow in suspicion and turns to a mirror to assess her reflection. "Hmm, you may be right. Light blue doesn't exactly fit with my color... Maybe a darker blue will do!" She gets a dreamy look and returns to searching through the many stands of dresses.

        You awkwardly sit on the bench thinking, She's most likely talking about Sonic....ew. Drifting off into space for a while, you eventually feel a harsh tap on your shoulder. It's her, of course.

        "Yoo hoo, were you even listening? I found out that blue is just not my color. Do you have any suggestions?" How would you have a suggestion? You've never worn a formal dress in your life!

        "Sorry Amy, I don't think I can help you...since I've never really worn a dress," you timidly reply, just waiting for the girl to blow up in your face. To your surprise the girl brings her hands to her face in shock, her mouth hanging in a wide "o."

        "WHAT?! You don't wear DRESSES? WE HAVE TO GET YOU ONE RIGHT NOW." (E/c) eyes widen in fright as you are forcefully grabbed and pushed nose to nose with a row of hanging dresses. "You look through those. I'll be over here finding the best dress you have ever seen!" Amy skips off to another section of the fashion shop, heading straight for a rack of puffy dress ware. With a sigh you shuffle through the many dresses, not actually paying any attention. Is there even a reason to ever wear a dress? What would I do with one...? you irately exhale through clenched teeth.

        A few minutes later you have already glanced through a whole roll of hanging dresses, moving on to the next one. You actually seem to be enjoying the designs of the dresses over here, even if it is just a little bit. One catches your eye though, and you carefully pull it out of the rack. Your eyes shine just slightly with interest as you look the dress up and down. The (f/c) fabric gleams in the fluorescent light of the store, giving it a beautiful, glossy appearance. The dress is formed in multiple layers of fabric—similar to flower petals. With a satisfied nod you decide that this is the one. You know that any dress Amy picks out will be absolutely horrid.

        Hiding a grin you heft the dress high into the air by its hanger, not wanting the bottom to brush the dirty flooring. You quietly sneak to Amy's side and give a slight giggle in seeing her crouched to the floor, checking out the bottom ruffles of dresses. Her own bottom is sticking out at an awkward angle, to where you can almost see under her red and white outfit. She has a large pile of dresses building near her on a large table, most likely dresses that she will want you to try on. You better tell her you've found a dress now, otherwise you will be spending even longer within this shopping hell.

        "Amy." You reach out and poke the girl's back, not wanting to startle her too much. Amy looks up with a confused expression and turns to you.

        "Huh? Did you find something?" Nodding, you show her the (f/c) petal dress with a slightly proud look in your eye. "Oh it's so cute!" Amy squeals. "You have to put it on RIGHT NOW!"

        You are pushed toward the changing room and into a stall within a few moments. Puffing your cheeks out in annoyance, you then struggle to pull the dress over your head without crinkling the soft fabric. You lose your balance about halfway through and clumsily bang your head on the wall of the stall. Ow! Chaos, is this going to happen every time I try to put on this dress? Eventually you slip your arms through and smooth down the petals of the dress. There are mirrors all around this stall, but you nervously avoid them, staring up at the rafters in the ceiling.

        "Are you done yet? You've been in there for a while," Amy calls out with a concerned tone. You sigh and push the stall door open, nervously flattening your ears against your head as Amy regards the dress. She has a pondering look on her face, a finger tapping at her chin. Suddenly she begins to scream and jump, clapping her hands furiously. "OH MY GOSH, YES!" She does a strange little dance, twirling around on the spot. "That dress really brings out your eyes...what color are they? Oh, (e/c)! Yeah!"

        Your face slowly changes to a bright shade of red as the girl coos over you, probing at the dress and feeling the smooth fabric. Embarrassment completely fills you. You don't want to actually get this dress! It feels so awkward wearing something so beautiful. Pretty things aren't meant to be worn by such a...disappointing creature.

        Once Amy is done fawning over you and the dress, you head back inside the changing room and carefully pull it off, setting the hanger back inside the shoulders. You then return to be pulled by the hand to the cashier. Right away Amy pays for the dress, taking the time to remind you about repaying later. With the (f/c) petal dress bought, along with a couple more that Amy had chosen for herself, you both then notice the time on a clock hanging above the exit.

        "4:00!" Amy exclaims. "We better be heading back home to meet the boys!" She tightly grips your hand and races through the mall as you try with all your might to keep a grasp on your shopping bag. You are pulled out into the parking lot and straightaway shoved into Amy's tiny, pink, eco-friendly car, instantly taking off toward her house. On the way you have to cover your mouth from blowing chunks.

        This is why you don't let young Mobians drive! Amy is a terrible driver with her swerving and sudden stops. It's a miracle that anyone is able to survive the journey without a crash. You definitely would rather just run all the way back, however, Amy would have probably been upset. Keeping your mind off of dying in a car crash, you wonder if the boys are doing alright. Somehow you just feel as if something went wrong.