SLEEPSONG (BoyxBoy)✔️

Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty Six

I bought clothes and I bought shoes. 

I also ended up changing into some denim skinny jeans and an extremely billowy hippy shirt that hung down to my knees. The neckline was square-cut and the sleeves were short, but they flared loosely. The chest and shoulder areas were soft and clingy, but below that the shirt flared out almost like the skirt of a dress. 

The ironic part? We'd found it in the men's section of a 'retro' clothing store. Even though I didn't really have a presence of mind to feel much of anything at all, I liked it. The golden flowers on the front made the dark red fabric pop, and I liked how breezy and willowy it made me feel. 

Regardless, I don't see much reason to dissect every last detail of that mundane activity since I'd almost completely disconnected from myself. It was like my awareness had disappeared and I'd become autonomous, like my soul and free will had been sapped out of my body.

I followed Tiffany and Kyle through the mall, letting them pick out various men's clothes and billowy, clingy, androgynous-level shirts from the women's isle for what felt like an eternity, but I felt next to nothing and said nothing at all for the entire duration of that time. 

Not like either of them really noticed.

Tiffany was too busy gushing over how good her choices made me look, and Kyle was buried beneath the ever-growing pile of shopping bags. In the end, though, they finished shopping and it was time to regroup with Leo and Sebastian in the food courts.

"Do we have to pick up anything else?" Kyle asked, hobbling after us.

"No," Tiffany answered, swiping through her texts while she elegantly clacked her way down the mall hallway. "I think we've covered almost everything, but we can make a second trip back here in a few days if we missed anything. Leo and Bash are already waiting for us, though."

Kyle looked at the phone she was swiping through past the boxes. 

I kept my eyes on the floor. 

Someone had sent her a text not too long ago, but I hadn't had the heart or presence of mind to try reading it like I'd done earlier. 

"I guess we're fine for now," Kyle eventually agreed. "So, do you like the clothes?"

It took me a second to realize he was talking to me.

"Oh," I said in a quiet, emotionless drone. "Yeah. Thanks."

Kyle blinked and stared at me for a moment, but the smell of food soon took his attention.

"Yooooo!" howled a voice from ahead of us. 

Irritation prickled through me.

Leo and Sebastian were standing just outside a Chinese restaurant. I swallowed hard and missed a step when I saw two stoic eyes on my face, but I very decidedly glanced away and didn't spare them a second look as we walked over.

"I was half expecting you to show up in a dress," Leo chuckled when we stopped, "but this is close enough. Did you enjoy yourself?"

I ignored the man and kept my eyes on the floor, wanting nothing more than to go to sleep. I was exhausted... emotionally, physically, and I could already feel a familiar little tickle in the back of my throat signalling that my thirst was beginning to come back, icing on the proverbial cake.

"Are you all right?" Tiffany asked, and I glanced up to see her looking at me in concern. 

"Fine," I said curtly, giving her a nod. "I'm fine. Sorry, just lost in my head."