11Summer watched from her window as her only chance to return to her past turning away. She knew she had frightened him with the idea of dinner and deeply regretted it. What had she been thinking when she asked him to dinner with those nutcases?
Angrily, she flopped down on her on her bed and flicked on her T.V. on the ceiling. There was nothing on of interest. Suddenly, there was something that caught her attention. The Disney movie Anastasia was on. She lay there watching it, trying to think. Did Domonic have amnesia? Or was he never going to remember it, no matter how many memories she triggered.
This had been their Favourite movie since they were eight, in their previous lives and she couldn't believe it still on T.V.
She really felt as if she were in her old life again. She began to sing along with it and for once in thirteen years, felt truly happy. Suddenly a banging could be heard on the door. She turned the volume down.
"What?!" she yelled. She hated to be interrupted during a movie.
"Dinner's downstairs. . ." her mother replied, her language slurred from all the alcohol.
Summer growled. The last thing she wanted right now was to eat dinner with. . .them.
"I'll get it later!"
"Oh. . .alright. . ." a crash could be heard which meant her mother had knocked something over on her way to the stairs.
"Idiot."
She turned the volume up and took out her list. First thing, go to school. She groaned. This was not going to be very fun.
"Drive to school. . .or take the bus. . .take the bus. . .or walk? Hmmmm. . .I know! I'll drive. Maybe I can pick up Domonic on the way." she grinned. Domonic seemed pretty smart and she would be getting top grades anyway. That made her feel like her chances were rising.
"What to wear. . ." she looked through her closet. Everything there was. . .well in short, sluttish.
She wrinkled her nose in disgust. "I wear that crap? Well, looks like I've got to go shopping."
She rummaged through her drawers and succeeded in finding eighty dollars.
"I guess its good enough for now."
She opened the door and skipped down the stairs. When she came to the garage she decided she had a problem. If she drove to the mall, she could get caught. Normally she only drove around town where nobody seemed to care. If she were in the city, she could get in trouble.
"Well, it's not that far away. I can walk and be there in a half hour. . .I think."
She trotted out the door and down the steps where she was welcomed with a cool breeze. She walked past Domonic's house and the school. The walk itself was quite uneventful. No gangs, no kids, nobody.
"This is actually quite strange. . ." she mused to herself as she hopped across an intersection.
Upon entering the mall, she realized that if she were going to buy stuff, she would have bags, and if she had bags, walking home would be extremely difficult.
"Jesus Christ," she cursed, whipping out her cell phone as she began to dial her home phone number. On the third ring, she stopped. Why was she asking her parents for a ride home? Suddenly, she got an idea.
Looking around to see if anyone was watching (why she did this she had no clue), she dialed a number and waited.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Dom?"
"Yeah, who's this?"
"It's Summer."
"Oh hey!"
Summer giggled, "I was wondering if you wanted to come to the mall tonight. I need some new clothes and I thought it would be fun if someone I knew was with me to help me."
Domonic seemed a little hesitant to answer but he agreed. Summer told him that she was already there and would meet him at the food court.
He arrived ten minutes later and after waving good-bye to his mother, they were off.
"So. . .what kind of clothes are you looking for?" Domonic asked as he stepped into a shop that sold club clothing.
"Nothing in there," she replied, steering him out of the store.
"I though you usually bought stuff like that."
She shook her head. "Not anymore. It's. . .hard to explain but I sort of lost interest in that type of clothing. It's too showy; I attract too much attention. I just want to be normal."
Domonic closed his eyes. "What is normal?"
Summer had to admit, his question was unanswerable. There was no norm. None at all.
"If you want to be like everyone else," he continued, "I'd discourage that."
"Would you like it better if I said I'd rather not look like a whore?"
"Yes, yes I would."
They browsed through a few stores, not finding anything that sparked her interest or his for that matter. The decided to go into a few department stores and go from there.
After searching fruitlessly through the many racks of jeans, shirts and skirts, her eyes fell on a single skirt. Domonic noticed her staring at something so he trotted over, stuffing a piece of paper into his pocket.
"You like it?"
"Yes. It kind of reminds me of what I used to wear."
He was puzzled. Never before had she worn anything like it.
The skirt itself was a schoolgirl skirt, coming up halfway between her knees and thighs. It was black but inside the pleats, silver satin had been embroidered. A silver chain added to the article, adorning the waist part of it almost as in a belt.
"I wonder. . ."
Summer inched closer to it to check the size, it being the only one left. When she read the tag '3' she yelped with joy. She rocketed out of the skirt isle to the sweaters where she bought a black one that clung to her curves and tied up the sides. From there, she picked out a pair of black knee high socks and a pair of platform boots that tied all the way up. The boots came about 3/4 to her knee.
"Let's see," Summer began, digging in her purse to find a calculator, "This outfit comes to. . .one hundred fifty-three dollars?!"
Domonic cringed. Boy did she know how to shop.
"Well I suppose I can come back tomorrow with more money," she mused to herself, still trying to figure out how to manage to buy this outfit.
Domonic searched through the pile of clothes she was holding and pulled out the skirt.
"I'll buy this."
Summer looked up at him. "What are you talking about? That's the most expensive thing I have! It's seventy-five dollars!"
"So? My mom gave me one hundred. I don't need to buy anything at the moment. Trust me, I'll buy it for you. That way, you can have this outfit for whatever you want."
"No, I can do it!"
He put a hand on her shoulder. "Let me buy it."
She couldn't help herself. The look in his eyes was too much for her to handle.
"Fine. But I WILL pay you back for it when I get the money."
He shook his head, paid for the skirt and left the store.
"Alright. . .I've got two bucks left! WEE! go me!" Summer exclaimed.
Domonic laughed. "Hey, my mom's picking me up in a few minutes. Do you need a ride home?"
Summer bit her lip. She did need a ride home but after he bought her skirt for her, she felt guilty asking for anything else
"You do, don't you?"
"Yeah," she admitted, defeated.
The two waited outside for Domonic's mom and when she came, she was thrilled to see Summer. They talked for a little while and when she got home, she thanked Domonic for her skirt and trotted up the porch steps, her stomach growling. She had forgotten she didn't eat.
"Summer is such a nice girl," Domonic's mother said as she backed into her driveway, "It's too bad she had to grow up in a family like that."
"Mom?"
"Yes?"
"Do you think she could spend Christmas with us again?"
"You remember that?"
"I'll never forget."