1She took out her purse and started counting how much money she had left. 55$. She bit her lip. The money was supposed to pay for her monthly piano lessons, but she guessed that she could skip a few. So she confidently strolled into the boutique. The snotty assistants there didn't bat an eyelash at her. No-one seemed to care about her, she was just one of those cheap girls that you found around the suburbs.
Laura twirled around and around, taking in the view of thousands of glittering items. A shimmery black cocktail dress... no, she wouldn't need that. A sultry green latino dress... her dad wouldn't let her wear that. A cute red backless top with a baggy pair of black pants... perfect. Without bothering to ask the stuck up assistants for directions, she marched to the dressing rooms. While walking past the lingerie section, she collided with someone who was carrying a basketful of bras. Both her and the person landed on the floor, but the bras went flying up in the air and landed on their heads. Everyone in the boutique saw that.
*Omigod, this is sooooo embarassing. I can't look at the lady... she'll murder me!*
The other person shook off the bras and dumped them back in the basket. Laura just sat there gaping, it was a guy. A cute guy. He was chuckling and had now reached forward to get the bras off Laura. Her face was pink and she didn't look at the guy. She just got up, picked up her outfit and mumbled a sorry. Then she made a wild dash to the dressing rooms. She sat on the bench in a cubicle for five minutes. She couldn't believe that happened. She shook her head and got up to try on the outfit. It fit perfectly, she turned around and it still looked great. She remembered that she'd left her purse outside and opened the door to get it.
"Lookin good, gorgeous"
She whipped around to see who'd said that. It was the bra-guy. Uh oh.
He came closer, boy was he cute. He had short brown hair, amazingly blue eyes and was extremely tall and lean. He also had a slight southern accent, which Laura adored.
"Must've been em-BARA-ssing there, huh? In front of all those snobs... I work here... don't worry, I ain't one of THEM. Name's Brandon"
Laura glanced up shyly.
"Hi"
She was practically whispering. She admired the guy's confidence, he seemed totally comfortable, standing there and talking to her. He casually leaned against the fitting room door.
"So... you hava name, or should I just call you Bra-Gurl?"
Laura's face flushed pink.
"It's..."
She paused for a moment. Laura was such a boring name. She wanted something elegant, exquisite and classy.
"It's Victoria"
She bit her lip. Maybe giving her mum's name wasn't so great after all. Well, atleast it had an effect on Brandon.
"Victoria, huh? British?"
"A quarter" she blurted out. He seemed interested now.
"Quarter British, quarter Canadian and half-French"
"Woah! I'm just from good ol' Kentucky. So... where d'ya live?"
Laura considered the question. She had actually lived down the road on 34th and 2nd all her life, but that wasn't good enough.
"London, uptill now. We just shifted into the city. "
"How come you don't have no accent?"
Laura shrugged.
"America's growing on me I guess"
He tilted his head to the side casually.
"You're cute"
Laura blushed even more.
"NOT"
"Serious...hey, I gotta run now. You wanna meet sometime? We just shifted to Manhattan a couple of weeks back too. My sis would enjoy some company. Maybe you can drop by once in a while? We could, like, get together sometime later... "
Laura bit her lip to keep from giggling.
"That would be nice" she gasped.
Brandon grinned.
"I live on 24th and 5th, ask the bellboy for the Logans"
"Sure... so... see ya round then"
"Yeah..."
"Bye"
"Bye"
Brandon unexpectedly gave her a quick peck on the cheek before bolting off to the other end of the store. She touched her cheek softly. Then she burst into high giggles and twirled around the tiny fitting room. She then sobered down and looked at her reflection in the full length mirror.
How on earth did she pull off the name Victoria when she clearly looked like a boring Laura?
Her naturally blonde hair, that she detested, hung down to her waist, very straight, with a fringe that made her look six years old. Her cheeks were plastered with freckles and her nose was this tiny turned up thing. Her eyes were a boring shade of brown and her lashes weren't quite as long as she would have liked them to be.
***********
A week later, Laura stood with her arms crossed in front of the Logan's apartment. She'd just checked in with the bellboy who said that Brandon had informed him earlier on in the week to let her in. She now stood nervously, waiting for someone to answer the doorbell. She bit her lip and hoped that her outfit was suitable enough for a formidable first impression. She had TRIED dressing decently anyway. One of her friends had helped her pick out an outfit.
It was a cold day so she insisted on wearing a scarf, but she definately needed something classier than the horrid blue one she had. Herself and her friend (who's name, I might mention, was Jennifer) had shopped for a stylish maroon scarf which itself costed $55. Along with that, she had put together a pretty nice outfit from her own odd collection of clothes. She wore a black sweater with blue flares, nothing more than that, or else it would have ended up pretty wierd. Most of her hair had been tucked into her black snow-cap, a few wispy strands still lingered around her face.
The door swung open, inviting her inside. No-one answered so she stepped inside.
"Hello?", she asked timidly.
"Chrissie?" a female replied from a far off room.
Laura crept into the room slowly, full of curiosity. Suddenly, a woman emerged from one of the doorways.
"Hey, you're not Chrissie"
Laura shook her head.
"Nope"
The woman gestured at the clock hanging above the door.
"Well, when will she be here? I needed her to come HALF AN HOUR AGO! I CANNOT believe you people. You expect to be paid for this crap? Forget it! I've had second thoughts about this. I could have hired a cheaper company and I bet they'd be efficient. If you don't mind, I'd prefer it you stepped out the door"
Laura fidgeted with her fingers and mumbled in a small voice.
"I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about. I don't know anyone called Chrissie. I was looking for...uh... Brandon Logan perhaps?"
The lady looked absolutely mortified for a minute. Then her face lit up.
"Ah, yes! Victoria?"
Laura nodded meekly.
"Oh, Brandon's been telling me that you'd show up! I'm awfully sorry! I thought you were part of the decorating crew..."
Her face flushed pink.
"...especially since their uniform is a black top and blue jeans..."
Laura managed a strained laugh.
"...so... DO come in!"
She ushered her into the room, looking extremely flustered.
"Please, make yourself at home! Brandon's gone out to run me a small errand... we'll be expecting him back in a minute or two. Hang on, I'll get Lynn for you. Oh, she's his sister. Oh, you don't know who I am either! I'm Madge"
Laura smiled shyly at Madge, who smiled back. Madge whirled around and briskly walked into another room, yelling over her shoulder: "Won't be a minute!"
Laura sank down onto a comfy-looking couch in the corner. The room was helplessly untidy, but homely, all the same. She liked their set-up. Sunlight filtered in from outside, passing through the half-drawn blinds, turning the rays green. A scruffy rug had been laid on the floor to keep the chills from seeping into people's feet. It looked like the Logans were pretty much done with their unpacking; just one crate lay near the couch.
Laura heard someone approaching; she quickly straightened up. A mousy girl in overalls shuffled over to her. Laura gave her a genuine smile, the girl looked nothing like Brandon. It seemed like Brandon had all her confidence and she had all his shyness. Laura, being her normal New-Yorker self, noted that her hair was in need of serious styling.
"Hey.."
The girl smiled.
"Lynn's coming..." she whispered.
Laura raised her eyebrow. Brandon had TWO sisters? Whoa, must've had loadsa girls over at his place... and he called HER over. Laura gave herself a mental high-five.
Lynn eventually strolled in. Uh-oh... this Laura did NOT like. Lynn oozed with confidence. She flipped her chestnut hair impatiently and plopped herself onto the couch opposite from Laura. She had the usual pout, done-up brows and globs of make-up.
"Speak"
Lynn seemed pretty unwilling to do this...Laura decided to give it a shot anyway.
"Hi Lynn, my name's Lau-...Victoria. Geez, you look real older than me..."
Lynn rolled her eyes.
"Whatever, I thought New-Yorkers had CLASS. Anyway, I don't need this, thanks foryour little charity. I happen to have friends; they're just back in Tuscon. You are now free to go... that is if you WANT to... Not waiting for your little Brandon-Poo, are you?"
Laura turned pink.
The mousier girl finally spoke up. She had a surprisingly deep voice;
"Lynn, you're such a bitch. Leave her alone; like you REALLY had friends in Tuscon"
Lynn shot the mousy girl a withering look.
"I think you're confusing your life with mine, Ki"
Lynn left the room; her aura leaving the room minutes after her.
Laura smiled at the mousy girl.
"Well... that was something... I'm sorry, is your name Ki?"
"That's short for Kiyoko"
"Isn't that a Japanese name?"
Kiyoko shrugged.
"My uncle's late wife was from Japan, and her name is Kiyoko.. she was there when I was born; very close to my mum... She died a month or two later, and they changed my name from Amy to Kiyoko "
Laura smiled.
"I like the name"