“Can I help you boys?” The sales clerk who approaches us looks to be around our age, she’s pretty in that tries too hard way, but I wink at her and encourage the flirting as we explain we need whole new wardrobes. It doesn’t hurt to butter people up when you need them to do a lot of work for you.
It only takes her a few minutes to get to work helping us change our appearance, she begins with Richard, sending him into the change rooms with a stack of clothes that he struggles to carry despite being able to bench over two hundred, as a few items topple off his pile, I grab some neon items and add them to his arms under the guise of helping him rebalance the load.
The wait is killing me, I bounce my knee as I sit on the lounge chair in front of the change rooms. I could probably save us some time by going and getting my own clothes while he tries a few things on, but I really want to see what Richard looks like when he’s not wearing that stick up his ass style he’s been wearing since I met him. “Try the ones on the top first.” I call out, struggling not to laugh out loud.
He finally emerges wearing a neon green sheer tank shirt and bright orange shorts that leave me practically pissing myself laughing. “I don’t think we want to draw this much attention to us.” He snickers good naturedly. I quickly snap a picture on my phone before he disappears into the change room again.
Not wanting to make Rose wait too long, I grab some stuff for myself and head into the change room next to Richards. Several outfits later and we have a new style that both of us are comfortable with. I grab my items and dump them into a trolley while Richard does the same. We get the items rung up and bagged, then move onto our next stop… The hairdressers.
Richard makes me sit in the chair first, the hairdresser asks me what I want done, but I have absolutely no idea. I look at Richard in the mirror, my eyes begging him to help me decide. I’m used to the barber we usually go to; he does all the policemen’s hair from the local precinct and we all end up with pretty much the same style, either long on the top with short back and sides or a crew cut.
“We need to make him look his age.” Richard says flatly.
“Well honey, that we can do. Let’s go for something sexier, a little shorter with….” I tune the guy out as he continues to chat away oblivious to the fact that no one is listening to him anymore. After a wash and cut, he styles my hair and then Richard jumps into the chair. I lean in so only the stylist can hear me, “Add some colour so he looks less like a douche and more like the bad boy he is.”
“Oh honey, with his skin tone, I can make him look like a kick ass rocker who’ll have all the boys drooling… and the girls I suppose.” He adds on the end with a sigh. “All the sexy ones are always straight.”
Richards face is redder than I’ve ever seen it, but he doesn’t argue. It only takes about twenty minutes before we’re on our way back to Rose. “Hey Richard, can we mess with Rose. I seriously don’t think she’ll recognise us.”
“I just hope she likes my new look. I feel like my skin is crawling and seriously did you have to convince the stylist to colour my hair, what exactly was wrong with the natural colour?”
The closer we get to Tragically Beautiful, the more nervous I become.What if Rose hates my new look? What if she’s more interested in Richard’s bad boy look? Fuck, I’m not sure I can do this….
Ten
Areyna
Time passes and before I know it I'm being tapped on the shoulder. I turn around only to be greeted by a guy with silver-blonde hair. I frown staring at him. He's so familiar but I can't place where I know him from.
"What's the matter baby, don't recognise me?" I’d recognise that voice anywhere but the hair, the clothes, hell, everything looks nothing like him. "Jason?" I am officially shocked. He looks nothing like the Jason I've come to know. Gone is the neat blonde hair, in its place is a mop of messy bed hair and damn it looks sexy on him, the lighter colour even makes his eyes appear more blue than grey. He looks younger, especially wearing the tight black ACDC t-shirt and black skinny jeans.
I pinch my upper arm and he laughs at me. "Wait till you see Richard." He says between laughs.
I start looking around trying to figure out where Richard is, my gaze skims over a guy with green hair, a blonde on the other side of the store and a guy with mousy brown hair before coming back to stare questioningly at Jason.
"Over there by the candles." He whispers into my ear as he wraps his arms around my waist, resting his chin on my shoulder.
Richard's dark hair now has a green tint throughout it, he too has had a haircut, gone is the neat pulled back style, he now has an almost emo style, covering half his face on one side. His clothes are no longer the sophisticated good boy look he had before, now he looks every bit the bad boy you avoid taking home to your mother. His dark wash jeans make his ass look smoking. His tight tank and unbuttoned shirt combo look so good that I find myself wanting to run my hands across his chest to see if his muscles feel as solid as they look. I shake my head, there's no way I can handle these guys now. They are definitely my type. Both of them look like they are my age, not a few years older.
"How on earth did you manage to look so much younger in less than an hour?" I ask breathlessly.
"It's all in the way you dress." Jason replies cryptically. "Come on, let's go get all the school stuff so we can go home, these clothes are drawing a lot of attention."
I follow his gaze to the food court. A dozen girls around my age are all staring at both Jason and Richard with lust in their eyes. Jason smirks, shuffling the bags he’s carrying to one hand and waves to the girls.
My chest constricts.
Am I jealous?I shake my head.It's the bond, that's all.I silently remind myself.
We leave the store, but Richard lingers a few moments. By the time Jason and I have reached the office and school supplies store, Richard comes running over carrying two more bags with the Tragically Beautiful logo on the side. "What you got there?" I ask trying to peer into the bags.
"Never you mind." He snaps. I take a step away from him in shock. "Sorry, just don't want you to spoil the surprise, is all." I nod and let the subject drop.
* * *
It takesus a further hour to get all the school supplies, Jason had grabbed a trolley before we went into the store, so thankfully we didn't have to carry everything they bought. Everything of mine, from the pencils and notebooks to the backpack are black with skulls on it. I can't help smiling to myself over the gorgeous leather backpack. The silver spikes and skulls look amazing and the fact the guys got me a matching computer bag left me gobsmacked. Jason got everything in red, his backpack has a dragon breathing fire. Richard went for a more casual look with everything in grey, but at least he went a little more adventurous in choosing his backpack; His has a gorgeous 3D image of a Harley Davidson on it.
From my school experiences the kind of backpack you own can have drastic consequences when it comes to social standing. I personally don't care what anyone thinks, but the guys have chosen theirs to make them look cooler in the hopes that more students will talk to them. They do after all have a job to do while they are there.