Page 58 of Fun Together
I groan. “Does that mean we’d have to go to the mall?”Does that also mean I have to watch you pick out a dress to wear for someone else?
“Unfortunately, yes,” she says sympathetically. “It’ll be fun.”
Not exactly my idea of fun, but since it means more hanging out with her, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to it just a little.
18
Eli
DidI say I was looking forward to shopping? I take that back.
I haven’t been to the mall in years because I usually order anything I need online, so I don’t have to do exactly what we’ve been doing for the last thirty minutes. Has it only been thirty minutes? Feels like way longer.
Pretty sure we walked by an escape room on our way to Urban Outfitters, and I understand why they’re here.
“Remind me why I agreed to this again?”
Faye is looking through a rack of shirts while I stand off to the side. It feels like I’m a kid again, back to school shopping for clothes with my mom. I battle a childlike, instinctive urge to hide inside the clothing racks and jump out to scare her.
“Because you want to look nice for the party and put some effort into your appearance.”
I choose to ignore that this implies I don’t usually put effort into my appearance and instead do what I do best. Distract myself by talking. “Did you guess my lie this morning?”
“Of course,” she says, like it was too easy.
“How did you know it?”
She pauses her rapid swiping of hangers to turn toward me. “Because you are so not aStar Warskind of guy.”
My lie was thatThe Empire Strikes Backis my favorite movie.
“What kind of guy am I?”
She tilts her head to the side and bites her bottom lip. And I find that I’m the kind of guy who hasn’t stopped thinking about what it’d be like to kiss that bottom lip ever since that night at the bar. The kind of guy who wants desperately to know what kind of guy she thinks I am.
“You’re more of aLord of the Ringskind of guy.”
“Well, who doesn’t likeLord of the Rings?”
“I bet I can even guess your favorite character.” She moves to another rack and holds up a shirt in front of me before placing it back. “Legolas. For sure.”
“Obviously. He’s the best character.”
She looks up, dreamy expression on her face. “I prefer Aragorn.”
“You know, you kind of look like Arwen.”
“I wish,” she says, holding up a short-sleeved button down with a bunch of flowers on it. “Do you like this?”
“Too whimsical.” I spot a gray shirt on the end of the rack that looks comfortable and hold it up. “How about this?”
“Are you allergic to patterns?”
“I’m allergic to uncomfortable clothes.”
I follow her around the store for a few more minutes until she shoves the shirts she’s been collecting into my chest.
“Let me grab a few things to try on. We’ll meet in the dressing room area.”
