Page 73 of Bound By Earth (The Nature Hunters Academy 1)

“So, you couldn’t tell him in your responding text? Or maybe—I don’t know, this is a novel idea so prepare yourself—you could send him a text all on your own. You know he will read it, of course, because he sends you a text every day withoutfail?”

“Why are you talking?” Tara glowered as she stared out the passenger’s side window watching the trees fly by. It was a beautiful spring day. The sun was bright, and the fresh leaves on the trees were a vivid green against the cool, blue sky. She really should be in a better mood. She also shouldn’t want to toss her best friend into alake.

“What are you smirking about?” Shelly asked. Before Tara could answer, she held up a hand. “Never mind. I don’t want to enter the dark places of your mind. It’s a twisted cavern in there. I might get lost and be stuck in your cranky stateforever.”

“You’re hilarious,” Tara saiddryly.

Fifteen minutes later, Shelly pulled into the parking lot of the mall. As far as malls go, it wasn’t much. But it was a lot more than what they had in Buffalo, which was aWalmart.

“Sitting here and staring at the building is not going to make this go anyfaster.”

Tara slowly turned her head to look at her friend. She pursed her lips as she narrowed her eyes. “I know where you sleep, and I also know you sleep like thedead.”

Shelly waved her off as she climbed out of the car. “I’m not worried. Punishing me would require you to think about something other thanElias.”

“I’m going to kill you and dump your body in a landfill so you’re eternally surrounded by other women’s sanitary products,” Tara said as she opened the door and forced herself to get out of thevehicle.

“Okay, now you’re just being cruel. Although, I have to give you props forcreativity.”

They walked into the mall, and the small exterior belied the spaciousness before them. The vaulted ceilings caused an echo from the voices of the shoppers which made the interior feel evenlarger.

“The only store that’s going to have the kind of dresses we are looking for is Visions,” Shelly said as she pointedleft.

“It sounds like a place you’d get glasses,” Tarasaid.

“Their commercials end with ‘Let us make you a vision for him.’ Hence,Visions.”

“Clever.”

“Let’s discusscolors.”

“Black,” Tara said with a grin her friend didn’t see because she was walking a half stepbehind.

“Seriously?” Shelly asked, sounding shocked. “I thought you’d go with something bright and cheerful. I totally did not see black in your colorpalette.”

“Cute, Shelly.” Tara had known her color choice would get a rise out of Shelly. Getting a rise out of her friend was pretty much her mission for the day.What can I say? I’mevil.

“Can we compromise and do a dark navy?” Shellyasked.

When they reached the store, Tara’s eyes widened at the mannequins lined up in front of the tall, glass front windows. They were all in sequined dresses. They looked like they’d been rolled in glitter. “No sequins,” Tara quicklysputtered.

“Spoilsport,” Shelly muttered under her breath as she grabbed Tara’s wrist as if she’d known Tara had been about tobolt.

When Shelly finally let go of Tara’s arm because she couldn’t sufficiently rifle through dress racks with one hand, Tara began to explore. She found the sale section at the very back of the store and began browsing the wares. Unfortunately, the majority of the dresses on sale were notblack.

“I’ve got the perfect dress for you,” Shelly called out from across thestore.

Taraturned to look at her best friend and then promptly turned away. “Not if it was the last piece of clothing on earth. I’d rather walk around naked,” Tara said as she continued to flick through the sale dresses. It wasn’t until the third rack that she came across something she could actually see herself in. It was a black sheath dress with diamond rhinestones that started at the top and then gradually spread farther apart as they traveled down the fabric. It reminded Tara of the nightsky.

She checked the size and grinned when she saw it was exactly right for her. Tara glanced over her shoulder and, when she saw that Shelly was distracted, she snatched the dress and quickly headed for a dressing room. Thankfully, they were already unlocked so she wouldn’t have to walk around the store looking for an employee to helpher.

She undressed and then took a deep breath as she took the dress off the hanger. It had no zippers. It just slipped over the head. The material was a little stretchy. It had cap sleeves and a high neck.Tara bunched up the bottom until she had it gathered to the neck and then put it over her head. She pushed each arm through the arm holes and then tugged the sheath down her body. She had her back to the mirror, and it took her at least a minute to get the nerve to turn around and look atherself.

She raised her eyes and took in the dress. The dress hugged her curves and made her feel beautiful without making her feel exposed. It was perfect. Now, as long as the price was perfect so she’d still have some left over forshoes.

Tara took the dress off and then looked at the tag. Apparently, this dress had been waiting for her. At fifty dollars, that would leave her another fifty for shoes and earrings. She jumped when someone banged on thedoor.

“You can’t hide from me,” Shelly said from the other side. “Let me see what you’ve got. Or are you just sitting in there playing a game on yourphone?”

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