Mom was serious about going to the mall right after dinner. A part of me was regretting my decision to ask for new clothes, but the other half kept insisting that new clothes would make me more popular. Maybe I could learn how to be cool if I dressed accordingly.

Freddy had decided to come with us since he needed new shoes. Though I was sure he was more interested in making fun of me than getting new sneakers. At least I could ask his advice about what kind of clothes I should get.

But when we stepped inside the mall, I immediately regretted saying anything. The whole place was filled with cool kids, and I knew I would never fit in, no matter what I was wearing. The kids were just lounging there with their cool phones, taking pictures of themselves. Some of them were doing pranks on each other while others were filming it. If they weren’t on their phones, the girls talked about makeup and the guys were catcalling them, snickering if the girls looked at them.

The fact that they were hanging in a mall made my stomach twist unpleasantly. I didn’t like that place. It was too crowded, and the only plants they had were made of plastic. There was nothing natural in that place. I couldn’t see myself spending hours in there. That was why I would never fit in.

“That looks like a good place to start,” Mom spoke, and I turned to see the store she was pointing at.

“Absolutely not!” Freddy chuckled. “Sky has enough grandpa clothes already. I know a place where we can get nice clothes.”

We had no choice but to let him lead the way. Mom tried to suggest some other stores too, but Freddy shook his head every time. He had a determined look on his face, and it worried me.

Then, finally, he stopped and nodded his head towards a store on our left.

“That’s where we can find good clothes for you,” he said victoriously.

I peered in, and my head started to hurt. It felt like I couldn’t fixate my eyes on anything since all the clothes were colorful, full of pictures or text. The store looked like it was designed by a madman on drugs.

“H-Here?” Mom spoke and peeked in. “Aren’t these a little too... too much?”

“This is what the kids are wearing now. If Sky wants to blend in–”

“I didn’t say anything about blending in!” I hurried to say.

“Oh, come on!” Freddy chuckled. “If this isn’t about Max Peterson–”

“It’s not!” I squealed and turned bright red on the spot.

Freddy stared at me for a moment with a knowing smirk on his face. Then he turned to look inside the shop and chuckled.

“Sure, sure...”

I bit my teeth together and marched through the doors. I could hear Mom muttering to Freddy, asking what Max had to do with me wanting to blend in.

“Never mind...” Freddy murmured back. “Sky! Wait up!”

I ignored him, letting my gaze run over the clothes around me. I couldn’t understand what was so fascinating about them. Clothes were supposed to keep people warm and hide their personal areas, but for some reason, they had a bigger meaning to others.

There were a bunch of teenage girls close by, and one of them had a dress in her hands. She had almost a worshipping look on her face as she showed it to her friends, who sighed in awe. To me, it was just another blue dress with tiny sparkles on it. It didn’t even look comfortable to wear.

“Here – try this on,” Freddy spoke, giving me a hoodie. Then he started going through a pile of T-shirts. “You know, you could start listening to music. Everyone loves music, so it’s a good topic to talk about,” he said.

“I don’t know what to listen...” I muttered, undressing my jersey so I could put on the hoodie.

“I’ll give you something to listen,” Freddy promised, and gave me a pair of black jeans. “What size are you?”

“What does my size have to do with music?” I asked before thinking.

“No, uh...” Freddy laughed and shook his head, “What size are you, so I can find the right clothes for you. We are shopping, remember?”

“Oh...” I muttered. “I don’t know...”

“You don’t...?” Freddy trailed off and took a deep breath before he smiled at me. “Don’t worry, we will find the right size.”

“Thanks...” I muttered, looking at myself in the mirror.

The hoodie did look cool, but as soon as I was wearing it, it turned into an ordinary piece of clothing. It had to be because of me. I turned everything cool into something really lame.

“It’s too big for you,” Freddy said, grabbing another hoodie from the rack. “Try this.”

*****

By the end of the day, after three hours of shopping, I had a huge pile of new clothes on my bed. Freddy and Mom kept insisting that I looked just like all the cool kids when I was wearing them, but I couldn’t see it.

I was so exhausted since Mom had made us visit every single store that sold clothes for teenage boys. I just wanted to go to sleep already. But since Mom and Freddy were on a roll, they didn’t leave me alone.

“All right, let’s do something with your hair, shall we?”

I turned to look at Stacy, Freddy’s girlfriend, who was holding a pair of scissors in her hands. Freddy had insisted we’d go get her after leaving the mall, so she could give me a new haircut. Freddy was lurking at the corner of my room with a grin on his face.

I sighed and followed Stacy into my bathroom and sat down on a chair. Freddy joined us, and soon enough, Mom came in.

“Just don’t do anything radical. Sky’s so new to all this,” she said, eyeing at Stacy’s hair.

Stacy had a big cloud of rainbow-colored hair around her head. I had no idea how she’d managed to make it look so big. It was everywhere.

“You’re such a cutie,” Stacy told me, brushing her hands through my hair. “Therefore, you need a cute haircut too!”

I grimaced when she said I was cute. I didn’t want to be cute!

“Trust me, when I’m done with you, all the girls will line up to you,” Stacy said with a confident voice.

“Yeah, the girls...” Freddy chuckled. “And maybe someone else too.”

“Someone else?” Stacy repeated, turning to look at Freddy with a frown. “Like a guy?”

She turned to look at me with wide eyes when the realization kicked in. She had a manic look on her face. She looked a lot like Mom when I’d asked her for new clothes. “You like a guy?! Oh my God, that is so cute! Who is he?”

“I don’t like anyone!” I groaned, feeling my face turning red again. “Freddy is just joking...”

“Yeah, sure...” Freddy laughed. “He’s been talking about Max Peterson nonstop for the past few weeks.”

“He’s my friend! I don’t like him like that,” I tried to tell him, but somehow, he had always seen right through me.

“All right, stop teasing your little brother,” Mom said sternly. “Sky is too young to think about boys – I mean girls...”

“I’m fifteen...” I muttered.

“And I wish I could stop you from getting any older,” she said tenderly and planted a kiss on the top of my head. “You’ll always be my baby.”

“Mooom....” I sighed in irritation.

“You are so adorable,” Stacy cooed, like I was a small child, ruffling my hair. “I want a little brother like you! Mine is just a pain in the ass...”

I sighed and snapped my mouth shut. Maybe if I stopped talking, people would think I was cool. Or that I was too dumb to speak, which would be just my fudging luck.

“Let’s get started,” Stacy said, when I didn’t say a word.

She grabbed her scissors, and I closed my eyes, hoping that I had made the right decision.