Taylor pulled me effortlessly through the crowds, around corners and through the maze of people selling various miracle creams and perfumes until we reached a bookstore on the other side of the mall from where we started. 

I let go of Taylor's hand and entered the doorway, taking in the smell of paper and books. While I didn't read very often anymore, when I was a child books were often my closest companion outside of church. I approached a rack of books and picked one up, running my finger along the spine, turning it over in my hand to read the excerpt on the back. A horror anthology with vampires and werewolves. 

I flipped through the pages while Taylor mulled around some of the other fantasy novels. It seemed like a book that I'd curl up with on a cold night with a warm blanket. Unfortunately, I didn't really have the spare funding to spend on a new book. I set the novel back on the shelf and turned to wander the other shelves. We browsed for just shy of a half hour before Taylor's attention was caught by an alternative store across the way.

 Donning Taylor's headphones with a shy smile, I grabbed her hand and gave her a gentle tug as an okay. "I'm ready."

Taylor shot me a grin that I had to admit, was rather charming. My flannel-clad companion drug me across the sea of people to the store she noticed earlier. 

As we walked through the doors, the first thing I noticed is I could hear the blaring music even through Taylor's headphones. I hesitated, but slowly pulled them off my  head. I could hardly hear anyone over the music. Taylor was visibly giddy to be in what seemed to be her favorite store, flitting back and forth from clothing racks to the wall of graphic tees and back again. 

The store was filled from floor to ceiling with a wide array of items. Everything from novelty gag gifts, to tee shirts, to dresses and shirts that were covered in safety pins, profane sayings and gothic characters. The store seemed like a celebration of everything and nothing all at once. 

I was, decidedly, overwhelmed. Despite my hesitation, Taylor clearly quite liked this store, so I set forth on my own mission to find something to look at. After thoroughly inspecting a few racks of band tees, I slipped past a shelf of novelty bachelorette party gifts and turned to look at a variety of...sex toys? 

I could not contain my bewilderment and it showed on my face at the exact moment Taylor had looked up from a rack of flannels. She came over to me, cackling wildly. "Oh fuck, that's right. I forgot you were really sheltered. You've probably never stepped foot into a place like this before."

"I... can't say that I have." I offered weakly, trying to hide the burning of my cheeks.

Taylor hid another giggle behind her hand. "It's okay, just, if you aren't wanting to look at dildos and fluffy handcuffs, you may want to come over here where it's safe."

She led me over to where she had been looking at flannels and turned to peruse a clearance rack. I decided that was probably the safest place to look at after my earlier misadventure, so I began flipping through the various t-shirts and dresses. After a few shirts, I discovered a cute little black dress and pulled it off the rack, turning the hanger back and forth in my hand to see more of the dress.

It was short, Mid-thigh in length, with beautiful see-through lace details around the sleeve and the collar. The neckline of the dress dropped down to show just a hint of cleavage through the lace.  The skirt flared out around the waist with a tulle petticoat underneath to add just the right amount of volume. 

It was easily the most beautiful dress I'd ever seen, plus it was in my size! I glanced at the price tag and winced. 30 dollars was a steal for this dress, but my finances wouldn't allow the splurge. I put the hanger back on the rack and turned to find Taylor staring at me with a smirk. "See something you like?"

"Oh, no, no. I wouldn't ever wear something like this. It's very pretty, don't get me wrong, I just don't have the body for it." I tried to bluff, but it must have been unconvincing. Before I could stop her, Taylor had grabbed the dress and made her way to the front of the store, calling for an associate to open the dressing room.

The associate opened the dressing room door with her key and Taylor handed me the dress to usher me inside. With the resolute click of the lock, I turned to face away from the mirror behind me. After peeling my own clothes off, I pulled the soft fabric over my head and smoothed it out. My hair tie caught around the button on the neckline, so I pulled my hair out of it's trademark ponytail and finished picking at the dress long enough to face the mirror.

Wow. The girl staring back at me looked much different then I was used to. Her auburn hair fell around her face in soft waves from being washed regularly, her peach skin having a slight glow under the fitting room lights. The dress hugged me in all the right places, flaring out over the belly I was so self conscious of. The lace delicately cradled my chest and collarbone, cascading down my arms and mostly concealing the puffy red scars on my arms.

What struck me most about my reflection was my eyes. Once so dull and sullen, they were staring to regain their spark. "Maybe I am starting to get better." I thought.

I opened the dressing room to show Taylor, who was staring at me intensely. Her hazel eyes blazed with an emotion I couldn't place. 

"You're getting it."

That took me by surprise. "Oh, no, I can't. I just wanted to show you."

Taylor's eyes narrowed. In one fluid motion, she leaned forward, snatched the tag off the dress and walked to the front of the store.

I stared, thunderstruck, before chasing after her, not even stopping to take off the dress. By the time I made it to the front of the store, she already had her card out and had swiped it. Beaming at me, she offered me an empty bag. "For your clothes from the fitting room." She smirked.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to slap her or hug her, so I just turned on my heel and stormed back to the dressing room. Gathering my clothes, I returned to the front of the store to see Taylor leaned up against the entrance, very much looking like the cat that caught the canary.

"Do you like it?" The corner of her lip lifted into a playful smirk. 

"Yes, thank you... you didn't have to do that." I couldn't help admiring myself in the reflection of the glass storefront as we started to make our way back through the mall. It had been a long time since I even wanted to look in a mirror, but I found my eyes wandering to any shiny surface I could see myself in.

"You deserve it. Consider it a reward for working so hard these last few weeks." Taylor tugged my hand towards the crowd of people. I put the headphones back atop my head as we began approaching the more populated area and focused on Taylor weaving us through the sea of humans. Soon enough, we were back in the department store we had started in and making our way to the parking lot.

When we got to the Camry, the sun was low in the clouds, sending streaks of crimson and amethyst through the early evening sky. Climbing in the passenger seat, Taylor had a pensive look on her soft features. Toying with a curl dangling dangerously close to her eyes, she darted her eyes over to me. "So, uh... I don't know about you but I'm not ready to go home yet."

"I know I need to...I really don't want to face Kris tonight, but I need to." I sighed, looking up at the clouds through the peeling tint of the window. 

As she pulled out of the parking space and onto the main road, instead of taking the light that would take us back to the interstate, she went a different way. Puzzled, I took in the landscape of the city at dusk as the sun slipped down past the horizon. The hustle and bustle of the city had slowed to a more manageable level of chaos with the day's end. As we crossed a massive bridge taking us out of the city, I looked at the ripples of the water below, a kaleidoscope of deep oranges, reds and purples lapping at the shores. The beginning plucks of an acoustic guitar from the radio made the whole scene feel like a movie. 

As we exited the bridge, I began to see the suburbs fade slowly into the more rural roads I was familiar with, as buildings and houses became more sparse.

The Camry groaned in protest as we turned onto my road, looking into the yard I could see the living room light was on, as was the porch light. They must have been expecting me. As we pulled into the drive I noticed Matt's truck still wasn't home. 

The drive had felt so quick compared to normal. Though the journey from my house to Deleon was at least 30 to 45 minutes when traffic was light, it seemed like it had been only moments since we had left the mall.

I sighed, looking over at Taylor. Her expression mirrored mine, clearly neither one of us wanted to go home just yet. I pushed aside my desire to stay in the geriatric sedan till the wee hours of the morning and opened the passenger door. "Thank you again for the dress, I love it." 

Taylor beamed at me, but there was a sadness behind her eyes. "You're welcome, Luna. I'll see you later."

I exited the car and made my way through the old chain-link gate. I ascended the stairs and opened the screen door just in time to see the glow of Taylor's reverse lights as she pulled out of the drive. I took a shaky breath and approached the front door.

Stepping inside, I expected Kris to lay into me, but instead the living room was empty, save for Dylan asleep on the couch with a video game controller in his hand. I creeped through the house to the sanctuary of my room before I ran afoul of Kris' temper.

Sitting on my bed, I felt a slight pang of guilt. I knew I should confront Kris, but Dr. Morgan had told me to give her some time to cool off. I flopped backwards onto my bed, pulling my phone up to scroll through social media for a moment before bed, I noticed a text. 

'Thank you for applying to BurgerByte! We have reviewed your application and think you would be a great candidate for our team. Please schedule your interview ASAP through the link below and we look forward to meeting you.'

Holy shit.