I'm already regretting this.

It was a cold windy day with a sky filled with clouds. Just when I thought I didn't have to wear Philip's hoodie anymore the weather begged me to different. I just stood there in the town square desperately trying to dig my hands and face into the hoodie while being wrapped in my jacket. I tried moving around a little to keep myself warm but that didn't help much. I was still freezing.

Lola told me to meet her there at 4 o'clock. It was ten past and she was still not there. Five more minutes and I was legally allowed to leave.

Suddenly someone else caught my eye. Jules. We made eye contact. I could tell they considered ignoring me for a moment, but they probably realised that I we already directly looked at each other. They had no choice, they had to walk up to me.

"Hey, cold weather, huh?", they smiled.

I nodded. "Yeah."

Before we could exchange more words I quickly noticed Jules' expression shift. They were suddenly nervous, glancing between me and something behind me. I turned to look and immediately realised why.

"Look who we have here. Miss No.", I called out.

Nathalie snapped her head to me. She was wearing her elegant white coat and had a brown purse over her shoulder, not her usual school outfit. Her cheeks were also slightly pink, probably because of the cold. I could instantly tell she was annoyed to see me but tried to hide it behind her cute smile. She confidently walked to us.

"Fifi, I already explained my decision to you. You don't have to follow me around to force something out of me.", she assumed.

I blinked. "I'm not following you around. I'm meeting up with Lola."

"Wait, what?", Jules cut in.

Looking at both Nathalie and Jules I could tell they were both surprised. Yeah, I guess Lola and I didn't have the best history.

I tried to explain: "Yeah, she said she is going to help me with the case."

Nathalie tucked her hair behind her ear. She noted: "...She told me she needs help with her maths homework."

"Uh... I was told she wanted to show me around.", Jules added.

We all stayed silent.

"Wait...", I said.

"Hello!!!"

We all turned our heads towards where the screeching sounds came from and sure enough it was Lola. With her makeup done, a thick white jacket, pastel pink bag and a huge pastel pink scarf wrapped around her neck, it was clear she made a "short" stop by her house before meeting us.

Nathalie didn't wait a second before questioning her. "Lola, what is this?"

Lola waited for a few seconds before she jumped a little, almost like she realised something.

"Oh, right. I thought it would be nice for us all to go on a shopping spree, get some coffee, hang out. Y'know.", she explained.

What? A shopping spree? With us? Jules who probably makes all their clothes, Nathalie who only shops at luxury stores and me, someone that hasn't changed clothes since I got there.

"Why... why can't you go out with your girl friends?", Jules scratched their neck.

"Oh... you know...", Lola sighed, "Every since Tobias started following me around everywhere my friends kind of don't want to hang out with me anymore."

I glanced around as she said that. No Tobias in sight. Either he was really good at hiding or Lola started becoming delusional.

Jules couldn't help but commented: "So you lied to make us hang out with you?"

"That's sad.", I cut in.

"Fifi.", Nathalie nudged my arm.

Lola started doing that annoying thing with her fingers again. Almost like they were some sort of fidge toy. She tried to defend herself.

"I didn't lie. I'm still going to do all those things I promised... just later.", she added,"Oh, come on! Please! It's going to be fun!"

We all looked at each other. Yeah, we were all not impressed. Nathalie and I made eye contact for a moment, just a moment, before she swiftly looked away. Clearly still trying to forget me. Glancing at Jules I immediately realised what they were thinking. Before I could protest they already opened their mouth.

"Sure!", They smiled.

Nathalie and Lola snapped their heads towards them, although for two completely different reasons.

"I need new clothes anyway and I think it will be good to spend some time together... maybe also talk.", they shrugged and gave me and Nathalie a quick glance.

That sneaky little psychic. They were practically forcing me and Nathalie to also accepted which would lead us to "hang out". Did they seriously think we would just talk things out? Nathalie has been practically spiralling into a deep state of denial.

Lola just jumped up and down, clearly not sensing the new found tension in the group, as she cheered: "Yay! Come on!"

Although I wasn't really that interested in shopping I couldn't deny that walking into a warm cosy store after standing outside for half an hour was nice. The walls were filled with shelves and hangers displaying shoes, clothes and other accessories. The small store engulfed by the warm yellowish lighting of the half working ceiling lights definitely contrasted against the cold blueish outside still peaking through the windows.

Lola pretty much made a Beeline for the shoes while Nathalie walked as far away from me as possible and browsed through the hangers. Jules stayed behind with me, clearly also not interested in buying anything.

"You should talk it out with her.", They whispered.

"Now? No way.", I scoffed and walked further into the store to avoid Jules' nagging.

There were hangers filled with all kinds of clothing. Unlike in the city the stores here didn't really have displays with mannequins or something. Everything was just labelled and that was it. You either have something in mind already or get inspiration from something you'll randomly find.

"Fifi! This would look so good on you!", Lola gasped from across the room.

I reluctantly walked over to her to see what she was talking about. A short pink dress. Has she ever even seen me in pink before? Why would she think I would want that? I could hear Nathalie quietly giggling behind me.

Before I could say anything Nathalie already cut in: "You should try it on."

She was definitely trying to annoy me or make me hate her. Whatever it was it was working. There was absolutely nothing on this planet that would make me try something like that on.

Apparently, there was one; Nathalie North.

"Spin around.", she smiled.

The dress wasn't that uncomfortable but the colour definitely did not fit me. I reluctantly spun around while the others looked at me. It felt so weird having the feeling of six eyes staring at me while I wore something totally out of my comfort zone. I could barely call that thing a dress. It was so short and tight it barely covered me… which made me think…

"Like what you see?", I teased.

Although Lola reacted like I was directed that question at everyone with a sharp laugh, I made sure to stare directly at Nathalie while I said it. Blondie quickly scoffed and left. Finally, I managed to annoy her back. Jules just stared at me blankly, clearly disappointed.

"Can I take this off now?"

Suddenly, Nathalie came back carrying a pile of clothes between her arms. She swiftly set it all down on a seat and smiled.

"What? You're already trying on things, so why not?"

Just as I saw the excitement on Lola's face I realised that it would be a long day of suffering. Looking at Jules just showed me they were not going to help me out. They just smiled slightly, probably enjoying my torment believing it was some sort of karma for not taking their advice.

I forced a smile, trying my best to not show my annoyance: "Of course."

The outfits I tried on were ridiculous. Cowboy boots, Elegant blouses, too short shorts, shirts with weird prints, just anything you could imagine I tried on. Lola obviously couldn't help herself and also joined in. But then, towards the end Nathalie and Jules started picking outfits for us that were kind of… nice. Surprisingly they made a good team. I wasn't that surprised about Nathalie knowing a thing or two about fashion, but Jules?

After a while I already had a decent amount of outfits picked out so I was finally able to leave the changing room.

"Where do you think you're going?", a voice called out behind me.

It was Nathalie, obviously, still looking through some hangers. I quickly tried to change the topic.

"Don't you want to pick out something for yourself?", I asked.

She glanced at me before pulling out a blue-greenish bejewelled hair clip in the shape of a butterfly. It was pretty and shiny, I couldn't deny that it would fit her.

Without looking at me she said: "You still need shoes."

"I don't need-"

She suddenly picked something up and showed me a pare of brown short boots. "Perfect for autumn.", she lightly smiled.

I tried my best excuse. "Bats, I can't spend all this money on clothes."

"Lyana gave you plenty of money to spend on clothes.", her tone suddenly shifted to a more serious one, almost like it was a threat: "Don't dare lie to me."

"How did you-", she cut me off: "Philip told me."

Of course he did.

She swiftly added: "The Evermores might me patient, but I'm not."

She gently handed me the boots and continued looking through the clothes on the hangers. I just stared at the boots in my hands. They looked warm and comfy… but it felt weird buying my own shoes… or clothes. Last time I went shopping for those things was with my parents. They would pick things for me. My dad always picked my shoes. It sounds so dumb but whenever the agency wanted to buy me shoes I asked for the same brand and model every single time, the exact same ones my dad used to chose, because at least whenever I would look down at my feet it would feel like nothing had changed. 

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked up again. Nathalie was now looking right at me. I probably looked like a weirdo staring at some random boots. For a moment I thought she would say another annoying comment, but instead she left me surprised.

"Just buy them and put them in your closet. One day you'll wear them.", her voice so soft and calm with every word.

Her tone practically forced me to reply with a: "Okay."

"Guys, look what we found!", Lola quickly rushed over to us.

She held up a fluffy light pink sweater with some small strawberries on it. The way she was holding it she made it seem like it was pure cold. "Cute, right?"

Nathalie nodded and I quickly did so too. Wasn't really my taste but whatever. She and Jules started to look through the hangers next to us. The awkward silence was a bit too much for me so I tried to start a conversation.

"So, your friends…"

"We had a rough patch a few years back but we're totally cool now.", Lola giggled, "They said they will hang out with me once Tobias chills out a bit."

Nathalie thought for a moment before asking: "Didn't those girls bully you in second grade?"

"…Like I said, we're cool now.", her voice dwindled a little in her throat.

All three of us looked at each other as Lola kept happily looking through the clothing. Although she tried to seem happy you could still see the slight nervousness within. The way she gave us quick glances was like she was quietly waiting for one of us to openly judge her, maybe something she was used to.

"That's nice.", Jules suddenly commented.

We all looked over at them. Although me and Nathalie seemed to disagree, Lola smiled and nodded along. I never really saw her "friends" with her or her talking about them, but Jules didn't have that context, maybe that's why they chose to view it in an optimist light. It still made me uncomfortable, I knew how it felt being used and also how awful it was to talk about it. Maybe that's why I changed the topic.

"By "chill out" do you mean him not staring at us through the windows?", I wondered.

They all looked outside with me and quickly noticed the obvious Tobias trying to walk pass the store as nonchalantly as possible. 

Lola imminently grunted: "I thought a break would make him stop."

"I can talk with him.", I volunteered.

Although Lola tried to convince me otherwise I was too curious to not go to him.

When I left the store the sudden cold air hit my face instantly. I looked around for a moment and quickly spotted Tobias leaning against a wall next to the store. Unlike the other popular kids he still chose to wear all black.

"Tobias. What a coincidence!", I teased as I walked up to him.

His annoyed looked told me everything. He knew he was caught and didn't really care.

I quickly added: "Pretty good day to stalk your girlfriend, huh?"

"Shut up.", he mumbled.

I tilted my head to looked at his face better. Something wasn't right. I expected a jealous, angry boyfriend but instead I got… someone who's nervous… scared even. The way he nervously scratched his arm and put his head down was nothing like I remembered him.

"What's going on?", I asked.

It took him a moment to reply, almost like he was hyping himself up. "Clara is still out there, you know."

The vampire hunters said it was unlikely she would ever come back since we weaken her so much. As the leader of the hunters it was weird he didn't know that. He probably did, just didn't care.

I looked at the store and back at him. "So what? You're just going to follow Lola around for the rest of her life?"

He shrugged "If it means keeping her safe then yes."

Somehow his words stung, not enough to hurt but enough for me to take a step back.

"Tobias, you can never keep someone you love truly safe. You would have to lock her in your basement and even then the roof could collapse on her.", I explained.

Before he could respond we heard the store door open behind me. It was Nathalie. She gave us both a nervous smile.

"Fifi, you need to pay for your stuff.", she noted.

She wasn't even looking at me. For the first time in a while her gaze wasn't fixated on me… but Tobias. It wasn't like with Philip or me. It was something different. It felt like she was watching a shark that could jump out at any minute.

"Hey, Nathalie.", he stood up straight.

For a moment she glanced at me before looking at him again.

"Hi, Toby."