When we arrived at the store Jez ran over and gave us both a hug—her long, almost butt-length, black hair swished back and forth as she moved. “Viiiillv! I can’t wait for you to try on the dresses I held for you. They’re from the new shipment, so you haven’t seen them yet!” She rubbed her hands together gleefully; her large dark brown eyes sparkled with excitement as she went into the back room and retrieved the dresses. When she returned she hung the dresses in the fitting room and gestured for me to enter.

“Just leave the rejects on the hook. I’ll find a place to put them later,” she said.

After she pulled the curtain closed, I looked through the dresses she’d selected for me. They were very much my style. I put on a short-sleeved white sailor-inspired dress that landed just above my knees. Gathering the skirt in my hands, I couldn’t help but giggle. Kai would love the way I looked in this dress—he was secretly an otaku and a big fan of the Japanese school girl look. I loved this dress but as I reached up and touched the dark blue bow at the neckline I knew it wouldn’t work. I’d need something simpler, something that didn’t put out Lolita vibes for graduation.

I tried on two more dresses before I decided on a short black dress with a sweetheart neckline under a layer of lace that went up into a mandarin collar. I loved this dress almost as much as the first—especially because it hugged my petite frame—but when I glanced at the price tag I knew I could only afford one of them.

“Which dress did you decide on?” Jez asked as she smiled at me, curiosity alight in her eyes.

I held up the black dress for her and Kai to see. “This one,” I smiled as I handed her back the other dresses.

“Are you purchasing the sailor dress too?”

“Oh,” I said unaware that I had held both of them up, one in front of the other. “No, I don’t think so. I can only afford to buy one dress, for now, maybe another time?” I smiled sheepishly.

“Okay,” Jez said, completely unaffected, as she collected both dresses from me and prepared to ring me up for the black dress.

I fumbled with my debit card as I tried to pull it out of my wristlet for what felt like an eternity before finally handing it to Jez so that we could complete the transaction. I hated how my cards stuck together, which sometimes left me looking completely incompetent in front of whoever the cashier was. Thankfully, in this instance, it was just Jez, and I knew she wasn’t the type to judge someone over something so little.



“That went faster than I thought it would. Did you want to have lunch at the mall since we’re already here? My treat,” Kai offered.

“We could go to that new Japanese place—Ichiban—I think it’s called. They opened up last month and I haven’t had the chance to eat there yet. I heard their Japanese curry is the best,” I said, batting my eyelashes comically. I hoped that mentioning Japanese curry would seal the deal because it was one of his favorite foods, and more importantly, it was one of mine, too.

“Okay,” he agreed as we waved goodbye to Jez and left Heartful.

“Oh shoot,” he said as he suddenly patted at his pockets, “I think I dropped my keys back there. Would you mind going on ahead and getting us a seat while I go back and take a look?”

I shook my head to signify that, no, I wouldn’t mind. “It’d be no problem at all.”

Although I wasn’t excited about going to the restaurant alone, I didn’t think it was something worth complaining about so I’d just agreed. After being a recluse for so long it was nice to be out of the house, hanging out with my best friend. I had overheard Kai on the phone with his mom a little while after my mom passed away, and it was pretty apparent that she was worried about me becoming a recluse. I’d heard the word hikikomori thrown around a few times. I realized then that there was a reason people shouldn’t eavesdrop.

The waitress set two cups of hot green tea on the table, as I waited for Kai to arrive. I rested my head on my hands allowing my long black hair to cascade and create a curtain, partially obscuring my view of what was going on outside the restaurant window. As I looked over the menu something in my peripheral vision caught my eye. It looked like… I blinked, and nothing was there.

I lifted my head and stared out the window as I tucked my hair behind my ear. I must have imagined it. He only existed in my dreams, after all. Perhaps I’d been thinking of him, of Mr. Dream, and had been carried away by a daydream. Lost in thought as I stared out the window, I didn’t notice Kai was now sitting across from me, a smile playing on his lips.

“A penny for your thoughts?”

“Some things are better left a mystery,” I said with a sly wink.