As Athena and Diane were busy in the changing rooms, Jon figured she would take a moment to browse. This store had a lot of interesting stuff she'd never really noticed before. Even though her "friends" had brought her to the mall for a makeover just the other day, and the next day an entire haul had magically appeared in her new Sarah-fied bedroom after her family's shopping excursion. But there was still so much more to see! Like that pair of pumps that caught her eye on the way in, or the racks upon racks of new styles - the Fall lines were starting to show up. And the Homecoming dance was right around the corner. Wait, Jon thought, How would that work now?
The weirdness of that thought shook Jon back to reality - she had to keep reminding herself just how bizarre everything was now. Running her fingers along the hangers of a nearby rack of skirts, she noticed yet another odd quirk of this new reality: everything here was exactly her size... Sarah's size. This rack, the next one, this entire department, probably this entire store. And Jon wondered for a moment - did this store even have a men's section anymore? If there was, she figured the Sarah that now worked in that department was extremely bored.
While she waited for Athena and Diane, Jon took another glance at her outfit. It was really damn cute - she felt a sense of real pride that she'd managed to put together something like this on her own. Really it was the first time she'd done that since her friends and family treated her like a living doll. But then a small sense of doubt started to creep in. The tight jeans made her butt look awesome, there was no denying that, but a fleeting thought entered her mind - is it too hot for jeans? It had been downright sweltering at the beach, even in a bikini. It was nice here in the air conditioned mall, but Jon was starting to worry once she stepped out into the late-summer heat she'd be sweating up a storm. And that would NOT do.
And without another second of hesitation Jon was perusing the racks yet again. She made much quicker work of it this time, however, settling on a white mini skirt with a small slit up one side, and a lavender bodysuit with a built-in pushup bra and lacy trim. Perfect for a day like today, and still different enough to stand out from the crowd! Jon carried her selections to the changing rooms just as Diane and Athena were emerging. Jon stopped in her tracks when he saw their outfits: a white mini skirt with a small slit up one side, and a lavender bodysuit with a built-in pushup bra and lacy trim.
"Isn't this bodysuit to die for?" Diane said. Jon just gaped. How had this happened? She was thinking for herself, dammit! Diane was right though, the bodysuit looked amazing.
"Are you changing again, Jon?" Athena asked. "We've got, uh, other things to take care of, you know," she said, hinting at their final destination at the occult shop.
"Right!" Jon said, still flummoxed by how she had almost gotten caught up in the crowd again - even if it was just a crowd of two at the moment. She turned to put back the clothes she'd just grabbed and stopped dead in her tracks again. At the far end of the department they'd been shopping in, Jon could see the doorway that led directly from the department store to the parking lot. And through that door Jon suddenly realized there were dozens more cars than had been there when they arrived. And beginning to emerge from those cars were dozens more bikini-clad Sarahs. The excursion Jon and Athena were having must have started to draw the others to a shopping trip too!
They really had to get moving to the occult shop now! Especially if Sarah - the real Sarah - was part of this crowd. She had to know the stone was missing by now. Jon was about to grab Athena and book it out of there, but yet another emotion wormed into her head. Embarrassment. How? She had felt so confident when she took the initiative to get out of that bikini and pick out a decent outfit. But now doubt was beginning to swirl. With just Athena and Diane around, Jon felt confident in her choices, but this crowd... she could already hear the judgments, the whispering, once they saw her outfit. "Gawd Jon, jeans on a day like today? Did you forget to shave your legs or something? And "that top? I didn't know you were such a tomboy." Jon looked up at Athena, and for the briefest moment a look flashed across her face - subconscious for sure, but something Jon had seen countless times from Sarah and even more this week from everybody else: judgment. But that look passed and then she suddenly looked concerned. "You OK, Jon?" she asked.
Jon had to make a decision - they could get a head start and go straight to the occult shop now, or he could change quickly into the outfit he was sure everyone else was about to come in and buy. Maybe he could fight off his growing sense of embarrassment. But if he didn't match, that would make it even easier for the real Sarah to pick him out of the crowd! He had to make a choice. Now!
