"So," Buffie declared seeing that the others had finished their meals, "wanna go shopping? I mean, that's what we came for... Ash, you're welcome to join us!"
"Oh, sure," she said. She looked at Jade again as the others left the table. "You wanna meet up, just the two of us?"
Jade nodded, not expecting to hear that. "Uhh... Saturday maybe? I have literally no idea what's what in terms of going out, so..."
"Me neither," Ash chuckled. "Buffie!"
"Yes, Ash?"
"Can you please recommend a place for us to eat? We have no idea what's around here," Ash reminded him as she stared at the stores lining the mall. It was weird that Victoria's Secret had nothing she needed and that many of the clothing stores had mannequins of boys in the window. The clothes were tailored for them, too.
"Well, what might you be in the mood for?" Buffie asked.
"How about...Mexican?" Ash suggested.
"Well, Las Reinas is pretty good. It's in Lake Point, though. You game for a drive?"
"Uhh...yeah, I guess. Saturday night, 6:30? I'll even pick you up."
"Sounds good to me," Jade said, with a little hint of dreaminess in his voice. "So what's our first stop?"
"How about Gap?" Jonatha suggested. "They normally have good stuff."
"I guess," Buffie sighed, making it clear he was probably looking for something with some more...fashion to it. It was jarring to the rest of the gang just how...masculine (at least for this world) the boys' section was. It was hard to find things that weren't dresses. The social norms here must be quite rigid, Jonatha thought. He began to comb through the racks and displays, seeing a look come together in his head.
"Red?" He held up a red dress from the rack to show.
"It's a first date, Jonatha. And boys our age don't wear red all that much," Buffie added, knowing he was walking them through this like a tour guide.
"What about this?" Jonatha held up a lilac number with fairly lacy sleeves. "It's surprising, but this is among the most...middle-of-the-road stuff they have."
"The world you came from is weird in that way, I guess," Buffie remarked. "That would look pretty good on you. That color always has...not that you'd know. You should try it on. I'll come with you." Jonatha took the dress off the rack and followed Buffie into a fitting room. Buffie helped him slip out of his clothes with ease, leaving him down to his underwear again.
"I gotta say, boy...you got lucky with that body. Maybe you're not Jade, but then again, who is?" he giggled. The dress had a zipper in the back, and Buffie helped him through the process. "I gotta say, the thought of girls wearing dresses is just... It's like pineapple on pizza. Ew!" Jonatha stood in front of the full-length mirror. "How do you feel?"
"I never thought I'd say this, Buffie...but... I'm... pretty?"
"Good!" He was smiling ear to ear. "We should probably get you a couple accessories to go with that look. We might be here a little while."
Jade, realizing that he, too, might need a new outfit for his date, began to look. It occurred to him that his date might see what he was wearing. Ash and Nessa wandered around a bit, chit-chatting, but even looking at other clothes couldn't hold their attention.
"Boys taking forever," Ash grumbled to Nessa, who looked just as bored as she did. This new world must be growing on me. "Wanna go somewhere else? The arcade, maybe?"
"Ehh, why not?" I mean, video games must be the same, right? he thought. "I'll go tell Jade." Ash looked around at the graphic tees in the comparatively tiny girls' section. After a moment informing his fellow cheerleader, Nessa and Ash fled the boring clothing store, giving Jade even more time to compare the flower-print dresses that were speaking to him.
