“Don’t I look pretty?” she’d ask me and I’d always nod because she always did look gorgeous and glamorous to me. She’d turn toward me and look me over, like I was a doll, sometimes even letting me try some of her stuff on. “One day, when you’re older, you’ll be as beautiful as me, Lila.”
“But what if I’m not?” I’d asked, because some of the older people around the neighborhood that I’d seen weren’t pretty like my mother. “What if I don’t turn out as pretty as you?”
She clipped on a pair of diamond earrings that shimmered in the light flowing from the chandelier. “You’ll have to make sure you do, Lila. No man wants an ugly woman.”
Even at the young age that I was, I can remember thinking how strange her response was, especially since my teacher was always telling us that beauty lay more on the inside than the outside. Still, something about her words stuck with me and, whenever I get a new outfit and put it on, it temporarily makes me feel beautiful. If only the feeling would just last. Then I could stop spending so much money and wouldn’t be going broke, nor would I have to take the pills. I’ll figure something out, though. One day.
“Seriously, Lila,” Ethan complains as he follows me through the mall. He’s been in a downer mood the last few times we’ve hung out, but today he’s extremely down because he hates shopping. “No more shopping. I can’t take it anymore.”
He’s got a loose pair of jeans on that are frayed at the bottom and there’s a hole in the hem of his green-and-black plaid shirt. He has an array of leather bands on his wrist, all of which look handmade. If only he’d try to dress nicely, then he’d be so sexy it’d be impossible for any girl to turn him down. Not like a lot do. “It’s not that bad,” I say, weaving around the shirt section in the men’s department. I’m on a shopping high, not to mention the fact that I popped three pills before I left. I feel euphorically happy at the moment, so happy in fact that I think my smile might be real. “We’ve been out for only, like, a few hours.”
He exaggeratedly widens his eyes as he turns his wrist toward himself to check the time on his watch. “We’ve been out for a few too many hours then.”
I rummage through the clearance rack because Ethan will never buy anything that’s not on sale. “I’m sorry, but I hate riding the bus and I needed to go shopping.”
He sighs, letting his hand drop to his side. He’s carrying my bags for me, which I’m secretly smiling about. He didn’t even say anything when I handed them to him, as if he’s gotten used to the fact that I’m going to ask him to help carry them. “Fine, but can you please hurry up? I have things to do.”
I slip a hanger off the rack and check the tag on the shirt. It’s a little high-priced for him, but I’m going to try anyway, because it’s this light shade of pale pink and I love, love the color. “What things?”
He shrugs. “Anything besides shopping.”
I hold the shirt up to him. “You should totally get this. It’ll bring out the color in your eyes.” I dazzle him with a sunny smile.
He sticks out his tongue and makes a gagging face. “The only time I would ever wear a shirt like this is if for some insane reason I wanted to get my ass kicked.”
“It’s not that bad,” I say, angling my head to the side as I position it higher on his chest.
“It’s pink.” His expression is neutral.
“A pretty pink,” I point out, grinning at him.
He just stares at me.
“Oh fine, whatever.” I roll my eyes, but smile as I put the shirt back where I found it and turn to face him. “I try to help, but you never let me. You could dress so much nicer.” I flick the hole in his shirt with my finger.
“I don’t need to dress nicer,” he says. “What I need is to get the hell out of here. I hate shopping, malls, crowded places where everyone is acting all money crazy. Besides,” he says and arches his eyebrows, “have you even paid your rent yet?”
“Yes,” I lie, frustrated with him for ruining my cheery mood created from the perfect balance of pills and new clothes. I hurry around him, though, hoping he won’t notice my abrupt sunken mood.
His fingers wrap around my arm and stop me from going any farther. “Lila.”
I roll my head back as I let out a frustrated sigh. “Oh, fine. I haven’t yet, but I will.”
“With what money?”
“Money that I have.”
He holds on to my arm, refusing to let go. “You’re being cryptic.”
That’s because I don’t have an answer. I crane my neck and look at him. “Look, I’m going to pay it. In fact, these clothes I’m buying are so I can go apply for jobs.” A huge lie, but I don’t want him hassling me when I’m actually feeling good inside.
He doesn’t look like he believes me, but he lets go of my arm. “Do me a favor, pay for the stuff you have and then come with me somewhere.”
I have a few shirts draped over my arm and a skirt. “Where?”
“Somewhere I want to go,” he says, leaning his elbow on the rack next to him. “I figure if I can spend the day shopping then you can spend some time doing what I want to do.”
“It’s not a strip club, is it?”
“Would it matter?” he asks curiously. “Would you go with me if I wanted to go to a strip club?”
I can feel my cheeks heat, which doesn’t happen that often. “I don’t know. Can’t I get herpes or something just from going in there?”
He snorts a laugh. “That depends on what you’re touching.”
My cheeks flame hotter, something only Ethan is capable of causing. “I won’t be touching anything.”
He eyes me over quizzically and then his eyes darken. “But you’d go with me, then?”
I bite on my lip. I’m not sure why, but the idea of going to a strip club with him seems naughty and kind of sexy. I can picture him getting turned on and the look on his face would be totally hot. Jesus. I’m getting hot just thinking about it. “I’m going to go pay for my clothes.” I hastily head for the cash register, dodging the subject.
His laughter hits my back and I have the urge to wind around and slap his arm or something. Honestly, what I have the urge to do to him should never be done in the middle of a store. It would be something that could happen only in the bedroom. His bedroom probably, since I’m going to end up getting evicted from mine.
Crap. What am I going to do? As the pressure of reality crashes on to my shoulders, I almost put the clothes back because I know I shouldn’t be buying them. But then I think about how good I’ll look in them and how, really, my looks are all I have. So I put the clothes on the counter, doing exactly what I was taught to do.
Ethan
I’m making her pay me back for dragging me around the mall. I hate shopping, watching people buy stuff they really don’t need. It’s so pointless. Give me a T-shirt, jeans, and a pair of boxers and I’m seriously good to go for a week.
“I can’t believe you’re making me do this,” Lila complains after I take her to where I want to go. “I hate getting dirty.”
“I can’t believe you made me carry your bags,” I reply, smiling up at the clear, blue, unpolluted sky. “I hate shopping.”
We’re out in the middle of the desert, the city far, far away in the distances, along with the noise and chaos of it. The sun is shining down on us and there’s a little bit of sand on the blanket we’re spread out on. We’re side by side on our backs, squinting up at the sun. Lila has her arm draped over her forehead, acting overdramatic and I have my hand tucked under my head, feeling totally in my element. The quiet. The bare space. I love it. It makes all the crap jumbled in my head clear out. I just wish I could hold on to it.
“I didn’t make you carry my bags,” she protests. “I just handed them to you and you took them.”