Lucas And The Time-Traveling Fog Party Animals
Chapter 17 Lady Luck

My first encounter with the boy was strange. I’ll give it that and nothing more. My boy trouble started when Tiff and Jo wanted...well actually begged me to go to the hair salon with them while Melissa and Anna wanted to go to the food court. I didn’t mind tagging along with those two, and I could use a break from the two other girls, so I agreed. As we were about halfway towards the hair salon, one of them had mentioned to me how they want my hairstyle to have a total makeover. I told them that “I don’t think my hairstyle needs to be changed that much and personally think guys like John will love it because I love it.”

As I continued walking, I didn’t hear a single peep from them, which was odd, so I turned around and noticed that they weren’t moving and were in the exact same spot that I saw them last, and you know what they did next? They just burst out laughing. As they were busy laughing to themselves, I asked, “What... What’s so funny, you two?!!”

Jo exclaimed, “Well, of course, you love it. This is your hair we’re talking about, and no dude will like your hair now because that Flashdance hairstyle of yours is… how should I say it... ‘passe.’ ”

I gave her a dirty look, and Tiff added, “She’s right, Liz, and you know what hairstyle isn’t passe’? Madonna’s. Madonna is hot, and that’s the look for you. That will make any boy just melt, not just Johnny.”

As soon as she said that, in the corner of my eye, I spotted a strange blurry figure in the distance walking and peering into a few windows before heading inside some store.

I then looked at the store sign that this figure walked into, and it was Merry Go Round. In complete disarray, I asked, “Woah, did you see that?”

Tiff answered, “See what? I didn’t see anything. Did you see something, Jo?”

I said before she got a chance to respond, “Oh, nothing...I must’ve imagined it.”

She laughed and replied, “You and your imagination, I swear, let’s keep on moving.” We kept on walking. But curiosity got the better of me, and I decided I wanted to investigate for myself.

So, once we passed the store, I continued to lie about what I had just seen and told them, “Hey Jo, Tiff, I saw something cute at Merry Go Round back there, and I’m going to check it out real quick...stay here, it won’t take long, I promise.”

Jo replied, “Okaayyy, we’ll wait for you, but you better not take too long in there, or else we might get our hair done without you.” I huffed, walked back to the store, and opened the door to head inside to keep an eye on that strange figure. I found it, but this figure looked a lot like Robbie but looked different somehow, and he appeared to be shaking his head while holding a girl’s outfit.

“What? No, that can’t be him,” I wondered. But the closer I got to this figure, the more it became obvious that the strange blurry figure I saw earlier was Robbie. Before I could walk away and forget that this whole thing was happening, he suddenly turned around to face me. I wasn’t expecting him to turn around so fast, and he probably didn’t expect me to be standing right behind him staring either. Now, here we are in some random aisle at Merry Go Round where we’re both looking like complete idiots just awkwardly staring and not saying a single word to each other.

A few moments of complete silence went by until we both said “Hey” in unison. I stepped back in shock. Now, that’s what I call a coincidence... weird, right?

Anyway, I said, “Aren’t you that boy Robbie from Baker Square?”

Robbie answered slowly, “Yeah..I am, and...you...you..had that date with John from that Baker’s Square...right? What are you doing here?”

I replied, “That’s me, and woah, did you get your braces off recently? Looks good.” noticing his now pearly whites shining like a bright star.

He quickly said, “So do you---”

“Anyway,” I replied interrupting him, “I came here to find an outfit that I saw from the window that I liked and thought I’d try it on. But what are you doing here is the real question. This isn’t Chess King. That’s right around the corner.”

Robbie said, “I-I-I know that, and how did you know I got my braces off? Who told you?” he asked.

“No one told me; it was just a lucky guess,” I answered.

He then looked over my shoulder for some reason, turned to me, and said with a little chuckle, “Riiiiight. Anywho, I’m just here for you.” He suddenly stopped talking and said, “Not you. I wish--I-I-I mean, look what I’m trying to say here is that I’m here for my little sister, Stephanie. She’s a real pain, if you know what I mean. She’s at her friend’s house at the moment studying, but I doubt it.

Meanwhile, I was tasked by my folks to buy her something for her sweet sixteen coming up in a few days with my older sister Claire who was supposed to be here with me but currently is at home lying in bed sick. Look, if you don’t believe me, I have a shopping list that she gave me to prove it, and so far, I only got like two of the three things that are on the list.

I then bluntly asked, “Hey, do you want me to help you make sense of this list? The outfit can wait. It won’t be going anywhere. Besides, I have nothing else to do.”

He answered, “You would? That would be great... thanks!”

“Glad I can help,” but as he handed me the list that I saw in his hands, he didn’t let go. He just stood there like he got stage fright and was holding on to that list with his dear life. So, I asked, “Hey, can you please let go of the list now? I mean, I can’t exactly help her if you are still holding it, and I can’t assume what your sister wants out of thin air. Can I?”

Rob didn’t answer. So, I took it upon myself to try and grab it out of his grubby hands. When I almost had the list in my hands, he suddenly broke free of his stage fright and said, “Oh, sorry, here you go” and loosened his strong grip right when I was pulling it away from him, which caused me to fall and land right on my tush on the floor. I was so embarrassed.

Rob came towards me and looked down at me, and said, “Ohhhh myyy gosh, I am so sorry. Here, let me help you,” as he reached out his hand. I don’t know if Liz took over or what, but I smiled slightly as I looked up at him and kinda blushed while saying, “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” he quickly replied.

A couple of seconds of awkward silence went by, and I said, “I’ll go help you out now.”

“Yeah...you...go do that. I-I I’ll be here waiting..till you get back,” he replied. His face beating red from embarrassment.

As I walked to some random aisle with the list in hand, the list had a couple things written on it that Robbie pointed out to me, and I saw that they were crossed out, but I noticed that one wasn’t. On the list, it said that she needed a red and black striped dress and a yellow dress, but he also forgot to tell me that there were five things on the list, not three. There was also a black polka-dotted dress size 6 with either a black or white elastic belt to go with either dress, so I picked both because if there’s anything I learned about being a girl is that they have to have options.

Now, I’ve had my fair share of finding outfits, so this shouldn’t be hard. So, I headed over to some aisle away from Robbie with the list in hand and went searching. In just a few short minutes, I found the outfits with both white and black elastic belts to go with them that his little sister was looking for and walked over to Robbie, where he was waiting. He was shocked that I handed him all of the dresses and belts that were on the list, but I don’t know why but I said with a huge smile, “Here you go, and I got you everything on the list there even things that you didn’t mention so I got that for you too but I totally get where you are coming from. I did the same thing to my little brother, Tom, by surprising him for his 15th birthday two weeks ago. I’m the oldest. I got three younger brothers and one sister back at home, so I totally get where you’re coming from with siblings.”

Robbie replied, “That’s interesting, Liz, and uhh, be sure to tell your girlfriends over there by the window I said thanks, will ya?” I looked at the window, saw Tiff and Jo peering through, and they immediately backed off when they saw me and turned around, whistling, I think. I looked back at Rob and stood there completely dumbfounded by what he just said to me,but before he could walk away with the stuff I handed him so easily, I tapped him on the shoulder and asked, “What the heck are you talking about? No one made me do this.”

“Yeah, right, someone had to because a cute girl like you isn’t this nice to me without reason.”

Offended by the thought of him even saying something like that, I replied, “Well, maybe this girl is a bit different from the others and doesn’t judge someone.... based on looks. You know, for a smart guy, you don’t go out much, do you? If you would, you might understand girls better. Margaret was right about you. Yeah, you are a geek. Now, if you excuse me, I’m trying this....” as I grabbed a random dress from an aisle “dress before any of my “girlfriends” get suspicious of what else I’m doing here,” as I scurried into a fitting room nearby.

Man, I can’t believe the one kind thing I do towards someone completely backfired! The nerve of some people, you know. Now, I didn’t even try on the outfit... I was that upset about him more than I should’ve been. Wait, what am I saying? I don’t have a crush on him. I’m a dude. That’s not normal! I bet Liz is behind this somehow. She can’t keep her mouth shut, huh, and let me handle it. Typical. Like does she need my help or not, and this is almost exactly what happened at the cafeteria with her parents that time. Anyway, I left it hanging on the fitting room rack while I peeked through the little gap of the door that I left open and waited until Robbie headed to the checkout and left. As I stormed out, Tiff rushed over to me with the biggest worrisome look on her face while Jo was still standing by the window, not wanting to be a part of the conversation.

Where Tiff just had the nerve to say, “H-H-H-Hey Liz! You aren’t mad at us for watching. Are you?”

I sarcastically asked, “Mad? Why would I be mad at you two?”

Tiff, not catching on to my sarcasm, answered, “Uuhhh, no reason, and while you were in there, did we see you have a chat with that boy Rob--”

I was not having any of it today, so I barked at her, “No, you didn’t!! Come on, Tiff, we’re going to the Hair Salon before the line gets too long...now! Try to keep up if you can, Jo!” as I grabbed Tiff’s arm and dashed for the hair salon.

When inside, I let go of Tiff’s arm and began to choose a new look for myself. I didn’t care how long it would take.

I just needed to get my mind off him, this date, and this entire mall fiasco for one day.

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