Chapters 6 & 7
1364 Words
Crow had just about finished getting ready. He had the shirt buttoned completely up except for the very top button, the sleeves rolled up evenly and the strap on the sleeves buttoned to hold the folds in their places. He walked down the stairs to get approval from White.
White gave him a thumbs up, “You might wanna consider wearing some cologne too.”
Crow looked at his younger brother, “Like hell I’m wearing that. It smells horrible!”
“Hey man, just a suggestion. I still don’t get why you hate cologne so much. I think it smells fine.”
“Yeah, if you wanna die from suffocation.”
White sighed, “yeah sure you will.” He smiled, “have fun!”
“I will.” Crow began to run toward the door as he called back to White. He opened the door and closed it behind him, remembering to lock the door behind him. He went to his car and hopped into the driver’s seat, turning the car on and leaving for the mall.
Chapter 7
Crow had gone to the outdoor mall, which was a bit further than the indoor mall. There were plenty of places to park within and there had been a fountain shooting water straight up into the air in front of the theater. At night, the fountain would change colors as the water shot up.
The mall had a variety of different stores, from selling clothing to food. It was a good size to walk around in too.
Crow parked his car in front of a*****e. He looked at the store.
Well, hopefully this doesn’t say anything to some people.
He had parked in front of a*****e with windows displaying mannequins in women’s underwear.
He opened the door and exited his car, closing and locking it behind him. He walked toward the store and made a right before coming close to the door. He kept walking straight, the fountain coming more and more into his vision. He had to cross a street to get to it.
Then he caught sight of the girl standing in front of the fountain. She appeared to be mesmerized by the sight of water shooting up and coming down. She had been wearing a red and black checkered dress that ended just above the knees. She had a purse strap on her shoulder, crossing her back, connected to a bag on her right side.
She looks really pretty…
His body became paralyzed by her beauty. It wasn’t until she turned around, almost as if on cue, that he was able to move his body.
She smiled at him, “there you are.”
He crossed the street, “yep, here I am.” he chuckled nervously.
She gave him a look down, checking him out.
A burgundy button-up, nice. Some matching shoes, double nice. The jeans practically look new.
“Maybe I underdressed?” she thought out loud.
“What? N-no you didn’t. You look great!” He replied with a smile on his face, stuttering a bit.
She couldn’t help but smile back.
Crow pulled out his wallet and took out a quarter. “How about I toss in a quarter in hopes that we remain happy and that this date goes well?”
Airi nodded in response, “do it.”
Crow placed the quarter on his thumb and flicked it upward. The coin, flipping in rapid succession, fell into the fountain with a thump as it hit the water at the bottom and sank.
Let this be a perfect date for her and for me, Crow made an internal prayer.
He turned to Airi, “What do you say we walk around and check out what’s around the place?”
She smiled in response and nodded, “I like that idea.”
They walked toward the store with the mannequins.
Airi noticed how Crow looked away from the store as if in embarrassment. I should totally mess with him. She stopped walking and stood in front of one of the windows. Crow, in response, turned around looking at her.
“Is something wrong?”
Airi shook her head, trying to hold her laughter inside. “I dare you to just walk into this store and look around.”
Crow turned away, “I’m not doing that. I mean, what do I get if I do?”
“Oh, so you want a reward? Okay then.”
She stood in place thinking of one. She smiled when she did come up with one.
“So are you going to tell me what the reward is?”
“Nope.”
Crow laughed, “I guess I’ll have to do it and see what it is, then.”
Airi giggled, “Yep!”
Crow walked to the door trying to keep his calm, taking deep breaths. He then opened the door and walked in. Not including the hung underwear and the person at the counter, the place was deserted.
“Can I help you?” An adult, appearing to be in her 30’s spoke.
“Uh… I-I’m just looking around…”
She gazed upon him as if he was suspicious before returning her attention back to her fashion magazine.
He walked around appearing to be interested in the hanging bras and panties. He saw many different styles and different colors before being interrupted.
“So, do you have a purpose for being here, young man? Or are you just perving out over there?”
“Uh… yeah I do…” I can’t just tell her that I’m here only on a dare. “I’m here to, uh, buy some for my girlfriend… yeah, just going shopping for some...” He stopped and thought of choosing his next words carefully. “Some underwear… uh-huh.”
“Well, you’ve got some serious guts, I’ll tell you that. I don’t think I’ve heard of that reason before. There was a group outside of my shop twenty minutes ago, it appeared as if the three girls dared the two guys in the group to enter my shop.”
“Oh. Did they do it?”
“Yeah they did, then they left through that door over there.” She pointed to a second set of doors where Crow had been looking at the undergarments. “They didn’t grab anything and the group of girls laughed at them. It was actually kind of funny.”
Crow looked out the door, a smile on his face. “Funny thing is I’m actually here on a dare too.”
The woman behind the counter began to laugh, “Yeah, I guessed it!”
“How… how did you know!?”
“Well for one, I saw your conversation with that girl over there,” she pointed to Airi, “and I could guess by the look on your face.”
Crow found a mirror on the counter and looked into it. His face was a shade of red. He looked at the woman.
“Was my face red the entire time?”
She nodded.
He smiled, “okay, I guess that means I should go now.” He waved at the woman behind the counter, “Have a nice day!”
“You too, young man,” she waved back.
He walked out the door.
Airi was waiting for him outside. She had begun laughing. “Well, good job getting through that!”
Crow’s face was still red, “yeah yeah. So what’s the reward?”
“Close your eyes and you’ll get it.”
Crow did as he was told and closed his eyes. He had even begun to purse his lips, expecting a kiss. To his surprise, there was a warm sensation in his hand. He opened his eyes and saw that Airi had begun holding his hand. He laughed and cried internally. Did she see my face? Crap! I should’ve known that she was just going to hold my hand!
Airi looked up at him and smiled, “I noticed that we haven’t been holding hands at all yet.”
Crow smiled back, “I guess we hadn’t yet, huh?”
- Writer
