After the film (Ashley)

[Acacia Black]

The film hadn't been bad. It wasn't the best, but it had a few laugh at loud moments. Acacia would have been embarrassed if she had been the only one laughing, luckily she wasn't. Afterwards they had headed to the shops. Acacia rarely came to this part of town. Little to her surprise, that Ashely seemed quite at home amoung the many rails of clothes.

Acacia was doing her best not to follow Ashley around like a lost soul, or to pick up anything a) to impress her, but knew that she wouldn't actually wear, or b) things that were too boring. She tended to pick pratical things. The last time she'd had something that she loved, paint ended up down it. Now, she tended to not buy things where she'd be upset if they got ruined.

She also found it hard to pick things that flattered her, without loking tarty, she hated it where girls wore things that left nothing to the imagination. It made her feel plain old uncomfortable. Maybe she was becoming too prudish in her old age. She picked up a plain blue blouse. 'Are we too young to wear blouses?' she asked her shopping companion. She wasn't sure, she always thought of them for older people, but this was a fairly young, fashionable shop - maybe she had been wrong?

[Ashley Palmer]

Ashley LOVED shopping. She went shopping at least
twice a week. Whether it was with company, or alone,
she usually hit up the shops, in hopes to find a good
sale, or just something great looking that would fit her
lithe body well, accentuating it. She knew how to dress.
And knew how to keep her style up to date. She was
always pouring over the magazines, seeing what was new
in the world of fashion.

When Ashley and Acacia had walked into this particular
store together, Ashley thought the salesgirl's eyes were
going to pop out of her head. Acacia Black and Ashley
Palmer hanging out, shopping together, no less. Personally,
she thought nothing of it. Sure, look wise, they were polar
opposites. One was blonde, popular, dressed in up to date
clothing, while the other girl was raven haired, kept to
herself, and was dressed rather plainly.

As far as she knew, there was nowhere written who Ashley
could hang around with. Sure, it was possible people would
snub her, but she was willing to take that risk. If only people
were more open-minded, they would see that there was a
whole other world to explore out there. There were far more
worlds than just the 'popular' world, and Ashley didn't see a
problem with mingling with those other worlds. Maybe it would
open her eyes more to the world outside the 'prep' universe.

Without so much as giving the salesgirl a fleeting glance, she
looked up from the handbags she was admiring, as Acacia
held up a blue blouse. "Definately too old for us. You might
want to try something a little bit more modern, say, like a
peasant blouse." she explained with a smile. She bent down
to take another look at the handbags. Hmm not bad. she
thought to herself.

She ticked her gaze to Acacia who was now looking at
jogging pants. Ashley sighed softly to herself and straightened
up. "Acacia. If you want people to notice you, to talk to you,
you might try, I dunno, switching it up a bit." she explained to
the other girl. Moving away from the handbags, Ashley moved
up next to Acacia. "I'm not asking to give you a makeover, but
will you try something on for me??" she asked sweetly. She
took in the dark haired girl's appearance, looking over what
she wore.

With quick thinking, Ashley moved around a few racks of
clothes, and came back with jeans and a top. "Try these. I
don't think they're too bad, and I bet you it will make the
salesgirl come over and talk to you." she told Acacia, handing
the other girl the outfit. Ashley was sure she would look
great in what she had chose for her. It was simple, yet a bit
edgy, which seemed to accentuate Acacia's dark hair and pale
features. Leading the girl to the dressing room, Ashley leaned
against the wall, and waited for Acacia to try on her new outfit.

[Acacia Black]

She couldn't be sure what 'switch it up meant,', but Ashley seemed like she was looking for something, so she stood back and watched as she worked her magic. Acacia did like the shirt that Ashley picked out for her, and Ashley always looked so styled and so well-groomed, Acacia definetly trusted her judgement.
Acacia looked over at the salesgirl behind her. From what Ashley had said, she took it as a good thing that she would come and talk to them. Perhaps Ashley sort of knew her? She couldn't be sure, though Ashley did seem to know a lot of people.
She looked at a pair of denim shorts that seemed to go with it, or at least the people in the shop thought so, as that was what the mannequin next to them was wearing. 'Are these ok?' she said turning to Ashely to see if they went.

She followed Ashley to the back of the store, and headed into the dressing room. She tried to change quickly, she didn't want her to be waiting to long. She tucked what she had been wearing onto the chair inside the dressing room, and straightened out what she was trying on. She really liked it, she honestly thought it looked good on her. She liked it so much, she made a promise to herself, that if she actually bought it, that she would never ever paint in it. She thought the shorts were nice, but they were just plain, there wasn't really that much to be said about them. She pulled the curtain back and looked to Ashley for approval. She did like it, and thought it looked good, but she needed to double check with someone who knew about these things.

[Ashley Palmer]

One thing that Ashley was good at, was helping people
feel good about themselves. Which she was trying to
do for Acacia. And it seemed to be working. The dark
haired girl had something to her, that was just on the
verge of showing itself. Ashley wasn't sure what it was.
Acacia just needed a little confidence, a little morale
booster, and who better to help, than Ashley?

She waited until Acacia came out. A smile formed on
her clear glossed lips. "Wooo. Check you out. You
are a fox." she told the other girl, clapping her hands
in delight. She moved over to get a closer look.
"You look great! Why have you been hiding all this
time?" she asked, walking around Acacia, checking out
her appearance.

She was glad Acacia was no longer hiding beneath her
old clothes. She steered the girl over to the mirror,
looking over to her shoulder from behind, to the reflection.
The girl was truly pretty, in a dark haired, pale features
way, which she could totally use to her advantage. Ashley
smiled, patting Acacia on the shoulder. "You should have
never hid yourself away. Wait until people at school see
you, they will flock over to you, guarantee." she told the
other girl.

"Stay right here. I'm going to find something else for
you." she said to Acacia with a bright smile. She left the
girl to look at her reflection in the mirror. She smiled at
the salesgirl who gave a nod of acceptance in Acacia's
direction. Ashley felt happy that she was helping someone
out. She moved over to a rack of dresses, browsing through
them. Finding one that caught her attention, and that she
thought Acacia would look amazing in, she grabbed the
dress and made her back over to the other girl.

"Try this on." she said, handing the dress to Acacia.

[Acacia Black]

She laughed and went a little pink. 'I wouldn't go that far, but I look better,' she said, looking rather pleased. Actually she couldn't remember the last time that she looked this good. If it had actually ever happened.

She looked a little embarrassed before admitting, 'I never really knew where to start, so just took the easy option.'She supposed other people were the same - they just looked bad in comparison to people like Ashley - who always looked a million dollars.

Acacia looked a little taken aback though, she hoped people wouldn't 'flock' to her as such, though a few more friends would be nice. She admired the top in the mirror as Ashely went running off, it was amazing that just a different top made her feel really good about herself.

Acacia wasn't 100% sure about Ashley's next choice though. She hadn't worn a dress in her teens - ever. The last time was when she was small. It would be odd. But Ashley had been right about the top, so Acacia would trust her judgement on this as well.

She gave it a look, and then nodded. 'I'll trust you on this one, she said to her friend. She headed back to the changing rooms, and slipped the top off, putting it neatly back on to the hanger. The denim shorts were also an investment in her mind.

She slipped the dress on. She was surprised that Ashley was managing to get the right size everytime. She was good at this. It fitted like a glove. Acacia liked it when she looked in the fitting room mirror - but it was very short. She wasn't sure...

She came out and looked to Ashley for advice.

[Ashley Palmer]

Ashley's eyes widened. She thought the other girl looked
stunning in the dress she had chosen for her. It fit her
body just right. Clinging to her in all the right places.
"Wow." Ashley said in admiration. She steered Acacia
over to one of the many mirrors that hung outside the
dressing rooms. She took a step aside so Acacia could
take a look at herself.

"If I was a guy, or a lesbian, I'd be asking for your number
right about now." she told Acacia with a grin. She thought
she looked great. She moved up behind Acacia and swept
the girl's long black locks over her the front of her right
shoulder, watching the hair cascade down like a jet black
waterfall.

"You look amazing." she told Acacia. She stepped back and
crossed her arms over her chest, still smiling. Acacia seemed
to be a bit uncomfortable with how short it was though. She
could see how the other girl was looking at herself in the
reflection of the mirror, trying to tug down the hem of the
dress a bit more. Ashley had a solution to that. "Be right back."
she told Acacia. She moved off from the rows of mirrors, heading
back to the rack where she had the found the dress.

She returned, smiling, a few moments later. "I could see you
were kind of hesitant with the shortness of the dress, so here.
Same dress, different length." she explained to Acacia, holding
up the same dress, with a longer hemline. It would reach down
to her knees when she would wear it, and not expose as much
skin. She still thought that Acacia looked amazing in the dress,
even despite the shortness of it. Ashley didn't think it was short
at all, but she took Acacia's feelings into consideration as well.
They were different, and Ashley was more comfortable with
shorter hemlines and clothing that exposed her tan skin.

"Here. Switch that dress for this one, while I go find the last
important ingredient to your outfits. Shoes." she said with
a slight giggle. She handed the dress to Acacia, and moved off
once more. Making her way through the racks of clothing, she
weaved her way into the shoes & purse section of the store.
Thinking back to the top and denim shorts, and to the dress,
Ashley went on a search for two pairs of shoes.

She returned a few minutes later, holding two pairs of shoes.
"Try these for the top and shorts." she said, putting the shoes aside for Acacia. "And these for the dress." she said, also putting them aside. She took a step back and waited. She hoped Acacia
liked the finished product on both outfits.

[Acacia Black]

She agreed with Ashley that it did look good - but Acacia knew that it was just too short for her - and she wouldn't feel comfortable in it.
She laughed though about Ashley's comment. People would definetly notice her in the dress, but probably not in the right way.
She was definetly pleased when Ashley came back with a dress that was just a touch longer. Relief washed over her face. 'That is definetly better.'
Acacia hadn't even spotted that they did the same dress in longer. 'I'm a size 5,' she called after Ashley. She may have been good at spotting dress size, but she wasn't sure she would pull off the same trick with shoes.

Whilst Ashley was gone, Acacia switched back to her usual clothes, and popped the shorter dress back to where it had been found. She looked at both pairs of shoes with excitment as Ashley returned. She definetly prefered the trainer style ones, but she couldn't live her entire life in flat shoes.
The trainers slipped on perfectly, and were a definite yes, even before Acacia had laced them up. They were the defintion of comfy. She has a little more hesiant of the heels though. She walked in them a little unstably at first.

She looked to Ashley. 'This is harder than it looks. I guess you've practiced?' she asked hopefully. Ashley walked in them with such ease. She made it look easy, whereas Acacia... didn't.