almost like thrifting

Ellie wasn't sure she could even find a dress in her closet. It was something floral with lace at the top. She wore it in eighth grade for her flute recital. It looked a bit like something her grandmother might wear.

"Well, then, we'll find you something. Amazing." It was settled with Eric. They'd go to every thrift shop in the city.

"Loads of name brands," he told her sitting there on the couch in her livingroom. As of yet, she hadn't exactly shown him her room. It wasn't like his where everything had some sort of precise order. He was possibly a neat freak.

"I'm not really interested in name brands," Ellie said, thinking she should chunk the dress. "And really some of those shops in the Old Market, you still pay the price even if its vintage."

"I think thats why they call it vintage." He shrugged. "We'll check out Good Will and New Life. You can have a style show even if its just me." He shouted out as Ellie went back upstairs to put the dress away.

About that time, Kyle came walking through the livingroom with an egg.

"What are you doing here?" Kyle asked.

"Uh," Eric sighed. "Told El I'd take her shopping." He stood then shoving his hands in his pockets and biting his bottom lip.

"Why does she need clothes?" Kyle questioned holding a perfect warm egg in his hands.

"Why not?" Eric left it at that, looked up and saw Ellie on the stairs. Eric walked up to the bottom stair, put out his arm as if he were going to escort her to a ball of some kind.

"Toodles," Eric smiled giving Kyle a slight wave. Kyle just glared back. Ellie looked down as they were on their way shopping.

Eric even opened the cardoor for her. This seemed so unusual to Ellie before it was no big deal. She looked back, and saw Kyle looking from the window.

"You think he knows?" Eric asked once they were buckled in, and he was about to speed away from the driveway.

"Doubt it." Only Ellie was sure he did, and she hadn't meant to make him jealous. It was just this silent treatment from him would not go away, and she was tired of thinking about it.

Once they got to New Life, a thrift store that helped lung cancer patients, they had a grand time with the sun shades and the off-beat hats. Eric kept on the cool square shades and the silly straw-hat. "Only you and Ashton Kutcher could get away with that." Ellie told him. She couldn't help but smile, and he wouldn't take them off. He was going to buy the accessories.

Finally, they went over to the dresses. Eric pulled out a tangerine sun dress. "Now this is you." Then he pulled out a white one, and one with sunflowers. "Just try them on."

"What if they don't fit?" That was the part she hated.

"Come on," he coaxed. "I want to see you in each one."

Ellie sighed. She hadn't planned on this. Usually, when they went to thrift stores, they sat on furniture and talked with British accents, sometimes, or maybe used French phrases as if they were foreigners who just got here and were desperate for a couch.

The tangerine number was a halter dress so she had to take off her bra which was a little like going nude to Ellie. Reluctantly, she peaked around the door when she opened it. "I think this is all wrong." She'd squeezed into it. And what if it was so see through, her nipples were showing? She drew her hand up to her throat, hoping that wasn't too conspicuious.

"Come on, show me, I want to see," he said, taking off the shades.

"I think it looked much better on the hanger." She opened the door then.

"I don't think so," he begged to differ. "Now turn, turn in it. I want the full effect." She didn't want to turn so fast that the skirt part fanned out to show her bikini panties.

"Sweet." He didn't take his eyes off her, and she thought she might crumble into pieces. It felt like a small panic attack. She couldn't remember the last time she had one.

After trying on the others, it was the tangerine one he liked best, but he bought all three outfits.

"Really, I don't expect you to buy me things," she said while waiting at the counter. She remembered how her Philippino cousin, Daisy, expected her boyfriend to take her shopping every weekend and buy her new outfits.

"I want too." He looked hurt that she would even bother to say such things. "You looked great in all of them."

"Even the sunflower one?"

"Even the sunflower one," he smiled.

She picked up the corn cob looking pipe from the counter that was only ninety-nine cents.

"Do you need this?" She couldn't help but wonder if something was still going on in his room. They hadn't exactly cleared that up yet. She hadn't wanted to bring him down about it, but it still bothered her.

"I don't smoke." He was rather sincere about it, taking it from her and putting it back on display. "I'm not mischievous in the least."

"Oh, really?" Ellie thought he had mischievous written all over him. He leaned in and kissed her then just as the cashier was ready to ring them up. Ellie shivered slightly not expecting that much affection. She moved back then, not wanting to be caught up in something that was holding up the line.