LOVE!!! Has something deep inside me awoken?! [Part 5]

Belliney and I spent hours rummaging around at a women-oriented clothing store I never would have dared go in before. The moment I saw the prices I instantly turned pale and tried to leave, but Belliney halted me. “Don’t you worry about the costs!” she said. “Whatever you end up liking, I’ll recreate it when we get home!”

I was hesitant at the idea, but once I had started trying on stuff, I was all in. In fact, I wound up having a blast! Girl clothes come in a lot more variations than I realized. And they’re cute to boot! Plus there are so many different soft fabrics to choose from! Super comfy! All this time I’ve been wearing rough t-shirts and jeans when I could have been wearing nice flowy dresses.

Once we got home, Belliney did as promised and poofed into existence everything I had tried on. And I mean everything. Dresses, blouses, sweaters, jackets, pants, skirts, swimsuits, shoes, and accessories. She even tacked on additional stuff I didn’t try on, such as underwear and stockings.

The mass of clothes rained down on my bed haphazardly, piling into a giant mountain.

“Isn’t this a bit overkill?” I asked, watching a pair of red flats tumble onto the floor.

“It’s fine!” she assured me. “A girl needs variety.”

“I guess...”

Not sure how all of it was going to fit in my closet. Heck, doubt it’ll all squeeze into the closet of the spare bedroom I’m not using. It’d wind up bursting out, turning the entire room into a walk-in closet!

“So! What’s the game plan?” she asked me.

“Huh?”

“You know! For confessing to Jack!” she said. “Like, are you gonna surprise him? Or have him meet you somewhere? Oh! Like the park! Maybe during the evening when the sun is setting!”

“I dunno,” I said, reaching for my phone in my hoodie pocket.

Except it wasn’t there.

“Where’s my phone?” I asked, patting myself down, growing worried that I might’ve accidentally left it at the store.

“It’s on your nightstand,” Belliney pointed out.

“Oh… Guess I forgot it.”

I picked up my phone and unlocked it, where I saw numerous text messages from Jack, along with a couple of missed calls.

“Crap! Jack’s been trying to contact me all day.”

“Oooooh?” Belliney smiled wryly, leaning over me to see my phone. “What’s he saying? Aw! He’s worried about you!”

I pushed Belliney away so I could read the texts in private. All of them were variations of asking if I was okay and if I needed anything. My guess was that the messages on my voicemail were similar.

“I better call him back,” I said, transforming into Daniel.

I hit the return call button and listened to the ringing on the phone. As I did, Belliney kept pressing herself up against me, wanting to listen.

“Get out!” I said, pushing her out of my bedroom.

“Aw! But I want to listen!”

“I’m not confessing right now!”

“...Confessing?” said Jack, his voice coming out of the phone.

I silently shouted “Oh crap!” and directed Belliney out of the bedroom.

“Good luck!” she whispered, slowly walking backward out the door, only to poke her head in.

I closed the door in her face.

“Someone there with you?” Jack asked.

“No, no! No. Just… watching TV. Hey! I saw your text messages just now. Sorry I didn’t respond earlier. I was, um, sleeping.”

“I figured as much. So, how’re you feeling? You doing okay?”

“Oh, I’m fine! Fine,” I said while sitting down on my bed to start folding my new clothes. “Feeling way better now. I guess there was something wrong with the school breakfast. Y’know?”

Jack started laughing. “Sure sounds like you’re doing okay. I was really worried after you collapsed on the floor.”

“Yeah, sorry about that,” I said.

“No need to apologize to me. You were sick, after all. Want me to swing by real quick before heading to work?”

“Nah. It’s cool. Besides, it’s out of the way from the mall. If you come here first you’ll be late.”

“Oh, I don’t work at Kuma Cakes anymore.”

I paused. “Huh?”

“Fired.”

“Fired?”

“Yyyup.”

“Dang! Was it due to that princess cupcake and tiara you gave me? I wouldn’t have accepted it if I knew you were going to be fired over it!”

Jack chuckled. “Nah. I was fired due to being too aggressive to a customer.”

“I see,” I said.

But then I thought about it. I was watching him most of the time, and he didn’t act aggressively toward any of the customers.

Wait a sec!

“Because of Red Sandrea?!” I shouted.

“The cat girl, yeah. According to the employee handbook, I wasn’t supposed to get involved with violent customers, no matter what, and leave everything to security.”

“But she was throwing security guards around, endangering customers!” I shouted.

“Uh-huh.”

“She threw you across the mall!!!”

“Yeeeup.”

“You could’ve died!!!”

“Thankfully I didn’t. If losing my job is the price I pay, then so be it. I wasn’t a good fit anyway. Moment I got there I knew they were expecting a pretty face. Not some rough-looking dude.”

“Aw. I think your face is pretty.”

WHY THE HECK DID I SAY THAT?!

Jack laughed. “Good one,” he said, assuming I was kidding.

“Where’re you working now?”

“At the dry cleaner a few blocks from school, next to that restaurant where we both did that hundred chicken nugget challenge last year. Remember?”

I remembered clearly. Still can’t look at chicken nuggets to this day without feeling queasy.

Jack continued, “I noticed a help wanted sign while walking to school, so I went in and got the job.”

“Wow. Just walked in and out with a job,” I commented.

“Yup. Looks like things are looking up for me! It’ll be nice to work so close to school. And I won’t have to skip class again like yesterday.”

“Yeah.”

The two of us fell silent as I thought about what to say next.

Jack was the first to speak up. “Anyway, I gotta–”

“What time do you get off?” I blurted out, cutting Jack off.

“Oh. Uh, 8 PM. But if you’re wanting to hang out tonight, forget it. You may be feeling better now, but you’re still fighting off whatever sickness you had this morning.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know. I was just asking for future reference,” I lied. “Welp! I think I’m gonna go take another nap. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Alright. Contact me if you start feeling sick again. I’ll head right over.”

“And get you fired on your first day of your new job?”

“I’m used to it,” he joked.

“Well, stop getting used to it!” I laughed. “Bye.”

“Later,” he said before hanging up.

The door to my bedroom slowly creaked open, revealing Belliney in the exact same position as when I closed the door on her. She was brimming with excitement, smiling at me.

Tossing my phone aside, I transformed back into Lune, still clad in Daniel’s clothes. I lifted my hoodie over my head and chucked it into the hamper sitting against my wall.

I looked up at Belliney with a determined smile. “Help me pick out what to wear!”

***

The city below me twinkled brightly, illuminated by millions of lights that ignited the evening sky. Atop the roof of a six-story tall office building, I paced back and forth. My puffy, short, pleated, yellow dress bounced up and down with every step. Although the black sweater and tights helped to keep me warm on this chilly evening, chills ran down my spine as the big moment was nearing.

“It’s almost time…” I moaned in worry as I kept pulling out my phone from the pocket dimensional pouch, which acted as my purse for the night.

I turned on my selfie cam to make sure my hair still looked okay. Not a strand was out of place, but I still continued to fidget with the black headband secured to my head. After neurotically checking myself multiple times, I dropped my phone back into my pouch, paced back and forth a few times, then repeated the process by pulling my phone out again. This routine had gone on for a little over an hour.

“How did I let Belliney convince me to dress up so much?” I whined, fiddling with my hair as I looked down at my outfit. “I look like I’m going out to a fancy restaurant! Ugh! When did I become such a girl?”

Once upon a time, I questioned how some people could be so worried about how they looked. “Who cares. I’d just get up and go to school in my pajamas if I could,” I had thought. But now that I had a reason to try and impress someone, I understand the turmoil those people went through.

I want to make a good impression, but there is such a thing as going too far, Belliney!

“Five minutes till. Guess I should head over,” I said, putting my phone away for good.

Hopping from rooftop to rooftop, I made my way to the dry cleaner. The whole time my heart pounded rapidly, anticipating what was to come.

How will Jack react when he sees me like this? Is my outfit coming across too strongly? How do I confess? Do I elaborate, or do I just say “I love you”? What if he rejects me? What if I was never his type, and he just said that? What will I do? How will I see him after tonight if he does turn me down?

I stopped atop a streetlamp and slapped my cheeks. “Don’t think about that!” I demanded. “Focus on the now!”

The dry cleaner came into view as I continued onward. It was a tiny, stand-alone building with a drive-thru along the side. It stood across from a strip mall, separated by the parking lot. The lights were still on, making it easy to see inside.

Jack was handing a customer their dry cleaning, happily chatting away. A large smile ran cheek to cheek. I could hear his loud, boisterous laugh from outside.

When the customer walked out, they noticed me and held the door open.

I had been awkwardly standing in front of the building, watching the window like one would a theater screen!

Embarrassed, I shook my head and walked past the entrance, turned the corner of the tiny building, and hugged my back against the wall.

“Did he see me standing there gaping at him?” I cried, gripping my hair in frustration. “I’m such a dolt!”

“See you tomorrow,” said Jack, causing my ears to perk up.

I peaked around the corner and–OH CRAP HE’S COMING THIS WAY!!!

I dashed to the back of the dry cleaner and peaked around that corner. Jack walked by, not noticing my presence.

“Thank God!!!” I sighed aloud, collapsing to the ground in relief. Last thing I wanted was to come across as a weirdo stalker! No way he’d accept my feelings at that point!!!

Just the thought of it had me burying my face into my hands in embarrassment. If I were to do this, I was going to do it right! I had to approach him in a completely normal fashion. Maybe I’ll run ahead of him. Couple of blocks down. I can wait underneath the streetlamp in front of the park, which he’ll have to pass by to get home.

Yeah! That could work! I can picture it now! He’ll stop in his tracks when he sees me all lit up, looking upward at the starry sky. Well, there aren’t really any stars in the sky due to all the light pollution. I can look at the moon! Wait, with where the moon is located, it’d be behind the entrance to the park, blocked out by the trees. That won’t work.

Ooo! Maybe I can be all philosophical-like and appear deep! “Such a shame with all this light pollution. We wouldn’t need all these lights if we only relied on the stars.”

HOLY CRAP! DID I JUST PICTURE MYSELF SAYING THAT?! I’M SUCH AN ABSOLUTE DOOFUS!!!

No, no, no! Terrible plan!

“Here,” Jack said, handing me a can of my favorite cola.

“Thanks, Jack,” I said, still thinking about how best to approach Jack. I chugged half of the can in one go, letting out a burp. “Bwaaah! That hit the–”

The can fell from my hands, splattering its contents onto the pavement as I looked up at Jack in absolute horror. My heart dropped into my stomach, where it dissolved in my stomach acids. The resulting evaporated heart was then released with an embarrassing belch.

“WEREN’T YOU WALKING HOME?!” I yelled, pointing in the direction of his apartment.

“I was, but then I heard a cute girl’s voice cry out, and I got worried.”

“Whose?” I asked.

He pointed at me.

“I-I-I,” I stammered, gripping my chest to prevent my heart from bursting out in a gruesome fashion. The stammering devolved into a series of squeaks and chirps as I tried to communicate with him, only to forget how to talk. It was for the best since my mind had gone completely blank, which would have resulted in random words spewing out of my mouth.

Jack calmly placed his hand on my head. “Take a deep breath.”

I nodded, took a deep breath, then exhaled. Then another. And another.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

Breathe in…

I let out a long, extended sigh as my heart finally calmed down.

“There we go,” Jack smiled. “All good?”

I nodded.

“You hungry?” he asked.

I nodded.

“Wanna get something to eat?”

I nodded.

“M’kay. Bossman gave me a twenty, so it’ll be my treat. How’s that sound?”

I would’ve rejected his offer and paid for myself, but the moment he grabbed my hand with his tight grip, my mind crapped out from overstimulation.

Jack led me across the parking lot to the restaurant where we did the hundred chicken nugget challenge a year ago.