Mission: Get Samantha a costume and nonchalantly find myself something

Sally comes back with Samantha in tow. She has on a costume that makes her look like a samurai with the big heavy armor.

"She looks good in this one." Sally makes Samantha spin.

"She does. How do you feel?" I ask her.

"Heavy." She pulls the helmet off. "And hot." She was already starting to drip with sweat.

"Next one." Sally chuckles.

I try the cat ears on while she gets changed. I look at myself in the mirror. I wonder what I would look like if I drew some whiskers on. 

I hate to admit that I try to live up to people's expectations of me being an adult and not completely going head over heals (well boots in this case) into the Halloween spirit. Most of my friends (haha most. I only have three) like Halloween but they don't seem as hyped as I am so I dial it back pretty much all the way. Pretty much? No I'm sure they question if I like Halloween in general.

I hear footsteps approaching and I snap back to reality. Cat ears! I rip the ears off and put them back in the bin. Smoothing my shoulder length brown hair down.

"Give us a nice twirl." Says Sally. 

This time Samantha is dressed as a princess. The dress was an emerald green. The shape flattered her with the v-neck but the color did not do her justice with her tan lines. Her chest was an ivory white while her arms and face had a darker rosy tint covered in freckles. 

"Thoughts?" I say looking at her.

"I don't really like the color." She commented.

"Me neither." I said as they make their way back to the dressing room.

I look at the cat ear bin. There is a tail one below it...

Making sure no one is around. With the tail on I spin in the mirror looking at the angles.

I like it.

"This one feels really baggy." I hear Samantha's voice getting louder.

I rip the tail off and throw it back into it's bin. Then pretend to be looking at the dresses on the wall.

"What's your thoughts Hazel?" Asks Sally.

Samantha is dressed as a pirate now. The clothes were really baggy on her. And she seemed uncomfortable.

"Probably not for her." I said.

Away they went again.

This time I went to look at the other regular clothes so I wouldn't get myself into trouble with the ears and tail.

"Nin! Nin!" Samantha pounces from behind a clothes rack. And I take a step back from how close she is to me. She is in a pink ninja outfit. With a too short of a skirt.

"No." I tell her.

"What?" She poses some more.

"That skirt shows more than it should."

She looks in the mirror.

"I guess youre right." She says pulling on the back of the skirt.

She heads back. Again. I find myself by the ears and tail again.

"Hazel will murder me if I leave the house like this." I hear Samantha's voice.

"This one's modest. It will be fine." Sally reassures her.

She walks around the rack in a red bikini, pointed tail and horns.

"NO!" I yell.

Samantha tucked tailed and ran back to the changing room.

"Huh. Those have been selling good with the teens." Sally laughed.

"What teens? I need addresses so I can knock sense into them." Does anyone know how many minors get colds from not being properly dressed?

"I'm only teasing. She eyed it for a second so I had her try it on." Sally chuckled and ran off.

I could barely hear Samantha sniffle in the back. Did she look good in it? In 3 years and a even tan line. Yes she would.

I should apologize for raising my voice. That's one of the reasons she doesn't want to go back to her old home. She can't stand yelling.

I take a seat while I aganize about wanting to buy the cat ears and tail.

"I think we found the one." Sally smiles at us both. 

Samantha is in her sweatshirt and jeans that she was in when she came but she had cat ears and a tail that match her dirty blonde hair with red undertones. Sally hands me the brown ears and tail.

"I like this one." Samantha seems happy with with choice.

When did Sally grab those? How did she know?

"I think she would look good as a Meif'wa this year. And you can go as her sister." Sally smiles.

"I guess I could go as a Meif'wa." This way we stay warm but are dressed up. Most importantly I'm doing Samantha a favor when dressing up with her. Mmmhhmm.

"Thank you Sally." I smile at her.

"That's what I'm here for!" She beams happy with the sale. She checks us out and I pay the bill.

Before walking out the door I pull Samantha to the side.

"I'm sorry for raising my voice. My first thoughts were you catching a cold and then you having to dodge advances from guys if you stepped away from me for a minute. Maybe in 3 years you can dress that way if you wish." I'm not good at apologizing.

"I understood why you were upset." Samantha still has her eyes down. And she has a hard time taking apologies and forgiving too fast.