Prologue
Shopping Day
…
Roxas was shopping for new clothes to wear to his first day of first grade. His mom insisted on him getting something new, despite the fact he had plenty had home that still fit him. He sighed as he gazed at the racks of clothing. He hated staring at jeans, t-shirts and sweatshirts. He wandered away from his mom and found himself in the young girls section. These clothes he found much more fascinating. He fingered a small pink t-shirt with princesses on the front. He wandered a little farther and found dresses.
"Mommy!" he called excitedly. He tugged on a frilly light blue dress with pink lace around the cuffs and collar until it fell off the hanger. His mom came rushing over. He smiled up at her and presented the dress to her. "Can I get it? Pretty, Pretty please!" His mom shook her head in wonderment.
"Sure sweetie," she said, putting it in the cart. "If it's what you want." He nodded enthusiastically. After that he didn't want to leave. He browsed through the aisles, picking out more things. He found a black silk dress with tiny red roses along the collar and short red sleeves that he absolutely loved. His mom found a purple jumpsuit set with pink stripes along the sides. He got two pairs of hot pink jeans (which were slightly small but he begged his mom to get anyway). He also got a small heart charm for his chain he had at home. "Since you've been such a good shopper today, you get to get a toy," his mom said.
"Yay," he cheered. His mom steered the cart (with him in it) over to the toy aisle. She took him immediately to the boy toys. "Mommy!" he whined. "I don't want a car or action figure. I want something else." She sighed and took him to the girl toys. He looked around. "Ooooooh that one!" he cried, pointing at one of the baby My Little Ponies. She lifted it off the shelf and handed it to him. He hugged the box to his chest.
"Hey, Roxas!" Roxas twisted around and saw Demyx and his mom approaching. And behind them was a boy Roxas had never seen. "Going school supply shopping?" Demyx asked. "Look what I got!" he exclaimed before Roxas could respond. He held up his avengers lunch box. "Isn't it cool?"
"Look at mine," Roxas said happily, producing his new Hello Kitty lunch box. Demyx started laughing and Roxas' smile faded a bit. "Don't you like it?" he asked, confused.
"It's a girls' lunch box!" Demyx laughed. "It's supposed to be for a girl. We have boy stuff for a reason."
"Oh," Roxas said, covering his new clothes with the boy blanket his mom insisted on buying him. He really wanted to wear his silk dress for his first day of school. It was so pretty; he wanted to show it off. But it was a girls' item too. Would all the boys laugh at him if they saw him wearing it? He didn't want to be the laughing stock of first grade. He decided he could just wear his blue jean shorts and Cars shirt to school instead. For his first day photo though, he would wear the dress. Which reminded him. "Mommy," he whispered. "I need tights to go with my dresses. She nodded and started to push the cart back towards clothes.
"Bye Roxas!" Demyx called. "Oh by the way, this is Axel. My second cousin or something like that!" Roxas looked back over his shoulder at the boy. His mom then proceeded to help him pick out three pairs of tights, one white, one skin colored, and one pink with darker pink stripes. They walked passed accessories, and Roxas practically squealed.
"Mommy, look!" he cried. "Bows! Could I get some?" As supportive as she was, she about had it with the girly girl act. But she went along with it once again. He found a red silk bow that matched his favorite dress perfectly. He slipped it under the blanket. Next he found a pink one with blue lace, exactly the opposite of his other dress. He smiled as he added that one to the mix. Finally he picked up a pink bow with purple spots. He smiled. "All done mommy," he said, flashing her another dimpled smile. She sighed and wheeled the cart to the check out. Roxas declared this shopping trip a success.