A/N: Hey guys! Sorry it took me so long to update, I got distracted...oopsies. But anyways, I'm super flattered with the reviews/favorites, and all of the hits I've gotten. Wow! I didn't think anybody would read it! XXXXXXXXXX
Sorry if this chapter is a little lengthy... that's just how I write (:
Just a note, the two events going on aren't happening at the same time... It's just showing you the events leading up to the big contest! I hope I cleared up any confusion before it started.
And one more thing, am I supposed to be writing disclaimer things? I figured since this was "FAN fiction" (emphasis on the fan), it wouldn't matter. But just to be safe, I don't own anybody or anything except Lily.
Enjoy!
After his shift was finished, Wyatt took a nervous gulp and strolled rather slowly over to the Lemon, where Caitlin was (quite literally) grinning from ear to ear. He took a deep breath and took a seat in a chair.
"EEEEEE! Are you ready?"
Wyatt groaned. "Let's just get this over with."
Caitlin tapped her nails on the table in thought. "Let's start with your hair!"
Wyatt quickly covered his hair with his arms in protection. "What's wrong with my hair?!"
"It's so poofy and tangle-y! I'm going to brush it out and straighten it!"
Wyatt refused to move his arms. "I haven't brushed my hair in forever! It's going to hurt! Besides, if you straighten my hair, it's going to be really long!"
Caitlin waved her hand forward. "So what? The long look is back in! If we tie it back in a ponytail, it will look totally sophisticated!"
"But...I'm...not so sure about this..."
Caitlin glared at Wyatt. "You said I could make you over, so we're going to do this my way!"
Wyatt grunted. "Fine. Just try not to make this painful!"
"Oh I won't!" Caitlin studied Wyatt's hair, and pulled out a rather large hairbrush from her makeup bag. "We're going to need a heavy duty brush!"
Wyatt screamed in pain as Caitlin began to hack away at Wyatt's rather large hair. It was a tough job, too. There were practically knots within knots.
Caitlin hit Wyatt's head lightly with the hairbrush. "Quit whining! It'll be over before you know it!" She studied the knots once more. "This is going to need some detangler!" She grabbed her makeup bag once more and pulled out a large, unlabeled bottle. She proceeded to spray some on one of the current knots she was working. A fruity scent filled the air as Wyatt began coughing.
"What ...kind.... of ...detangler... is... that?!" Wyatt asked in between coughs.
Caitlin looked at the bottle. It was her perfume, which she had sprayed quite a bit of.
"Oops! I used my perfume instead of the detangler!" Caitlin sniffed Wyatt's hair. "But hey, at least your hair smells good!"
"Can you just get on with this, please?"
"Okay, okay!" Caitlin pulled out her real detangler and began hacking away again at Wyatt's hair. "Here, read this while you're at it!" she pulled out one of her magazines and flipped it open.
"How to get the man of your dreams?" Wyatt read from the top of the page with a quizzical look.
"Yeah! You'll just have to change all the pronouns in your head, but otherwise the advice is perfect!"
Wyatt scratched his head. "If you say so..." He began reading the page. "Step one. Really get to know your crush. Take active interest in their interests and make conversation as often as possible...I don't know, Cait. That sounds borderline creepy."
Caitlin tugged at another knot. "It's not, promise! Just keep reading!"
"Step two. Once they've noticed you, send major hints. Winking, excessive smiling, and even touching their arm all work. Once again, creepy!"
Caitlin rolled her eyes. "It's not creepy! It works! I've done this so many times!"
"I really don't know about this..."
Caitlin began foaming at the mouth a little. "Quit being such a wuss! Seriously, things will be fine!"
Wyatt groaned and rested his head on his hand. This was going to be a long rest of the day.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Nikki's mouth fell wide open as she approached the Khaki Barn. Loud screamo music was blaring so loud you could practically hear it even from outside of the mall. It's preppy white spotlights had been replaced with harsh black and red ones. The usually bald mannequins sported wigs with outrageous hairstyles and even more outrageous outfits, ranging from goth to just plain weird. In the front were clothes that looked like they came straight from a Red Hot Gossip catalog, and in the back, real Khaki Barn clothes were taped off, with "LAST SEASON" written in big letters above them. It was a clone nightmare.
Nikki wandered deep into the store to find Lily putting up several posters of a bunch of Indie bands Nikki had never heard of. Lily turned around and smiled.
"Huhhh-Nuhh-uhh!" she attempted to shout over the loud music.
"WHAT?!" Nikki shouted back.
Lily hopped off the ladder and beckoned Nikki back to the break room, where the music bled through at a normal volume.
"W-what did you do to the Khaki Barn?!" Nikki asked, still in shock.
Lily giggled. "I gothified it! You like?"
"Where did you even find the time to do this? School let out not even an hour ago!"
"I know!" Lily replied with a mischievous grin. "I left a couple hours early so I'd have time to set this all up!"
"And the clones haven't seen it?"
"I told them they could come into work late today. They'll be here in about half an hour."
Nikki stood there in complete silence. "Wow..."
Lily laughed. "Check out their new uniform!" She pulled out an article of clothing from a mysterious bin. It was almost like a unitard, only with thicker material. It was black with bright red polka dots all over, along with chains and random earrings coming out from just about everywhere.
"Wow...well, as long as I don't have to wear it!"
Lily peered out the door, and noticed the clones standing outside the store, wide eyed and angry. Lily picked up the new uniforms. "Looks like they're here early! Time to explain everything so I won't get fired!"
"How are you going to possibly manage that? This store looks horrible!"
Lily grinned. "Watch me."
"Lily! Nikki! What did you do with the store?!" Chrissy fumed as they both approached the clones. Lily faked a gasp.
"What are you guys wearing?! That's so...out!" Lily exclaimed.
"What do you mean? I love this top..." Kirsten whined
Nikki began playing along. "Oh my god, you guys didn't hear? Eccentric goth is, like, totally the new style! Cute and preppy is so out!"
"Yeah! Everybody knows that by now!" Lily added in.
Kristen flipped her hair back. "Oh...we totally knew that!"
Kirsten nodded her head. "Yeah! We were just messing around with you guys, duh!"
Chrissy glared at the two girls. "Oh yeah? How come none of the other stores have stuff like this on display?" Kristen and Kirsten had walked off, and were "eeeee"ing over a random top on display.
"Because, we were...first?" Lily managed to spit out. She hadn't thought about that.
Nikki saved her. "We were first, so, like, no other store wants to copy us, because everybody knows we're the original. So we basically stole all the sales!" She put on a huge, fake grin.
Chrissy's expression softened. "No way! That's so cool!"
"I know, right? Now, let's get you three into uniform!"
-
"Do we really have to wear these?" Kirsten asked.
"Yeah, and how come you guys don't have to wear them?" Kristen added in.
"Because," Lily rolled her eyes. "We mainly stick around in the back. However, you guys are in the front, so you have to look the part, of course!"
"Oh, that makes sense!" Kristen giggled, taking her outfit and hopping off the the bathroom.
"Here!" Lily lifted one of the ridiculous outfits. "Kristen, put this one on!"
Kirsten rolled her eyes. "I'm KIRSTEN!"
"Whatever. Put this on!" Lily shooed her away towards the bathroom, where Chrissy and Kristen were changing.
Nikki snorted. "Glad to see I'm not the only one who gets them mixed up!"
"They look exactly the same! How can you not?"
"Well, maybe putting them in the exact same outfit wasn't such a great idea, if you're going to keep mixing them up."
Lily pulled out a makeup bag. "Don't worry, after I'm done, you'll be able to tell just fine."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Caitlin pulled her straightener through the last strand of Wyatt's hair, and then stepped back to admire her work. His large, poofy hair now lay sleek and smooth against his shoulders, dropping down just below them. She pulled out a hair tie and tied it back into a low, neat ponytail.
Caitlin squealed. "Look at your hair!" she exclaimed while handing Wyatt a mirror.
Wyatt gasped as he saw his reflection. He had never seen his hair so...smooth.
"Wow, Caitlin! How did you do this?"
Caitlin grunted. "Well, it wasn't easy. It took me well over an hour just to brush all the knots out!"
"Wow..." Wyatt ran his fingers through his hair.
"Okay, onto the next step!" Caitlin boomed, ruining Wyatt's hair moment. Caitlin picked up his hand and studied his nails. "Time to do something about these! They're disgusting!"
Wyatt whipped his hand away. "You don't mean..."
"What? Men get mani/pedis all the time!"
"Not normal men!"
"Oh come on!" Caitlin grabbed Wyatt by the arm and dragged him towards the mall's salon. Wyatt screamed and attempted to pull away the entire walk, causing quite a few strange looks from the people around them.
Wyatt got tired and gave up after they had made it into the salon. A young, foreign lady turned her chair around.
"Yeeeeeeeeez?"
"Oh, hi, I made an appointment for two people at 5:30? It's under 'Cooke'."
The lady thumbed at her mouse and clicked. "Ah yeeeeeeeeez, right zees wey!"
"You have to make appointments to get your nails painted?" Wyatt whispered as they followed foreign lady to some room in the back.
"At this salon you do! It's the nicest in the mall!" Caitlin whispered back.
"How many salons are in the mall? Do they really need more than one?"
"Five. I've been to them all, and this one is by far the best!"
The two found themselves in a tiny room. Candles gave the room a soft, relaxing sort of light, and a small waterfall ran in one corner.
Caitlin gave a dreamy sigh. "This room is so relaxing..."
Another foreign lady approached the two, looking slightly angry. "'EY! Only ze customears are allowed back he-a! OUT!"
Caitlin put her hand up. "No, no, no! He is one of your customers."
The lady began laughing.
"Oh yeah! Men get mani/pedis all the time!" Wyatt retorted sarcastically.
"Well... I guess not at this salon..."
The lady finally stopped laughing, after what seemed like ages. "Zo, you vant nails painted? Pick color!"
"No, no color. Just clip them and get it over with!"
"Okay, fine! Clear coat it eez. 'Elga! Get out 'ere! Break eez over!"
The two ladies forced the two into one of the plush chairs and began running the water for their feet.
"Is this going to hurt or anything?"
Caitlin giggled. "Relax! It's supposed to feel good! That's why so many women get them regularly!"
Wyatt leaned back in his chair. "If you say so..."
-
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! IT...TICKLES.....AHHHHH! STOP! STOP!" Wyatt screamed as the woman began to file at his feet. The other lady looked at Caitlin with a confused look.
Caitlin waved her hand into the air. "Oh, don't worry about him. He's new to this. He'll get used to it."
"I 'ope so!" the woman rolled her eyes as she kept filing, much to Wyatt's dismay.
"You call this relaxing?" Wyatt asked while squirming around in his chair.
"Maybe it would be if you would be still!" Caitlin snapped. "Seriously, man up!"
Wyatt dug his hands into his chair, and attempted to do just that.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"So, how do we look?" Chrissy asked excitedly as the clones jumped back into the break room.
Nikki forced herself to smile. "Uh...great! You guys look so...uh...hot."
"EEEEEEEEE!"
"Calm down now, clones," Lily piped in from the back of the room. "We're not done yet. Come here, Kristen!"
"Why?" Kristen whined. "What are you going to do?"
Lily grinned. "A new wardrobe isn't complete without a new makeover, isn't it?"
"Whaaaaaat? Why does Kristen get to go first?" Kirsten complained.
Lily rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine. You can be first. Here, sit in this chair."
Lily sat Kirsten down and walked back over to Nikki, who was holding her makeup bag. Nikki snorted.
"Do you actually know what you're doing?"
Lily shrugged her shoulders. "No, not really. We'll just see how this turns out."
"Oh, this has got to be interesting!"
Lily sauntered back over towards Kirsten, who was practically about to jump out of her chair from excitement.
"Now, you're going to have to be still! You wouldn't want me to mess up, would you?"
Nikki snort-chuckled. "I don't think her being still will make a difference."
Lily shot Nikki a look and pushed Kirsten back into her chair. "Now, Nikki, hand me the foundation!"
Nikki dug through Lily's makeup bag and pulled out a bottle of bright white liquid, with a sponge attached to the cap."This it?"
"Yeah, perfect!" Lily grabbed the bottle from Nikki's hand and began pouring the creamy liquid over the sponge. "You ready to be still, now?"
Kirsten nodded in excitement.
"Okay!" Lily began to randomly dab the substance onto Kirsten's face, in no particular way. Little white sponge marks were randomly printed on Kirsten's face. Lily sighed.
"You know, this way is too slow." Lily tossed the sponge aside and began pouring the goop all over her fingers. "Let's just do it this way!"
"But that's so...ewww!" Kirsten exclaimed, leaning back in her seat a little bit.
Drops of the goop dripped like blood off of Lily's hands. A few drops plopped onto the floor. "Oh don't worry! My hands are clean!"
Without giving Kirsten a say in things she began wiping her hands all over Kirsten's face, careful not to get any into her nose or mouth.
Lily stepped back and examined her work. While there were a few patches of skin showing, most of the skin had been sufficiently covered. Good enough.
Kirsten began fanning her face. "This stuff burns! OWWW!"
Lily looked back down at the bottle. She wasn't quite sure what it was.
"What are you doing to her?!" Chrissy shouted from across the room.
"Uh...the burn is good! It's, uh, deep cleaning your pores!" Nikki chipped in. Man, was Lily glad to have her there.
"Oh...okay! Keep going!"
"Nikki, hand me the bright green eyeshadow and the eyeshadow brush!" Lily commanded. Nikki dug through her bag again and tossed her the items.
"Now, Kirsten, you're going to have to be still. This might feel weird, but trust me, I know what I'm doing!" Lily exclaimed as she dipped the brush into the eyeshadow.
Nikki rolled her eyes and fought the urge to burst out laughing.
Lily began to vigorously rub the eyeshadow brush all over Kirsten's eyelid, causing a good lot of it to spill all over her nose and under her eyes. Lily kept re-dipping the brush and applying until Kirsten's eyes were completely covered in bright green eyeshadow.
"Perfect! What do you think, Nikki?"
Nikki put both of her thumbs up. "It looks great! Oh, don't forget the eyelashes!" Nikki tossed Lily her eyelash curler and some mascara.
"Of course! What good would a makeover be without the eyelashes?" Lily began to curl Kirsten's eyelashes until they were at a full ninety degree angle, then applied a ton of mascara, causing them to curl up even more.
"And let's not forget the final touch!" Nikki exclaimed while tossing Lily some deep black lipstick. Lily carelessly applied it all over her lips, not bothering to clean the smudges. Lily stepped back and admired her work.
"Oh my god, you look so cute!" Lily fake gushed.
"We wanna see!" the other two clones shouted from the end of the room. Kirsten swiveled her chair around and stood up.
"EEEEE!" Chrissy shouted. "You do look cute!"
"Oh so cute!" Kristen added in.
"You're like, adorable!"
"EEEEEEEEEEE!"
Lily and Nikki covered their mouths, having to fight with all of their might to not break down into total hysterics.
"What's with the bright green eyeshadow, anyways?" Nikki asked.
Lily pulled out things of blue and purple eyeshadow, and dangled them in her hand. "We have to tell them apart somehow, don't we?"
"I want to go next!"Chrissy shouted.
"No, me!" Kristen whined.
Lily beckoned Kristen over to the chair. "Here, Kirsten, you can go next!" Lily was happy that she could finally tell them apart. This idea was working perfectly!
"I'm KRISTEN!"
Or maybe not.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Wyatt looked at his nails and grinned. Instead of being long, dirty, and broken, they were clean and neat. Caitlin walked alongside him, sporting bright pink nail polish on both her fingers and her toes.
"Wow, Caitlin! Thanks!" Wyatt exclaimed, not taking his eyes off of his new nails.
Caitlin waved her hand into the air. "Oh it's no problem! I'm just glad you finally stopped whining after the first thirty minutes!"
"Hey, that was really uncomfortable!" Wyatt said rather defensively. Caitlin rolled her eyes.
"Sure, whatever. Now, onto the third and final step!" Caitlin squealed as they re approached the Lemon.
Wyatt scrunched his nose up. "We're not done?"
"No, silly! A new hair-do and nails are just the cherry on top! To complete the makeover, you need some new outfits!"
"Why? What's wrong with the clothes I have?"
Caitlin placed her index finger onto her lips. "They're just so...Wyatt-y! We don't any 'old Wyatt' left, now do we?"
"Cait, this is an awful lot of trouble for just one girl, don't you think?"
Caitlin leaned closer to Wyatt. "I thought you really liked her! You want her to notice you, right?"
Wyatt groaned. "Okay, fine. Where do we begin?"
Caitlin pulled out a stack of magazines and began thumbing through them. She pulled one out of the stack and opened it to a page with several different guys. Caitlin beamed.
"Let's start by picking your style! Now, which one do you think you fit the most in?"
Wyatt studied the page. There were only six guys on the page, none of them really looking like anything Wyatt would want to ever dress in.
"There's only six to choose from...not a very good selection..."
"Six? Oh no! Those are just the starting categories!" Caitlin flipped through the pages. "See? There are lots of sub categories as well as sub-sub categories, and a few different styles to pick within each sub-sub. And there's also some pages that combine sub categories and some that even combine categories!" Caitlin finished flipping. "Just pick one you like!"
Wyatt stared at the magazine in total silence.
"Uh, Caitlin? How many different styles are there to choose from?"
Caitlin giggled. "One thousand, one hundred and twenty-eight! Get looking!"
"I can't possibly pick from all of those!"
Caitlin rolled her eyes. "It's not that hard to look at pictures, Wyatt. Just pick one!"
Wyatt grunted. "Fine." He randomly flipped through all the pages and randomly pointed at a random one. "Here. I pick this one."
Caitlin looked at Wyatt's pick and cringed. The model was wearing a black leather jacket and matching leather pants, along with several piercings and chains. "Uh, Wyatt? You sure about that?"
Wyatt glanced at his pick and bounced back. "Oh. Er. Never mind. Let me pick again."
Wyatt began his random flipping again, and pointed at another random model. "Here, how about this one?"
The model was wearing a shirt that fully exposed his slightly tattoo-covered arms, and a pair of beat up jeans.
"Ooh, this is perfect!" Caitlin gushed. "The artsy hippie independent look! Oh that's so perfect for your new hair! Great pick!"
"Wait what?" Wyatt studied the look he had picked and turned his nose up a little. "Actually, I think I'm going to pick something else..."
"No!" Caitlin shouted. "This is perfect! Let's go with this one! Eeeee! You're going to look GREAT!"
"But-"
"Come on! I know the perfect store. It just opened across from the Khaki Barn. Let's go!" Caitlin grabbed Wyatt's hand and dragged him along towards the store.
"Inspiration...that's it? That's what they call themselves?" Wyatt asked as they casually walked into the store. New Age music was playing softly in the background, while the walls were covered in tie-dye T-shirts that were tacked into the wall. A man (or a woman, neither of them could really tell) approached the two with a peaceful smile on his/her face. He/she held it's hand out and gave a slight bow.
"Welcome, my friends, to...Inspiration....!" The unidentifiable whispered while waving a hand through the air. Judging from the high pitched voice, it was a girl, but they honestly couldn't tell.
Caitlin gave a dreamy gasp. "This store is so cute! This is perfect!"
Wyatt scrunched his nose up. "I...don't know about this store, Caitlin. It seems...freaky..."
The unidentifiable put a hand on Wyatt's shoulder. "Dude, you need to learn to be...open. Explore the several pathways of life you can choose from. The options are endless. Being narrow will get you nowhere..."
Wyatt jerked his shoulder away from the person. "This is a clothing store. It's not like I'm going to be making any major life decisions!"
The unidentifiable cupped it's hand over towards Caitlin. "The poor guy, he's stuck living a life of narrow minded-ness."
Caitlin nodded her head. "Oh I know! Don't worry, I'll do my best to get through to him!"
The unidentifiable cupped it's hands together and bowed. "Bless your soul, and may your kindness reach many."
Caitlin giggled and grabbed onto Wyatt's shoulders. "Awww, thank you! Now, do you have any clothes to help this poor boy out? I'm giving him a makeover!"
Wyatt leaned towards Caitlin a bit, who was behind him. "I think you're getting a little too into this creepy hippie vibe..." he whispered. Caitlin dismissed him.
The unidentifiable led them over to a small corner of the store. "Here! This is our 'beginner' section. Perfect for the narrow minded. Might I suggest a couple of shirts?"
Caitlin clapped her hands. "Oh that would be awesome!"
"I really don't know about-"
Wyatt was shushed by the unidentifiable. "Don't think about it. Just look... and fall in love..."
"Uh..."
The unidentifiable pulled out several shirts from the stack. He handed the stack to Caitlin and picked one up, spreading it out to full view. It was pink and purple tie dyed with rainbows covering a good portion of it, and one big peace sign in the center.
Caitlin cringed. "We'll have to pass on that one... It's a bit tacky..."
The unidentifiable tossed the shirt aside in anger. "What happened to being open minded, huh?! I bet you're just another one of those typical preppy teenagers who shop at those typical stores and buy typical clothes and don't even give new stores like this one a chance!"
Wyatt backed away. "Whoa, dude, chill! She just said she didn't like the shirt...no big deal!"
The unidentifiable growled. "I have never met such narrow minded people, even in my days as a male! I have half a mind to call security on you two!"
Caitlin laughed nervously. "We're, uh, gonna...go now. Bye!"
The two ran out of the store and practically ran across the entire mall. Completely out of breath, the two took a seat by the Lemon, which was nowhere near the crazy store.
"Okay, let's never do that again!" Wyatt exclaimed between breaths. Caitlin nodded in agreement, frowning slightly.
"You still need a new look, though!"
"Caitlin, I look fine! Don't I?"
"Here, just stand up for a second!"
"Why?"
"Just do it!"
Wyatt stood up from his chair, Caitlin following. She tucked in a section of his shirt and pulled his pants down just a bit, and then removed his sneakers.
Wyatt looked down at his bare feet. "You expect me to walk around barefoot? Can you even do that?"
Caitlin rolled her eyes and giggled. "No, silly! Here!" She tossed him a pair of black flip flops toward him. "You look like you're about my shoe size! Try those on!"
Wyatt turned his nose up. "Flip flops? That's a little...out there."
"Just try them on!"
Wyatt dropped the shoes onto the floor and slid them into his feet. They were a perfect fit, and surprisingly comfortable.
"Hey...these actually aren't that bad..."
Caitlin smiled. "And they go perfectly with your new look!" She took a good long look at the new Wyatt. He had gone from goofy to sophisticated in less than six hours.
"Eeeee! Wyatt! You look great!"
"Really?" His face lit up. "You think Ariel will notice?"
"Oh definitely! Now, lets practice that walk one more time..."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Hey! Welcome to the Khaki Barn!" Kristen shouted to random people passing by as she attempted to dance to the thrashing music that was blaring from the store.
"Yeah, check out our brand new style!" Kirsten agreed, also attempting to dance. They were receiving many strange looks, and many more excited ones from young girls.
Meanwhile, in the back, Lily and Nikki were actually forced to do real work, running both cash registers as fast as they could to meet the sudden customer demand.
"Wow, I never thought this new Khaki Barn would get so many customers! I was expecting to chill this week!"
Nikki rolled her eyes. "It's just because they all think they're out of style, so they're taking the chance to update themselves. I'm sure things will calm back down in a couple of weeks."
"Well at the rate we're going we'll have to start putting people on back order and order more inventory from Red Hot Gossip when the week is over!"
Nikki shrugged. "At least we're getting major sales. Who knows, maybe Chrissy will hire you as her new assistant manager! And then you can give me fifteen breaks per shift like I keep asking for!"
Lily gave her a playful glare. "Please, if I become your boss, you're not getting any breaks. No way are you leaving me in here all alone with the clones!"
The two girls heard an "Eeeee!" from behind them, and turned around to see Chrissy with several shirts in hand.
"Oh my god, guys! Look! I took some of our old merch and made it stylish! What do you think?" She held out a gray t-shirt with black ink spilled all over it and several holes throughout the entire thing. Lily nodded in approval.
"That's great work, Chrissy! Keep doing that!"
Chrissy nodded and skipped a couple of inches, before catching herself and stomping slowly back to the break room.
"Well, looks like you won't need to order any more inventory! Chrissy can just make everything for us!" Nikki snort-snickered.
Kristen and Kirsten came running up from the front of the store. Their faces were twice as large as normal and the white makeup was stretched out. They were both fanning their faces.
"Uh, Lily? We don't mean to complain or anything but..." Kristen started.
"Our faces are burning up!" Kirsten shouted.
"What brand of makeup was that?!"
Lily looked down at the empty, blank bottle she had used. She honestly had no idea what it had contained.
"Uh, not sure... Here, lets go back to the break room and wash the makeup off, okay?"
"HURRY!" Kirsten screamed, shoving the entire staff towards the break room.
Lily led them over to the small sink in the back corner of the room and further examined the bottle.
"Seriously, Lily, what is that?" Nikki asked with a quizzical look on her face.
"I...don't know. There's no label anywhere! I found it in one of my dad's bags, and I figured it was some old makeup of Mom's that he had accidentally packed with him, so I brought it over."
Nikki grabbed the bottle and twisted and turned it until she found some text on the bottom. "Authentic Goat Paste. Made from the finest goat milk and other natural ingredients found on the island. Great for cooking!" Nikki read aloud. "I think you just spread goat paste all over the clones."
Lily covered her mouth with her hand. "Crap! That's right! That was the stuff my dad brought back home from his trip to that exotic island...Oh man, do you think I killed the clones or something?"
"I highly doubt that, unfortunately." Nikki snickered. "They're probably just allergic to the goat milk in it. No big deal."
"I sure hope so..."
Kirsten and Kristen sauntered back over towards Nikki and Lily after washing their faces. They were now bright red, with several bumps on their face.
"Is it bad?" Kristen asked.
Nikki faked a smile and coughed a bit. "No, it's perfectly fine! You guys will be completely normal in no time!"
"What caused this?" Kirsten whined.
"Well, see...the makeup I used had goat milk in it, which is, uh, good for your pores. But I think you two are allergic to it. So I guess we shouldn't use it anymore," Lily explained.
"No way!" Kristen shouted.
"We're like, both allergic to the same thing! That's like, so cool!" Kirsten squealed.
"EEEEEE!"
Chrissy looked slightly upset. "Awww, no fair! I want to be allergic too!"
"Awww!" both girls embraced Chrissy in a hug. "You'll find something we're all allergic too one day!"
"Oh my god, we haven't been dancing outside!" Kirsten shouted with a worried look on her face.
"We're probably losing customers! Let's go!" Kristen screamed as both girls ran out of the break room.
Lily let out a nervous giggle. "I'm not...fired for this am I?"
Chrissy laughed. "Why would you be fired? You've helped sales, like, majorly! You can't help it if someone is, like, allergic to something! I'm going to go make more clothes now, bye!" Chrissy stomped out of the room.
Lily sighed with relief. The plan was still going as expected.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Wyatt began to feel his throat tighten up as he and Caitlin walked towards Grind Me. He could barely speak.
Caitlin seemed to sense his nerves. "Don't be nervous, Wyatt! It's just one person! If she thinks you're a flake, well, that's her problem!"
"But... do you think I overdid it a little bit? I mean, I changed my look overnight!"
"Don't worry, Wyatt! You don't look that different! You just look more...sophisticated! It will work, I promise!"
"What do I say to her?"
"Ooh! Ask her if she wants to hang out with you at the Zamboni Girl contest next Saturday! Perfectly casual! Seriously, you might want to. You're going to be all alone!"
"Wait why? I thought I was going to hang out with the gang?"
Caitlin felt guilt slightly creep up on her face. "Oh...about that...see, Jen, Nikki, Jonesy, and Jude are judging, Lily's hosting, and I volunteered to help backstage. So you're all alone!"
"Gee, thanks. Why didn't you ask me to help out?"
"We couldn't think of any help needed. But whatever! Now's your chance! Go!" Caitlin shoved Wyatt into Grind Me. Remembering the walk he and Caitlin had practiced, he sauntered in, trying his best to look confident. Ariel smiled as she saw him approach.
"Hey Wyatt! You're a bit early for work! What's up?"
"Wait, you're actually talking to me?" Wyatt looked surprised.
Ariel gave him an odd look. "Yeah...why wouldn't I?"
"Well, you seemed pretty embarrassed with me after, you know, yesterday..."
Ariel laughed a little. "Oh that? Don't worry about it! I'm the hugest klutz in the world! That happens to me like every week!"
Wyatt let out a giggle of relief. "So, no awkward feelings or anything?"
"Of course not!" She studied Wyatt a little more. "You look different than yesterday...but... I like it...do you straighten you hair often?"
Wyatt ran his fingers through his hair. "I can start! My friend did it for me... do you like it?"
Ariel smiled. "It looks good on you... you really should do that more often..."
They both sat in a comfortable silence for a couple of minutes. Finally, Wyatt spoke up.
"Hey, are you going to the Zamboni Girl show next Saturday? Maybe we could meet up and hang out!"
Ariel smiled. "That sounds great!"