Adam pulls the grey hoodie he quickly snatched from his room further over his head. He's hoping no one from Degrassi is at this mall and will recognize him. Thankfully his grandma doesn't seem to be noticing. She's active for her age and is several feet ahead of him taking in all the mall has to offer moving briskly, taking a look at each store she passes by. She spots a Banana Republic on their right and walks in. Adam ambles in after her.

"This looks like a good spot." She smiles watching the young women looking through the racks. "Now don't you worry about the cost, Gracie. This is your gift from me." Adam nods. "Just come find me if you need any help. I'll be around."

Adam breathes a sigh of relief, thankful she won't be on him like a shadow. That's the great thing about the Torres family, besides having an overprotective mother that is, they're all independent. Adam fiddles with one of his hoodie's drawstrings and looks around nervously. He notices that all the people walking around he doesn't recognize. No one here is from Degrassi! 'Phew, one less worry. Now what am I supposed to do?'

Adam slowly looks at the section of girls' clothes. He grimaces. 'They're all so... frilly.' They mostly seem to be blouses. Definitely a girl thing he doesn't want. Adam gets an idea. He grabs two different blouses in his size then goes across the store to the men's side. He finds the casual shirt section. Perfect.

A few minutes later grams appears next to him. "Gracie, look at this!" She shows him a patterned pink dress. It's marked over $100! "This would look beautiful on that cute figure of yours." She sees some belts and snatches one. "A pink braided belt. It would go perfectly with this!" She seems so excited. Adam couldn't possibly crush her spirits. 'I just need to pretend I'll try it on. It's not like I have to accept it and let her buy it. I could just say it didn't fit me right.' He reasons.

"Yeah, uh, looks awesome grams." Adam lies. Well, it does look awesome... on a number of girls from Degrassi he can think of. He smirks to himself then shudders realizing he's the one trying it on.

"I found some things so I'm going to go try them on." Adam puts the blouses on over his guy clothes. Grams smiles at them and hands Adam the dress and belt. Adam heads to the back to find a changing room. On a good note, they're unisex rooms. He wonders why grams didn't bother with finding him at the men's section. 'Maybe she didn't notice?" Adam shrugs to himself. He begins to wonder if he's becoming paranoid. He's not used to this kind of situation.

Adam bitterly throws the blouses on the chair and hangs up what he found on one rack and the dress and belt on the one over.

Adam smiles at himself, looking at his reflection in a bold checkered long sleeved shirt. 'I look good' he thinks, trying on his normal clothes. Maybe he can get grams to get them without causing any confusion. He tries on one after the other loving each one. If Degrassi ever changed back to letting students wear their own clothes instead of uniforms these would be a great addition to his wardrobe.

"You ready in there? May I see how it looks, Gracie?" Grandma's voice rings out from outside the changing room.

"It, I mean, the dress didn't fit right." Adam says.

"Oh, let me find a smaller size." She leaves.

Adam looks at the tag on the dress hanging by him... it's the right size. He might as well try it on. He is not about to try on a tighter size. No one else will see him, it's just grams. Who still doesn't know about Adam. He sighs and begins to put on the dress.

"Gracie? I'm back with another size." She announces.

"That's okay, grams. I was mistaken." Adam had just added the belt on around his waist and opens the door.

"Oh, you look adorable! I knew it was the right dress the moment I laid eyes on it!" His grandmother gushes.

"Yeah, it fits just fine actually." Adam gives a forced smile.

"Oh, we have to get this." She smiles, referring to the outfit. "Find anything else at this store or want to keep looking around?" She asks him.

"Uh, no I'm good. Let me just change back and we can go." Adam changes back into the school uniform for girls and walks out the changing room with the dress and belt. He leaves behind the blouses he never tried on... and the men clothing.

END OF CHAPTER 4


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Note to reviewers: It's only Monday. A lot can happen over the week... :)