CHAPTER NINE
REN POV
Kishan and I were sparring in the yard when we heard the sound of the jeep pulling out of the garage. We shared a glance and nodded. Silently, we shifted into tigers and started to follow the sound of the car, making sure we could hear or see the car, but Astra and Kelsey inside the car could not see us.
Twenty minutes later, Kelsey and Astra pulled into the parking lot at the local mall in a part of town called Little America. There were malls like this one with American stores; American restaurants and bars; etc.
Kishan and I shifted into human form and trailed them into the mall. They went into a store called PromGirl. We waited outside and looked through the window, trying to look like we weren't spying through the window. It worked pretty well. We saw Kelsey and Astra looking through racks and racks of clothes.
They picked out some and Kelsey went into the dressing room. Astra sat down in a chair next to this catwalk that I suppose was supposed was for showing off.
Kelsey came out of the dressing room and walked up to the stairs. I gaped.
Kishan was facing away on watch. I nudged him until he turned around. "Holy…." He gasped when, he saw Kelsey.
Kelsey POV
I twirled around on the little catwalk for a minute. The skirts of the gown twirled around my ankles. Then I saw Astra's raised eyebrow and the cashier's mouth hanging open.
"What?" I asked.
The cashier, Shad as I saw when he came closer, rolled a full-length mirror out from the back of the store and wheeled it in front of me. I had no make-up on and my hair was in its usual braid, but the dress was beautiful. It was made of silk in a deep purple; the strapless, sweetheart, lace-up back corset top was embroidered in silver with rhinestones and swirls on the bodice; the skirt was ruffled and grew larger as it descended to the ground. A hairpiece came with it: a rhinestone crown with a small purple feather sticking out the side.
"I love this dress," I breathed, "And it's not even in gold or cobalt! In fact, I think I like purple better than blue or gold."
"No you don't," Az said and I smiled.
"You're right, those are still my two favorite colors, but I still love this dress."
"It looks absolutely stunning on you Kells."
Then the Sam the Cashier cut in: "She's not just stunning, she's radiant; she's ravishing; she's…." With a look from Astra, he went back to his checkout counter, his face turning Ron Weasley red.
"Your turn," I told Az, smiling
Az went into the changing room, and was in there for several minutes. I was still in my gown so when I sat down, I made sure to sweep my skirts like they do in the books so they wouldn't crumple and wrinkle.
Then Astra came out. She was also wearing a floor-length gown but hers was emerald green satin. The color went well with her pale skin. I absentmindedly wondered how soon she'll tan or whether she'll burn. But I quickly forgot about that thought as I admired her dress. It was also strapless and sweetheart with a lace-up back corset top. It was also embroidered but instead of silver, the swirls on the bodice were gold. The skirt was also satin but filmy organza overlaid it with little embroidered rhinestones weighing down the wide skirt. It had no headpiece.
I whistled as Az spun in front of the mirror.
"Are these for any special occasion?" I asked.
"Actually, yes. In Svalbard, we have an annual ball, and I go every year. Or I used to anyway. And I was wondering whether you would want to go: get away from everything for a couple days and have fun. See the few sights Svalbard has to offer."
"Sounds great," I replied, "When is this ball?"
"In about three weeks."
"Cool."
Kishan POV
Kelsey was beautiful in her dress. But so was Astra.
Stop thinking such things! Part A of my mind said.
Just because you love Kelsey, doesn't mean you can't admire other women. Besides, Kelsey is still more beautiful. The other part, part B, I guess; replied.
Before part A could say anything else, the song changed in the store.
All the singe ladies, all the single ladies
All the singe ladies, all the single ladies
All the singe ladies, all the single ladies
All the singe ladies
I glanced at Ren, an eyebrow raised. We both looked back in the window and were quite surprised with what we saw: Kelsey and Astra were both up on the little catwalk, still in their ball gowns, dancing. Not dancing, really, but more like swaying their hips with their hands raised above their heads. They both had huge grins on their faces. The cashier was literally drooling on his counter. I smirked. Amateur.
We looked back at them.
Now put your hands up
Up in the club
Just broke up
Doing my own little thing
You decided to dip
And now you wanna trip
Cuz another brother noticed me
I'm up on him, he up on me
Don't pay him any attention
Done cried my tears, for three good years
Ya can't be mad at me
They were still dancing.
"Have you ever seen her doing something this carefree?" Ren asked me. I shook my head. Ren was right: I had never seen her doing something this carefree, even before she was kidnapped. She had always been so reserved, so this was nice to see.
Cuz if you liked it then you should have put a ring on it
If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it
Don't be mad once you see that he want it
If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it
They bought the gowns and Ren and I hastened to get out of sight before the walked out of the store. We continued to follow them.
They went to a pretzel stand in the mall. Astra got a cheese filled pretzel and Kelsey got a spinach and feta pretzel. That's Kelsey: always trying to be healthy. They sat at a table, quizzing each other on book characters, their purchases sitting on the floor under the table.
"I go first. Tell me the perfect couple from the book," Astra said, "We'll start with Hunger Games?"
"Katniss and Peeta, of course," was Kelsey's reply.
I shared a glance with Ren. We had never heard of these books. He shrugged. We went back to eavesdropping.
"My turn," from Kelsey, "Nine Lives of Chloe King?"
"Chloe and Alec. Twilight Saga?"
"Screw Edward, Bella and Jacob all the way baby!" Kelsey and Astra smiled. "Maximum Ride?"
"To hell with Dylan, Max and Fang," They smiled again. "Vampire Diaries?"
"Elena and Damon. Secret Circle?"
"Cassy and Jake. Iron King?"
"Ash is a wimp so Megan and Puck. 1-8000-WHERE-R-U? I like the names vanished better though," from Kelsey.
"Jess and Rob. Mortal Instruments?"
"Jace and Clary. Fallen?"
"Lucinda and Daniel. If Cam wasn't evil, I'd want him, though," from Astra, "Firelight?"
"Jacinda and Will. Gallagher Girls?"
"Zach and Cammie. Heist Society?"
"Kat and Hale. Shiver?"
"Grace and Sam. Lunar Chronicles?"
"Cinder and Kai. Song of the lioness?"
"Alanna and George. Protector of the small?"
"Kel and Dom," Kelsey lowered her voice, "Did you notice that Ren and Kishan have been following us since we left the house?"
"Yes. I did. They're hiding behind a potted palm tree and a bench."
They glanced out way. Ren and I turned beet red and turned around starting to walk away when Kelsey said something. "There gonna keep following us so let's show them something they weren't planning on seeing huh?"
"I like the way you think, Kelsey Hayes," Astra replied with a smirk in her voice.
We turned back to face them. They ignored us.
Kishan POV
Once the finished their pretzels and sodas, they continued on through the mall. We didn't try to be not seen, but hung behind them. Kelsey and Astra continued to ignore us.
"Now, let's do hot actors." Astra said.
"Alright, um I'm starting at the bottom. Joseph Morgan," Kelsey replied, "Your turn."
Astra: "Paul Wesley."
Kelsey: "Ian Somerhalder."
Astra: "Taylor Lautner."
Kelsey: "Benjamin Stone
Astra: "Grey Damon."
Kelsey: "A young Daniel Craig."
Astra raised an eyebrow and then said: "Chris Evans."
"Chris Hemsworth." Kelsey countered.
"You like 'em sexy don't you?" Astra smiled.
"Yeah. With British or Australian accents." Kelsey laughed.
Kishan and I looked at each other, eyebrows raised. I made a not to myself to look those men up later. I brought my attention back to them. They were walking another store.
They went into store after store until they had so many bags they could barely carry them. Kishan and I finally went up to them and asked if we could hold something.
"We can take care of ourselves, thank you very much," they said at the exactly the same time.
We ended up going in the car with them anyway: we were sure to turn soon.
All the way back they were blasting music. When ever a sad love song came on, the changed it to something like this:
Miss independent
Miss self-sufficient
Miss keep your distance
Miss unafraid
Miss out of my way
Miss don't let a man interfere, no
Miss on her own
Miss almost grown
Miss never let a man help her off her throne
So, by keeping her heart protected
She'd never ever feel rejected
Little miss apprehensive
Said ooh, she fell in love
If you would like to see what gave me inspiration for the dresses in this chapter, message me and i will direct you to where you can find them. As this story progresses, any time I describe clothes in great detail, you can go to link i will provide in the message and find pictures there. Also, a picture of Astra will be up there too.