Two months have passed, and now our heroes are in a clothes shop looking for the suits and dresses they'll be wearing. Even though there was plenty of time before the dance came around, they thought it best to be prepared. They were mainly looking instead of buying. Most importantly though, they needed masks. They were in a place called Needle And Thread, which showcased a wide variety of clothing.
Cream's P.O.V.
There were some pretty nice dresses around. Needle And Thread was a relatively new place, but opened a few weeks before Chili Out did, so we know this place better. Today I was wearing an orange shirt, beige jeans and beige shoes too. Me and the girls had separated from the boys. I was with Rouge, Sally, Amy and Shade looking around at dresses. Tails was with Sonic, Jet, Shadow and Knuckles, and they were on the hunt for some suits and tuxes. Blaze and Silver were here too, but they already picked out what they were wearing to the dance and were busy making sure they were kept on reserve.
There are two levels to this place, separated by stairs, but there is also a small elevator for people who were too lazy to use the stairs. Downstairs had more basic clothes, just normal t-shirts, jeans, slacks etc. But upstairs had more elegant clothing, thus the dresses and suits. Both levels had grey tiled floors, and also cashiers spread about on both levels. I laid my eyes on a lovely dress; it had a light brown colour, and the skirt was rippled as it went down. There were two thin straps that went over the shoulders to keep the dress attached.
"Looks nice huh?" I heard a voice from behind me say. Then the person behind that voice snaked his arms around my waist and kissed my neck lightly. I felt a bit more at ease once I realized it was Tails. I turned slightly and noticed he wore a striped green t-shirt, and each stripe was a different shade of green. He also wore blue jeans and black shoes.
"Tails? I thought you were with the guys?" I asked him.
"I was, but I wanted to check up on you. Besides, I picked out the suit I want, and I asked them to ask to keep it on reserve until the next time we're here," he said.
"That's a bit mean," I said with a smile.
"I know. But I wanted to spend more time with you. So sue me! Anyway, that dress looks beautiful doesn't it?" he asked me again.
"Yeah, it really does. But it'll probably be one of those extremely expensive dresses that I won't be able to afford," I complained, which he laughed at.
"Well then, let's look at the price. I'm sure it can't be that bad," he said, walking over to the dress to inspect it. He found the price tag hanging off the back of the dress, looked at it and grimaced.
"What? Is it that bad?" I asked him.
"Not unless you'd call the price of $200 bad," he said back. I just stood there with my mouth agape. I couldn't believe it. The dress I wanted and it cost so much. I never had much money with me as it was, but this was like pouring salt into the wound. He beckoned me over to the dress so I could see it for myself. I lifted up the price tag and saw that Tails was right. Then I looked down and hung my head, feeling a bit let down.
"Hey, don't worry about it. If you want, I can pay for it," he suggested.
"Really? You'd do that for me?" I asked him, not believing my ears.
"Of course. It won't take that much out of what I have anyway," he said.
"Where are you gonna get all that money?" I asked him.
"I've been saving up since I got pocket money. I actually have quite a lot as it goes. I think I have roughly $950, but I lost count. Could be more, could be less," he replied with a confident tone in his voice. I couldn't get over how nice it was of him to do this. I walked up to him and kissed him right on the lips. He soon returned it and wrapped his arms around me. I returned the gesture, but then we heard someone clear their throat and we stopped and looked to see Silver and Blaze.
"Are we interrupting anything?" the purple cat asked. She sported a purple long sleeved shirt, purple jeans, and white shoes.
"Nothing at all," Tails replied with a bit of anger in his voice.
"Find anything you like?" Silver asked. He wore a grey t-shirt with what looked like a chalk outline design on it, blue jeans, and black sneakers.
"Well yeah, but the price is a bit high. Which is why it's a good thing Tails is paying for it!" I said with a chuckle, also getting a laugh from the others.
"So, how come you two are going to the dance? Do you have dates?" Tails asked Silver and Blaze.
"Well, we decided to go together, but as friends. Nothing more," Blaze replied.
"I don't think you need dates anyway. I think you just need to show up if you're there," Silver said offhandedly. Then I saw Blaze look at him with a harsh glare.
"If that's true, then why are you two going together?" Tails asked them. Then Silver and Blaze had a huge look of fear on their faces.
"Well, because we're friends. We have been since we met, and that hasn't changed," Silver replied.
"Yeah. We're just good friends," Blaze said, affirming what Silver just said.
We were about to carry on the conversation, but we heard a loud excited squeal from elsewhere in the shop. We went to investigate and we saw Sally jumping up and down excitedly. She wore a light blue t-shirt, black jeans, and brown boots.
"Sally? What are you so excited about?" Tails asked, walking up to her.
"Look at this!" Sally shouted, trying to calm herself. We saw her holding a piece of jewelry. It was a nice looking spiral bracelet, and had a silver gleam to it. It curled around twice, and at each end was a little ball, both of which were also silver.
"Find something you like?" a voice asked. We turned to see Sonic walking up to us with a bag in his hand, which had his suit in it I guessed. He wore a red shirt with a Japanese dragon all around it, along with blue jeans and red sneakers.
"Yes Sonic! Here it is," she said, showing the bracelet to the blue hedgehog.
"Wow, that would look amazing on you! What's the cost?" Sonic asked, with a noticeably skeptical tone.
"Hmm... only $10. That's not that bad, right?" she asked.
"Not at all. If my lady wants the bracelet, then my lady shall have the bracelet!" Sonic said, which made Sally even happier. She then hugged him tightly.
"Sonic... I love you," Sally said, with tears in her eyes.
"I love you too," Sonic said back. But there was something about the way he said it that made him sound like he was holding back.
"Shall we got get this bracelet?" Sonic asked Sally.
"Yeah, let's!" Sally replied, and they held hands on the way to the cashier to pay for it.
"It's amazing how much they've been through together. Three good years since they met now. I guess things might be better if they could spend more time together in school," I said, offhandedly.
"True. It really is amazing how love works," Tails said, smiling at me. I just blushed and smiled back, when a thought popped into my mind.
"Hey, Tails?" I asked him.
"Yeah, what is it?" he asked back.
"What happened in France?" I asked him.
"Well, a lot of things really. There was all the sights we got to take in, the new food we tried, and we were confused with the language. Good thing that Knuckles was there. Why?" he replied.
"I mean, did anything serious happen in France?" I asked him again. He slapped himself on the head as if he felt stupid for not understanding me the first time I asked him.
"Oh, I get ya now! Yeah, we all tried alcohol for the first time ever. Tasted good over there," he said.
"Did anything bad happen while you were over there?" I pried.
"How do you mean?" he asked back.
"Did you get drunk?" I asked him.
"We all got a little drunk. But it's not something we plan on doing again anytime soon," he said trying to assure me, but I had a feeling there was more. I decided not to pry though.
"Well, as long as nothing serious happened, then that's okay," I said with a smile.
Then I heard a vibrating in my pocket and pulled out my yellow and brown phone and saw that I got a text from Rouge.
"We're all downstairs waiting for you. We've gotta head to class right now!" it read, then I closed my phone and told Tails about it. He nodded in affirmation and we both went down the stairs that lead to the bottom level.
"I wonder if that dress can stay on reserve for that long," I thought aloud as we picked up the pace to get back to the school.
"It will be Cream, don't worry," Tails replied, making me smile again. Then I started feeling a pang of guilt about it, which he seemed to have notice.
"What's wrong?" he asked as we left the front of the building.
"It's just that... I'm still worried about how much it will set you back. I mean, are you sure you don't mind about this?" I asked him.
"I really don't mind. I have plenty of money Cream, so if someone else bought it, I'd pay for thrice as much just to get it back. Trust me, you're going to look beautiful," he said, smiling at me. He offered his hand for me to hold, then lifted it up to his face and kissed it, making me blush.
"Tails... thank you so much. But I know that money doesn't mean anything when I have you," I said to him, which made him smile and blush. Then in a move I didn't expect, he put his hands on my sides, lifted me up and twirled me around for a bit before setting me back down.
"I'm glad to hear you say that Cream. I really don't need money when I've got you," he told me. He then checked his watch, noticing we had little time left until our next lesson. Then he took my hand again and we started making a run for our lesson.
So that's another chapter wrapped up! Sorry for skipping time, but I didn't wanna drag it out too much. Also, Tails shed some light on what happened in France, but that wasn't all, as you can plainly see. Until next chapter!