Chapter 6: The Window Shopper
A few miles away from the school, the Royal Woods Mall stood proudly in the early summer sun, occupied by customers of all ages. Within its open, air-conditioned spaces, countless shops and restaurants lined the grounds, and calm ambient music from the 1980's filled what little silence existed in this space of commerce and communication.
Perhaps, out of all the shops which inhabited the mall, it was the department store known as Reininger's that attracted the most customers, and as such, needed the most employees. Among the workforce were mostly young people; teenagers, college kids, and other youths who desperately needed the extra cash for their own personal endeavors. While most of them were relegated to front-line positions in order to serve the customers better, the few sent to the backrooms stayed in the dark, performing unseen duties that kept the store in working order.
Leni Loud, just so happened to take one of these rare backroom positions. he sat at a dimly lit desk with a sewing machine and other tailoring tools, and to her left were piles of torn and damaged clothing donated to the store by charity organizations of varying levels of credibility. To her right were neatly folded stacks of restored fashionwear, which were occasionally carried away by one of her co-workers to the department store proper.
However, there was something quite peculiar about Leni's workstation; the sewing machine remained unplugged, and ever since she had been transferred to this position, the sewing kit and the threads of yarn remained completely untouched. Since she always went above her quota of two hundred clothing items every day, however, this was left unquestioned by her superiors.
"Alright…this is number…uh…four-hundred and ninety-nine? Yeah. Just this last one and I'm done! Whoopee!" She cheered to herself, grabbing an orange blazer which seemed to be covered in scratches and tears. Leni felt its surface for a moment, and as she grasped the inner lining, she was surprised at the sheer softness of the fabric. "Oooh! Velvet lining? This must've been a custom order! I love it." She commented, before laying it down on the table and cracking her knuckles.
As she raised her arms, a ghostly pink needle appeared at her left fingertips, floating in front of her palm, while on her right hand, an orange ball of yarn began to unravel itself. From over her shoulder, her Stand, a feminine figure dressed in a white full-body unitard, covered by orange, pink, yellow, and magenta diamonds, towered over Leni, crossing her arms as she observed her Master at work.
At a blistering speed, the ethereal needle and thread whizzed through the air, looping and stitching the damage done to the blazer quicker than any sewing machine on earth. Her fingers moved in sync with the ghostly materials, and Leni acted like a conductor ordering her Stand to precisely reconstruct every fiber, every thread lost in whatever mishap the previous owner of this jacket had gone through. As the yarn intertwined with the blazer, it appeared to be an obvious stitching job for a moment, before blending into the smooth fabric as if her Stand had sent the flashy fashionwear back in time.
"Yay! Five-hundred clothes! Thanks, Deee-Lite." Leni got off her stool, and high-fived her Stand, who returned it with a smile. "You had it in you, mon cheri. How about we get some smoothies to celebrate our…how do you say, early dismissal?" She spoke in a distinctly French accent. "Oooh, good idea. Just gotta let Miss Carmichael know–"
She was interrupted by a door opening before her, and there stood the very manager she was speaking of, clad in her typical blueish-grey business attire and an orange ascot. "Leni! How goes the restoration work?"
"Oh, I just fixed five hundred clothes, Miss Carmichael! Including this snazzy blazer…I wonder why anyone would just throw this away." She picked up the restored jacket, before placing it on a hanger rack next to mountains of neatly-folded clothes.
"Five-hundred?! Wow. I'm sorry you don't get to be up front like when you first started here, but I don't know what I'd do without your tailoring skills." She let out a smile, clasping her hands as she looked to the 'new stock' of clothes ready for sale.
"No worries, Miss Carmichael. As long as clothes need to be fixed, you can count on me. Uhm…is it okay if I clocked out early today? I know it's only two o'clock–"
"-Oh, Leni, of course you can! You've done more than enough today. Go on now, I won't stop you."
The fashionista let out a gasp. "Thanks, Miss Carmichael! See you tomorrow!" She walked triumphantly out of the backrooms, into the locker room where she and other employees kept their personal belongings. Approaching her locker, she turned the dial on her combination lock in a hasty manner, and as it came loose, she heard her phone vibrating within the steel container. "Oh–" She picked it up, and held it against her ear. "Hello?"
On the other end, Lincoln stifled his laughter and answered; "Hey, Leni, it's Lincoln. Ronnie, uh…got cut pretty badly. You think you can help her with that?"
"Oh no! Is she okay? Did you go to the school nurse?" Leni's eyes widened from the shock. "Yeah, we did. We got it bandaged up but Ronnie Anne doesn't want her mom to see it. Could you meet us at the house and fix her up, please?"
"Totes! I'll meet you guys there. Stay safe, Linky! And tell Ronnie Anne I said hi!"
"Cool! See ya later, Leni!"
They hung up simultaneously, and Leni put her phone in the purse she had stored in her locker. As she slid the device in one of its hidden pockets, she felt a piece of plastic brush against the back of her hand, and pulled it out. "Sunflower seeds? Oh yeah, I bought these before my shift! Healthy and tasty." She happily dropped it in her dress' left pocket, and zipped up her purse.
After hanging it on her shoulder, her Stand walked up to her locker and secured it for her, clicking the combination lock as she proceeded out the back door, which led into one of the mall's hallways. Strolling down the white-tiled space in her t-rex gait, she hummed the bassline to a catchy dancefloor tune as she made her way to the escalator leading to the first floor. During her short trek, she couldn't help but notice that the plants potted in concrete boxes began to wilt. 'Aw, poor little guys. Why don't they take care of them?' She thought, eyeing the fading ferns which were supposed to give a sense of freshness to the mall.
As Leni reached the escalator, she couldn't help but notice the thrift store across it, and so she turned her attention to the ever-changing items placed in the window display.
Curiously, there appeared to be someone else gazing into the store's selections; it was a young black man, sporting a loosely-fitting red buttoned-down shirt and a pair of black jeans that accentuated his slim form. Donning a pair of thin-framed glasses and a high-top fade, the fashionable young lad appeared to be enamored by the secondhand clothes and relics of the past. He appeared to be eyeing a brown and black winter coat, worn by a mannequin older than both him and Leni.
'Hmm…he looks familiar. But I don't think I've seen him in school before…' Leni thought to herself, walking up to his side.
"Not bad–oh! Yo, didn't see you there." The stranger mumbled to himself, before noticing the local artisan. "Sorry to bother you, but…have I seen you before? I pass by this store all the time and, uh…you just look familiar."
"Me? Familiar? I just moved in this morning, y'know. And I don't think we've met. I'm Rodney." He put a hand on his heart and smiled, making Leni return the friendly expression. "I'm Leni. So, you're pretty new in town…there seems to be a lot of new neighbors these days. Wonder why."
"Heh. Beats me. Hell, I don't even know why my family decided to move here. Somethin' 'bout my big brother's business."
"Really? What does he do?"
Rodney simply shrugged his shoulders. "Eh. Whatever pays the bills." He looked to her dress. "Y'know, I like your 'fit. It's pretty, uh…retro. Like some kinda '50's fashion sense. That's pretty cool."
Leni gasped. "Really?! That's totes what I was going for! I made it myself, too."
"Get outta here. You made that?! With tailoring skills like that, you could make your own boutique!"
She blushed at the praise. "Oh, stop it, Rodney. You're way too kind!"
"Nah, nah. I know talent when I see it. Hey, is that why you check out this store? For inspiration and stuff?"
She hadn't really thought of it like that. The truth was, Leni had been visiting that store because of the abundance of cheap fabrics she could use to form her creations. "Uhh…yeah! I do get inspired by the wacky things people bring here. Can you believe people just give away cool clothes like that?! I could never."
"To tell ya the truth, I couldn't either."
For a moment, Leni looked to the escalator, then back to Rodney. "Wanna get some smoothies? They got a special deal on Orange Creamsicles!"
"Oooh! Sweet. Let's go, Coco Chanel." He chuckled. "But my name's Leni–oh, never mind, I get it." She giggled, and the two walked towards the escalator. As Rodney led the way, however, a boxed indoor plant which they had passed by suddenly began to grow, its verdant luster restored at a moment's notice. They even overhung the concrete pot's edges, making Leni turn her head for a moment, looking at the plant with a skeptical look. 'Huh. Wasn't that plant dying a minute ago…?' She thought, as they stepped onto the descending escalator.
"So, you come to this mall a lot?" Rodney asked, leaning against the escalator's rails to face Leni. "Like, all the time! I mean, even before I got a job at Reininger's. My siblings and I love this place."
"Siblings? How many you got?" He raised an eyebrow as the two neared the ground floor. "Ten."
The young man's jaw dropped. "Ten?! God damn, that's a lotta kids." He exclaimed, and Leni chuckled as they got off the escalator. "Well, only half of us are still kids. The rest of us are teenagers!"
"Yeah, I figured, but still…I thought havin' three was a lot. Like, how do you guys financially stay afloat like that?"
"Well, my dad runs a restaurant, where we all help out once in a while. My mom's a dentist technician…and Lisa helps Nasa do science stuff!"
"Woah, woah, NASA? What does she do there?"
"Uh…I dunno. Something about physics, I think." Leni scratched her head, and a part of her was ashamed that she couldn't explain or understand her little sister's part-time job.
"Ohh…damn. You folks got it good. My big brother dropped outta college last month, y'know. He got caught sellin' blunts in the dorm bathroom! Dumbass." He shook his head as they proceeded towards the smoothie bar.
"Blunts? What's that?"
"Weed. Marijuana. That kinda thang." He stepped forward to open the glass door for Leni, who gasped and whispered to him; "But…isn't that illegal?"
"Exactamundo. I stopped growin' em, though, so don't worry about it." Rodney whispered back, as the two fell in line within the store.
"So you're a gardener, huh?"
"I prefer the term botanist."
"What's the difference?" She scratched her head, moving her sunglasses a little. "A gardener helps plants grow. A botanist knows every little thing about plants. How they grow, what they do to other plants, and how they can help us."
"Oh, I get it! So like, a plant scientist?"
"Yeah, pretty much–Oh, should we get the medium or large?" Rodney asked, as they drew closer to the front of the line.
"Hmm…"
After approximately one minute and thirty seconds of Leni holding up the line, the two eventually received their Creamsicles and walked out of the store, rejuvenated by the mixture of vanilla ice cream and orange soda. "That's a pretty fuckin' good milkshake."
"I know, right?! Totes the best drink in Royal Woods!" She smiled, before checking her phone for the time. The screen, whose background was filled with a photo of Leni hanging out with her best friends, read "2:30 PM". She gasped, before stopping to turn to Rodney. "Oh, crap! I gotta go home–I promised I'd help my brother with something–"
"-Woah, woah, chill out, Len!" He paused her panicked speech. "You gonna take the bus or somethin'?"
She gave him a suspicious, confused look. "...how'd you know that?"
"Well, if I had a car, and I had to go somewhere real quick, I woulda taken out my keys by now." He pulled into his pocket, and procured a gold-plated keyring, attached to it were two shiny keys and a rabbit's foot.
"Oh my gosh! Is that–how could you do that to that poor bunny?!" She shouted at him, pointing at the lucky charm with rage and sadness. Rodney froze, and his hands began to shake before he looked to what she was shouting at.
"Huh–wait, no! It's synthetic! Made outta plastic, see?" He tapped at the rabbit foot's paw, which made a hard, hollow noise. Leni's rage dissipated instantly. "Ohh! I get it. But why'd you even put that thing?"
"It's my older brother's car, okay? I just had to borrow it 'cause he's too busy cooped up in the damn house working on his–whatever the hell he's supposed to work on. Look, let's not waste any more time. I'll drop you off at your place, alright? Just tell me the directions."
"Totes! First, you gotta make a left, like out of the parking lot…" She began to explain to him the entire route as they walked towards the exit, and Rodney rolled his eyes. 'When I said, tell me the directions, I meant in the car! Man, she's cute, but she sure ain't the brightest bulb in the box.'
"...and then the third left on Arthur Steet, which leads us to Franklin Avenue! That's where I live." Leni finished her instructions as they had finally reached the parking lot, and Rodney paused for a moment. "Hold up. Franklin Avenue? We live on the same street! Shit, and here I thought I was gonna forget your directions." He looked to her for a moment, before leading the way into the grids of parked cars.
"Really? Wow, what a coincidence!" She smiled, but as what little cogs in her head began to turn, her eyes squinted at the fashionable young man.
'Wait a minute…we live on the same street? And he's new? I thought only one house got moved into…unless–'
Her thoughts were interrupted by the very car which Rodney unlocked; the very same Chevrolet Impala which rode down their street in the previous morning. She dropped her jaw as her brain attempted to coherently express her feelings, however Leni was stuck in a mental deadlock.
'Chris is Rodney's big brother…and he's probably an adult…I almost had an illegal relationship! But it's crush so it doesn't count, right? How do I tell this to Lola? I don't even like Rodney in that way and it'll be, like, so weird to be in his car–well, it's not his car, but Chris' car—AAAA!'
Her hazy thoughts were interrupted by the starting of the Impala's engine. "I get you like the car, but we should probably get going." He leaned over from the driver's seat, and opened the passenger side door for her. "Oh–good idea." She climbed into the lowrider, and as she shut the door, Rodney reversed the six-four, pulling out of the parking lot with ease.
As they made their way to their street, Leni leaned away from Rodney, gazing out the window with a slight frown. "Hey–" The botanist looked to her as they stopped at a red light. "-what's buggin' ya?"
Leni exhaled. "The truth is…I met your brother this morning. He's…really cute. I mean–I don't wanna push myself onto him 'cause, like, he's an adult–but I didn't know that, okay?! I thought he was my age."
"Woah, woah. How old are you?"
"Sixteen."
"Shit, you just dodged a bullet there. He's twenty-three. But as it turns out, I'm sixteen too. I'm not sayin' we should hook up or whatever, but it's just a neat little thang, y'know? A convenient coincidence."
"Yeah, that's–that's good to know."
The rest of the drive home was rather silent; they had held each other's tongues not out of a lack of conversation; the reality was that the awkward energy brought about by teenage hormones had caught up to them. Leni and Rodney were, by no measure, socially inept, but when two equal forces act upon the same object, the object does not move. The only thing which broke their silence was the modified radio between them, which lightly played soul music unheard of by Leni's suburban ears. As Rodney turned a corner, he began to sing along;
"Mem'ries of the things we did, some we're proud of, some we hid…"
"Oooh…groovy. Who made this song?" She asked, bopping her head to the rhythm. "Marvin Gaye. It's a classic."
"Gay? One of my sisters is gay, too."
Rodney chuckled. "Which one?" He asked, turning into their street. "Luna. She's big into music, too."
"That's nice. Y'know, one of these days, why don't I introduce myself to your big-ass family? I mean, if it's alright, that is. I don't wanna crowd up the house and all."
"Really? I-I mean, sure! I'll just let you know when we're available!" She replied with a nervous chuckle as they pulled up to the front of the Loud House. Lana and Lola could be seen peeking out the windows, with Lisa precariously trying to get a look at the lowrider.
"Y'know, I think your sisters are real excited to see you right about now. Either that, or they love my ride." He commented, unlocking the passenger door. "Maybe it's a little bit of both. Thanks for the ride, Rodney!" Leni smiled, and he nodded his head. "No prob. If you need me, I'm…over there." He pointed to his house as she stepped out of the car, and as she closed the door, Rodney drove down the block.
The young fashionista could only sigh, placing her hands in her pockets as she saw the Impala pull away. To her surprise, an alien sensation brushed against her left hand, and she jumped up in shock, letting out a yelp as she emptied her dress' left pocket, its contents falling to the middle of the empty road.
"Ew, ew ew! What was that?!" She wiped her left hand with a tissue from her purse, before looking to the object which laid flat on the road. "Leni, are you okay?" Lisa asked, as she and the twins ran out the front door. The tailor girl kneeled on the ground for a moment, and picked up the clear packet of sunflower seeds, which was now penetrated and proliferated by sprouts.
"How did–guys, my sunflower seeds grew! Look!" She showed the three the anomalous flora, and Lisa was the first to react. "When did you purchase these?"
"This morning! I passed by Flip's on the way to the mall and they seemed alright…"
"I dunno, sis. Flip kinda has a thing with…selling old food." Lana added. "But–how'd all of 'em sprout? Miss Jameson taught us that plants need water, sunlight and soil–" Lola commented.
"-Which is why I will need to take these sheeds into my lab. How could they possibly grow while wrapped in packaging? It doesn't make any sense…" The tiny genius said, nabbing the seeds and eyeing them intently.
"Maybe Rodney had something to do with it."
The three looked up to Leni. "Who's Rodney?"
