Chapter 7

"Hey, Talon."

Katarina stepped out of the bushes with Riven and Jinx following close behind. Talon glared at his sister for a long moment before asking, "You've been there for a while, haven't you?" His voice was flat.

The redhead shrugged unashamed. "More or less. Just saw you though."

The 'bird girl' cleared her throat. "I-I need to go," she said. "I'll see you later, Talon." She pecked the boy's cheek before darting off to class. Katarina scoffed. "Pathetic little girl."

Talon glared daggers at his sister. She held up her hands mockingly. "Oh, whoops," she snickered, "That's your girlfriend, I forgot."

"Hey, what was that girl's name?" Jinx suddenly piped up, oblivious to the tension between the Du Couteau siblings. "Katarina called her bird girl but I don't think anyone would name their kid that. Even I wouldn't, and I'm crazy!" She giggled.

"Her name is Quinn," Talon said hotly. Jinx nodded. "Cool. Anyway, can we go somewhere? I am sooooo bored."

Katarina held up her hand. "Just a moment. Talon, I don't exactly have anything against you dating her, but you know dad hates the Crownguards and Lightshields. Quinn is basically related to them. He isn't going to like it when he finds out."

Talon snorted. "Says the girl who made out with that hunking Crownguard. You sure know how to follow your own rules."

Katarina flushed. "It was just once! It wasn't anything!"

"And now you're coaching with him," he retorted. Katarina silently fumed, her face red as a tomato. "Let's go," she said tartly, turning on her heels quickly. "Have fun with your Quinn, Talon."

Riven sighed. "Those two," she said. "They're never going to stop."

Jinx tutted. "Well, let's do something NOT boring."

Katarina tapped her chin. "Oh, I know! We can go dress shopping. For prom!"

"For what now?" Jinx asked. Katarina stared at her. "Prom? You know, the big dance?"

"Never seemed important," Jinx shrugged. "But I guess. Since it's only once."

Riven gaped at her. "Um, okay, well...yeah! Let's go to the mall," she said, linking arms with both girls. "We can talk about dates on the way. I'll drive."

"So, who's going to ask you out?" Katarina asked Jinx. "Kinda tough getting into school and then there's prom. Not many people, huh."

Jinx shrugged, "Well, who do you suggest? I could always go with Fishbones and Pow Pow."

"How about that Ekko boy?" Riven asked. Jinx looked up. "Ekko?" Momentarily she thought of the boy in a crisp tux and blushed slightly. "I dunno."

"Oh, he'll definitely ask you," Katarina smirked, noticing the blue haired girl's blush. She turned to the white haired driver. "You think Yasuo's going to ask you to the dance?"

"Oh uh…." Riven pondered for a moment. "I don't know. For some reason he hasn't talked to me as much. I feel kind of s***, not being noticed." She blushed. "Is that weird?"

Katarina rolled her eyes. "The guy's probably trying to get the balls to ask you out."

Jinx laughed. "You want me to talk to him? I can do that. He's that weird paintbrush guy, right?"

"His hair isn't that weird," Riven defended. Abruptly she changed the subject, targeting her red headed friend. "What about you? Like Talon said, Garen's like, the only guy you haven't rejected. Plus, you guys always seem to have so much fun coaching together."

"I dunno," Katarina bit her lip. Jinx wiggled impatiently. "Are we there yet?" She complained. Her two companions laughed. "How is she going to survive trying on dresses?" Katarina snorted. Riven chuckled. "I guess we'll find out."

"C'mon, Jinx, this is the first store. I think you'll get a dress real fast. Do you have any preferences?" Riven coaxed on as they strolled into the shop.

Katarina pulled out a turquoise dress from a nearby rack and held it up to Jinx. "Nah, it blends with your hair…kinda," she dismissed it. Jinx shrugged. "As long as it covers what needs to be covered I think it's good."

Riven eyes brightened. "How about this?" She bent over and picked up another dress, handing Jinx a traditional red Chinese dress. It came down to just below her waist and shimmered with faint gold lining. "It'd look cute on you."

Jinx held up the dress, inspecting it. "I'll go try it on!" She giggled, racing over to the dressing rooms.

Moments later, Katarina and Riven were struggling to contain their laughter as the stood outside the door listening to Jinx try to put on the dress. She could be heard bumping clumsily against the walls as she struggled to put the dress on.
"Why is this so hard?!" Jinx wailed. "Wait, wait, I got it!"

She stepped out of the room. Her friends gasped. "It looks great," Katarina smiled. Jinx twirled her hair. "It also came with red lace," she said. "I think I can find something for Fishbones and Pow Pow too. And I think I wanna dye my hair!"

"Really? What color?" Riven asked skeptically. Jinx pulled on her side bangs. "This will be green, and everything else will be black!"

Riven gave her a thumbs up. "Sounds good! Alrighty, now to the next store!"

Jinx groaned. "What? There's more? And before I thought I took foreverrrr."

Riven slapped the girl's arm. "You selfish child," she teased. "At least be supportive."

The blue haired girl shrugged. "Eh." She began twirling her long blue braids boredly. "You know, you can help me to pick a dress," Katarina called behind her as they walked into the next shop. Jinx grinned. "Really?"

"Well, yeah," Riven laughed. "That's why we're here together. To help each other."

Jinx stopped walking.

"To help each other," she repeated. It was odd, why those four words felt so familiar and heartbreaking. She felt a hand on her shoulder. "Hey," her white haired friend said gently, "You good?"

Jinx shook her head, brightness returning to her eyes. "Yeah I'm good," she grinned. "I'm going to find you a dress that'll blow 'em outta the park!"

Riven shook her head, smiling. "I don't get you," she sighed, "But that's ok. Anyway, oh, how about this dress?" She held up an emerald dress. Jinx shook her head. "Too normal. Ew. Doesn't really fit ya"

Jinx sifted through the racks, peeking over at Katarina who was picking through the clothes, musing, "You're probably the only one who could pull off a dress that matches her hair." She sounded almost normal for once.

Katarina blinked. "Um, thanks?"

Jinx laughed loudly, attracting the attention of other mall goers in the store. "Y'know, you guys are really, really weird."