On Saturday, Claire woke up at 10 o'clock and was picked up by Heather an hour later to meet their other girlfriends at the mall.
She had completely forgotten, and neglected, the fact that if it weren't for her father, she would be sat in a full day detention right now as punishment for the very thing she planned to do today.
The girls always met in front of the water feature at the mall, and quickly greeted each other when they had all arrived.
"I'm so excited for tonight. Like, I could barely sleep last night because I was so excited," Steff explained to them all as they began to head towards their favourite stores.
"Me too, I've been planning exactly what I want to wear in my head all week," said Benny.
The girls darted through the various other shoppers, going about their usual circuit route of the ground floor of the mall. Their first stop was through a large archway painted in white to match the inside walls of the store. Just above the arch, emblazoned in white glowing lights, was its name—Ralph Lauren.
"This would be so cute with your complexion, Claire," Heather said as she picked up a white shirt closer to the back of the store.
"Isn't that a mans shirt, though?" said Steff.
"Yeah, but who cares about that? Try it on, Claire!"
Claire gave a tight smile and took the hanger from Heather, eyeing its label. Her friend had picked her out the smallest size, and she was unsure it would even fit past her hips. While the others weren't looking, she quickly replaced it for the size up.
Realistically, she didn't have anything to worry about in terms of her figure. She had a boyish frame, with small features all over, and the smallest waist of all the girls. Even so, she kept up a vigorous diet and work out regime to remain in good shape.
In the changing room, Claire's fears were only heightened when she left her cubicle wearing an ensemble that consisted of the white shirt and a matching tight, white skirt.
She turned in front of her friends, who were all sticking their heads out of their cubicles to get a look, and then looked at each of their faces. Heather seemed to be attempting to hide a grimace.
"I don't think white on white works," she said.
"Yeah, and you can see your underwear through that," Benny added.
"Well, obviously I wouldn't be wearing a pink bra if I wore this. But I kind of like it," said Claire.
"It's up to you, really, but, like, I personally wouldn't buy that outfit and I'd advise you not to," Heather said, then closed her curtain again to finish trying on her clothes.
Claire's face visibly fell.
"Is it really that bad?" she asked, turning again to look at herself in one of the mirrors.
"I just don't think white skirts ever look good, you know? But that's just, like, my opinion," said Steff, "but if you want to wear that, don't let us put you off. I, personally, would wear trousers with a shirt like that. Did you try on the one we picked out for you?"
"Not yet."
"Try that before you make any decisions."
Steff gave Claire a smile, some attempt at comfort, then headed back into her own changing cubicle. Claire did the same a moment later, but once the curtain closed behind her she stared at herself for a long time in the mirror.
If her friends didn't like the outfit, then surely it didn't look good on her—even if she thought it looked great. Surely she shouldn't buy it. They were just looking out for her, after all.
She tried reassuring herself this as she discarded the skirt and slipped into the light pink trousers that Heather had insisted she tried on with its matching jacket. Immediately Claire rolled the sleeves up past her elbows and leant down to cuff the ankles of the trousers, attempting to put some of her own personal style into the ensemble. But before she could show the outfit to any of her friends, Benny had emerged from her changing room and was insisting that all the girls came to see what she had picked out.
She was wearing a pastel yellow mini dress. It had a high neckline and loose, short sleeves, highlighting her slim arms. Unfortunately, Benny had a short neck and short legs, and the dress made her look more stumpy than its desired effect.
"Well?" she demanded as she turned again.
Benny had the worst temper of the whole group. All of the girls knew better than to break the bad news to her.
"I love it. Do you?" Steff said quickly.
"I do. I've changed my mind, I want to wear this tonight."
"It's so cool, Ben, so you," Claire said, lying through her teeth.
"I know," Benny replied, unable to take her eyes off herself in the mirror.
"Is that the pant suit we gave you, Claire?" Steff asked.
"Yeah, I just put it on."
Claire stepped out into the room, and the girls all gasped in excitement. Except for Benny, who only glanced up briefly to get a quick look.
"You look like you just stepped out of the stores catalogue! So cute!" Heather said, her voice high in excitement.
"You have to wear that tonight, it looks amazing. So much better than the skirt," Steff said, adding in a 'sorry' when Claire's brow furrowed slightly. Steff left her changing room, clad only in a bra and jeans, and circled Claire to get a look at her outfit in full.
"Oh my god, your butt looks amazing!" she exclaimed, causing Claire's face to glow in bright red.
"Okay, okay, I'll buy it. Now stop looking at my behind!" she said defensively, then hurried back into her changing room.
Later in the day, with all of their hefty weekly allowances spent, the girls gathered in the food court with their shopping bags pooled at their feet. Each of them had a smoothie, size small, and already Heather was complaining about already being too fat to get away with treating herself like this.
"James is so going to dump me if I get any bigger," she whined.
"You're not fat at all!" Claire said.
"I so am, I have thunder thighs."
"No, you're just pear-shaped. Claire's the same," Steff said, looking to Claire for some justification. Claire wasn't so sure she enjoyed being likened to a pear, but she nodded anyway.
"I just get so, like, self conscious when we have sex, you know? Like I'm gonna crush him by accident," said Heather.
"Oh, shut up, you would never. Every guy on the football team knows how lucky he is to have you as a girlfriend," Benny said, "so if he ever gets weird about the way you look, remind him of that."
"Speaking of sports, can we talk about the deal with Claire and Andy Clarke?" Steff said, nudging Claire's elbow. Claire took a large gulp from her smoothie to avoid talking.
Big mistake. Brain freeze.
"Ouch," she moaned as she rubbed at her head.
"Come on, Claire, we saw him talking to you the other day and you never told us what he said!" Steff said. Heather was still sulking at the other end of the table.
"Because it wasn't important, really. Nothing's going on," Claire responded, finally, once recovered.
"That's such a lie. What did he say?" Benny said.
"He just asked if I was going to Stubby's party, and I said I didn't know, because I didn't. Then he said he'd see me there if I decided to show. End of conversation."
Steff made a squealing noise in excitement. The girls all tended to do that a lot.
"He so likes you! Do you think he'll make a move at the party?"
"God, I hope not," said Claire.
"What is with you and guys, Claire? You never like any of them back. You're not a…a lesbo, are you?" Benny said, whispering the last question and glancing around to make sure no one around had heard her.
"No! Of course not! I just… I don't know, I'm not interested in anyone at school."
"Maybe you'd change your mind if you kissed Andy Clarke," Steff said in a sing-song voice.
Claire smiled, and shrugged her shoulders.
"Maybe. We'll see what happens tonight."