-Rima Goes Goth, Part 1-

I looked through my closet to find something to wear for the day of play I had ahead of me. As you know, my mother likes to buy most of my clothing for me, meaning I usually look like an orphan from one of those movies when they get adopted by a rich family and wear dresses all the time. It's really annoying since that's no where close to my style. I HATE pink and sparkles and such. Not only does she pick my clothing, but she styles my hair for me all the time with a curling iron. She tells me,"Ladies always have perfect little curls", which isn't true since she hardly ever curls her hair.

"Ugh,"I sighed,"I HATE these clothes!" I sat on my bed with my bath robe on, looking into my closet. "I don't wanna dress like this anymore." I looked up at my dresser and stared at my piggy bank. A smile slowly spread across my face as I stood up and slowly made my way towards it. I grabbed it off my dresser and opened the bottom, letting the money fall out on the carpet. Quickly, I collected the cash and counted it.

"Whoa," I giggled. I had saved up over two hundred dollars in the past few years. Since my parents always gave me money for my everday activities, I had never been tempted to use my savings. I pushed the money down into my robe pocket and rushed to my closet again, putting on a pink and black striped hoodie, plain black skirt, black over-the-knee socks and my neon pink converse. Grabbing the money from the robe pocket and my cell phone, I headed downstairs. My mother stopped me beforeI could go, handing me a five dollar bill, adding to my funds. I ran out and opened my cell phone.

"Hello? Fanlair!"

"Hey Chum Chum! I'm coming over. Is that okay?"

"Of course Rima. See you soon." I dialed Kyle's number.

"Conjurer speaking. Who's this?"

"Rima! Gosh, get caller ID." He laughed.

"What do you want, Rima?"

"Meet me at the Fanlair, please. I need you today." He sighed, probably cuz he didn't wanna be at the Fanlair.

"Fine,"he breathed before hanging up. I finally made it to the building the water tower sat on and began climbing the fire escapes. Once at the top, I knocked on the door and was greeted quickly by a smiling Fanboy. I giggled.

"Were you waiting at the door for me or something?,"I laughed.

"Maybe...,"he giggled. I entered and sat on the couch next to Chum Chum.

"Kyle's on his way too,"I told them,"I sorta need your help with something today." The boys eagerly smiled at me.

"What is it? WHAT IS IT?,"they asked. I shook my head.

"I'm not telling until Kyle get's h-" When they heard a knock at the door, they practically flew to in, knocking each other over to answer it. Finally, Fanboy reached his hand to the door knob to open the door. Kyle watched them fight and roll around infront of the door. I ran over quickly to break up the fight. "GUYS! Kyle's here now. I can tell you! STOP FIGHTING!" They both stopped and looked up at me. Quickly, they stood up and dragged me to the couch, sitting me down.

"TELL US! TELL US! TELL US!,"they chanted. I giggled. Kyle sighed as he sat next to me.

"Yes, why did you call us here today?,"he asked. I cleared my throat.

"Well,"I started,"You know how my mother dresses me and stuff?" They all nodded. "Well, I was looking through my savings and realized I had over two hundred dollars! I wanted to go shopping today to dress in a new style, but I don't know how I should dress. I never had the chance to choose before." The boys looked at each other in thought.

"Why don't you dress like us?,"Chum Chum suggested,"You can call yourself a cool name too!" Fanboy nodded in agreement. I bit my bottom lip, trying to figure out a way to tell them "no" without hurting their feelings.

"Uh...I think you and Fanboy would out-shine me though,"I smiled,"You guys really make that look hard to beat." They blushed. Kyle held in a laugh.

"Thanks,"Fanboy replied. They thought again. The room was really quiet for a few minutes before Fanboy spoke again."WHY DON'T YOU DRESS LIKE KYLE?" I looked at Kyle's clothes. Well, not really since his cloak covered everything. I've always like gothic style though, but I never thought I could pull it off.

"I don't know...,"I said,"I don't think I would look good dressing like that."

"I think you would,"Kyle said to me. I rolled my eyes, knowing he just wanted me to support his style. But eventually, I gave in.

"Fine...,"I sighed,"I'll try some stuff and see." I stood up and headed to the door. I noticed the boys were trailing behind me and turned around. "You guys are coming with me? You know I'm going shopping, right?" They nodded. I held in a laugh as I headed out.

The mall, a place I'm hardley ever seen in. I'm never here unless I'm back to school shopping with my mother. So it was kinda weird being here with my three friends walking behind me, two super heroes and a cloaked wizard. They followed me closely, fearing they would loose me in the crowd of normal people. I walked into a dark store that sported lace clothing and chained bottoms in the display windows. Loud rock music played inside and customers stared at the preppy pink girl that just walked in. A woman walked up to me. Her face, home to many different piercings and a face tatoo. Her hair, home to every color of the rainbow. She was very pretty though. Her name tag read the name "Red".

"You lost?,"she asked me, revealing a tounge piercing. Fanboy and Chum Chum hid behind me. I took in her appearence before shaking my head.

"No,"I replied,"I-I wanted to be here." She laughed.

"Dude, chill,"she said to me,"No need to be all formal and crap." I smiled at her. The boys smiled at her as well.

"Oh, sorry."

"No worries. Whatcha here for?,"she asked me. I pointed to my clothes.

"See these?" She looked down and nodded. "They need to go. NOW!" She laughed again.

"I can help you with that,"she said through her laughter. She lead me down a few aisles, pointing out the latest trends and handing me a few items in my size. I took the pile of clothes into the dressing room and modeled each one at a time. There was this one pair of pants I really liked. It was decorated with zippers, pins and chains. Red applied some gothic make-up on my face, clipped in some colored extensions and smiled down at her work.

"You've got really nice eyes,"she told me,"You should dress like this more often. You looked horriable when you entered the store in that pink and black thing. I smiled back.

"Yeah, I wish,"I replied,"My mother-"

"Oh gosh! Yours too? I just had to tell mine that this is how I wanted to dress and she can't tell me otherwise. I've been dressing this way since I was fourteen." My eyes grew.

"Really?"

"Yup. I'm twenty two now sweetie. You've gotta stand up to that woman. I say, you go home like this in your new clothes. That way, you can show her the style and let her get used to it and stuff." I nodded at the idea.

"Sure. I-I'll do that!"

"Yeah! All right!,"she laughed. After I purchased my items, I walked out, waving goodbye to Red. She waved back. "You've converted Rima! See you later!"

Kyle smiled at me as the boys walked me home. He stared down at my outfit. The chains on my pants jingled and glittered, casting beams of light to shine in his eyes. I sighed.

"Will you stop staring at me!,"I shouted at Kyle. He looked up at me.

"Get used to it,"he said to me,"People will be staring at you everywhere you go now." Fanboy and Chum Chum nodded.

"Yeah, we can't stop looking at you either, Rima,"Chum Chum added. I shrugged, knowing they were right. Really, the only thing on my mind as I walked was how my mother would react to my new look. I know my father wouldn't mind my sudden change, but my mother was just such a DRAMA QUEEN. She would probably flip out or faint or something like that. I turned to the boys as I reached my house.

"Well, this is it,"I sighed. They all gave me concerned expressions.

"Do you want us to go in with you?,"Fanboy asked. I thought for a moment before shaking my head.

"No, I can do this myself. Thanks." They headed off in different paths, leaving me to face my parents. Alone.