A Simple Life: Chapter 162 (Patreon)

The drive to the thrift store was just plain fun! With Winona driving, Kayla in the passenger seat, and Briar and I in the cramped back seats of Winona’s truck since we were the two smallest the four of us joke and giggle and dance in our seats and sing our way through Haven Point. The funniest part was when we Kayla, Winona and I were singing along with an old Shania Twain hit when at just the key moment the other two stop without warning to leave me to belt out the title lyric, ‘Man! I feel like a woman.’, all by myself. I blush like crazy as the others whoop and cheer and laugh uproariously. It was all so so silly and stupid and wonderful! We weren’t even at the store yet and already we were having the time of our lives.

Every head turns as the four of us enter the shop a bit too boisterously for a quiet Thursday night. The scowl from old Gary the security guard sets us to giggling but we do settle so as not to make a nuisance of ourselves. With my not so affluent upbringing combined with the fact that Grandpa loved to browse through the knick-knack section the island’s second-hand shop was more familiar to me than any of the other clothes store on Ehkolie. For the others however it seemed to be a great novelty. Right away Kayla and Briar excitedly start talking about all the myriad of interesting things the store possessed. Winona however stayed right at my side, her hand resting upon my shoulder as we walked. She knew what this moment meant to me. I look at her with a smile to find that she was already smiling back.

My mouth dry and my heart drumming I walk straight past the men’s section and make the left hand turn down the first of the two long aisles of women’s fashion. Only two steps in I stop in my tracks to peer left, right, and down the row that stretched off to the other end of the store. All the expressive colors, all the soft fabrics, all the daring patterns, all the creative styles, all the frills and lace and buttons and baubles and all the other things you rarely saw along the men’s racks surrounded me and, for a moment, overwhelmed me. Where do I even begin?

With a tentative hand I reach out and very lightly stroke the material of a shiny blue dress. So sleek. So beautiful. I look to Winona and smile. She was already smiling back.

“Come on, Avery.” Kayla takes my hand. “Let’s find your size.”

Leaving Winona behind me Kayla and I hurry down the aisle until we are past the larger sizes and down to stuff that might fit me. We’d barely stopped when Kayla had a pastel green sun dress off of the rack and was holding it up to my body. I blush though my smile could not be contained.

“Nice.” She nods. “Hold it.” Taking the hanger I keep it held to my torso as Kayla smooths the midsection around my belly then leans back to look me up and down. “Mmm. I think you’re a petite.”

“She’s tall for a petite.” Says Briar as she catches up to us. Winona strolled down the aisle at her own pace, her eyes locked on me.

“Only 5’4”.” Kayla says. “Unless you’ve grown.”

I giggle as I remember the time a couple of years back when Kayla and I compared heights to see who was taller. It was close but she won. “I haven’t g-grown.”

“She’s slim. Small titties.” Kayla nods. “Yeah. I’m just saying petite sizes are an option.”

“Yeah.” Briar agrees.

I look back and forth to make sure nobody was looking then allow myself to pet my free hand down the front of the sun dress. “This is n-nice.”

“There’s way nicer.” Kayla takes it and returns it to the hanger and starts walking her fingers down the line. “I’ll find you something better, babe.”

“Slow down, Kay. We’ve got all night.” Winona says. Pulling the green dress back off of the rack she drapes it over her arm. Leaning in she kisses my cheek. “Take your time, baby. I’ll get us a cart.”

“Th-Thank you.”

As hard as it was for her Kayla bottles her enthusiasm for the moment to allow me the time and space to get comfortable. First I just touch the clothes. Feeling them and imagining myself in them. Then I start to pull the hangers apart to get a better look at the items that interested me. Unlike Kayla I give each and every garment a good look before moving onto the next one. Each of them was a treasure to my eyes. There were so many pretty things here. So many possibilities. Stopping at an elegant pure white halter dress I knew I’d found something special. It was backless and shoulderless with straps the went from the breasts to cross each other before looping around the neck to be tied behind it. At the waist it would fit snugly then hug the hips and thighs before draping down to the ankles a bit more freely.

“It’s beautiful.” I whisper, my fingers stopping just short of touching it. This was no mere dress, it was the gown of a lady.

“Damn, Avery. Your shoulders and back would look SO good in that.” Kayla says. “Really classy.”

“It’s not t-too long?”

“I don’t think so. And I could hem that, easy.” Briar says. “Super easy.”

“Really?”

“Mm hm.” She nods.

“Oh.” Again I look around for onlookers. When I don’t see anybody I find the courage to touch it. Treating it like the true gown that it was I lift it and hold it up in front of me. “D-Do you think Althea would w-wear this? I was gonna go with g-green but…this is so beautiful.”

“Oooo! Yeah.” Briar says. “Throw a green cloak over that and a few other things and yeah, totally a nature mage.”

“It’s not v-very…adventurey.”

“You’re a mage. Mages wear what they want.”

“Mmm.”

“Even if Althea won’t, baby girl should.” Kayla runs her hand down my front. “I think that’ll fit nice. Damn, bestie. Looks hot already.”

“Th-Think so?”

“Let’s ask the expert.”

“What is this? What is THIS!?” Winona says as she wheels our cart up to me, her eyes wide as they see the dress. “Ohhh my!”

“He he he!” Turning toward her I hold it over me. “What d-do you think?”

As I turn to face her though I catch sight of an older lady peering back at me in the next row over and giving me the most disapproving scowl. In a second the dress comes down, my head bows, and my heart is filled shame. I was even using my girl voice when I asked that! How humiliating!

Kayla is at my side in a flash glaring right back at the woman. Winona turns to face her directly. “Is there a problem, lady?” With the venom she poured into that word ‘lady’ she might as well have said ‘bitch’.

“Oh my.” The woman’s eyes widen in surprise as they dart back and forth between Kayla and Winona. “No problem.” Fumbling with her glasses that were hanging from a chain around her neck she brings them to her face and slips them on. The moment her spectacles were in place her face relaxes and I discover that her scowl had actually been a squint. She looks at me with a sheepish grin and says. “Sorry. I couldn’t help taking a peek.” Leaning over the rack she whispers. “I thought it looked lovely on you.”

All the hostility and embarrassment from a moment ago is gone in a puff to be replaced with a shared laugh.

“Th-Thank you, ma’am.”

With smiles all around she returns to her shopping and we return to ours. We fawn over the white dress for a little longer before I add it to the cart for trying on later. As I browse through the dresses I soon realize that I was the only one doing so.

“Um. Aren’t you g-guys gonna shop?”

“We will.” Kayla says warmly. “Just not yet.”

I look around at each of them feeling so very grateful to have them here tonight. For them this was just a fun cosplay expedition for our FoF game, but each of them understood that it was so much more than that for me. There were other customers in the store, though thankfully not too many, but with Winona, Kayla, Briar, and now this friendly lady in the next row over I felt like I was in the center of a big protective cocoon of love.

Chapter 163