Artemis and Parkerâunder resident supervisor permissionâbegan to make their way toward the second level of the female dormitory. Her eyes darted ahead as she studied each door. After passing a few, and some female students that stood and stared in awe at the forbidden presence of the boy, they stopped in front of Chara's room.
Artemis rattled her knuckles against it. After a few seconds, she knocked faster, harder. Parker held her wrist back.
"Calm down. I think I hear her coming," he said. Artemis sighed, crossing her arms. Calm down?
"How can you be so relaxed?" she said, combing a hand through her hair. She glared at Parker who stood with his usual carefree exuberance. Finding a missing person was a race against time. And the sophomore was wasting it. "Chara!"
"What?" Chara said, emerging from the door with her cellphone propped against her ear. Her eyes widened when she focused on the two people before her. "I'll call you back, Wallace." She flashed them a wide smile after sliding the device in her pocket. "Hey, guys! Anything I can help you with?"
"Yes," Artemis said, her eyes narrowing on the girl. "Tell us where Miren is."
Chara's smile faded into a frown. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she said, averting Artemis' glare.
Parker rolled his eyes at Artemis' interrogation approach. "Look, do you know where Miren is?"
Chara stared at Parker, her hands falling to her cheeks in mock shock. "Oh no! Miren's gone?" she said, Â trying to play dumb. "This is awful." This was awful. Miren was gone for a week and she already had a search and rescue team after her? She really was popular--just in the worst way possible.
"It is," Artemis said, her voice now calmer. "Do you have any clues? When did you see her last ?"
"A few days a go," Chara said truthfully. "God, I can't believe this." And she couldn't. This could be bad. Part of the passable factor of Miren's new alter ego came from the fact that no one was looking for her. Now that people were, there was better chance someone could recognize her.
Especially since she was hiding in plain sight.
Chara gulped, inhaling the hostile air through the cracks of her teeth. "I'm sorry, but that's all I have." She was almost surprised that lying came so naturally. But then again, she didn't know them that well. She knew Parker because of the obvious, as for Artemis...she didn't care. Not when the popular girl was a perpetuator of Miren's suffering.
"Oh." Artemis gave a reluctant nod. "Well, thanks anyway for your help. Please let us know if she contacts you."
Chara smiled. "Will do." She turned to Parker. "I hope you guys find what you're looking for."
Parker nodded as the two of them left. Waving a modest goodbye, Chara's smile disappeared once they were out of sight. Retreating to her cellphone, she dialed for Miren.
"Hello?"
"They're on to you!"
**
There wasn't much Miren could do at the moment.
In the middle of The Glove, which was just shorthand for The Gloveria Mall, Miren felt like she was in a daze. The clothes were distractingly pretty, the lights were blindingly bright, and she kept on having a reoccurring dream that she was in the mall with the populars. Wait.
This was actually happening.
She was trailing a little bit behind the group, which consisted of Jemma, Klondike, and a girl she didn't know too well named Theodora. Well, it's not that she knew any of them all that well, but she knew Jemma and Klondike as the over-exposed populars that ran their respective schools. Theodora, a girl of medium height with strawberry-blonde hair and abnormally long eyelashes, was new territory. But so was her new identity.
"Let's go here!" Jemma said, gripping Klondike's arm as she dragged him into a designer dress store. The group played follow the leader, entering Beverly's Boutique. Jemma's eyes fell against a teal sequin number. She ran up to it, pressing the dress over her slim form. "I love it! It'll be perfect for homecoming," she said, her eyes trailing to the tag. "It's my size and it's practically a steal!"
Klondike scanned the tag. "Seven hundred dollars for a dress? Think of all the food you could buy!" the burlier male said, before shrugging. "But sure, I like it. Go for it."
Miren's face fell. Seven hundred dollars? She was forgetting that she was the only one with actual problems here. That kind of money was probably pocket change to them.
"I like this one," Theodora said, taking a one shoulder, carnation pink gown off a rack. "What do you think?"
"That'll be perfect for you!" Jemma exclaimed, the rush of shopping clearly going to her head. The two fled into changing rooms.
"So boring..." Klondike mumbled, stretching his arms as he circled the space. Miren couldn't help but agree with him. The store was too girly; the walls were a mixture of purple and pink, there were crystal chandeliers above them, and enough decoratively framed mirrors to constantly remind Miren that she wouldn't fit in here even if she wasn't dressed as a boy.
She stood her ground, wondering why she had agreed to come. Why Jeno would even agree to this. Maybe he didn't, she couldn't help but conclude. Jemma, although having a somewhat sultry vibe to her, was still a teenaged girl. Teenaged girls liked to shop with company. Miren was company.
She would have skimmed through the garments, just as an attempt to cure her boredom, but looking at items that were out of her price range seemed like a hurtful waste of time. Shopping is a waste of time...
But then she saw shoes. Propped on a lighted display was a pair of the most beautiful black velvet heels Miren had ever seen. She abandoned all reservations and gazed at them in admiration, her hands skimming over the soft fabric. She loved shoes because they were harmless and objective. If the shoe didn't fit, it didn't fit. It wasn't personal. Jeans and dresses, on the other hand, made you feel fat and devastated if they didn't. Then again, Miren didn't have to worry about trivial girly problems.
"What are you doing, Miles?" Klondike said, approaching her. She froze in place, shoes still in hand. That's right, she had boy problems. Like the fact that most boys didn't affectionately caress velvet heels.
"Uh...just admiring the design..." she offered, as she gritted her teeth, trying to think of something to say that wouldn't make the situation worse. "...They look like something my mom would like. I'm a bit of a momma's boy." She closed her eyes, cursing herself out internally. Momma's boy? What the fuck? Why don't I just break my own nose?
Klondike raised an eyebrow, though his brown eyes seemed more disinterested than disgusted. "Whatever," he said, shrugging. "I'm bored to tears. How long does it take for girls to try on dresses?"
Funnily enough, Miren couldn't remember. The last time she went shopping like this was for her eighth grade prom. With Penelope. She shook her head, blocking it out the bittersweet memory.
About a thousand years later, the girls emerged from the dressing room. "Don't we look fabulous?!" Jemma said, strutting like a supermodel in the blue sequin dress. And she could have been one. She had the height. The only thing working against her was her defined curves on an otherwise slender frame. But her boyfriend didn't seem to mind. He wrapped an arm around her, kissing her a little bit too passionately in public on the lips. But she didn't mind either.
Theodora turned to Miren. "What do you think?" she posed lightly, before twirling. "How do I look?"
Miren smiled. The dress complemented her hair and tan skin well. She was dressed in light, sunset-like hues. "Like a princess."
The girl beamed, flashing a bright smile. "Thanks. Cute shoes."
"Those are cute," Jemma said, turning from the lip-lock. Miren's smile intensified until she saw her reflection. She was a boy, dawned in her Rinzen uniform, carrying a pair of heels. That she couldn't afford. She set them down, trying not to feel mortified.
"You look amazing in that dress," Jemma complemented her friend. "You need to buy it!"
"I don't know..." Theodora said shyly.
"C'mon, I'm sure Jeno will love it!"
Miren fought the urge to scoff. Jeno loving something? But then something hit her. How the hell does he have a girlfriend?
"Okay," The polite girl agreed after a while. Jemma cheered, swinging Theodora's arms.
"Now lets go change and pay," she said, moving toward the changing room with Theodora. "We'll be a while."
Klondike groaned. But Miren was fine with that. Anything to prolong returning to Rinzen.
Or Jeno.
***
"I don't know why you don't like him," Jemma said into her phone, bringing her key to her door. She entered the dorm room before kicking off her shoes, which skidded against the floor in random directions. She tossed her bags next. "He's cool, and it was really nice of him to come when you didn't."
"He was merely a replacement," Jeno said on the other line. "Besides, you know I hate shopping. Especially with you."
"Sorry," she said derisively. "Thought you might need something so I invited you along. Guess I'm going to hell, right?"
"I could find better reasons," he considered.
"Anyway, I just get a really good vibe from Miles. He's cool. And he has great taste in shoes."
Jeno winced. He was afraid she'd say something like that. "Did you notice anything off about him?"
Jemma shrugged, kicking her feet in the air. "Well, he doesn't seem as stuck up as everyone else. But he said he's a scholarship student. And he's also kind of scrawny. I mean, his voice hasn't even cracked completely. But not every guy can be Klondike."
Jeno rolled his eyes. That didn't explain it. That didn't explain why his roommate rubbed him the wrong way. There was something about being a recluse for yearsâsomething about being an avid observer of human behavior for so long that made him question Miles' authenticity. Even though he honestly didn't want to care.
Sensing her brother's silence, Jemma decided to fill it. "Whatever. Just give him a chance. He's no Dylan. So he can't be that bad."
And maybe Miles wasn't. But despite Jemma's conviction, he couldn't be convinced that easily.