The biggest problem, April was quickly finding, was that everything you might have gotten your sister for her twelfth birthday would suddenly be an insult to her maturity on her thirteenth birthday. When he'd heard that his mother was going to allow his sister to pierce her ears, the obvious present had been a pair of earrings. But, after visiting that store, Claires, the whole thing was beginning to look impossible. One pair of earrings was all he needed, and there were hundreds of them. On top of that, he had absolutely no clue what kind of earrings she'd like; she'd never worn them before! As for the rest of the stuff in that store... It was overwhelming, how many accessories girls had to have. Earrings, necklaces, rings for fingers, rings for toes, sunglasses in various colors, belts and key rings and a milllion other things there was absolutely no use for. And everything had to match PERFECTLY, or else the whole outfit was a total disgrace. He had no idea what was in his sister's closet, and he didn't exactly keep track of every shirt and pair of pants she'd ever worn.
Not to mention, April knew he was a bit useless when it came to fashion, male or female.
"I'm a failure at being gay," he groaned, slouching onto a convenient leather couch intended for allowing shoppers to rest their weary feet.

OOC| I work at Claire's!! Heeheehee!! I have to know every piece of useless crap in that store! I also own half of it! But, I'm going to reply to this post because I didn't re-post to that other Rp I got pissed off in. Then again, I was beaten to it. |

From the depths of the Claire's store, a young blonde girl escapes the bondage of the nine to five life. Or rather, Tessa hurried away from her part-time job once her shift had ended. She had nearly made it out when she was caught by the woman wearing the square, orange Manager tag.

"Tessa, you have to stop alienating the customers. It's fine to have good grammer and a large vocabulary, but please! Little kids don't even know what 'accessories' means!"

"Then why are they purchasing them, Dale?" Tessa paid attention a bored manner, watching a group of kids try on sunglasses while she was reprimanded. But at this last comment, she slid her dark brown eyes over to look at her boss's face.

"Because their parents have money! Oh, just go.." Hastening to get away from her worker, the manager hurried away and disappeared back inside the store.

Tessa stood there for a moment as if to digest this information. She then began to move quickly, half-jogging out of the store. She made it into the mall, and from there slowed down. She walked normally towards the leather couch, and frowned as she saw someone sitting there. Giving no concern to this, she launched herself over the back of the couch and landed in a cross-legged position. She shifted about to get more comfortable, and pulled a large, leather bound notebook from the huge patchwork bag she carried.

OOC| I warn you, Tessa is my first mortal character in awhile, and I'm only trying her out to see how I like her. She hasn't undergone any fine-tuning yet. |

((meh, I'm still messing around with April, myself. Do what'cha can.^-^))

The girl came from behind, very quickly, and April swore his heart stopped for a second or two when she thumped down next to him. Although he was staring at her in utter surprise like any normal person would, she was paying him no mind while fetching a fancy notebook from her pack.
He blinked, and politely looked away, but not before noticing the Claire's nametag ((she's wearing one, right?)) on her shirt. Hm... maybe she'd be able to impart some advice upon him as to what he should buy. But he didn't know her, so asking would probably be rude...
Ah, what the heck. He'd been here for three hours already, he was tired, and getting desperate. If he asked her, the worst she could do was glare, say something snippy, and leave.
"Excuse me, miss? My name's April, and, I was wondering if you could help me with something."

OOC| Yes, she is. Square and pink with the words 'Sales Associate'. And if she's anything like me, it's scratched in one corner. |

Tessa didn't even notice his stare. She was used to it by now, getting odd looks for her attitude, her language, or her clothes.

Today, for instance, her clothing was semi-formal, adhering to the dress code of her employers. However, she was still dressed in an esscentric manner. Her pants were black silk, clinging to her but giving her freedom of movement. Her top was a cream peasent blouse, large but held down by her make-shift belt. Instead of wearing one of the many belts she helped sale, she had a long strip of material wrapped around herself. It was a white and pink stripped pattern, but faded and frayed. It was wrapped around her waist and lower body several times, finally tied on the side in a large knot, with the ends still falling to her knee and ankle. In all, the look was vaugely pirate-ish.

She had been digging around in that bag of hers when April spoke. She looked up, shaking her head slightly to get her caramel hair out of her eyes.

"I'll lend my assistance if I can, April. My name is Tessa."

He had lucked out! She was friendly, and offered him a smile as she shoved her notebook back into her bag. She had a feeling this would take awhile.

((ack, descriptions. Wish I could say more, but I'm running low on creative juices at the moment... I like Tessa's ensemble, btw.
Pirates... yummy.^-^))

April returned her smile with a warm one of his own. "Thanks. I'm trying to find a birthday present for my sister, who's turning thirteen, and... well, I'm a guy," he finished lamely, as though that explained it. "I can deal with pre-teen gift shopping, but now if I get the wrong thing she'll hate me forever. Or at least until next week..." He shrugged, and absently adjusted fiddled with watch on his left wrist. "So, I need some female advice. Is there anything I should definately AVOID getting...?" For the moment, he wasn't sure if he was amused or annoyed by his current semi-hapless state.

OOC| That’s alright, I tend to run amuck when describing outfits. I’m interested in clothing design, so I can get carried away. :) And I agree.. Pirates are very yummy.. |

“Well…” Tessa made a funny little face as she thought. “First of all, is she an athletic girl, or a feminine one?” She asked, turning to face April and to lean back on the arm of the couch.

“Because that will make all the difference. And does she wear jewelry, does she have pierced ears?” Tessa was mentally running through the stock she had sorted that afternoon, dividing it into age categories.

((Ooo, cool profession! I like fashion, I just can't put it together and make it work all that well. *laughs* I'm a jeans-and-t-shirt kinda girl. ))

April's laugh came out dry. "I'd say a little of both. Her passion sport is basketball, but she's getting more into the girly stuff. As long as it's not too feminine, I think that for a thirteenth birthday it's my safest bet." Internally, he was impressed. He didn't know many girls, so for all he knew they could all classify fashion as easily as Tessa was, but for the moment he was thanking whoever it was upstairs that had sent this particular person to sit next to him on the couch. She knew her stuff extremely well, and that knowledge was making the gift-finding task look all the less imposing.
"She's getting her ears pierced on her birthday, so she doesn't have any pairs of earrings yet. I'm not to sure about the jewelery, but I think she's getting into those little round-bead bracelet things." Raising his eyebrows and running a hand through his long hair, he chuckled, "I'm really making myself sound more inept by the minute, aren't I?"

OOC| Unfourtantly, my tastes are also too rich for my blood.. I'm very much a jeans girl, but I'm reduced to creating only the very cheap things I come up with. |

“Only slightly.” Tessa smiled again. “If the whole fashion thing is too difficult for you, you could always just get her a puppy.” She said, only half jokingly. “That’s what I’d like.”

She bounded to her feet, her rather long ponytail bobbing around behind her head. “Let’s go see what we can find!” She seized April’s hand and pulled him to his feet. Her fresh perspective on the situation allowed her an enjoyment in it. She was switching into tiger-mode, where she hunted out her desires in an unusual, passionate enthusiasm.

April groaned as she hauled him up. "A puppy? You've got to be kidding, my mother would kill me... Fashion works fine, thank you very much." Tessa looked very animated now, and there was a happy sparkle in her eyes. Well, at least one of them was looking forward to power-shopping. Maybe some of that enthusiasm would wear off on him.
As though to prove it already had, he smiled brightly and asked, "Ok, where to first?"

"Aww.." Tessa said with mock disappointment. "I was hoping we'd get to go to the pet store! Actually, it's probably a good thing we're not, the creepy sales clerk there has a crush on me." She wrinkled up her nose, which properly displayed her feelings on that subject. She then turned herself to answering his question. "Not there.." She said, pointing to Claire's, "Because by now Dale's probably found out that I didn't do half the sorting I was supposed to today." She stood still for a moment, still holding onto April's hand. "Let's go.. Well, wait a minute. Are you getting her clothes or jewerly? Because if you're getting her jewerly it's probably best if we go to one of the gold shops. You could get her a locket or something nice, that'll make her feel grown up."

April grinned evilly. "Are you sure you don't like him back? Denial is the surest sign of love." He laughed, then considered her question for a minute. "Jewelery, I think. The locket sounds good; my biggest dilemma was getting something that didn't imply I thought of her as a little girl." Not that he did; she'd always be his little sister, but in his opinion she was quite mature for someone turning such an awkward age. She was currently in middle school, and as far as he was concerned it had been the absolute worst phase of his life so far. "I looked at some gold necklaces and so one earlier, but I don't remember where."

“No!” Tessa shuddered. “He likes feeding the poor little mice to the snakes. And he has a unibrow.” As if that was proof enough for anyone, Tessa considered the conversation closed. “Let’s try the Gold Factory first. They have really pretty things, and most of them aren’t too expensive.” She continued as she led him down the middle of the mall. She walked quickly, slightly in front of him and still holding his hand as if he might try to get away.

Once inside the quiet little shop, Tessa greeted the dignified old man tending to it as if she knew him. She then requested to see the gold chains and pendants, and he disappeared into a little room to bring back out a small revolving display case.

“These we just got in.” He said, setting it down on the glass display case. “We haven’t had a change to offer them to the general public..” He looked over his horn-rimmed glasses at the two of them. “But for you and your friend here, Tessa.”

April whistled in approval. "Nice. Very nice." Twisting the display case around, he examined the different necklaces inside. There were a few decorative crosses, various shaped charms and lockets with varying degrees of engraved decoration. Finally he picked out and requested to see three: a heart-shaped locket, a round pendent with an intricately spun gold thread design on it, and regular round locket with a simple rose in its center.

“Good eye!” The storekeeper said approvingly. He opened the case and retrieved the three necklaces in question, placing them on a slightly inclined, black velvet covered board to be examined.

Tessa ran her fingertip over each chain and it’s load, before carefully picking up the simpler, rose decorated locket. “I like this one.”

"I liked that one, too," April agreed. "It doesn't look like a little girl neclace, and it's not covered with glitter like the rest of Briget's jewelery." He picked it up off the cloth and hung it from his fingers to watch it twirl. "She hasn't been wearing much of those things lately, and I think all that sparkle is the problem; I'm under the impression she thinks that it's too childish for her now." He grinned. "Of course, she'll probably start wearing it all over again when she gets to high school."

"Probably." Tessa said with a roll of her eyes. "Airplanes stopped flying over my high school because all the glitter was confusing the pilots, Mr. Johnson.. They thought they were being brought in for a landing." She said to the storekeeper. The rather biting tone of her voice, one which she'd never used before now, aptly displayed her dislike of high school and it's occupants.

Mr. Johnson gave a little chuckle. "I see.. Now, that necklace," He changed the subject for fear of the sour look now darkening Tessa's otherwise golden features. "Is 24 karat, so with proper care it will last a lifetime or more. However, I have simliar versions in 12 karat, which may better suit the pocketbook of a young man like yourself."

"Got me pinned, don't you?" April laughed. "Yeah, the 12 karat's probably closer to my price range." Similar versions, the man had said. April thought he'd like to see what he was buying before he bought it. "Could we take a look at some of them?"

Tessa's intrest was spent now, she moved a little off down the display case to examine the fancy watches. Mr. Johnson replaced the necklaces they were looking at in their case and retrieved another one. He spun it around, then opened it on one side. He took out a necklace and handed it to April. It oval instead of round, and the rose etched into it was slightly different, but it was still very close to the other they had been seeing.

"And this piece costs.." {{Um, I don't really know pricing for fine jewerely, so let's just say he names a reasonable price. =) }}

The cost was a little more than April had been intending to pay, but he liked the necklace enough that it didn't bother him. He made his purchase quickly, having noticed that his shopping helper was wandering off to examine other things. After paying and collecting his recipt, he joined Tessa at the watch display case.
"Mission accomplished," he told her, holding up the small bag with the necklace inside. "Thanks; without your help I would have been here for another two hours, at least." Checking his own watch, he decided that he still had some time for himself before he'd have to leave. "Now that that's out of the way, is there any place you'd like to visit, or are you heading home?"

Tessa looked up as April came over. She listened to his question, then shook her head. "Nope, not really.. Unless of course you'd like to show your gratitude by buying me a watch.." She joked, pointing down at the golden trinkets encased in glass.

"Sorry, my pockets are empty," he returned, grinning at the humor. "Shame, really, I was hoping to visit that art supplies shop downstairs ((assuming they're on the second floor)) and get some things." He chuckled. "My art teacher told me I'm using up too much paper and pencils, so I have to stop mooching off of her stock and start buying my own."

"Do you go to D.H.S., too?" Tessa asked as she waved goodbye to Mr. Johnson. "I would use the art supplies at school, but I only paint, and I don't like the crappy acrylics and scruffy brushes they have there." There was also the fact that she hated using paintbrushes that so many other people had used and abused.

April nodded his agreement. "I took the Acrylic Painting class last year, and I know what you mean. The brushes look like they haven't been replaced since the school was opened." By now they had left the jewelery shop and were walking aimlessly through the mall. "I prefer drawing, myself, especially people."

"I've tried drawing.. But something about the pencils I'm just not comfortable with. I prefer oils.. Actually, I've told a lie. I've started trying out charcol sketching, I'm enjoying that. Scenery, people, animals.. Anything. Lately I've become facinated with rendering my room mate, Harrison. Which he finds disturbing." She said with a laugh. "Who's your art teacher, Mrs. Shelley or Miss Smith?"

"My teacher's new to the school, actually, her name's Ms. Grant. She's got the strangest sense of humor, but I like how she doesn't take nonsense from anybody." April thought of the look she'd given him the week before, when he'd arrived late to class the day after skipping school. "But she's not strict, and pretty understanding about life outside of school in general, so I hope she sticks around. Her talent for drawing is just amazing," he added, smiling in admiration.

“Cool..” Tessa says with an approving nod. “I have Mrs. Shelley. She’s a bitch. And she can’t draw or paint or anything, she even admits it. She sews and makes quilts. I mean, I sew as well, but if she can’t help all of us, I don’t know what she’s teaching us for.”

Tessa seemed to be about to say more, but as they neared the escalators, a tall, wiry man appeared at the top of the ‘Up’ escalator. When Tessa noticed him walking over to her, she smiled. “Harrison! Strange seeing you at the mall…”

“Hey, cousin!” He replied, giving her a playful bear hug. “Who’s your friend?” He asked of April when he let Tessa go.

While Tessa was dressed erratically, Harrison was much more sleeker. He wore jeans that were faded and worn to that perfect point of comfort. His shirt was white and peachy-pink stripped, and above that he wore a brown leather jacket. He hadn’t shaved that morning, and his hair was tossled.

"April," he introduced himself, holding out his hand. "So you're Harrison? Tessa mentioned you. She's been graciously helping me birthday shop for my sister." Now that he'd seen Tessa's roommate, he understood completely why she had taken a liking to drawing him. His looks, though not out of the ordinary, had character, the kind that practically shouted 'draw me!'.
Remembering how Harrison had greeted Tessa, he asked, "Are you two related?"

“Yup, this here is my little cousin. Otherwise her mother would never dream of letting her live here alone with a guy, while she’s in LA. Speaking of shopping… Tess, sweetheart..” His voice developed that wheeling tone people usually developed when they wanted something. “I need to borrow fifty bucks.”

Tessa stopped smiling, and stared at Harrison with her hands on her hips. This was the most closed off she had appeared since April met her. “You came from the track, didn’t you? And I was stupid enough to believe you might have came to be nice and pick me up from work!”

“I am! I did… But I don’t come cheap, ya know.. You have to pay for the honor! Please, cuz, listen, I promise it’s a sure thing.”

Tessa shook her head, digging through her bag to find her wallet. She took out her bank card, not looking at Harrison. “I’ve got to go, April.. Don’t forget to buy a card for your sister. C’mon, Har, I’ve gotta find a bank machine.”

April waved after them as they disappeared into the crowd calling his thanks. He then took Tessa's advice, and went off in search of a Hallmark store.

[fin]


(>.< Really lame ending on my part... thanks for RPing, Vee!))

OOC| Not at all, it was appropriate. I enjoyed Rping, see you around the boards. :) |