Tangles - chapter3: Malls and Balls
#3 of Tangles
:)
Eric stood in front of his closet as he decided on what to wear. He finally reached in and grabbed a pair of The Diva Old Navy jeans and a slim fitting AÈropostale t-shirt. For his accessories he chose an alternating studded belt, a large silver ring with an alexandrite stone, a HIM armband, and his favorite heart pendant necklace. He was just going to meet his two friends at the mall but he felt like looking sexy! Who knew, maybe Scott would finally come to his senses once he saw how good the dragon looked. Eric gave his reflection a playful wink and left his room.
"I'm going to the mall to meet Scott and Diana" he called to his mom "I'll be back in a while."
"Alright" His mom replied slowly " but you better not get in any trouble, you hear me?"
"Ya, I won't"
Eric grabbed his keys and sunglasses and walked out the front door. It was a bright sunny day as he walked to his good ol' Ford Taurus. He rolled down his windows and turned the radio up as he started his car. Eric loved the feeling of the warm wind blowing in his face and the bass thudding through his whole car and body; even though the drive to the mall was a short one he loved every minute of it. Eric killed the engine and stepped out into the bright sun. He was to meet his friends at the food court. He made his way through the front doors and took off his shades as he searched for his friends in the crowded mall and spotted them at a table. He headed off to meet them and Diana stood as she saw him approaching; holding out her arms for a hug.
"Oh my god! You look so sexy!" She said as she hugged the dragon and gave him a small peck on the cheek.
"Ya, well I figured Scott here might could do with a little eye candy today. See anything you like Scotty?" Eric asked the lizard innocently. Scott only rolled his eyes as a response and stood.
"Oh come on! You gotta admit he looks hot!" Diana stated.
"I don't know." Scott said with ersatz concern. "I wouldn't want to get in between him and his boyfriend, now would I." Scott replied frankly. Eric put his hands on his hips angrily.
"I already told you he's not my boyfriend! I don't even know if the guy is gay or not!" Eric cried desperately.
"Well why don't you ask him?" Scott asked plainly.
"Well I suppose I will sometime but thats not just a subject that comes up out of the blue randomly, now is it! And especially not at Bob James!" Eric exclaimed
"No. I mean why don't you ask him now." Scott said plainly.
"Huh?" Eric said confused.
"Aaron's right over there at American Eagle lookn' at dorky prep clothes." Scott said pointing across the mall. Eric and Diana both whipped around and looked to see Aaron standing at the opening of AE looking at some shirts.
"Oh my god! There he is!" Diana said excited.
"Oh my god... there he is." Eric echoed in disbelief.
"You should go talk to him!" Diana said, grabbing Eric by the arm and dragging him through the crowd.
"No!... Wait Diana... I can't!" Eric said as he desperately tried to break free.
"Oh come on Eric! Get some balls! He's right there standing all cute for you to talk to him!" Diana said as she continued to drag the helpless dragon.
"It can't hurt to just talk to him would it? Besides, it's time you finally got over me and got a real boyfriend." Scott called out as he trailed behind. Eric finally broke free from the panthers grasp and turned to his friends.
"You guys! I can't just waltz up to him and ask if he's gay. I don't really know him! Besides, what if I scare him off or he's like some kind of homophobe or something and turns me in at school! B-besides! I came here to hang out with you guys! Not to talk to preppy dressing kids!"
Scott crossed his arms and Diana put her hands on her hips and gave Eric an evil eye.
"Ya don't have to tell him your gay!" she said, "Just go... bond... er... whatever you guys do. Now's the perfect chance to get to know him."
"Ya but..." Eric stammered
"Just get in there!" Scott said impatiently as he pushed the hesitant dragon through the entrance. Eric just stood there motionless for a bit.
"Wait guys, I-" Eric began to say but stopped short as he turned and realized that his friends were no longer near him. He looked down the mall and saw them running down the shops.
"Aww, fuck!" Eric whispered harshly to himself.
"Hey, Eric. Is that you?" The voice came from inside the store. Eric turned to face Aaron who was squinting to try and ID him.
"Oh... umm... Hey Aaron. Uh... weird meeting you here!"
"Ya! Weird! What are you doing here?" The cute brown stallion asked.
"Huh? Oh... You know, just shoppin' around." Eric lied. Aaron looked at him suspiciously.
"What?" Eric asked
"You shop here?" Aaron looked the dragon up and down. "Cuz judging by the way your dressed this doesn't seem like your kind of store." Eric looked down at his body.
"Ya well, I gotta get clothes for school somewhere, right? And I mean this store isn't that bad. There's some cool stuff here. "Eric replied smoothly.
"Oh, cool! Ya, that's why I'm here. I'm kinda tired of my old clothes." Aaron said as he looked through a rack of hideous collard shirts. Eric gave him a sideways glance.
"Ya... here, let me show you a store that might be a bit better for you." Eric said as he grabbed the shirt from Aaron and put it back on the rack. " It's just down stairs. Here, come on." Eric led Aaron down the stairs and stopped in front of a dark store with a strong scent of cologne pouring out of it's doors. Aaron looked up.
"Abercrombie and Fitch?" He looked down and starred wide eyed at the 10 foot long portrait of a half naked male model.
"Ya, It's not quite my kind of place but it's perfect for you." Eric said as he walked into the store.
"Come on."
Aaron walked past the oversized picture of sexy with his eyes still mesmerizingly glued to it. He walked next to Eric and tore his gaze away from the image to survey his new surroundings. All around him in the dimly lit room were more pictures of barely dressed men posing in provocative ways. The air was cool and saturated with the scent of cologne and the speakers were blaring the latest hits of the month. Aaron's eyes were wide as he tried to soak in all the new experiences.
"H-hey Eric, I-I don't think we're allowed t-to be here." He stuttered as he franticly looked all around him.
"Don't worry, no one is gonna recognize us here. Well actually," Eric corrected as he examined the horse, "they may recognize you when your dressed like that. Don't you ever wear any thing different than those kind of clothes?" Aaron looked down at what he was wearing.
"What's wrong with what I have on?" He asked innocently.
"Well first of all", Eric said rubbing his chin, "it looks like your mom dressed you and you just came back from selling Bibles. You look all too... Bob Jamesyish. You need some hot clothes to show off that great body of yours." Aaron looked shocked "Here, something like this!" Eric continued as he grabbed a slim fit shirt from a nearby rack. "Ohh! And some of these!" He said while tossing Aaron a pair of blue plaid shorts. Aaron caught the shorts and looked at them as if they were abdominal. "You go try those on while I pick you out some more stuff!" Eric pushed the bewildered equine towards the dressing rooms and padded off to scout Aaron out some new outfits. Aaron slowly trotted to the dressing rooms and entered one. It was 10 minutes before Eric ever heard anything from the dressing rooms.
"I don't know Eric." Aaron said through the door.
"Come on! Come out so I can see you!" Eric called back impatiently. The door crept open and a hunched over Aaron stepped out. Eric put his left hand on his hip and rubbed his chin.
"Hmm... just needs a little work is all." He stepped towards the stallion and began to work on him. "Here, loosen this,and pull these down, and just tuck the front of this in like that and roll these down a bit, and ruffle your hair a little... there! Ohh! One more thing!" Eric pulled out a baseball cap and placed it at a slant on Aaron's head "Done!" Eric turned Aaron so he could see himself in the mirror. Aaron's eyes trailed up and down his body as he looked at his new clothes.
"I don't know, it looks kinda... ridiculous" Aaron said hesitantly.
"No it doesn't! It looks hot!" Eric replied assuringly.
"Well, aren't people going to stare at me?" Aaron responded.
"Duh they're gonna stare at you, cuz you look GOOD!" Eric emphasized.
"I still don't know."
"Oh come on!" Eric stood behind Aaron to get a different perspective.
"Hey Eric!" a familiar voice called out.
"Oh, hey Diana" Eric said when he turned around. "Hey! Come check out Aaron!"
"Ooh!" She said as she skipped towards the two boys. "Hot!" she said amazed.
"See Aaron, I told you you looked good!" Eric exclaimed. Diana and Eric examined the new creature before them.
"Whoa dude! Is that Aaron?" Scott asked incredulously as he came up behind the trio.
"I know! Doesn't he look amazing!" Diana chimed. The panther purred as she looked Aaron over. "I'd date a hunk like that!" She leaned against Aaron's arm and purred softly. Aaron tried to inch his way from the aroused feline.
" You really do look good Aaron. You should get it." Scott said frankly.
" You really think so?" The horsy asked.
"Yea Aaron! You look great! Just get some cool shoes and it will be perfect! " Eric said trying to reassure his new friend. Suddenly the tune of Beethoven's Fifth rang out among the group. Aaron furiously dug in his pockets for his phone.
"Hello?... Oh, hey mom... Oh, you're ready?... K... Ya, I'll be there soon... Alright... Love you. Bye. *beep* Aaron closed his phone. Sorry guys but I gotta go, my mom's ready to go back home. Hey, thanks a lot for helping me find some new clothes, but I don't think my mom would appreciate them very much.
"Oh come on! You gotta get them!" Eric cried out. Aaron shook his head.
"I can't. My parents would freak. Thanks a lot though for helping me out."
"Whatever." Scott said.
"Aww... Just get the clothes anyway! You look so cute!" Diana pleaded. Aaron just shook his head. Diana sighed. "Fine, do what you want. Come on Scott, let's go to Hot Topic." The two turned and walked off together and Eric watched them go then turned his back to Aaron.
"Thanks again, but this is just not for me." Aaron peeled off the shirt and handed it to Eric. Eric could only stare at the bare skin of the cute horse as a response. Aaron turned around and walked back in his dressing room. Eric snapped out of his daze and looked at the clothes in his hand with a sigh. He put up the outfits he had gotten for Aaron while he waited for him to change back into his normal clothes. Aaron stepped back out and faced Eric.
"I wanted to thank you for being such a nice guy to me. It's hard to find nice people these days, especially in a new place and I know I can be a little ignorant in some areas, but I just wanted to say thanks."
"uhh... Y-your welcome." Eric stammered.
"Well, I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow. Bye" Aaron gave the dragon a wave and then trotted off. Eric just stood with his hand up in a partial wave as he watched the sway of Aaron's tail as he walked off. Eric blinked a couple of times.
"Wow." He whispered to himself as he shook his head. His mind was still trying to process all that had just happened. He regained his composure and sat in one of the provided sofas. He was going to like the rest of the school year. He could feel it.