Plans

01.

"You're not just messing with me, are you?"

"Nope."

"This place?" she looked expectantly to the other party walking with them.

"Of course, dear." Mrs. Diaz responded sweetly.

"This WHOLE place?" she swung her arms grandly over her head, motioning to the huge shopping center that lay before them, a behemoth, discolored concrete cube which held the words 'Echo Creek Mall' over the doors. He nodded confidently, satisfied to be impressing HER for once. "Is the clothing store? Looks kind of lame from out here."

"Wait, no!" Marco denied frantically. "The whole place is the MALL!" he watched her face closely, ready for it to twist into that wide eyed, mouth agape show of wonderment that came whenever he introduced her to something new on Earth, no matter how menial.

"Oh, so THAT'S what they call it on Earth."

"No, mall's don't sell clothes!" he groused pitifully. "well, they do, but-"

"We came here to buy Earth clothes, clothing stores sell clothes, so the mall is a clothing store. It's simple math, Marco. And you say I'M bad with algea-bra." she scoffed, rolling her eyes to Marco's unending agitation.

"A mall is not a clothing store! It's like," he sighed impatiently, his eyes darting around and his hands struggling to shoot out and excite his point. "...like a really big superstore- like Quest Buy! Except better! Neat, right?"

"Pfft, like Quest Buy." she chuckled aloofly, twirling and twisting her wand every which way. "It's WAY smaller than Quest Buy..."

"W-well," her criticism had made him trip over his own tongue. "the guys who built the place didn't want a shopping trip to trap their customers in a labyrinth of never ending horror and madness for all eternity, so they had to cut down on the size a little!"

"I'm just kidding, Marco, chillax," she patted him on the shoulder, a smug, arrogant look on her face as they all walked through the sliding doors. "I'm sure you're 'like-Quest-Buy' Earth store is just as cool-" she stopped to gasp in amazement as she laid eyes on the interior of the plaza, her hands smacked and glued to her face. It stretched as far as her eyes could see, littered with jubilant shoppers on the walkways from the top floor all the way down to the bottom, storefronts packed along the walls. Sunlight shone from the glass roof onto the grand fountain resting in the middle of the intersection, jets of water shooting from the top and streaming into the basin below.

"Just as cool, right?" he leaned in, smug satisfaction dripping from each word.

"It's... it's alright, I guess." she murmured slowly, her fabricated air of dissatisfaction not enough to hide the drips of excitement in her tone.

"And look, they even give away maps," he continued, pulling a pamphlet from one of the many racks around the entrance and sticking it in her hands. "wouldn't want anyone to get lost, now would we?"

"Huh," she opened the map up, looking up every few seconds and checking it again. "I could actually navigate with this thing."

"Cool, right?" he continued to brag, enjoying himself too much to stop.

"Okay, okay, you were right Marco, this IS pretty cool," she shrugged. "although I have to say, this place is kinda confusing. A flower shop, a beep-boop store, a barber shop- there's a Quest Buy here?"

"Uh, no, that's a Best Buy."

"Definitely looks like a ripoff of Quest Buy."

"I'm gonna be honest, I'm not sure which one's the knockoff anymore."

"Seriously, whoever organized these departments should fired."

"It's a mall, they're not departments, those are all their own stores."

"Wait wait wait," she stopped dead in her tracks, grabbing him by the shoulders. "you're telling me you guys built this huge, giant store just to put tons of littler stores inside it?"

"Yep."

"All the types of stores, in one place..." she trailed off, he could see her brain struggling eagerly with the information.

"Ahuh."

"So does this place sell... everything?"

"Everything." he finished complacently. She studied him closely, expression stable for a few seconds before it slowly bent into the wide eyed, mouth agape show of wonderment he was going for. She squealed, excitedly stamping her feet and shaking a still-gripped Marco violently.

"Oh my GOD, why didn't you take me here SOONER?! Malls are so cool! I'm-I'm gonna buy all the nachos, and-and my own monster bashing robot, like in the Earth movies, and-" she gasped, grabbing Marco by the cheeks. "I'm gonna buy another wand! No, two wands! That way you can have one, and I can have two!"

"Alright," he tittered, rubbing the back of his neck. "maybe not EVERYTHING..."

"Kids!" Mrs. Diaz yelled from some distance away, waving and beckoning them with one hand and holding a large, weathered piece of paper in the other. "don't fall behind!"

"Right! Sorry!" Star yelled back, dragging Marco by the arm as she rushed to catch up with his mother.

"Isn't this exciting?" Mrs. Diaz buzzed to Star as she ran up with Marco in tow, folding the document back up and putting it in her purse. "your first trip to the mall! Ooh, we're going to pick out the CUTEST outfits for you!" she dug around in her purse some more, producing a few small, purple cubes and handing them to Star. "would you like some candy to celebrate?"

"Candy!" she squealed, snatching the foodstuffs from her hand and throwing them in her mouth in an instant. Marco trailed behind them, absorbed in his own thoughts. He looked over all the stores they were walking past, feeling the cash in his pocket and intending to buy something or enjoy himself, the sole reason he agreed to tag along with the two. Maybe he'd rent another karate movie, or buy a skateboard and try to learn some sick tricks to impress a certain someone. He almost tripped over his own feet as he hungrily scanned to the food court and saw said person in all their glory. Jackie Lynn Thomas.

She was just sitting there, all alone. Slurping on a smoothie and reading a book with those shiny, emerald eyes of hers. He quickly stuffed a hand into his pocket, rapidly unfolding the large, weathered piece of paper kept safely tucked away in there at all times. His 23 step plan. Ever since Star had shown up he had made great strides in his plan, advancing three steps in only two months rather than a half decade. He referenced step 7, the one frantically circled in red pen: engage in dialogue.

"Welp, you two have fun shopping for clothes," his mother and Star both stopped to look back at him. "I just, err, saw Al and Ferg in the food court, and they look like they could use some company. See you in an hour!" he turnt on a heel and began his stride away, making sure to part his hair in the right direction and check that his sweater strings were even. No Janna to make snide remarks, no Ferguson to run up and do the truffle shuffle, no classmates to rabble around her and interrupt him mid-sentence, just her and him. The perfect conditions, according to his calculations. He was sure this would all go to plan.

"Oh no you don't!" Mrs. Diaz upbeat, cheery voice rang out as her arm shot out and seized him, yanking hard and choking him by his own hoodie. He stumbled back towards them, kneeling over and coughing while he held his tender neck. "you're coming with us!"


02.


"What about this one?"

"Sure!"

"How about THIS?"

"Of course!"

"Oh, oh, wait, what about THIS one?"

"Go for it!" Mrs. Diaz encouraged an elated Star further, who was swiping and pulling every article of clothing that suited her fancy off the shelves and racks. She threw her selections at a disgruntled Marco, carrying half his weight in women's clothing, twenty times the amount he would ever feel comfortable holding in his life. He tried to distract himself by looking at whatever was out the small corridor gaining entrance to their shop, the 'Open' sign out front visible to him. He really tried to engross himself with the flashy advertisements plastered on the video game store parallel to theirs. It really didn't help.

"Uh, Mom?" he whispered to her nervously, embarrassment pouring sweat from every gland on his body, his face mere inches from all manner of unmentionables. He could only thank his apparent good luck the store was practically abandoned, their party being the only people inside. "why do I have to be here, again? I look like a total creep carrying around all this..." he tried to pull his flushed face as far away from his luggage as he could. "stuff. What if someone I know comes in and sees me?"

"Oh, miho, you don't have to be skulking around in a ladies clothing store to look like a creep!" he peered past the mounds of t-shirts and skimpy shorts he was carrying to give her a shocked look. "I'm kidding, dear! Lighten up a little." she pat him on the shoulder, "doesn't this remind you of all the fun times we went to buy new clothes for you?"

"Don't remind me," he groaned. "Ferg still hasn't let me live down my fifth grade picture day."

"Oh, he was just jealous, you looked so cute in that little sailor suit!" his face scrunched up further, his body still rejecting the feel of that tight t-shirt chafing him, that ascot that almost choked him and that silly little hat, even after all these years. The whole event had been salvageable, to some degree. His mother was absolutely elated when he had it on.

"I'm still not," he stopped mid-sentence and jerked himself to the right, barely catching a pair of shorts Star had thrown in his general direction. "clear on why I'm here with you guys."

"Why, Star needs someone to help her pick out some stylish clothes of course!"

"Yeah Marco!" Star piped in from across the way, clasping a modest bikini bottom and stretching it back and forth with her fingers, almost intentionally in his direction. "If I'm gonna be wearing Earth duds, I wanna look good." Marco quickly averted his gaze and held a hand up to block his own vision, his panicked face burnt red.

"B-But I thought YOU were going to help her pick out an outfit!"

"Me?" Mrs. Diaz held a hand innocently to her chest, giggling delightfully. "Oh no dear, I'm much too old, too 'lame.' Wouldn't know a thing about fashion!"

"And what makes you think I'd know anything about fashion?"

"Heads up Marco!" Star warned from a few racks over, a projectile slowly arcing through the air and landing smack in his distracted face. He sputtered and coughed as he quickly swiped away the silky interlopers covering his visage, dropping a few garments in his panic.

"Why wouldn't you? You're young and hip miho," she danced in place with every motherly compliment as he leaned down to retrieve everything he had dropped, pinching the more sensitive items delicately and throwing them on top of the pile with a shudder. "I'm sure you know how to dress better than I do!"

"Are you serious Mom?" he uttered impatiently. "I have worn the same hoodies for the past two years. You even drove me to the store and back when I went to buy them! I still remember that weird look you gave me when I picked out twenty of the same sweatshirt and brought them to the register!"

"Young and hip." she pat him on the head and ruffled his hair, a cheeky smile on her face.

"Okay," Star approached with her own heap of garments, which Marco didn't even bother to inspect closely for the sake of his sanity. "I wanna try some of this stuff on, does this place have, err, somewhere I can do that?"

"Of course! The fitting rooms are right over here!" Mrs. Diaz led them through the aisles, navigated the racks and stepped past mannequins to round a corridor in the back of the store, revealing a hallway of closed doors. She walked to one and jostled the handle, a worried look jumping up on her as it refused to budge. "Oh, it's locked. Uh," she ran up and down to check every door, her tugs against the handle returning nothing but the sound of the locking mechanism, refusing to budge. "All locked... Darn."

"Oh... well, I guess I can change out here!" Star bluntly dropped her luggage in front of her and began to undo the straps of her top, much to Marco's shock.

"What a shame." Mrs. Diaz sighed disingenuously from the corner, crossing her arms and leaning up against the wall.

"No, no, nonono, no," he dropped everything as his arms made a mad dash for the top siddling up her body and exposing her midriff, pulling it back down over her head just before he saw anything too risque. "you can't change out here, Star, what if," he looked back nervously. "what if one of the other shoppers walks in and sees you?"

"Pfft, yeah Marco," she sneered, taking his hands off her and beginning to undress again. "all zero of them."

"W-what if my MOM sees you?"

"I'm not peeping!" Mrs. Diaz wiggled her fingers from around the corner. "nobody'll come back here on my watch!"

"Well, if you really want to Star." he let out a sigh of relief as he walked away from the half naked girl, glad to have some respite from the discomfort infesting his every fiber. He turned the corner, only for two hands to rest on his shoulders and stop him.

"Where do you think you're going?" she berated him cordially, twisting him around and pushing him back towards a still undressing Star, who he quickly looked away from. "you have to stay back there!"

"What?!" he yelled under his breath, whipping around to give her a pleading look. "why?!"

"Oh Marco, you silly boy," she covered her mouth to laugh. "you can't stand out here AND give Star a second opinion!"

"Yes, I can! That is definitely within my range of abilities! I could see her undressing from here, Mom!"

"Relax Marco, it's fine with me," he turned his head back to listen to Star, who was looking herself over, a tight t-shirt slipped over her torso instead of her usual dress. "we fight gruesome monsters and uproot clandestine horrors every other day, the least of your worries should be seeing my butt." she turned and playfully slapped her bare bottom to tease him, giggling while she did so. His nerves snapped his neck back towards the other end of the hall, with one hand rubbing the piece of paper in his pocket for strength while the other covered his eyes, just in case.

He huffed to himself, shoving an arm in his sweater pocket and trying to make the wall he was currently staring at as interesting as possible. He could be out in the food court right now, working up the courage from a safe, sweaty distance to talk to Jackie alone, an opportunity he could rarely recollect sometimes. He was starting to grow weary of having to reel and spin like a top every time he saw something remotely suggestive, which was every few seconds thanks to his mother.

Why did she insist that he help out? He remembered his childhood. The mounds upon mounds of clothes he HAD to try on, the excited squealing as she fawned over him in lamer and lamer outfits, the innocent, unwitting lies about how sharp he looked in his little pink shorts and about how all the kids at school would be jealous. By all his accounts, something like this was right up her alley. So... why was he even here?

"Oh, man, can you believe this, Marco?" Star spoke up from behind him. "these Earth shorts are almost as big as my hand! Almost! I'm gonna try 'em on!" He could already feel the sweat running down his face. He wasn't about to give up just yet.

"Hey Mom, I had a, uh, really big bottle of soda before we got here, can I-"

"Go to the bathroom?" she interrupted him to finish his sentence. "please, miho, you can go wherever you please after you're done helping."

"Oh, man! I can see RIGHT through these things, it's like they're not even there!" Star's amazement had only unnerved Marco further, who hastened his assertions.

"I can still help! I can, uh, go get the key for the changing rooms!" his mother gave him a blank stare, prompting him to smack two hands together and grovel. "so... Star doesn't have to change out in the cold?"

Mrs. Diaz let out a discouraged sigh, closing her eyes and shaking her head. "Well, maybe the clerk is off break. If you really, really want to Marco, I guess I can't stop you."


03.


How had he not found them yet? The store was spacious, but not THAT spacious. He went to the register first, expecting someone to be manning it, maybe some indifferent teenage girl a few years his senior. She'd look up from her magazine, take her feet off the counter and her bubblegum bubble would pop, and she'd give him the weirdest, strangest look. He'd awkwardly ask for the key and she'd slide it over the counter and he'd grab it, but... there was nobody there. There wasn't ANYBODY here.

He walked around the store and peered each aisle, every once in awhile tiptoeing to get a good look at his mother, who was studying a worn, expansive piece of paper he had seen her with a few times before. He could see under her usually chipper exterior just the slightest hint of frustration as she studied it closely. She folded it back up carefully, disappearing around the corner with a hand in her purse.

He walked and walked before finally happening upon another human being, a girl wearing a cream skirt, bent down and grabbing something out of a box at her feet, loud rock music originating from her direction. He swallowed his pride and approached her from behind. "Hey miss, my uh," he rubbed his neck and averted his gaze, as her posture and attire left her tail end less than decent. "friend, needs to use your changing rooms, do you think I could maybe borrow the key to unlock one of the changing rooms?"

"Of course Diaz," he preemptively frowned upon hearing her voice, the dots in his head connecting in unpleasant places. "anything for you." He snapped his head in her direction, recognizing that greasy hair, that troublesome, ghoulish smile and that old, raggedy beanie in an instant.

"Janna," he growled, staring down her countenance that always held an air of disingenuous pleasantry whenever he was around. "what are YOU doing here?"

"Me? Oh nothing much," she stuffed her headphones back in her pocket. "just HAD to go out today and buy a frilly sunday dress, wanted to look good in church. Also, I work here," she held out her shirt, sticking out a name tag of the store chain that did indeed bear her name, albeit sloppily scratched in blue pen. "better question: what are YOU doing here? Did you really like the dress that much?"

"What? How did you-"

"Star told me. Pink really is your color."

"Whatever," he groaned impatiently, throwing up a hand and beckoning her. "just gimme the key."

"Such a rude, impersonal word that is, 'gimme.'" she looked away from him in favor of checking her nails. "Maybe if you ask nicely..."

"'Gimme' the key or I'm gonna go complain to your manager." he threatened bluntly, his fierce dislike for her allowing him to sink to such a low level.

"Who is out sick today. Tsk tsk tsk, isn't that too bad?"

"There's nothing stopping me from coming back tomorrow to complain."

"Of course!" she suggested happily, slapping two hands together with a wide grin on her face. "You're free to come back tomorrow, during one of our busier days, push by hordes of our classmates and high school girls and complain in front of everyone that one of the employees was 'less than satisfactory' to you while you were here picking out thongs," he raised a finger and opened his mouth to utter a rebuttal, but his arm sank and no words came from his mouth. "that's what I thought. Now, the magic words?" he didn't respond, instead staring sourly at the ground. She leaned in closer and tilted her head to make eye contact with him. "come on, I know you know 'em."

He sighed, looking up wearily. "Please, can I have the key, Janna?"

"I don't know, can you?" his muscles seized at that moment, and he had to violently fight off the urge to grab her by both shoulders and chuck her through the storefront window.

"Please, Janna, MAY I have the key?"

"Well, since you asked so politely, I guess I'll let you borrow it," he exhaled happily, reluctantly satisfied his interaction with her had come to an end. He held out his hand, waiting for her to place the key in his open palm. "just one more thing."

"What?" she had grabbed something from the box behind her and stuffed it in his hand, quickly fishing around in her coat pockets afterwards. He unfurled the strange object and stretched it out to get a better look, pink, silky unmentionables pinched on either ends by his fingers. He squinted as a flash of light offended his vision, and opened his eyes all the way to see her pecking away at her phone while she snickered. "Janna, no!" She jumped back as he tried his best to grab at the phone, losing his balance and falling flat on the ground.

"Saw... someone... familiar... at... the... store... today..." she repeated slowly to herself, as if to taunt him. He once again darted an arm out, swiping at the phone to no avail, as she simply stepped out of his meager, floorbound reach. "pink... is... really... his... color." he shot to his feet upon hearing the last few words, his hand grabbing her phone and prying it out of her hands in the blink of an eye, much to her surprise. By the time he had it in his grasp, he was met with his picture, uploaded for all the world to see. He was just a second too late.

"Well, maybe nobody will see it..." he wishfully consoled himself. A torrent of beeps and dings erupting from her phone a second after proved otherwise, causing a small chuckle to escape from her. He scowled, turning back to her and setting the phone in her open palm. "I hate you."

"I know." she tossed a key in his hands, walking back over to the box and continuing to stock the shelves. He glared at her as she hummed merrily, and despondently swiped a pile of shirts off a shelf and dumped them on the ground, his best attempt to spite her. He rounded a few twists and turns and passed a few racks and shelves, the layout of the store somehow beginning to confuse him even though he could clearly see his mother a short distance away. She was pulled away from the dressing rooms, completely infatuated with one of the stand-bound mannequins.

"Uh, Mom, what are you doing?"

"Oh, Marco, you're back!" she was taken aback by Marco's sudden approach, recoiling her hands away from the mannequin. "I was just... fixing the shirt on this thing! It was driving me crazy!" she fiddled with the buttons on the collar and straightened the yellow cloth, dusting off her lightly greased hands in a satisfied manner. "there, perfect." He gave her a suspicious look, but it was always hard to be dubious of her when she always had that warm, cheery smile on her face. He slipped past her, rounding the corner and spinning the key in his hands.

"Okay Star, I got the key, you can-" he stopped to yelp, throwing his hands over his eyes.

"Isn't this great, Marco?" she chewed obnoxiously between every pause. "I can really move around, my dress was so cumbersome compared to these!" she twisted and turned to look herself over, wearing a skimpy crop top and bottoms that really stretched the definition of 'shorts.' "'whaddya think?"

"I-I think your dress suits you better," he stuttered in distress, practically sanding a hole through his jeans as he rubbed the piece of paper in his pocket for strength. He sidled past her, walking over to the first door and sticking the key in the lock. He turned it, hearing the metal click and pushing the door open to reveal a dark, cramped dressing room. "there, now you don't have to change out in the cold."

"Neat!" she exclaimed excitedly, scratching her forehead beneath her bangs. "thanks Marco!" she pulled her wand from her back pocket, waving it about and slowly levitating each and every article of clothing into the room, one by one. She waited just outside with arms crossed, humming a merry tune in between bouts of gnashing and munching.

"Hey," he spoke up from the floor, doing his best to scrape together garments to help her and keep her out of his peripheral vision for his own sake. "what exactly are you eating?"

"Special mall candy!" she swallowed, opening the purple stained cavern that was her mouth and pointing inside. "It's tasty, grape flavored, and it makes me feel warm and fuzzy all over! I'd share, but its all in my stomach right now!" He couldn't even muster the energy to press her further on the matter, all his resources dedicated to keeping his vision clear and, subsequently, his thoughts pure.

"Right, well, that's everything," he finished hurriedly as he slinked by her as quickly as he could.  "I'll be over there if you need a fashion critic. Far, far over there."

"Wait, Marco!" he had barely fled a few inches before her arm shot out and grabbed his exiting figure by the hoodie, dragging him back towards her. "it's gonna take all day if I have to keep going in and out, you should definitely come inside with me!"

"That is definitely NOT within my comfort zone," he bounced along on one foot and tried to loosen his collar from his neck with both hands as Star pulled him inside, her normal strength meek in comparison to the iron hold she had on him right now. "I-I'd like to wait outside!"

"Nonsense, dear!" his mother materialized from seemingly nothing, clapping excitedly in the doorway, hands just a little dirtier than before. "you wouldn't want to look like a creep, loitering out here!" she stuck a hand to the doorknob, slowly shutting it behind them, cusping the room in a foreboding darkness as it neared its close. "Have fun you two!"

"W-wait!" he blurted out shakily, ramming his foot between the door just before it had closed. His mother surprised visage peeked back in, staring at the object he was waving frantically in his hands, his last salvation. "I have to return the key!"

She sighed, slowly opening the door and holding it open. He slipped underneath her arm with a nervous smile on his face, tripping over himself and scampering away as quickly as he could. He took a breather as he rounded the corner, fanning his shirt and wiping the beads of sweat off his forehead. That almost went south, really, really fast.


04.


He saw Janna at the other end of the store, piling up shirts with a cardboard box in hand and fixing the stands of askew mannequins with her feet. He thought about walking over to give her the key, but the thought of that stupid, smug look she always had cemented on her face saying 'did you find our selection to your liking, valued customer?' while he was handing it to her wasn't appealing to him. He settled on walking over to the counter, leaving it there and then, then...

He didn't know what to do after that. Was he really just gonna walk back, get in there with Star and rate every single skimpy outfit she had picked out, trying his best to make the corner of the room he would inevitably stuff his face into as appealing as possible? The more he thought about it, the more he realized his commitment to such a task was shaky at best. Even with his steadfast and relaxed relationship with Star, he just wasn't fitted for such a thing, and had really expected this to fall upon his mother. Why DID she insist on pushing this on him? Maybe she was just really lazy. She HAD been pushing a lot of chores on him as of late...

With the blood rushing away from his face and other high traffic areas, the nature of his setting began to creep up on him. The quiet had begun to unnerve him, the absence of people confusing him. The mall was packed to brim with shoppers at any given time, more people a stretch in every direction than he'd ever know in his lifetime. So why wasn't ANYONE here? He knew that maybe not as many people would walk back here, the store had been tucked away at the far end of the strip a few floors up, but it wasn't THAT far gone. He could still see shoppers walking by, some had even looked inside curiously, but they all lost interest when they got to the door. The door...

He looked to the glass door,  sunlight from the skylights outside softly streaming through. He walked up to it, tapping the knob apprehensively with two fingers. It door wasn't that heavy, the knob looked so easy to turn. Would it be right if he left them here? He scanned behind him and got up on his tippy toes. He couldn't see his mother anywhere. He didn't want to upset either of them, but todays events had really strung his nerves. Anxiety wracked his head, prohibiting him from looking in most directions lest his face redden and his thoughts wander, full of sordid temperament.

His conflicted eyes drifted, looking on the outside world as he stood awkwardly in front of the glass door. They took twice as he looked to the store parallel to them, the object of his affection leaning on the railing just outside and busily studying her phone. Jackie Lynn Thomas. He unfurled the plan from his pocket once more, just to be safe. All criteria had still been met, and the circumstances had seemed to improve since he saw her last. Not exactly according to plan, but it worked. She looked up from her phone and made eye contact with him, smiling warmly and wiggling her fingers at him. He was sure they'd understand. There's no way he couldn't go now. He twisted the knob. Locked.

He stared in disbelief at the knob, quickly twisting it again and again out of frustration. Locked? There was no contingency for a locked door in his plans, he cursed his now apparent bad luck. WHY on earth was this locked? His thoughts drifted to the only employee in the store, and he squeezed his fists in response. He didn't care how much he embarrassed himself, he was TOTALLY going to get her fired for this. Just about to turn around and stomp around the store on a warpath until he found the guilty party, whoever was standing quietly behind him softly placed their hands around his shoulders, making him stiffen up and freeze in place.

"Marco, dear, you can't keep wandering off like that!" his tension vanished as he heard his mother teasing him, lightly stirring him by the shoulders. She twisted him around, quickly pushing him along through the store and back towards the changing rooms. "the sooner you help Star, the sooner you can go."

"Yeah, uh, I've been thinking about that Mom." he pleaded frantically, digging his feet into the carpet to try to slow their advance.

"I bet you have, dear." her lighthearted tease seemed to give him the urge to move away from her, rather than stuff his head in his hoodie, something he definitely took note of.

"I just think maybe, I shouldn't be the one doing this."

"Nonsense," their pace quickened and her push became the slightest bit harsher. "she is perfectly fine with having your help. Now come on, you are keeping her waiting."

"No, Mom," he pulled himself away from her, speaking a little more sternly. "I don't want to be doing this. The way you guys insist I help is... weird. Really, really weird.  And to be honest," he rubbed the back of his neck. "I really thought this would be something that YOU'D be doing, not me." he did not like that upset look she was giving him as he shrunk in place, waiting for the inevitable lecture.

"Oh, miho," his mother sighed wearily after awhile, wearing a miserable look and rubbing the corner of one eye. "I'm sorry. It's just... this trip was very important to Star, she was so excited when I offered to take her, you have no idea. I know how much you disliked when I used to dress you, and, well..."  her head drooped down. "You know kids can be mean. I just didn't want my motherly instincts to make her look 'uncool.' Do you understand?" he was quiet for a moment, biting his lip and feeling the urge to blink more and more.

"Yeah. I... I think I do." he mumbled out hopelessly, his insides twisting in an upheaval of guilt over the sight of his mother in distress. Her frown twisted into a faint smile as she tenderly placed her hands on his shoulders once more, staring into his eyes.

"Then... could you go back there and make sure she looks spiffy?" he broke eye contact with her, poking two index fingers together. "For her?" He looked at her apprehensively, shifting in place. "For me?" he stared at her blankly for a few seconds, still keeping quiet. She gave him a warm, cheery smile, and he looked down, sighing reluctantly.

"Okay."

"There's a good boy." she ruffled his hair, taking a hand behind his back and trying to quickly guide him to the back of the store. He leaned in quickly in place of following her, squeezing and hugging her as tight as he could. His mother was taken aback, raising both arms away from him and giving him a strange look. Her surprise faded, and she slowly embraced him as well, patting him on the back and slowly guiding him, still hugging her, to the back of the store. She pried him off of herself, slowly opening the door to Star's dressing room and motioning him to go inside.

"Haha, very funny Mom." he chuckled to himself, a nervous smile on his face. She remained silent, holding her ground and her gesture.  Her cheery expression  remained, save for the split second he swore he saw her eye twitch.

"Please, dear, you said you'd help." despite her best attempts to stay positive, he could hear the slightest twinge of irritation in her voice.

"Yeah, but," he stopped, avoiding her intense gaze. "you don't actually want me to go inside... do you, Mom?"

"It'd be better for all of us if you just went inside." she grabbed him by the arms, pulling him towards her and in front of the ajar dressing room.

"Hey, wait! I-"

"In you go!" she shoved him inside, making him stumble into a dazed Star and bowl her over as Mrs. Diaz harshly pulled the door shut behind him, drowning the room in near darkness, save for the minuscule slit of light slipping under the door. Neither of them moved for awhile, content to sit and recover from the tumble.

"Ow. A little softer next time," he groaned slowly to himself after awhile, peeling open one eye after the pained impact and a hand groping some warm, smooth surface as he meekly tried to push himself up. "you okay, Star?"  he could hear her breathing quietly right next to him. The pace was shaky and long winded, and it was the only thing he heard from her for a few moments. "Star?" he adjusted his hand and tried to push himself up further, at the same time a hushed moan escaped her. The cogs in his brain lagged for a mere moment before alarm spun them whirling back to full capacity, making him spring away from her like a cat from water and tumbling to the other side of the room.

"S-sorry! I didn't mean to!" he managed to stammer out, thankfully unaware of where exactly he had grasped, scrubbing the culpable hand vigorously into the carpet to rid himself of the sticky indecency coating his hand.  "I- hang on, j-just let me find the light real quick..." he stood, quickly feeling the abrasive, confined walls of the tiny room for any manner of switch, shuffling and movement filling his ears. He felt plastic and he bumped the switch on the wall up, a hand reeling to cover his ill-adjusted eyes from the sickly light that flooded the room once more. He almost took his hand away after they had a moment to adjust, but he stopped. Hadn't he learned? With her streak of attire, at this rate she was probably naked or something.

"Tell me your decent." he murmured to her optimistically.  The breathing she gave in place of words had somehow devolved into exhausted panting, and as he delicately lowered his hands he was taken aback to see her golden bangs right in front of him. Her dilated eyes slowly came into view, then her flush nose, then her slack jaw, then her bare shoulders- he stopped, a mixture of agitation and confusion filling him. He was just trying to kid himself about her being naked, honest. He peeked his eyes over once more, and the sight of her slowly crept on him. Both arms went limp, and he found himself just staring at her face. Her bangs, he could...

He ignored the strange look she was giving him, her stark appearance and his normal conceited nature to slowly raise a hand to them, parting them and pinching whatever was pasted to her forehead. He could feel his jaw loosen and his insides twist in ways he didn't know were possible as something cold webbed up his fingers while he peeled it off. His own breaths began to quicken in pace as its presence in his hand had his brain shoving more and more horrid memories to the forefront of his mind. Star slammed two arms on the walls around him, giggling devilishly as her finger flicked off the light switch, plunging the room back into darkness. Marco let loose one short, weakened gasp, and the small purple heart slowly loosened from his hands, fluttering and swaying down between them before gliding softly under the door behind them.


05.


115, 23.

115 likes and 23 comments in little over half an hour. The most she had ever gotten on... pretty much anything. And all she had to do was take a picture of that kid holding a thong. Too easy. She stretched, wiggling her fingers and kicking the empty brown box away from her. Finally done restocking the shelves. Thank god she had music to get her through that. She strolled through the empty store, seating herself on a stool behind the counter and resting her feet up lazily.

She pulled up her phone again, once again basking in the glory of her achievement, reading the comments, enjoying that number, 115. She grew bored as her constant refreshing yielded nothing and began browsing aimlessly through the social media site she was a part of. Nothing new, nothing interesting. Her thoughts slowly wandered back to the task at hand. What would she spend her payment on? She could use some new boots. Would she let her see it, whatever 'it' was? She hoped so. It was devious, whatever it was. Underhanded. Painstaking and meticulous, surpassing even her own skills of manipulation and forethought. It unsettled her just the teensiest, seeing the best of the best be HER, of all people.

Her train of thought screeched to a halt as her phone dinged in her ears. She tracked herself back to the photo. 115, 23. Huh. A look of surprise came over her as she looked to the top of her phone. A message. From Jackie. Wasn't expecting one of those today.

'Hey Janna!'

'yo' she typed back. It was a few moments before her next message came in.

'Having a good day at work?'

'kinda slow but yeah its alright'

'That's great.'

'Hey, just wanted to ask...' was all that she messaged her for a few seconds.

'Marco's in the store with you, right?'

'yeah you saw that?' even now she couldn't help but snicker to herself at the memory of it. 'lol that kids so gulibe, pretty funny'

'Yeah, I guess' she scoffed to herself. Every single time she showed her the latest spoils of her campaign to humiliate Diaz, she always laughed it off awkwardly and had this somber look on her. She even straight up chastised her one time. She really couldn't understand that girl.

'He's still in there, right?'

'uhh probably, why'

'Where?'

'idk'

'probably sperging out in the swimsuit section'

'"Omg ladies underwear!!!11 my precious virgin eyes, noooo!"'

'lol'

'Real funny, Janna. Where is he?'

'i don't keep tabs on the kid'

'well, not 24/7 tabs anyway'

'get outta the food court and come look for yourself if you wanna see him that badly'

'I am, and I can't see him.' Jackie's last message confused her, and she looked up from her phone. Sure enough, Jackie was at the storefront window, looking inside with both hands and suspiciously squinting her eyes. She made eye contact with Janna and walked to the door, tapping on the glass. Janna could see her mouth moving, but the thick glass and the mall's ambiance alone would have been enough to distort that, not to mention the music blasting in her ears. She put two fingers underneath her ears and wiggled them, giving a clear view of what was inside them. Jackie frowned impatiently, pulling out her phone and typing something in.

'Can you let me in?'

'sorry jack, can't do that'

'What?' she could see Jackie look up in disbelief. 'Why not?'

'you'll see'

'Well, could you at least find Marco?'

'Tell him I wanna talk to him, I didn't get a chance to before his mom dragged him off.'

'i dunno about that'

'this stools really comfy'

No more messages came after that. Janna looked up from her phone to see Jackie staring daggers at her from the outside, arms crossed huffily. Jackie was usually pretty chill, but when something important got her upset, she got UPSET. Janna rolled her eyes, uttering a sour "Fine," and getting up to avoid incurring her eternal wrath.

She stood, giving a broad sweep of the store. To be honest, it had been awhile since she'd seen that ball of sweat and nerves poking around. Was she done? She checked the aisles, stepping over some discarded torsos missing their stands, inside the round clothes wrack and she even checked in the brown box she had discarded. Nowhere. Weird, but whatever. Another ding.

'Maybe try the back? I saw something back there.'

She looked to the back, the place she had intentionally avoided searching. That woman had made perfectly clear what she had to do and where NOT to go. Maybe she WAS done? Janna would just poke her head around the corner to see what she was doing. Couldn't hurt. The song playing on her phone had ended, her playlist starting up the next song, to unending annoyance. She couldn't believe she had forgotten to delete that one, and despondently pulled her earphones out, stuffing them back in her pockets and pausing her music. She could've sworn it was still playing, because she could hear the banging of drums, of something. Lots and lots of banging.

She tiptoed over to the back of the store, slowly peeking her head around the corner. The scene before her struck her with the slightest twinge of worry. Mrs. Diaz was right in front of her, resting on a wall while she read some century old newspaper. The door at the far end of the hall shook and rattled slower and slower before stopping, its handle barred by the stands they used to keep the mannequins propped up. Mrs. Diaz's eyes bugged out as she noticed her presence, waving at her to leave and raising a finger to her mouth. Janna could only stand dumbstruck for a moment, a small ding emenating from her coat pocket.

"H-hello?" she could hear Marco speak up pathetically from the other end of the all. "Mom? Janna? Is anybody there?! Hello?!" he yelled increasingly frantic from the barred room, the banging and shaking beginning to start up once more. "I need help man, the doors stuck!" she looked to Mrs. Diaz, who shook her head and walked them both back around the corner. "My-my mom must have gone to the bathroom, can you go find her? She'll-she'll know what to do, she'll-she'll... she'll..." the siege against the door slowed as did his voice, and the faint sound of sniveling entered her ears.

"Hey, is he alright?" Janna whispered apprehensively. "I know I said I'd help mess with your son, but I wasn't planning on it being so..." she reached and reached for the right word, but it eluded her.

"He is a tough boy, he will be fine." she whispered sternly to her. The room was silent for a few moments, before the sound of glass, concrete, something beginning to fracture and crack filled the room.

"The door, THE DOOR! MOM! SOMEBODY!" Marco began to shout at the top of his lungs, rocking and tugging at the door with more ferocity than ever before. The cracking noises began to become more frequent, faster, louder. The siege on the door stopped, and a swift crack filled the air. Janna peaked her head around the corner, seeing the midriff of the door concave underneath the force of something. A swift crash came again and again and again, further disfiguring the middle of the door before finally a foot shot through, sending splinters scattering into the hallway. The cracking noise had stopped. She could see a red clad arm poke through the hole, feeling the knob and the metal pieces around it. Just as it began to slowly free the door, 6 more purple arms burst through, encircling the lone one. It clamped around the wood, shattering it as it pulled Marco kicking and screaming back inside.

"Jesus!" Janna jumped back, eyes wide and breath frantic. She thought her heart was gonna jump out her throat. She began to hurry forward and try to help him, but the hand that rested on her shoulder made her jump and freeze in place.

"Oh, finally,"  Mrs. Diaz sounded as if she had just ran a marathon. "just as planned too, how about that? Thank you so much, niña, " she let out one of many relieved sighs over the scuffle in the background, stirring Janna by the shoulder and giving her a pat. She pulled a red pen from her purse and uncapped it, crossing out the last part of her 23 step plan. "you have no idea how long that took."

"How... how long WHAT took?" her eyes nervously darted between the woman in front of her and the document she held in her hands.

"You can send them on dates," she ignored her query to ramble nostalgically. "give them as many risque movies as you can, lock them in the bathroom as many times as you want, but..." she sighed. "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink, right? So sometimes you gotta dunk the stubborn thing's head under the water a little. It'll drink if it knows whats good for it."

"R-right." Janna agreed unsteadily under her breath, the worrisome lack of Marco's struggling in the background making her clench up.

"Hey, don't be so glum!" the tender pat she gave to Janna sent icicles up her spine. "It got a little rocky at the end, but we did it! Couldn't have done it without you!"

"Of... of course." Mrs. Diaz attempts to raise her spirits had mortified her further, the sloshing noise entering her ears threatening to make her sick.

"Don't think I forgot our agreement," she burrowed in her purse one final time, producing a hundred dollar bill and placing it in Janna's limp hand, closing her palm and patting it. "you earned it! Now, tell me which you like more," she began to study her plan again, chewing on the pen in her hand. "Sofia or Isabella?"

"I..."  she couldn't pull the words from her mouth, staring at the money in her shaking hands. "I have to go."

"Ooh, make sure not to open the store yet," she called to her as she made her sluggish tromp away. "they might be a bit."

"Yeah, yeah..." she mumbled back, leaving Mrs. Diaz to do as she pleased as Janna disappeared around the corner. Her walk back felt like it took an hour, an hour of stumbling around listening to the calvacade of overlapping clamor emanating from the backroom. She somehow managed to find her way back to the counter, and collapsed on the stool, letting her head hit the counter top hard.

She jerked her head back up at the sound of a ding, recoiled with surprise. She pulled her phone from her coat pocket. 136 now. She put the phone down on the counter, sliding it away from her person. It buzzed, dinging again. She checked it again. 30 now. She growled and ticked the settings, deleting the photo and slamming the phone back down. Another ding. She was about to chuck this thing across the room, and almost crushed the thing picking it back up. It was a message. A backlog of messages, actually. From Jackie. Right.

'Is he back there?'

'Hello?'

'Did he leave?'

'Janna?'

'I'm gonna go to the bathroom, be right back.' she didn't hesitate to start typing after she read her last message.

'don't bother'

'What?'

'he left, went to the movie store'

'The one out front?'

'other one'

'What? But that's on the other end of the strip.'

'gotta get that cardio in'

'Okay then... well, thanks anyway, Janna.'

She put the phone back down, resting her head in both hands and trying to stare off into oblivion. She couldn't even concentrate on spacing out, the noise was too much. The happy-go-lucky humming, the hushed cries her mind could only attribute to agony, those eerie, garbled moans and that endless, incessant god-damn sloshing sound was enough to make her ill. She dug around in her pockets, producing a pair of headphones and shoving them in her ears. She almost deafened herself with how loud she turned up her music, pulling her beanie over her eyes and collapsing back onto the counter top.


06.


"Where is he?"

"Hmm?"

"Marco, your, um, your son. Where is he?"

"He is still back there."

"You're not gonna... bring him with you?"

"They're not done."

"Mrs. Diaz, I, uh, don't mean to point out the obvious," she hunched her shoulders and adjusted her beanie. "but the mall's gonna close in a minute here, when I close the store up they'll be trapped in there."

"Don't worry about that," she pulled a pair of razor sharp scissors from her purse to demonstrate, small sparkles of light radiating from the blades as she snipped them. "I planned ahead. It was a pleasure working with you," she offered her hand, but Janna simply stared at it cautiously, the smallest hint of anger afflicting Mrs. Diaz. "you have a good night now, dear." she whispered gingerly, leaving her and beginning her walk away.

"Wait!" Janna called out to her, making her stop in place. "w-what about the mess? My managers gonna flip when she sees that door, I-"

"Niña," Mrs. Diaz's normal cheery tone was strained with irritability. "I planned ahead. There'll be a new door and no mess come the next morning. Good night." she strolled away once more. Janna looked inside the shop nervously. She could faintly hear the noises still echoing around the corner and through the store, and there was a pile of purple... something, flooding from down that hallway. She tried and tried to bring herself to go and look back there, but...

"W-wait!"

Mrs. Diaz stopped again, clenching up and eventually letting out a heavy sigh. She turned around slowly, her expression vexed and her eyes cold.

"He's... he's okay... right?"

Mrs. Diaz stayed silent, staring down Janna menacingly while she slowly began to regret speaking up.

"He's alive," she answered, her response lifting a weight off Janna's shoulders with heavier ones replacing them the second after. "it's getting late Janna. You're part in this is over. You can go home." were her last words to her, turning once more and leaving Janna, standing perturbed and restless in front of the store, not taking her eyes off Mrs. Diaz until she slowly turned the corner. She rattled her head to snap herself out of her trance, fishing the remote for the shutters out of her pocket and tapping the button, taking a similar exit as the metal sheet methodically lowered to the ground and locked.

The walk home for Janna was an unpleasant one. The dark had not once in her life bothered her, but it crept up on her on that night in particular. She pulled her collar up to shield herself from the bizarre cold, quickening her pace as cars drove by and the sleepy town heaved its sounds of dogs barking and birds crowing. Her stomach alone was in knots, she couldn't imagine how Marco felt. She didn't plan for that to happen. She didn't plan for any of this.

She passed the cornerstone near her house, her hand slipping its way around her person of its own accord and retrieving the hundred dollar bill she kept around there. Her hustle slowed to a stop as she stared at it under the glow of the streetlight, her grip tightening and her teeth gritting. She ripped it as many places as she could, throwing the remaining  flakes down and grinding as many of them into the ground as her foot would allow. She sprinted home after that, tears in her eyes, hoping that Marco would forgive her and praying to any and every deity above that she never, ever crossed paths with Mrs. Diaz again, lest she too become the subject of one of her infernal plans.