Lexi took the passenger seat, while Law climbed into the back. Once he was situated in the back, Brittany turned and gave him a winning smile. "Fancy meeting you here." She started, but Lexi smacked her in the arm before she could continue any further.
"Let's go already." The brunette said, hoping that she wouldn't have to sit through a car ride of the two of them flirting back and forth. She knew how stubborn and pursuant Brittany could be, and Law appeared to not mind one bit. If there was one thing she knew after being friends with Brittany for eight years, it was that if a guy showed any sort of reciprocation of Brittany's flirting, it usually meant they would end up dating.
"Hmm…" Brittany muttered, shoving the car into reverse and backing out of her driveway. Straightening out on the road, she switched to drive and started down the road towards the open country.
"Where are we going exactly?" Lexi questioned, searching for her own sunglasses in her cluttered purse. She threw them on, leaning back further into the plush seats. It was a little hot, and so she rolled down her window, letting the breeze cool her fast. Behind her, she could hear Law clear his throat.
"What is the normal attire for a…frat party?" The pirate asked, stumbling slightly over the unfamiliar term. Beside her, Lexi said Brittany smirk.
"Oh, you know, all the guys wear togas and sandals, wreaths of leaves in your hair. That sort of thing." She responded, and Lexi laughed a little.
"Don't listen to her, she's just being mean." The brunette supplied, glancing back at Law with a smile. "You can just wear normal street clothes."
He raised a brow, not quite sure what a 'toga' even was. "Hmm." He replied noncommittally.
"Wait, you were being serious?" The black-haired beauty asked in shock, sparing him a glance in her rearview mirror. With a raised brow, he nodded, and she sat back in silence for a moment. "I didn't think you were serious. You've never been to a frat party?"
"No. We don't…have them where I'm from." He answered as truthfully as he could. He couldn't exactly say that he was a pirate from another dimension. Lexi had stressed how crazy he would sound if he told anyone that.
"Well, in all honesty, those parties aren't much. Imagine a party with really loud music that gives you a headache, half the house smells like weed, and the other half like alcohol. Add in a swimming pool somewhere, bad decisions, and cheating partners exposed. That's a frat party." Brittany finished with a smile, proud of her creative definition of a frat party.
"I see…"
"And you wonder why I don't want to go…" Lexi muttered, but Brittany heard her. She reached over and slapped Lexi on the shoulder none too gently.
"Stop moping over there. You've got me with you, and I am the party. Besides, we'll probably just end up drinking a few shots and watching other people embarrass themselves. You'll love it." The traffic light changed, and Law watched as all of the vehicles began to move forward. He still wasn't used to the movement patterns of cars, and braced himself against the handle on the side of the door as they turned.
Law mostly tuned out the two women in the front seat, watching as his surroundings rushed past. The sheer amount of buildings in the city was baffling to the pirate. He'd seen some on the way to Lexi's university before, but there seemed to be more people than even the most populated islands he'd ever visited.
His thoughts were interrupted as the car lurched immediately left, and Brittany applied the brakes, a loud horn coming from somewhere in the front.
"Learn to drive, asshole!" Brittany yelled, flipping off someone to her right. Law looked over and saw another person in a car, angrily speeding past them.
"Fuck off!" The man shouted at them, and Brittany leaned forwards.
"Yeah, that's right you son of a bitch, drive away! Coward!" Lexi pressed her friend back into her seat, speaking softly.
"Alright, I think he gets the idea."
"Like hell he does. Bastard should get off the road…" The beauty cursed under her breath, causing Law to smirk. Brittany certainly wasn't afraid of starting conflict.
"Ok, this music is getting boring." Brittany decided, slowing to a stop at the next stop light behind another car, and pulled out her phone from her purse. Law watched in confusion as she attached a cord that ran from the front of the car to her phone.
"I'm feeling something with a sick beat." The black-haired woman said, touching several things on the screen before giving it to Lexi. The starting notes of some sort of music began to play, and she turned a dial up, raising the volume.
"I want to party, you want to party, we need to party, let's have a party…
Saturday morning, I ain't gotta work…"
Law frowned, silent from how ridiculous the music in Lexi's world could get, but it seemed that this kind of song was popular, because the two women up front bounced up and down to the beat, singing the lyrics as loud and off key as they wanted.
"All we need is good green and some Bou Lou, Five to one so it's guaranteed you can do you, 'Zilla keep the heater just in case we have a boo-boo, Kansas City natives and we all a little coo-coo!" They sang. Law shook his head, giving up on understanding Lexi's world entirely.
"Ok, we're here!" Brittany said over the music, putting the vehicle into park and unblocking her seatbelt. "Everyone out!"
When she turned off the car, the loud music stopped, becoming eerily silent after the constant noise. Climbing out of the car, everyone was hit with the full heat of the day as they left the air-conditioned cab of Brittany's car. Slamming the doors, Lexi and Law followed the woman towards the building.
"Dilliards? Isn't this place expensive?" Lexi asked skeptically, temporarily forgetting about the money Nana had given her. Her less-fortunate upbringing kicked in, sending a wave of uncertainty as they approached the doors. Brittany waved off her worry, opening the shiny gold and glass double doors for them.
"No worries, you'll be fine. I gotcha covered." They entered the much cooler interior, stepping into a department store with mannequins and clothes hanging on racks on either side of them. Lexi was just thankful they hadn't chosen the lingerie section to enter through, and Brittany led them down the while-tiled path towards the dress area.
"Denise!" Brittany called, waving to a woman standing at the women's dresses register station. The older, gray-haired woman looked up, smiling widely at the sight of the younger college student.
"Brittany, it's wonderful to see you. What can I find for you."
"This is my friend, Lexi. We're looking for party dresses for a frat party." The older woman glanced over at the two beside her with a knowing look.
"Ah, you college students and your parties. Well, let's get you and your friend measured and into a few selections."
Lexi and Law shared a glance of uncertainty, not quite sure what to expect from this experience. The expensive-looking store interior alone was making the brunette a little nervous.
Ushered into a dressing room, Brittany followed the sales clerk into the stall, closing the door behind them so they could take her measurements. Lexi and Law were left to sit on a plush bench down the hall.
"Everything looks so expensive…" Lexi muttered her fear aloud, not sure if the $500 Nana had saved up would even amount to anything in this place. Some of the gowns she'd walked by on their way here had price tags over $400.
"You could always just take what you want." Law shrugged, grinning at the Lexi's glare.
"Yeah, and get arrested."
"Not if you don't get caught." He pressured, but she only shook her head. He chuckled.
It was a few more minutes before the sales clerk emerged from Brittany's room. She closed the door behind her, pointing to Lexi and gesturing her to follow.
Swallowing, Lexi rose from her seat and entered the indicated dressing room right beside Brittany's, the sales clerk right behind her. The woman turned back around and gestured to her clothes. "Strip."
"R-right." The brunette did as she was told, feeling strange to be half-naked while a certain someone was nearby. Her worst fear would be that he decided to go exploring for himself, or that he accidentally got a peek of her in this state.
She shivered, thinking that perhaps that wouldn't be such a bad thing…then immediately shoved that thought back to the deepest, darkest part of her subconscious.
The sales clerk wrapped her measuring tape around various parts of her body, mumbling things below her breath as she finished up all the measurements. Finally getting the last ones, Denise nodded resolutely and straightened up.
"Wait here while I bring your dresses." And with that, she exited the stall, her footsteps carrying her down the hall until she couldn't hear them any longer.
There were a few seconds of silence until Brittany knocked on the wall between them. "How you holding up, Lex?"
"Fine." Came the answer, and Brittany laughed.
"What do you think they would do if we just decided to run through the store like this?" Her friend asked with a chuckle, and Lexi shook her head.
"You are so weird." She said in exasperation, imagining the look of Law's face at the conversations the two had on a regular basis. That would be something to see.
Law sat back on the bench with arms crossed as he waited for the clerk to return with their selections. He hadn't ever been shopping with a woman before, let alone two, and decided that it was just as boring as he imagined it would be.
Thankfully, before the two of them could engage in any more unnerving or awkward conversations that he was within earshot of, Denise returned with several different colors and styles of dresses. She first stopped by Brittany's stall, knocking and handing a few to the occupant inside. Then, she went further down to Lexi's, knocking once more and giving her dresses.
Take your time, ladies! I'll come back in a few minutes to check on you." And with that, the gray-haired woman left Law alone on the bench. With a quiet sigh, he leaned back against the wall to wait for them to come out.
Brittany came first, wearing a flashy green gown that cut off in the front at her knees and descended down to the floor at the back. It was sleeveless, and Brittany went to the mirror to look.
"Hmm…too heavy." She decided, flashing Law a quick wink before disappearing behind the door once more. Rolling his eyes, Law had to admit that he'd never met a woman quite as open and…direct, as Brittany was. The woman was something else entirely.
The sound of shuffling and a few thumps later, she emerged again, this time in a maroon, floor-length gown made of chiffon, sweeping against the floor as she walked. Returning to the mirror, she swayed back and forth, watching the fabric as it moved against her body.
"So many people would step on the hem of this thing." She decided, her mouth skewed sideways as she criticized how long the skirt was. With a shrug, she returned to her stall.
Waiting some more, Law realized that Lexi hadn't come out once since entering with the clerk. There was a distinct lack of noise from over there as well, and he wondered what she could be doing in there.
Brittany came out for a third time, decked out in a shorter, strapless, navy blue dress. It had a sequined belt of sort around the middle. She smiled widely upon seeing herself in the mirror. Glancing over at Law, she struck a provocative pose.
"Does this make my ass look great or what?"
He tilted his head, unable to find an answer for the woman. At his silence, she only laughed, gazing at herself for a few moments before turning towards the stalls again.
"Lex? What's going on in there? Come out here." She knocked against the door, as if her voice wouldn't reach her.
"No." Came the brunette's stout answer. Brittany sighed, gesturing in frustration.
"If you don't get out, I'm dragging you out." She promised, but Lexi sighed.
"I'm not coming out in this." She said resolutely, happy that the door was locked. Law watched in amusement as the black-haired woman tried jumping to see over the top of the door, but she couldn't get high enough.
"I bet you look great, what's the problem?" She tried, hoping that Lexi might decide to unlock the door and let her in, or at least come out on her own.
"It shows everything! It's way too revealing!" The brunette called.
Just then, the clerk returned to check on them, hearing the conversation between the two girls. "Is there a problem?" She asked, and Brittany brightened up.
"Lexi is too afraid to show me her dress. Could you maybe open the door for me?" Brittany asked sweetly, and Denise gave her a knowing smile once again.
"No, wait!" Lexi called, hearing the keys in the door rattle as the sales clerk unlocked it. The door opened, and Brittany stepped inside out of Law's view. Denise stood back and waited for the two inside to sort it out.
"Brittany, I can't wear any of these!"
"What are you talking about, these look great! And the one you're wearing looks so nice on you! Come out here and see yourself."
"I can't go out in this-"
"Stop struggling!"
Brittany came out first, dragging a not very happy Lexi behind her, who sported a short black dress, with a halter top that fit her curves in all the right ways. Brittany pushed her in front of the mirror, forcing the brunette to look.
"Do you see this? You look hot as fuck. Nothing is wrong with this dress." She continued, but Lexi crossed her arms in front of her chest.
"It shows so much though-"
"So what? This is a party. You know half the people there are probably going in booty shorts and bikini tops anyways, even if the dress code is semi-formal. People are gonna be drunk and they won't care what you look like." Lexi's expression still showed her doubt, and Brittany sighed once more, glancing at Law.
"Law, tell her she looks amazing and that she's just being stupid!" Because of her outburst, all eyes were turned towards the pirate, except for Lexi's. She looked decidedly embarrassed to be put on display, of sorts, and cast her eyes down to the floor. Still, he noticed her glance up once at him, before looking away again.
He really didn't like how Brittany put him on the spot like that, but there wasn't anything for him to do about it. So in the most uncaring tone of voice he could muster, he shrugged with no expression.
"It looks fine."
"Are all of you blind?" Brittany lamented, gesturing to the mirror. "Lexi, this dress looks great on you. You're getting it."
"What?"
Without getting another chance to speak, Brittany was shoving her back into the dressing room, telling her to get dressed again. After shutting the door and returning to her own stall, the older woman stood beside Law on the bench, waiting for the two women to finish.
"She was quite pretty, wasn't she?" Denise asked coyly, intentionally not meeting his gaze when he swung around to look at her in suspicion. His eyes narrowed, wondering if the events that occurred were directed towards him. If the hint of a smile that played at her lips was anything to go by, he was correct. He didn't bother answering her question.
Finally, the two girls came out in their regular clothes, Lexi's face still red from being put under the spotlight in that dress. Before she could object, Denise went into both of their dressing rooms and gathered up their dresses of choice, whisking them away to the register before she knew it.
Brittany led them away towards the counter, and Lexi sighed as she followed her best friend.
"Sometimes I hate her…" She muttered. Law, who walked beside her, smirked. Their friendship dynamic was rather strange, though he had an inkling that as much as Lexi said those things, she still loved her friend.
Denise rang them both up, each one paying their own part of the bill. Lexi was relieved to see that the black dress was only $249, so it wouldn't exceed her spending limit, though she still wasn't used to such a total.
Law was secretly glad that she'd been forced to buy it, thinking back to the way it had accentuated her hips in just the right way. While he would never admit that he did, he thought that she looked rather attractive while wearing it.
He was just admiring her assets, he told himself, only partially convincing himself of his reasons behind staring at her for longer than he intended.
"You're next." Brittany said, pointing to Law as they exited the store and walked towards her car, shopping bags in hand.
That's right. He'd almost forgotten that he needed new clothes as well. Shrugging, he nodded, resigning himself to a similar experience as with the previous clerk.
Thankfully, his shopping trip wasn't half as dramatic. Brittany drove them to another store, herding them inside in search of a sales associate.
The girl at the counter looked up with wide eyes at the three, focused mostly on Law, and Brittany smirked. Obviously, everyone noticed an attractive alpha male like Law, but Lexi wasn't so sure what to think. She shouldn't care, but for whatever reason, she didn't like people looking at him like that.
It was probably best not to think about that.
"This man needs nice clothes. Show me your best." Brittany demanded, exuding her dominance over the meek sales associate. Nodding, the girl went to find clothes that would match well and fit him.
He was showed to a dressing room with several pairs of jeans and shirts. Raising a brow at the offered clothes, he took them and went inside, locking it behind him. Brittany and Lexi chatted in a few of the chairs until he came out.
The girl really knew her stuff. She'd given him regular dark blue jeans, paired with a white dress shirt. Law stepped out, feeling rather uncomfortable in the long sleeves. They were tighter than his usual hoodie, and felt restrictive. Brittany stood, circling him with a contemplative expression as she took in his figure.
"Hmm…" She muttered, stopping and reaching forward at the sleeves. "Roll these up."
Deciding that this whole experience would be over quicker if he listened, he allowed Brittany to cuff the sleeves at his elbows. Once that was done, she stepped back and observed once more.
"And this." She said, reaching up and taking the spotted hat from his head, unleashing the untamed mess of black hair. He frowned, intent on arguing that the hat stayed, but she stopped him with a raised finger. "You can have it back after the party, but I get to keep it for now. Got it?"
He only glared, knowing in the short time he'd associated with Brittany that she got her way or things would get ugly. Crossing his arms, he rolled his eyes.
Unbeknownst to him, this move caused the muscles in his arms to stand out against the tight sleeves of the shirt, and all three women in his presence immediately locked eyes with the motion. Lexi could feel a bit of a blush appearing on her face, and found something fascinating with the ceiling, while the sales associate resorted to openly staring. Lexi did, however, hear the almost silent 'Sweet Jesus,' the girl muttered under her breath.
Thankful that the whole experience hadn't taken too long, Law followed Lexi and Brittany out of the store, carrying a bag with his new clothes. The two talked in front on him, too low to hear.
"Did you see those tattoos on his arms?" Brittany whispered, practically drooling over the memory back in the store. "I could stare at them forever."
"You are super creepy. Remind me never to be seen with you in public ever again." Lexi joked, finding that somehow she'd had a fun time shopping with her friend. They didn't get to do things like this often, as the brunette never had a lot of money to freely spend. It was nice to get out and do things every once in a while.
"You still love me though." Her friend retorted with a grin, and the two laughed as they climbed into her car.
ns 15.158.61.8da2
