- Gabriella -

"Wait." I said stopping her.

"Can I try that on too?" I pointed to the first dress she showed us.

Stella's eyes sparkled. "Oh. Yes. I'm sure that one will suit you best but I wasn't sure if you wanted it."

"I want to try it on too please." I said and she pulled off the wrapping paper handling me the dress. "Here. These attachments go with the dress. Hook it to the dress." I nodded as she placed something gauzy onto the pile in my arms and I headed to the room to change.

It hugs my curves and yet still airy in a way that makes me feel comfortable. I'm not a dress girl, but more of a jeans girl. Dresses make me feel a little self-conscious, but for this welcome party, I'm willing to bend the rules a little.

I looked at my reflection and grinned, turning around to see the daffodil yellow straps dropping down to my lower back. It has a short flowy skirt falling in between my thighs and knees. It's simple with a line of pleats at the sides showing a tiny glimpse of my skin. I have yet to try on the first dress, deciding to forego it since I trust Stella and the sizing is the same. It's a little late and we still have grocery shopping to do.

Vin smirked from the corner of the mirror and placed her hand on her hip. "I'm never wrong, you see. Stella is the best dressmaker out here." I mutely nodded as I studied the shimmering gauzy dress on her. It suits her black hair and the plunging neckline flatters her petite frame.

"Wait for me!" Claudia called from the changing room beside mine. The door to Claudia's dressing room opened and she walked out. She stood in front of us and said: "I think this is it."

Her dress is pale green that hangs off her shoulders with a short naughty skirt length that brings eyes to her narrow waistline. She looks like a mischievous elf-girl with her long dark brown locks and equally brown eyes.

"Wow Claud. You look great." I said as I watched her look at the mirror. "Yeah gurl. Like a naughty elf." Shayla said as she also stood behind us. Her dress is off-white like a lighter shade of manila, with a side slit on her skirt to expose her lean legs.

"I think this party is going to be one hell of a fun with us taking the spotlight." Shayla said grinning like a cheshire cat.

***

"It was expensive but worth every cent right?" Claudia said to me. We are now in the shopping mart near the city, buying groceries after we paid for our dresses. The four of us are sharing a trolley and I was complaining to Claudia about the price of that lovely grey dress. I realized it was grey and not gray after closer inspection.

"Yeah. Definitely." I said nodding as she added some detergent powder into the trolley. Our shopping bags were placed inside the trolley since it was kind of large and blocking the way of our grocery shopping. "But it's still painful." I sighed.

Vin and Shayla trailed behind us while grabbing what they needed from the shelves.

"Beauty is pain." Claudia said laughing. "And this isn't physical yet. Yours is only the emotional side of spending your savings. Stop thinking about it."

"Yes. You're totally right. I should spend my savings on things I like. Else why would I save it in the first place right?" Mhm I'm totally not trying to convince myself to forget those three figure numbers.

"Uh huh." Claudia nodded in agreement. "Anything you need to get?"

We're shopping for extra detergent, food and breakfast for our dorm, since I just moved in yesterday.

"Let me see. Oh right I need some potted plants." I said remembering the mental list of shopping items I did this morning.

"Potted plants? Oh I remember you mentioning something about a medical condition. About needing contact with nature right?" She said looking at me with her brows raised in question.

"Yeah. I just need to be somewhere near plants, water bodies and all that blah blah nature. Organic stuff too. Got sensitive skin and all." I said not wanting to explain the actual details. Truth is I feel tired and fatigued without contact with nature, and if I try to explain it to average people who don't have such a condition, it sounds weird. Funny even. No one will look at me seriously if I told them I need to be near plants and touch nature every day so I won't blackout.

Okay exaggeration much, but you get the idea.

"Oh. I see. Hmm when did you have such a condition anyway?" Claudia is humming along to the song playing in the mart not exactly focusing on the conversation as I pushed the trolley down the aisle. I recognized the song, it's one of the latest albums from Vee, my favourite pop singer. I don't blame her for her lack of focus, I'm surprised she even remembered about my condition.

"Since very young I think. I can't remember when I had it exactly, but it wasn't until I'm ten that I ..." I trailed off because Claudia isn't listening to me but staring at someone else straight ahead.

"Oh hello!" Mike said, waving at us as he pushed the trolley towards us. "Hey Res, Jason, they're here too." He called behind him at the two guys who were focused on a phone. Res and Jason looked up from their shopping list, spotting us, they made their way forward to say hello.

"Hi guys. We're just doing a little grocery shopping." Vin said from behind me. "How's the shopping for the deco going?"

"Pretty well I guess? We managed to find most of the items in the list you sent us. But we're still missing some items." Res answered her with a smile as he ran a hand through his freshly cut hair. It's a trendy undercut, and I have to admit he looks even more attractive with his new haircut. "Uh huh. We're left with only party poppers and balloons." Jason said as he read from his phone.

He smiled when he saw me. "Hi Gabriella and Claudia. Nice to see you here."

I forced myself to look away from Res' hair and waved cheerily at Jason. What's wrong with me? I need to stop staring at him.

"I know where you can find party poppers and balloons. It's in the same section as the gardening section! Wanna join us? Me and Briel are heading over there anyway." Claudia looked over to Res and beamed. Something sharp panged against my chest and a small part of me felt annoyed by her. I blinked and the feeling disappeared.

"Sure why not? What did you need to get from there btw?" Res asked Claudia, returning her smile with one of his quick grins. "Oh, Gabriella just needed to get some potted plants for our windowsill at the dorm." Claudia said as they both walked off towards what I presumed is the Gardening Section. I hung back studying the both of them laughing at a joke they shared. My chest tightens and a strange sort of foreignness enters my heart.

Something is seriously wrong with me today. Maybe I'm just out of sorts.

I forced myself to look away from them.

"So did you girls manage to buy what you wanted to wear for the welcome party?" Jason asked me. He shot me a small smile.

"Oh yes. We did in the end." I said smiling back.

"That's great to hear. Really. I understand all that needing to get a nice outfit that meets your criteria. My sister shared with me her pain of finding her party dresses and from then on, I could sort of relate how hard it is for girls to find the right dress. It's much easier for us guys, just the same pants and shirt." He said, shrugging.

"Oh you have a sister?" I asked him, feeling surprised.

"Haha yeah. An older sister. Why does everyone seem so surprised when I tell them that?" He laughed.

"Maybe we don't know you well enough since you're slightly quieter than the rest?" I offered, more out of randomness than really thinking about it. But Jason smiled.

"Sometimes I feel that it's better to observe than to participate. I think you can relate to this too." He gave me a knowing look before walking ahead to join the rest.

Hmm what did he mean by that?

Before I could ask him about it, we've reached the "Gardening" area. I left them at the party items section and went off on my own in search of my new green companions. They came in various sizes and cute little pots that instantly lifted my mood. I touched one of them, feeling the prickly tiny shrub on my fingers.

You guys are still the best. Always loyal and evergreen. I spoke to it silently in my head. As I was contemplating which of them I wanted, I felt someone coming up to me. Thinking he was a stranger, I didn't bother to look and I jumped when Res spoke.

"Gosh you gave me a fright." I said clutching the plant with both hands.

"Oops. Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you like that. I always have this bad habit of following someone silently." Res said apologetically.

"Didn't you guys need to get the deco stuff?" I asked him, raising one of my brows. Translation: What are you doing here?

"I think there's enough people to hunt for two items there." He grinned pointing to the small shelf housing "Party Items". "And decided that you need help deciding which to get." He said, staring right at me with deliciously warm brown eyes. Tiny butterflies begin tap dancing in my navel.

"Yeah. Right." I mumbled absently deliberately averting my eyes from his very attractive ones, and stared at the plant I'm holding.

"You should get this." He said reaching over and selecting a pot from the collection. It's a mossy plant that's trimmed in a cute kitten shape. I raised my brow.

"It suits you." He chuckled.

"Really? Isn't it a little too cute to suit me?" I said, smiling slightly while placing back the pot I was holding.

"Nope nothing's too cute to suit you."

My heart skipped a beat. Did he just call me cute? Again? I looked at him apprehensively, but he's grinning and studying the plant. Then he fixed me a rueful smile, his warm brown eyes alight with an idea.

"Hey, you know what? I've wanted to buy something for you as a welcome gift to university. Why don't I buy this for you since I think it suits you pretty well." He asked me. I couldn't turn him down since it would douse the hope in his eyes, so I merely nodded and shrugged. "Sure?"

We pushed the trolleys to the counter after I was satisfied with choosing four plants.

"I would like to pay for these separately please." I said to the cashier lady, as I placed the potted plants at the back of the conveyor belt. "And I would like to pay for this one." Res said as he isolated the previous plant he chose from the lot. Damn, I had hoped he forgot about it while they were paying for the party items.

However, as Res opened his wallet and stared into its empty contents he groaned. "Freak. I spent all of it paying for the deco." He scratched his head and looked sheepishly at the cashier lady who was glaring at him impatiently. "Hurry up young man. There's a line of customers behind."

"I'll pay for all of it." I said pushing the other three forward and the lady nodded, scanning the barcodes. I waved my card and heard the familiar beep as the transaction went through the system. "Alright. Have a nice day." The lady handed me the receipt and the plastic bags before she handled the next customer behind us.

"Ugh. That was horrifyingly embarrassing." Res said mortified as we made our way out with our purchases. His ears are a little pink at the tips. "I'm sorry about back there." He said covering his face with a hand.

Just a moment ago, I was the flustered one and now he's the one feeling flustered. Watching this side of him, I discovered Res isn't always the confident popular guy. He's cute when he's embarrassed.

Wait what? Whatever is wrong with me?

"Haha, er it's okay. My mum lent me her credit card today. So it's okay I guess." What am I even speaking about? I wanted to say "It's okay since my mum lent me her credit card and told me to spend as much as I want." Jeez.

"I guess I'll have to buy you a drink as a welcome gift instead then. Although I was hoping to welcome you to the dormitory life." Res sighed. Grinning he said, "Bye. We guys need to help out with setting up the deco." He waved and headed off with Jason and Mike. I realized with a start that we've already reached the sprawling gates of my university. That's fast. I knew the mart was close by but this is faster than I thought.

Or is it that time seems to pass faster when I was speaking with Res?