Chapter 4: Distractions

In the morning Sharon did not suffer from any serious effects from the previous night’s drinking the next morning, but did apologize not for her actions but for the worry she caused when she had her liaison with Jared. It was somewhat tense, Rene still had not compartmentalized what had happened nor come to terms with it, but had kept it from impacting her relationship with Sharon.

The week came and went and Saturday found the two once again studying together in their room, life was back to normal.

But Saturday things turned around, for Rene, as the two friends made their way to the grocery store to pick up a few things.

Moving down the Cereal aisle Rene heard, “Hey, Rene.”

Turning she saw a smiling Bruce, “Hey you.”

“So, how you been?”

“Good, and you?”

“Okay. Hey Sharon, how was the day after?”

With a laugh, “Fine, no problems.”

“Well that’s good. So, Rene, I was wondering if you wanted to go out to dinner tonight, or something?”

A shiver of excitement went through her causing her response to be somewhat stammered, “Ah, yeah, uhm well, you know,”

She was saved from herself when Sharon jumped in, “She would be happy to go out with you for lunch on Sunday.”

Bruce gave a quizzical look to Sharon, “Tomorrow?” Looking back to Rene he chuckled slightly and said, “Sure. Okay, tomorrow it is. Pick you up at your dorm, say noon?”

Again, Sharon jumped in, “That would be great! See you tomorrow at noon!”

Rene could only nod her head in a agreement. What did she get herself into?

And as Bruce walked away Sharon said “Okay, I bought you some time. We have to work on your, uhm, style.”

She turned to Sharon and asked, “What the heck just happened?”

“Well, you froze up, and I got you a date. Aren’t you excited?”

“Uhm, well yeah. I guess. But”

“But nothing. Come on Rene, you need a break. You need to unwind, get a little excitement, maybe get lucky!”

Shaking her head, “Oh no, no way.”

“Well, you can at least have some fun.”

Scrunching her face she stammered, “I don’t know.”

“Come on, what do you have to lose. Didn’t you tell me you had fun hanging out with him at the party?”

“Yeah, I did say that.”

“Soooo you should have fun with him on a date.”

“But”

“But nothing. You need to do this.”

Looking at herself and thinking of her clothes made her wince. “I have nothing to wear. And I don’t have any money, well, none to speak of.”

“I know of a place that sells cloths, inexpensively.”

“It’s not, illegal, is it?”

“No! It’s a resale shop.”

Grocery shopping went quite fast after that.

Arriving back at the dorm they dropped off their groceries and went through Rene’s wardrobe looking for what works and what didn’t. Not surprising they didn’t find much that didn’t scream rural farm girl. Not that there is anything wrong with that. But if the look you want is one of urban sophistication, than a drastic change is required. So, off they went to the resale shop with $25 dollars of cold hard cash in their pocket.

The shop was exactly what she expected, an old store of dubious history in desperate need of repair and a thorough cleaning. Old fluorescent lights of which several were in need of replacement as they flickered in the throes of the death which was soon to come. The front third of the store was most tables holding t-shirt and such along with a row of cashiers. The other two thirds of the store contained rows of racks containing pants, shirts, dresses, jackets, and other diverse wardrobe ensembles.

It took them an hour to peruse the racks of clothes to find suitable items to make up a few sets that were interchangeable. One pair of tight blue jeans that showed off her pear shaped ass and four tops that when worn properly, or improperly as she said, extenuated her breasts. All told Rene spent all of her money, and a couple of bucks from Sharon. She felt uncomfortable spending the money, the sacrifice her parents had made for her, but she needed to fit in as best she could.

She slept an uneasy sleep that night as she tossed and turned fretting over the upcoming date. It has been a few years that she went out with a guy, one on one, and being from a somewhat different culture, was unsure what to expect, or how to act, or, really anything about going on a date. Especially with someone more worldly than she was.