The Perfect Boy in the Shadows

Chapter 28, Pick Up The Pieces

-Lily-

When my phone dinged with a text that Saturday morning, I thought it would be Jack. Although when I picked it up I noticed it was actually Grayson. Rubbing my eyes I sat up in bed and read through the text.

Grayson: Hey, you busy today?

I was a little surprised by his sudden want to be with me and saw that this text was shared with no one else. I responded...

Lily: Not really, what's up?

I got out of bed and got dressed, throwing on a cute flannel tank top and jean shorts. My phone dinged with another message.

Grayson: I need help shopping

Lily: For clothes?

Grayson: Yeah, I'm going to the movies with Will and I have no clue what to wear, plus I need a new wardrobe

Lily: Alright then... do you wanna go to the mall?

Grayson: Sounds great, what time should I come to pick you up?

Lily: Maybe around 1:00.

Grayson: Ok. See you there

I packed a small bag and flipped through some of my coupons to see what was on sale. I had a coupon for some jean shorts which he could definitely use, as well as some other shirts. I was nervous he wouldn't like most of my selections but I'd force him to try everything on before rejecting it. 

I hopped in when his car pulled up exactly five minutes before 1:00. Leave it to Grayson to always be as punctual as possible. If it were Jack, he'd probably be five minutes late. And yes, it was a bit odd that a 15 year old could drive, you'd expect him to be 16, but his dad works at this car place that let Grayson get his license early. 

"So you don't want to go shopping with your parents?" I asked as he backed out of my driveway.

"Are you kidding? My parents don't have time to go shopping. Plus if they hardly even care about me, why would they care what I wear?" he responded with a scowl on his face. It left me kind of sad to think that was how his parents treated him, and how they were hardly ever home to raise their son, even if he was already in high school. We sat there in silence for a little while until I found a topic to break the ice.

"So what kind of clothes are you looking for?" I asked.  

"Something summery... I need T-Shirts, Pants, Socks, basically everything," he said.

"Even underwear?"

"Yeah, I need that too."

"Well I am not helping you shop for underwear, no thank you," I scowled playfully.

"That's fine with me!" he chuckled. 

It wasn't long before we arrived at the mall and the first store I led him into was Kohl's. The first few things I picked up were a few different shades of a nice button-down shirt. 

"This isn't too fancy, yet will make it look like you put some effort into it," I handed him the shirts, smiling. 

"Alright then..." he shrugged, following me as I dashed off to somewhere else.

"Now we need something you'd just be comfortable wearing, like a bunch of T-Shirts," I told him, lighting up when I saw exactly what I wanted. A few feet in front of me was a whole rack of nerdy T-Shirts, anything ranging from Star Wars to Guardians of the Galaxy.

"Oh my god, you'll love these!" I said, tugging on his shirt.

"Woah... all these designs are really cool. But... aren't these kid's shirts?"

"Who cares!? You are a kid! Here now pick out five of these, make sure they're the right size..." I said, motioning to the shirts.

"Alright..."

"I'll be back!" I said as I ran off to go find more clothes.

I came back with two pairs of shorts, a pair of ripped jeans, and a pair of skinny jeans. As well as a plaid shirt and a jean jacket.

"So how's it coming?" I asked, my arms full of clothes.

"I think I've picked out my five favorites... but you're gonna love this one," he said, holding up a shirt that had the Periodic Table of Star Wars. 

"Oh my god... yes! Hang on, I'm gonna get one for Jack too," I smiled, putting another in my pile. "Okay, ready to go try these on?"

"Sure... what'd you find?" 

"Well, I got all these pants..." I said while showing them to him. "And I also got these..." I held up the different plaid shirts and jean jacket.

"But those are from the girl's section!" he complained.

"Nothing's wrong with that! Besides, plenty of boys wear things like this, I just happened to pick the ones from the girl's section." I frowned at him.

"Lily, I'm gay... not transgender," he scowled.

"Oh my god Grayson! You don't think I know that!? Besides, I got a bunch of nerdy clothes from the guy's section all the time. Is that an issue?" I half-yelled.

"Well... no."

"Then at least just try these on!" I sighed, shoving the clothes at him.

"Fine..." he rolled his eyes, walking off with the clothes. 

-Grayson-

As I was trying on the clothes, I found I actually liked how I looked in almost all of them. (Except the ripped jeans, those were definitely not my thing) Now I felt really bad for yelling at Lily because I even liked how I looked in the flannel shirts. Once I told her she smirked and said,

"See? I told you!" 

Which I wouldn't have expected her to say anything else really. 

"Well, I think we're done for today," I smiled.

"You got everything you wanted?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Wanna go get a celebratory smoothie?" 

"Sure!" I agreed, following her.

After we bought all of the clothes, she led me through the mall to a little smoothie stand. She bought a pineapple coconut smoothie and I ordered a strawberry banana smoothie. We found a table and began slurping away at the deliciousness.

"Thank you so much for helping me today," I smiled.

"Sure thing! But next time, trust my judgment," she smirked.

"Haha, I will." 

We sat there in a peaceful silence for a while. It was nice to have someone to hang out with without feeling awkward around. From being her boyfriend to telling her I was gay to getting beat up... we've come a long way. I couldn't tell you how happy I was that we were back to normal. 

"Hey... Lily?"

"Yeah?"

"If... if this doesn't work out, y'know... with me and Will?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you be there to pick up the pieces?" I asked, my eyes looking a little nervous.

"Of course Grayson, I'll always be there for you," she smiled, reaching over and grabbing my hand. "Just like you'd be there for me if something were to happen between Jack and me," she said.

"But nothing ever will happen between the two of you, because you guys were made for each other," I said, hoping to cheer the mood a bit.

"You're right..." she sighed happily, "We were made for each other." 

And then we threw our smoothies away and walked out to the car. A shopping trip that succeeded, and that I hoped to do again. That is if Lily can tolerate me. ; )