K. C. A

TWENTY-NINE

“Really?” Claire asked, unable to hide her excitement. 

“Yes. I am also interested in participating in your plan.”

“Are you sure?” Tyler asked. 

“Yeah. There's nothing to lose.”

And just like that our plan was back in motion and we had an addition to the group. 

Claire, Tyler and I had perfected step one and were working on step two, but Ashley had to begin from step one irrespective of the popularity she had already gained through contesting for class president. 

Amongst all three of us, Claire was the most excited to put Ashley through step one. As we drove to a shopping mall not too far from Keegan Contemporary Academy  after school, she continuously reminded Ashley of how happy she was about her  acceptance to join the group and how much she enjoyed shopping especially with friends. Tyler and I wished we could be exempted from the whole process, but our dear friend,  Claire Davis,  was unwilling to grant us that opportunity. Ashley just sat quietly at the backseat with Tyler, and from the way her face was wrinkled, it was obvious that she had not yet understood the purpose for our drive to the shopping mall. 

In about fifteen minutes, we arrived at our destination, Tadi's shopping mall. Claire in all her excitement was literally pulling Ashley into the mall by the arm, and if she could, she would have done the same to Tyler and I. 

“I really don't understand why I need to buy new clothes for school.” Ashley complained, maintaining her wrinkled face. 

“You need to look the part, it's the most important part of the plan.” Claire replied with a bright and wide smile. 

“I get that but what is wrong with the way I dress? Don't I already look the part?”

I had been hoping that she would not ask that question. I had always had problems with Ashley's choice of clothing,  but I didn't think I was in the best position to talk to her about her poor choice of clothing. Even if I was in the best position to do so, I had no idea on how to talk about it. Thankfully, she was not expecting an answer from me since she was facing Tyler squarely. 

Tyler looked like a ghost had just asked him to be her husband. His mouth hung open and his eyeballs were almost popping out of their sockets. Ashley on the other hand, gazed at him expectantly with raised brows. 

After some long seconds, I had to nudge him in the rib as an encouragement for him to speak. 

Tyler began by clearing his throat. “There is…there is…there is um nothing wrong with the way you dress, but um…for this purpose, you need to um look different from how you normally do. You need to look unique and um special, you know to um attract more attention and um popularity for yourself.”

Wow! I had to hand it to him, this was a great way to handle the situation.

“Fine. I could revert back to my usual outfits after we have achieved our goal, right?”

“No!!” Claire exclaimed. “We would have to maintain what we would have attained.” She added in a calmer voice. 

“I don't really like this.” Ashley muttered. 

“It would be fun, trust me.” Claire said reassuringly. 

For the first hour, Claire allowed Ashley to pick out the clothes she wanted, but ten terrible outfits later, Ashley was denied that opportunity, instead Claire just picked out nice dresses and made her try them on. 

Tyler and I waited impatiently for another hour and forty-five minutes before Claire was ready to finally leave the mall. 

Throughout the ride home, Claire was educating Ashley on the details of our plan, the importance of each step and the intended goal; to get popular before the twelfth grade.