In edging away from the growing group of excited girls who were jumping up and down while discussing the pros and cons of a certain brand of makeup, Stacey accidentally bumped into a boy. The boy was wincing and covering his ears.
"Oh, sorry," Stacey apologised, rubbing her ears that were ringing from all the screaming. "I was just trying to get to a safe distance where I won't go deaf."
"Sorry. Yeah. Me too," the boy agreed. He had big eyes and the baby fat on his cheeks was starting to give way to more mature features. "Come this way. It's safer."
He beckoned Stacey over into a quieter area where the boys in the area weren't shouting as loud in order to be heard above the noise of the crowd.
"We should be able to hear ourselves talk better here," he released his ears and beamed. The smile was almost dazzling, completely changing his previously more solemn demeanour. Stacey could definitely see him as either the leader of a boy band or a heartthrob actor in a drama. "I was looking for my friend but I guess he's not there. I'm Ken," he said, letting out a breath. He wiped his hand on his trousers and after a brief hesitation, stuck it out.
"Anastasia - Stacey for short," Stacey took his hand and gave him a firm handshake. She grinned at his hesitant politeness. "Nice to meet you."
"Hey, bro," drawled a boy wearing a leather jacket after he squeezed out from between two other boys and draped a familiar arm over Ken's shoulders. He gave Stacey a once over and then lifted an arrogant but friendly chin at Ken. "Look at you growing up and bringing girls over already." The boy lifted a fist at Stacey still with his chin in the air. "Hey, I'm Endo. Stacey, yeah? I like your trousers. They've got a wild vibe to them. Where'd you get them?"
"From an op shop," Stacey said and fist bumped Endo, giving a short, sharp nod in imitation of his actions. This kid's posturing was so contrived it was amusing.
"What's an op shop?"
Endo cocked his head to once side while smoothing his gelled sideburns, while Ken cocked an eyebrow.
"Uh, a thrift shop," Stacey replied to their body language more than their curiosity. "No? You don't know what that is either? It's um, a shop that sells second-hand things that people don't want anymore. I like the retro looks."
She didn't mean to, but Stacey could feel herself slipping into the more lazy, informal way she spoke to her younger cousins who were always bopping and posing, trying to act cool. Her vowels became lengthened and consonants slightly slurred. Endo reminded her of her younger cousins a lot. She hoped she didn't look look or sound too stupid like this, but sticking to the more crisp enunciation reserved for more formal occasions didn't seem right either. Suddenly she felt that she wasn't entirely sure how to talk normally in an informal situation.
That coupled with the fact that they hadn't understood what an op or thrift shop was... that was awkward. Did they even have second-hand stores here? What if they didn't? Was her foreigness giving her away?
"Oh," Ken saved her from the awkward situation with a polite smile of understanding. "Retro fashions are making a comeback lately. Maybe I should look for a second-hand store too."
Stacey released an internal breath. So they did have second-hand stores here.
"Cool," Endo gave Stacey a light punch on the shoulder. "Huh. Why didn't you just say that in the first place? Why call it an op shop?"
"Op shop. Opportunity shop," Stacey explained with a somewhat nervous tremble in her voice that she couldn't hold back. "It's what the place was called. Sorry, I'm still getting used to talking with people outside - you know?" Stacey said, feeling very unsure of herself.
She just wanted to express that she didn't really know what was going on and that she needed help. Whether they would understand her understated cry for help or not, she didn't know. Everything was coming out off the top of her head at the moment. Hopefully she would remember all the details later when she had more information and was building up her currently nonexistent background. She couldn't just tell them she woke up here and seemed to come from a city and world nobody else in the town seemed to recognise, could she?
"You from the sticks, then?" Endo asked, pointing in a random direction.
"I suppose you could say that," Stacey agreed with a trembling heart, wondering what assumptions the teenage boys would come up with that would help her explain her situation. Hopefully they wouldn't reject her altogether.
"I see," Ken said, looking at her with a shrug. He thumbed at the girl's group where each girl was dragging big colourful cases of wheeled luggage around with them or abandoning their cases amidst the crowd. "Where's your luggage? All the other girls have massive cases over there."
"Do I look like the other girls?" Stacey made a wry face and opened her arms wide. "This is me. This is all I've got."
She felt it would be better to be big and bold about her lack of property. It sounded better to her than acting all pitiful and weak. She had always been more of an upfront direct person anyway. It might be better to go the direct route than beating around the bush. She doubted they had fully comprehended her indirect cry for help earlier.
The boys blinked at her in shock. They looked at their backpacks and small luggage pieces that had been stuffed full. Then they looked at each other.
"She's even more manly than us," Endo said to Ken with wide eyes. "Respect."
"You really took them at their word when they said they'd provide us with everything we'd need, didn't you?" Ken shook his head with a quirk of his lips. "Tell me you at least brought your ID."
"ID?" Stacey dug around in her pockets. She hadn't brought her purse or even her mobile phone when she'd left her apartment to take a 'short' walk. All she had was some loose change, a five dollar note and the house key. She couldn't take those out of her pocket. Oh, wait. There were three chewy minties which she'd eaten days ago.
The boys gave her a pitying look when she showed them her empty minty wrappers.
"They said to bring your student ID," Ken scratched his nose.
"Uh… but I haven't been to school for years," Stacey shrugged, raising her palms to the sky.
The boys exchanged glances and blinked at her again.
"I like her," Endo said to Ken after a long moment, pointing his thumb at her. "She's wild. Real bold. She don't give a crap. Can we be friends with her? Say 'yes'."
"Your parents didn't agree to you coming here and you ran away from home, didn't you?" Ken rolled his eyes at Endo and heaved a sigh at Stacey. "I only came cos Endo was too scared to come on his own. I promised his parents I'd help him. I thought it'd be enough just looking after him but it looks like you're gonna need some taking care of as well. You're definitely a one-of-a-kind girl. Come on. I'll bring you to one of the organiser staff and get you all sorted out."
Ken patted her on the back and sighed once more, looking up at the sky. Then he squared his shoulders as if to face his responsibility. It gave Stacey a strange feeling. She would be lying if she said she wasn't a bit touched by his apparent acceptance of her.
She didn't really need so much looking after in reality. Really. If she was back home, that was.
It was just that in a new place where she had no references for the culture, couldn't understand half the things people said or half the words that were written around her, she really needed some sort of assistance. It couldn't be helped that the pride and dignity she had gained as an independent, working young adult had to take such a big blow. She really needed someone, anyone to take her under their wing. And if she had to accept being labelled as slightly stupid...
Stacey bowed her head and resigned herself to her new reality.
Suck it up, princess. Just dance with the blows.