Sakura's P.O.V
We went around the mall going to various stores. We split up into groups, girls and guys. We were currently in a dress store. "Sakura this dress would look so good on you." I hear Kate say. I get worried knowing what kind of clothes Kate is into.
"Don't look so worried. I picked it thinking of you," she reassures me. I look at the red dress she was holding up. It had long sleeves and a low-cut V-neck. It stopped just above the knees. It had no designs and was simplistic. It was elegant, sexy, and simple. Perfect for a first date.
"I'll put it in the cart," Kate said, noticing my reaction. "I found a dress you might like," I say to Kate. She lifts her eyebrow in curiosity. I pull out a black dress that wraps around the neck and leaves the stomach exposed. It crisscrossed in the back, leaving some of the back exposed. It reached mid-thigh.
Her eyes shine. "It's beautiful! How much does it cost?" Good question. I look at the tag and see that it costs fifty dollars. I nervously chuckle. I put the dress back on the rack and walked toward Soren and Catalina on the other aisle.
I hear Kate pick up the dress but don't bother looking back to see her reaction. Her loud gasp said enough. Catalina and Kate look at her and then look back at me for an answer. I ignore their stare and ask, "Have you guys found anything?" Catalina shakes her head and then responds saying, "No, but I may have found something for Soren."
Soren gives Catalina a questioning look, not knowing about this recent discovery. Catalina pulls out a light purple sleeveless dress that has a skirt that stops just below the knees. It had multiple straps from the front and back that led to a choker around the neck. It had jewels at the hem of the skirt, top of the dress, and around the part that formed a choker.
It was beautiful but not Soren's style. Confirming my thoughts, Soren says, "Not what I would normally go for, but I like it." Catalina's eyes light up in Soren's approval of the dress.
"I don't know what you would normally go for but I found this dress further down the aisle. Red dress with the same neck choker. One sleeveless arm and the other long-sleeved. It stops a little above the knees." It sounded great, but also expensive.
"Check the price first," Kate says coming up from behind. Soren looks at the price for the purple dress Catalina picked out and puts it back.
"Have you found anything Sakura?" I pull out the red dress Kate picked out from the kart. "No, but Kate did," I remember I never looked at the price and hesitantly look. "Don't worry, the price is reasonable. Thirty dollars." Kate says. My eyes bulge. For a dress as simple as that? "You consider that reasonable?" I say with disbelief.
"In this store? Yeah." She wasn't wrong about that. "If this place is so expensive then why are we shopping here?" Soren asks.
"You have a good point. Let's get out of here." Catalina says. I felt guilty when I noticed that I was the only one who got a dress. "Don't feel bad. We came here for you." Catalina pats me on the shoulder.
I nod my head, still feeling a little guilty. We go to a shoe store next. Soren practically drools at every heel and boot she sees. It was difficult dragging her out of the store but I left with a pair of see-through pumps. Again, I was the only one getting something.
"Don't worry we are going to go to more affordable stores to properly shop. We came here so you would have something for your date." I smile in appreciation at Catalina's words. "Thank you," I say.
Just as Catalina said, we went to more stores whose prices were much more reasonable. We got a lot of clothes and tried every piece. It was exhausting but fun. Even Soren got a good laugh out.
We met up with the guys at a food station as planned when we originally split up. "You guys certainly had fun." Liam comments on the amount of bags in our hands.
Nobody responds and I just smile. "Hey," Seth says and gets up from his seat. He kisses me on the cheek and takes the bags out of my hand. "Let me take those for you."
Seth places the bags underneath the table and pulls out a chair. He motions for me to sit and I take a seat. He pushes me into the table. "How romantic. How I wish I had a gentleman to do such a thing for me." Kate puts the back of her hand on her forehead and dramatically closes her eyes and looks away.
Lucas rolls his eyes while a few of the guys snicker. "I may not be a prince but I can be a gentleman if that's what you want." Laurence gets out of his seat and pulls out two chairs, mimicking Seth's earlier action.
Kate glares at him. "I don't think I'm big enough to fit on two chairs. If this is your interpretation of a gentleman then I have to digress." Laurence smirks. "You're barely big enough to fill half a chair. The other one is for Soren."
Soren flicks her gaze toward Laurence, suddenly aware of the conversation. She bows her head in thanks and sits in the second chair he pulled out, taking her seat next to Lucas. Kate sits in the first chair Laurence pulled out. They both put their bags underneath the table.
Catalina goes to pull out her own chair but Liam quickly gets out of his chair. More like jumps out of it. He puts his hand on Catalina's and says, "Allow me." Catalina rolls her eyes and forcefully takes out her chair, sits in it, and scooches herself in.
Looking hurt, Liam takes his seat in between Noah and Lucas. Noah pats Liam's shoulder in comfort. Liam shrugs it off and the table is left in awkward silence. Noah was the first to speak up. "We didn't want to order until you guys got here."
"Aww, thank you. I hope you guys weren't waiting long." Catalina responds. Noah shakes his head. "Not at all." We all order our food and chat around the table. "Excuse me if this question is rude, but how was life as a rouge?" Laurence asks Soren and me. I got a similar question from Logan when I sat with them for lunch. Laurence wasn't there.
I wasn't sure how to respond. Logan asked how my life was but not how it felt to be a rouge. We didn't live lives as rouges. Soren nor I gave off the scent of a rouge or a lone wolf. We had a distinct scent and presence when we weren't holding our powers back, but when we do, our scent doesn't give off a rank.
"We disguised ourselves as humans most of the time so we can't say. We occasionally went into the woods for a run to stretch our wolves. That's when you found us." Soren looked at Seth for the last part.
"You said you both had a meet-up spot," Seth replies. I didn't think he remembered such a small detail but when you're the beta of a high-ranked wolf pack it should be expected that he keeps certain details in memory.
Soren nods her head. "We always make a spot to meet up in." Kate's eyes widen in fascination.
"I can't believe you both really disguised yourselves as humans. How was it like living like as a human?"
"Fairly monotone and extremely tedious. We didn't disguise ourselves as humans all the time. We traveled from city to city and state to state, careful not to invade anybody's territory." I say.
"What a good job you two did at that," Lucas speaks up with his usual sarcasm. "We only got caught because Sakura wandered off." Soren turns a glare at me. I give a sheepish smile.
"It's a good thing you did. It was almost fate that we decided to scale the edge of the territory and you happened to wander off." Seth smiles down at me.
Soren and I continue to tell the others about our adventures. It wasn't completely accurate but had enough truth to it that we didn't have to think about what to say. There were some questions I wanted to ask but decided to save them for my date with Seth.
~~~
We returned to the pack without any other mishaps. By the time we arrived, it was already sunset. It was a perfect setting for our date before the sun completely sets and we would get an eyeful of the stars above us.
"Now we have to get you ready." Kate grinned at me and dragged me to a section of land that consisted of houses. They weren't as big as the pack house and they are normally used for families.
Catalina and Soren weren't far behind. We arrive at a wooden two-story house with windows lining every bedroom.
Kate pulls out a key from her pocket and unlocks the door. "My parents are at work and my little sister is here with a family friend. I'm home!" Kate yells the last part. She doesn't wait for a response as she drags me up the stairs. "Hey, Mrs. Ellen." I hear Catalina say. I don't have time to look back and meet this 'Mrs. Ellen' before I am face-to-face with a door that had Kate's name written in bold.
Soren wastes no time dashing up the stairs and into Kate's room. She's in the room before we are. I smirk at her reaction. I don't have time to examine the room before Kate sits me on a stool in front of a mirror and desk. She quickly pulls out her makeup bag and gets to work.
Catalina joins after a few minutes and sits on the edge of Kate's bed. All the girls help out with my makeup. It feels like an eternity before I open my eyes and look in the mirror.
I was annoyed to see I looked exactly the same except for the sparkling dark and bright eyeshadow, a cat eye, and red lipstick that had a dark rim around it accompanied by mascara on my lashes.
I looked sexy but I didn't know why it took so long. "If you were only going to change my eyes and lips then what was the point of the foundation and everything else you put on my face?" I questioned.
"The entire point is for the makeup to look natural while highlighting your features." I didn't notice a difference though. I took a closer inspection and saw that my cheekbones were highlighted but that was all.
I shook my head but replaced my confusion with gratitude. "Thank you," I say. Catalina and Kate smile. "Now we need to get you dressed and do your hair." I internally groan. How long was this going to take? It was going to be morning by the time we finished.
Catalina curled my hair in waves while Soren and Kate helped me get fitted into the dress and put my heels on.
After another hour I was done. I looked into Kate's full-body mirror and gasped. It was exactly what I wanted. The dress perfectly fitted my curves and the clear pumps accentuated my legs. The red dress brought out the color in my skin and the makeup highlighted everything like Kate said it would.
My eyes swelled with tears. "Don't cry the mascara isn't waterproof." I hear Kate say. I laugh and Catalina hugs me. "You look perfect."
"Thank you." Soren put her hand on my shoulder and the look she gave me said everything. Her gaze held pride and happiness. I looked back at her through the mirror and smiled.
"Let's get you to your man," Kate says. Catalina squealed in excitement and my belly starts to churn in nervousness.