They walked inside the mall with Alice pulling up the list of items that she wanted to purchase since she didn't want to go empty-handed and had no idea what to purchase. If she did go like that with Claudia, it was her practically signing up to waste her money despite the day being fun. But her bank account didn't agree with it despite Claudia often trying to purchase all her items for her.
Alice didn't let that happen though since she did want to spend her own hard-earned money on the items that she wanted. She scrolled through the list on her phone and looked at Claudia who was studying the list of the stores in front of them since they stopped at the little guide for people that told them where they were along with the long list of the stores inside.
"Where do you want to stop first?" Claudia asked.
"Hmm, I want to stop at a stationary store first."
"Of course," Claudia said. "I could have predicted that for you."
"What? I'm sure that you need to stock up on some items too."
Claudia sighed before looping her arm through Alice's. "You know me too well."
Alice rolled her eyes knowing full well that the notebooks sitting at her place were beginning to be filled. What Claudia needed to stock up on were her little markers that she liked to doodle on her papers during class Alice didn't notice when she zoned out since they were starting to go dry due to the overuse.
The random characters in Alice's footnotes were definitely needed since they added much color and life to the pages of death that went on long tangents about what to do and what not to do since she really had to spell it out for herself or else Alice knew she would catch herself making the same mistakes.
They strolled over the stationary store that had a clear cute aesthetic going on, and Alice grabbed a shopping basket before running around to fill it up. Little notebooks, pens and pencils, sticky notes, and whatnot went into her basket while Claudia would idly look over her shoulder and put the occasional sticker in.
The next store they hit was a clothing store that Alice wanted to pick up at basics, and she and Claudia really went crazy with all the items that they brought to the fitting room. Alice sat down on the wooden bench inside as Claudia studied herself in the mirror wondering if she wanted the cargo pants.
"I vote yes," Alice said. "They make your legs look long and seem actually useful with the pockets."
"I feel like I would lose a ring in there."
"Then don't put on in there."
Claudia rolled her eyes before turning back and forth. "Okay, these are going into the bag."
Alice sighed knowing that she wasn't ever going to get back her fifteen minutes of convincing Claudia to get it before trying on these grey pants that had a little fabric over the waist to mimic a skirt. It was an out-of-the-box style, but one that would look nice if styled with a basic top that was in her basket at the moment.
"I like those. You should get them."
Alice nodded. "Agreed. It should be as easy as that."
"If only love was so easy."
"I'm getting philosophical Claudia now, hmm?"
Claudia slipped back on her shirt. "Tell me, what do you think is the true meaning of death?"
Alice hung up the rest of the clothing that she was purchasing and opened the door to the fitting room. "Oh, shut it."
Her friend laughed as she also grabbed her items, and they walked over to the register to check out. Five hours later, they were carrying a ton of bags, well, Claudia was carrying the majority of the bags, but Alice knew that her bank account was definitely crying if she had enough bags that it made her arms too tired to carry it all around.
Alice didn't tend to get hungry when she shopped. It didn't go well since she could go for hours which only made her slump over due to energy deprivation on the public benches. If she and Claudia went shopping, it was a whole ordeal since they shopped until they dropped. Alice put a hand to her stomach. "I should have eaten more food."
"No, girl," Claudia said as she stretched her legs. "It's literally dinnertime."
"The café got off our list."
"Well, unless you want breakfast foods now."
Alice wrinkled her nose. "It's okay."
"Maybe we should head home and eat some ramen there, and tell your mother that you're having a sleepover."
Alice slid a glance over to her. "Are you tired of me yet?"
"Not yet. When I am, I'll kick you out of my house."
"You're so generous," Alice deadpanned. "But let's do it."
"You're going to be homeless tonight," Claudia sang making people send them another glance at the odd words, and Alice sighed as she facepalmed.