Chapter 12

I walked into a lamp pole. Ouch! That’s why you shouldn’t think too much while walking. I rubbed my nose, then quickly looked around. Seemed like nobody had noticed me. I sighed. This clearly wasn’t my day. My face mirrored itself in the windows of the shop across the street and I wouldn’t have been surprised if it started raining right then and there. Of course it didn’t, it was a sunny day after all. Bright and sunny. I stuffed my hands into my pockets and wanted to walk away, when they suddenly touched something. It was the flyer from the bookshop, crumpled and washed, about the poetry slam. I looked at the blurred image. Tell your story to the world. What did I even have to tell? What was it I wanted to say? How I was too afraid to even talk to a shop employee? I laughed at myself, then stopped. I did talk to the man that day. I did color my hair and thought it looked fabulous and not just at the first moment. I went to karaoke and sung, I danced on the streets, I went to a mall in a Santa costume in summer. I… “Paula?” I didn’t even wait for her ‘hello’ through the phone. “We need to do something fancy. Like right now!”

Not even half an hour later Paula, who had told me to wait exactly where I was, arrived. Her green hair flew in the wind as she jumped towards me. “Not gonna lie, you pretty surprised me with that call”, she said, laughing. Not gonna lie, it was pretty hard to not regret that for half an hour. “Actually we almost did all the things on the list and for the last one we need a rainy day, but doesn’t matter. Let’s do some prepping.” I didn’t even ask what this was about and just followed her. “You know, when I was at your place, I figured you’d need some colorful clothes sooner or later, so…” She pointed at a store a few meters away. “Summer sale!” Was that seriously the fanciest thing she could think of? I gave her a disappointed look. “No pouting, fitting”, she said, vanishing into the shop. It was a small place, not one of these big companies, and apparently run by another acquaintance of Paula’s grandma. Bright daylight shone through the decorated display windows and tinted the room in a warm, yellow tone. I was still busy admiring the inside, when Paula emerged from the rail clothing racks. “What do you think?”, she asked, wearing a purple, net-like cardigan. I approved with a thumbs up. “You try this one.” She handed me a white dress with blue flowers. “Fits your hair and you’ll probably wear it. But let me get something fancy too.” Paula vanished again and I jumped into the dress. Not bad, very Marie-style. I was still looking in the mirror, when Paula came back, holding a deep purple skirt and a lilac shirt. “Are you serious? They still got dip hem skirts?” It was out for how long? Layla probably knew. Paula just shrugged and forced me into the cabin. When I came out again, she didn’t look satisfied and ran away, only to come back with a green vest. “Not in a hundred years, Paula!” She laughed.

We ended up with a ton of new things, not a single one of them being white or black, and next to Paula I even looked normal. I took a deep breath outside. “Fancy enough for today?”, Paula asked. I nodded. “Then promise me you’ll wear at least one colorful thing every day.” My mouth curled into a smile. I’d probably never try those weird combinations of hers, but wearing something other than white t-shirts and blue jeans didn’t seem so crazy anymore.