#second photo I’m wearing lingerie I got at the same thrift store | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bbeetlebumm · 6 years

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Today I hung out with the cool girl who sits next to me in Film. When I say cool, I don’t mean the stereotypical tall long-legged blonde who everyone oogles and stares at in the hallways. I mean the cool artsy girl who looks like she’s into things you’ve never heard of. Every class and photo I’ve seen of her, she’s wearing classic 90’s clothing and when she posts online they are beautiful artsy photos with bright vibrant colors and artsy poses. I mean, one person’s cool is definitely not anothers but me? I thought she was the coolest. This girl definitely made me feel like I had no idea how to dress myself, that was for sure. Everytime I walked into class and saw a new outfit, I looked down at my baggy sweater and bright red chucks and thought about how lazy my style looked. Mel? She looked effortlessly cool.

Today she wore a black turtleneck with a blazer overtop, baggy navy colored trousers that cuffed perfectly at the ankle and a belt that hugged her curves with ease along with black platforms shoes to match. Her hair was short and cut into a straight bob, her bangs neat and straight above the brow while her glasses remained at the tip of her nose. “Oh hey there,” she said casually, I kept it cool and greeted in return. Shortly after, a friend of hers walked through the door anxiously and took a seat. His name was Jake, and for some reason, Jake never made me as nervous as Mel did. He wasn’t intimidating in the slightest and he felt well, normal? He actually made me sit up a little bit in my seat with some kind of new confidence. Jake had shaggy brown hair that swept across his eyes, a grey peacoat, blue jeans and checkered vans. Fantastically gay and full of expressive wit, Jake was the perfect kind of tension relief and part of the reason why I had even agreed to go to with the both of them to Mission Mart. When Mel asked if I wanted to join the both of them and go thrifting, I hesitantly agreed. I knew for a fact that a large part of me just wanted to go home, shamefully eat ramen and watch Black Mirror until I fell asleep… but I agreed, nonetheless. I figured I should probably try and be social and honestly how lame would it be to bail? Just walking around with Mel and Jake made me feel like a sore thumb, especially when she busted out a small vape. Part of me cringed, I don’t even know why. I guess I sort of saw it as her fitting into this stereotype now, and then I cringed even more at the thought that I was hanging out with someone so…typical. Every so often I’d look up from my ratty red chucks and study her intently, each time she’d take a long drag and exhale the smoke she kept her chin high and never once looked down at the ground like I would.

I got eventually to my beat up little PT Cruiser and peered out the window to her red car. I wanted her to leave first. I didn’t want her to hear my car screeching and crying due to the cold weather, I didn’t want to embarrass myself. Eventually Jake and Mel’s cars drove ahead and my ear-splitting car pulled out and followed right behind them. The drive felt like ages and eventually I made it to the shop. After a deep breath, I entered the store and took in the new atmosphere. I had never been here before and it wasn’t like any other thrift store I had been to. I briefly looked over the clothes but more so focused on finding Mel between any of the aisles.

Eventually I heard her voice and caught glance of her speaking to someone in the opposite aisle. The tiny brunette already had clothes draped over her arm and quickly sifted through the shirts on the rack. I eased up the aisle and gave a small wave, “Hey! Find anything cool yet?” I said, my own eyes darting towards the vibrant colors on the rack. Immediately reaching for a yellow and black striped turtleneck, Mel let out a sigh and said “A couple things, yeah!” I pulled out the shirt and looked at it intently, I could immediately see her brown depths dart towards the bright shirt. “This is cute right..?” I said out loud, I don’t know why I was seeking approval. “I love that!” she exclaimed, and for some strange reason, I blurted out “It looks your size..?!” If I’m being honest, I wanted it for myself. Mel reached forward and grabbed it from my hands to examine “Not me, but I could definitely use it for a photoshoot!” she examined it for two seconds and tucked it in her arm. I pursed my lips and gave a small nod, I had no idea that Mel bought clothes JUST for other people to wear in photoshoots. “–Like this! Wouldn’t this be so cute for a shoot?!” She brought up what I thought to be, one of the ugliest shirts I had ever seen. It was a silky white shirt with black and gold decor, I feel like I stared at it for five whole minutes before exclaiming “Soooo cute!” why did I lie? I had no idea why I lied at all, but I did?

Eventually Melissa started talking to the girl in the opposite aisle again, and I wandered off on my own. Every so often I kept gazing over at the girl she was talking to, it was clear now that Mel knew who she was and they were friends. I started to look at the old coats, but it felt like I wasn’t necessarily looking at them? My mind was somewhere else, and I stood there just listening to this conversation Mel was having. “There’s so many cute outfits here…I mean look at this! I can see you wearing this…!” Mel exclaimed, pulling up an article of clothing that once again made me raise a brow. The thin blonde sighed as she dropped her shoulders and shook her head “Ugh, I would totally love to wear that… Especially if I modeled for UNIF.”

For a moment, I felt entirely uneasy. UNIF was a clothing brand that targeted people just like Mel and her friends. What it was was expensive 90’s esque clothing that came in various vibrant clothing and only the edgiest looking models modeled for this brand. They posed in urban areas or neon wallpaper and draped their arm over their head and twisted their body to seem…unique? Mel sighed in response and let out a “UGH! I know! The dream!” It all felt so typical, it felt like they were saying everything you would EXPECT them to say. I kind of scoffed under my breath and let out a heavy breath, easing my way back to Mel and forcing on a smile as I followed like a lost dog. “Oh! Nikki, This is Izzy, Izzy this is Nikki!” I gave a quiet hello and weak wave, she gave me somewhat of a forced smile and said hello in return.

Izzy made me feel the same way Mel did, which was nervous and intimidated. She wore the typical light wash mom jeans and tight belt with a old lady’s sweater to match and dirty old grey chucks. I thought about if I ever wore that outfit and how unflattering it would look on me, but she just wore it so well. In her arms she had various old 90’s shirts and on top a silky red lingerie dress. It almost felt like she made it a point to place that one specific article of clothing on top. I would judge, but instead I shrugged it off. Who am I to judge? I couldn’t doubt that she’d rock it.

Eventually Jake pulled through the door and I felt a wave of relief, he scrunched up his nose and apologized for his late arrival. “I took like, the worst way to get here.”he sighed, and immediately looked around in the same anxious manner I had. Eventually he eased off towards the men’s section and I followed behind, watching as he every so often raised a shirt out of the rack and studied it carefully. Something about watching him shop was fun, there wasn’t any pretentiousness about it. He liked what he liked, whether it was an old dirty flannel or a shirt with a horse on it - Jake didn’t care what would make him look cooler. I admired this and for that reason, stuck behind him to watch intently. Eventually he eased his way towards the heels, and every so often picked up one to toss onto the ground and size out next to his foot. “Please fit, please fit..”he whispered under his breath, attempting to squeeze his size ten foot into the Women’s size 8. Groaning in defeat, he tossed the large vibrant red heel onto the ground and shook his head “Too small..” I smiled and laughed and for a moment forgot about trying to look cool or different.

After several rounds around the shop, I ended up with a striped shirt, black boots and an old teddy bear. I made it a point to make my purchases without Mel and Jake around, I guess a part of me just wanted to get it over with without having to do the whole “What did you fiiiiind!?” conversation. It also turned out that a girl I knew from class, who one questioned my religion and my faith worked at this thrift store and gave me really enthusiastic greeting along with an aggressive and eager wave. I waved back and exclaimed how small of a world it was and that it was nice to see her, the usual small chatter. I paid for my items and turned back to see Jake waiting in like patiently, he raised his hand to show me a nice little find he had made which was a painting of two kittens on what looked like a mirrored frame. It made me smile.

I stood off to the side after Jake paid and looked at each of his items intently, he and I had similar taste in the odd and unusual side of thrift stores. The things that people wouldn’t really want to actually spend money on. His purchases included the kitten mirror, a porcelain clown, a flannel shirt and a mug that read “world’s best dad.” Shortly after paying, Jake said goodbye and went on his way. I was back to being stuck with Mel again, who now only had the black and yellow striped shirt I had found earlier draped on her arm. “Going with the turtleneck I see..”I smiled, she nodded and looked down at it “Not for me, for a shoot. It’s got such a Mac DeMarco vibe to it..” she nodded while holding out the shirt in front of her. “Oh it totally does..!” I nodded. I have no idea who Mac DeMarco is. I told her I had better head out, seeing as it was getting dark out. She gave me a quick “Sure..! see ya.” and continued talking to Izzy who suddenly appeared out of nowhere again. “Izzy! I found these sweet light wash jeans in the MENS aisle! I told you! That’s the aisle to go!” I cringed again and held my plastic bag tightly as I made my way towards the door. I gave a quick goodbye to the girl behind the counter who I had known from my Music class and scurried to my car.

The whole drive home I kept thinking about that girl, and how at one point in my life I thought she had been so strange. I thought it was odd for her to question my religion and I thought it was odd that she had been SO committed to her faith that she felt the need to inform others about it and put them on the spot…but now that I had dealt with Melissa and saw her in the same room.. I realized that she was the most normal person I had ever met. It’s strange how being so normal, could be so outlandishly cool.

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