Ezra Black

As I woke up and got out of bed, I smelled the most heavenly smell you can, while waking up; pancakes. In my opinion, pancakes are the absolute best breakfast, especially on a Saturday, and I’m so happy that my new and amazing friend agrees.

It was the day after I'd met Jasmine, which thankfully, was a Saturday, and neither one of us had woken up until around noon.

Not being able to resist the temptation that the heavenly scent the pancakes gave off, I opened my door and walked straight to the kitchen.

As I sat down at the kitchen island, there was a plate filled with pancakes right there in front of me, and when I looked up from my plate, I noticed that the entire table was covered in a ton of delicious toppings.

There was Nutella, syrup, a wide selection of fruits, and so many other delicious things. Everything anyone could ever want on a pancake was there, right in front of me just waiting for me to decide which delicacy I wanted to try first.

Did I mention how much I love my new roommate? She’s absolutely, fudging, AMAZING!

“Well, good morning to you too Liv,” she said with a light chuckle.

“Oh, sorry, good morning. I just got so excited. I love pancakes more than life! Also, Liv, I like it. That’s a nice nickname,” I said, a big grin plastered on my face.

And, here I go again, do I ever stop? I thought, shaking my head a little at the fact that I seemed unable to speak like a normal person.

Jasmine chuckled again at my outburst of words.

“Glad you like it. I thought it suited you better than Lulu,” she said with a smile.

I definitely agreed. I never really liked Lulu as my nickname, but what can you do when your mom calls you by it once, and then it sticks with you for the rest of your god darn life.



As we had breakfast, we got to know each other even more and talked about our decision from the day before of going to the mall later because, in Jasmine’s opinion, I needed new clothes.

She had helped me put some of my stuff away the day before and basically hated everything she saw. So, she wanted to help me update my closet, which I wasn't gonna complain about because she was probably right. I mean, my closet hadn't really been updated in a few years, and I'm completely clueless when it comes to dressing myself, so getting help from someone like Jasmine, who knew exactly how to dress and what looked good on her, was some, very welcome help.

After we finished breakfast, I took a quick shower and attempted to pick out something to wear. Not knowing at all what on earth I should wear, I stood there in front of my closet for what seemed like forever when Jasmine burst into my room.

“You ready Liv?” she asked, the tone of her voice making it very evident just how eager she was to get going.

“Uhh n-no,” I answered, shyly because I was only in my towel, and even though we were like best friends already, we just met the day before, so it was still kinda weird for her to see me in just a towel.

“Oh relax Liv, we’re both girls here. There’s nothing here we haven’t seen before,” she said as she pushed me away from the closet and miraculously found an outfit in like ten seconds.

“How did you do that?! I’ve been standing here forever and couldn’t find anything,” I asked, completely shocked but still in complete awe of her for finding something in there so quickly.

“I have an eye for this, and Liv, this is exactly why we’re going shopping. Now hurry up,” she said with even more eagerness that time if that was even possible.

I got dressed as quickly as I could, and as I looked in the mirror, I was amazed at how much ‘me’ the outfit was. She had picked out a black crop top with the lettering ‘Normal People Scare Me’ on it, Jean shorts that weren’t too short, and some black Nike Air Force One’s.

That girl really is a genius. I thought while rushing out the door just to keep up with her.



As soon as we entered the mall, she dragged me into some store I’d never been to and started grabbing clothes off the racks and throwing them at me.

“Uhh, Jasmine? I kind of can't see anymore. Plus, if you add much more, I'll topple over,” I said with an awkward chuckle as the pile of clothes I was holding became so big that I couldn’t even see over it, as well as that with every piece of clothing she added, it became increasingly harder to keep balance and not get buried underneath the mountain I was holding.

“Heh, oops. Sorry, Liv. Now go try it on. I wanna see how it looks,” she replied, barely being able to contain her excitement.

As I tried on the clothes, I was once again amazed at just how accurately Jasmine got my style. I couldn’t even get my style this accurately.

Damn, she really is good at this. I thought while checking myself out in the mirror in front of me.

Just as I was changing out of the last ensemble after having tried on every single thing that Jasmine had thrown at me, which was quite a lot, I heard Jasmine asking, “Hey, Liv? How's it going? Any of it something you like or would want?”

“This is amazing Jasmine. I mean it. They’re all just so ‘me’!”

As soon as that last word left my mouth, I heard an immense amount of squealing outside my fitting room.

I’m guessing she’s happy. I thought as a smile appeared on my face.

I wound up buying everything that Jasmine had made me try on, except for a pair of heels and a shirt that I didn’t like at all because pretty much every single thing she had given me to try on was perfect. It was all exactly my style, the right size, and something I just genuinely wanted to buy.

Our next stop was Hot Topic.

Before this, I had always wanted to go there, but I'd never gotten around to doing it, so to be actually doing it and with Jasmine as well made me really excited.

As soon as we entered the store, Jasmine immediately bombarded me with a flood of questions like; “Who’s your favorite singer?”, “What's your favorite band?”, “What’s your favorite tv show?” and so much more, but the girl spoke at such a speed that I couldn’t keep up at all and only caught those first few questions.

“Wow, jeez, Jasmine, slow down. I didn’t even get half of what you just said, okay? Let’s just start with one question at a time,” I said, my head still spinning from trying to understand what she was saying.

“Okay, okay. I'm sorry, I’m just really excited. This is like my favorite store in the whole world.” As she finished the sentence, the biggest smile I’ve ever seen on anyone came onto her face. “Okay let’s start with, what’s your favorite tv-show?”

“Uhhm, I’d probably have to go with ‘Lucifer’ or ‘The Flash’,” I said after some thought.

“Ooooh, I love those, especially ‘Lucifer’ Tom Ellis is soooo hot.”

I couldn’t help but giggle at that remark and think, she is such a girl.

Now I know, I know I’m a girl too, but I just don’t react that way. I watch the shows for the story, not the actors. Although it never hurts when they are hot, *wink wink*.

“Okay, next question. What’s your favorite band?”

Now, this, this was an easy question that didn’t require any thought. So before she could barely even finish asking, I shouted out, “Queen!”

“Wow, okay, that’s the quickest answer I’ve gotten out of you since I met you.” She said, half to herself as I giggled at her surprise.

I giggled because in general, I’m very shy and socially awkward, so if I don’t know the person I'm with, I’m very quiet and reserved, but if the person does indeed know me and we’re really good friends like Jasmine and I had become in record time, trust and believe that I am not quiet, AT ALL, I’m probably the goofiest and most exaggerated person, they'll ever meet.

While she took in my sudden outburst of character, she started looking for some more things in the store, and out of nowhere, the next thing I knew, I was being dragged over to a different section of the store.

Once there, I saw that we had stopped in front of a wall full of T-shirts with pictures from all my favorite tv shows, movies, as well as my all-time favorite band, Queen!

They are my idols and don’t even get me started on Freddie. I mean, he’s my spirit animal. He’s just so beautifully and unapologetically himself and doesn’t give a flying fuck who’s watching.

I LOVE HIM!!! Not only is he a freaking legend, he is a GOD.



It went on like that, me trying on and answering whatever Jasmine threw at me while she just did who knows what, until we reached the other end of the mall and stopped in front of a store I never, ever considered going into.

That store was ‘Victoria’s Secret’.

“I’m not going in there,” I said as I slowly started to back away.

“Yes, you are Liv,” Jasmine answered, starting to push me towards the entrance.

Why do I have to be so small? I thought. It’s just annoying.

Me being so small caused her to be able to push me in without even trying too hard, which just annoyed me more.

I immediately felt very weird and extremely uncomfortable being in there, I mean, I’ve never done or even thought about anything that required something from a store like this and I wasn’t exactly planning on it in the near future either.

“Uhhhm, Jasmine? What are we doing here?” I asked, extremely aware of myself and everyone around me.

It felt as though every single person in there was staring at me.

Okay, Olivia, get over yourself. No one’s looking at you. It’s just all in your head. Why would someone be looking at you? You’re a nobody in there, and they're all probably just looking at the things they’re going to buy. So, just get over it and grow some balls. I thought to myself, trying to toughen myself up and not show just how out of place I really was.

“We’re getting you some lingerie.” She said as if nothing was more normal.

She was already far into the store, so I needed to speed walk just to catch up with her.

“Uhhm, why exactly are we doing that?” I asked, completely clueless because I was so not understanding this.

“Ohh Liv, honey, I knew you were innocent, I just didn’t realize it was this bad,” she said with quite a lot of shock in her voice.

“I mean, you’ve done something, right?”

I shook my head no as I felt my cheeks turn crimson red from embarrassment.

Well, if she didn’t think I was a freak before, she definitely will now. I thought to myself, feeling myself blush even harder.

“Not even kissed?” she said, so surprised and loudly that I wanted to melt into goo on the floor from embarrassment. “Oh, sweetie, this needs to be changed ASAP.” And with that, she rushed off and grabbed a bunch of stuff and threw it at me.

“Hey Liv, what’s your bra size?” she half-shouted, her head buried in bras, corsets, and really just you name it, it was there.

“Uh, 34E,” I answered back.

“Damn, girl! How on Earth have you never done anything?” she said half to herself as she kept searching for more stuff for me.

“Well, I guess I just never really thought about or had any interest in it. Plus, I’m pretty much invisible to others, or I'm known as the weirdo nerd, so I don't even think there would have been opportunities even if I would have thought about or considered it,” I answered what most likely was a rhetorical question.

I mean, it was true. I had never really thought about sex or relationships or anything like that. It was just something that never really crossed my mind.

“Well, girl, you’re smoking. I mean, when I first saw you, I was like, damn she’s hot. So we just have to get you out of your little shell and build your confidence a little, and then we’ll be the hottest duo this town has ever seen!” She said as she picked out the last thing for me.

As I went to the fitting room and looked through the stuff she gave me, my eyes widened to a degree I didn’t know was possible.

“Jasmine! Are you crazy? I’m not gonna wear this.” I said, poking my head out from behind the door of the dressing room because there wasn't a chance in hell I was gonna put this on, let alone buy it.

“Oh relax Liv, just try it on at least. I mean, what’s the worst thing that could happen? You might like it? Now, chop chop, get on with it.” She said, doing little shoo, go on then, indications with her hands.

Not knowing how to refuse her, I hesitantly started to put on the things she had picked out, and as much as I hated to admit it, I actually liked it. I felt sexy and confident, and there was one in particular that I really loved. It was a black, strappy, floral embroidered teddy, and it fit like a glove that was specifically made for me.

I looked hot, like seriously mega HOT.

Feeling like that was completely new for me because I had never considered myself hot or sexy. I mean, just like relationships and sex, it was just something that didn’t really cross my mind and was something that I just never thought about.

The black strappy teddy was actually the last thing I tried on, so I finished up in the fitting room and decided to buy it all. I mean, hell, what bad could come from it? I just might gain some confidence, and in the worst-case scenario, I don’t use it, and I don’t know maybe Jasmine might be able to.

“So…, you gonna buy something?” Jasmine asked as soon as I exited the dressing room, really curious as to what my answer was going to be.

I looked a bit down and nodded my head, feeling a bit shy about admitting that I indeed was.

Once again, Jasmine squealed with happiness. “I knew there was a little baddie in you,” she said, so extremely excited that I felt a bit uncomfortable because now everyone WAS looking at us.

Hehe, this is wonderful. I thought to myself, not liking this at all.

“Okay, okay, it’s not that big of a deal,” I said, still feeling really awkward and uncomfortable. “Really Jasmine, it’s nothing okay? Can we just go? Please? I beg of you?” I asked, starting to regret the decision of buying it.

“Okay, fine, you shy little bunny,” she said as she got a bit calmer and patted my head as if I were a pet.

Seriously, I didn’t feel weird enough as is? I thought as I felt my cheeks burning as I blushed to a degree I didn't even think humanly possible.

“I’m just really proud of you for deciding to buy something. It means I’m succeeding in getting you out of your shell, and it’s the first step in de-innocenting you,” she said, nothing but pride radiating off of her.

Well, that’s at least something, I guess. I thought, smiling to myself.

Once we reached the register, I realized that I hadn’t paid for any of the stuff that I had bought that day.

“Uh, Jaz, who is paying for all of this?” I asked, seriously concerned at the fact that I didn’t even think about it earlier. “And also sorry, I forgot to ask can I call you Jaz?” I asked, getting a bit shy.

Jasmine chuckled at my shyness while asking about her new nickname.

“Yeah, of course, you can,” she said smiling. “Jaz. I like it Liv. Good job,” she said, very satisfied with the new nickname I had just given her.

“Uh, Jaz, you didn’t answer the question though. Who’s paying for all of this?”

“I am silly,” she said as if nothing was more natural.

“No Jaz, I can’t have you do that, I mean that’s really sweet of you, but I can’t have that.” I felt bad enough about not realizing that I didn’t pay for the things I bought earlier on in the day, but to have her buy the rest as well, that was too much. Way too much actually.

“Oh, Liv, stop it. My dad is so rich that he won’t even notice that this has gone from his fortune, okay? This isn’t up for discussion, I’m buying you this, and you can’t do anything to stop me.”

I was shocked at her assertiveness, but at the same time eternally grateful because the amount of stuff we bought that day, well, let’s just say those numbers were in my wildest dreams.