Meanwhile, her top, a light blue babydoll with flowers on the bodice and along the bottom, and butterflies fluttering over them, was safe. She wasn’t too worried about the other half of her outfit, either, since it was a pretty standard skort, white with a ruffled hem, and sure enough there were plenty left, though she did debate for a moment over which size to try, finally deciding to go bigger rather than smaller.

Then they were back to the dressing rooms, mostly just to confirm that the outfit looked good together, though she also had to make absolutely sure that it fit. She was quite confident in both of those things, but it never hurt to be completely positive.

“Well, that was easy,” Crisanta smiled down at Camelia, once she had changed back into her own clothes. Kalina was, of course, nowhere around, so they went back to the toddler’s section for a little bit. Camelia chose a couple dresses to try on, none of which were anywhere near as cute as the one Crisanta had found, and was ready to look for some more once she had tried those on.

“It’s getting kinda late,” Crisanta had to tell her, glancing at the clock on her cell. “Mom’ll be back soon.” She called Kalina, but she didn’t answer. “Probably left it at home,” Crisanta grumbled. She couldn’t very well go after her, not with an armful of clothes she hadn’t paid for. “Let’s go pick out something for Kali,” she said to Camelia. “Since she’s apparently not going to do it herself.”

She vaguely harbored the hope that she’d find her sister over there, already looking for herself; she wasn’t. She considered just getting the same thing she had gotten for herself, but in different colors; she didn’t. They weren’t big fans of matching outfits, and, luckily, their parents never had been, either.

“Do you think she’d like this?” she asked Camelia, holding up a green dress. It wasn’t too bad, really, and it would probably bring out her eyes pretty well. Camelia shrugged, but Crisanta had already made up her mind, and back they went to try it on. It wasn’t as good as Crisanta’s outfit, not by any means, but it fit, and it was good enough for someone who couldn’t be bothered to pick anything out for herself.

She checked her cell again with a sigh. “Come on, mom’ll be looking for us,” she told Camelia, opening the dressing room door.

The girl opened the door a crack, tugging at the hem of her T-shirt as she glanced out at her mother. “What is it?”

“I need you to watch Camelia for a little bit,” she answered. “I have to run over to Mrs. Shubert’s for a few minutes.”

The girl sighed. “Why can’t…”

“Because she’s busy, and because I’m asking you,” her mom said.

“Fine,” the girl rolled her eyes, starting to close her door. “I’ll be out in a minute.”

“I really need to get going,” her mom told her. “I’m sure you can do whatever you were up to just as well in the living room.”