Star Light, Star Bright

Jack finally drops Alex’s hand when they enter the first store, Hot Topic. He does, however, still follows close behind the shorter male as he goes over to the back where a section of guy clothes are. Jack’s eyes scan the store as he walks behind Alex. The clothing is so much different than where he’s from. He may not even remember what he always wore, but he knows that it was nothing like this. Actually, now that he thinks about it, he doesn’t really remember girls wearing pants. Perhaps they’re finally getting the rights that they deserve. The lanky teen would never tell anyone, but he remembers that he always thought that they were equals.
Because the seventeen-year-old isn’t watching where he’s going as he follows Alex, he runs into him when the elder stops by all the pants. Alex doesn’t fall over, but he does drop the pair of pants that he was holding. Jack’s cheek warm up, and he bends down to pick them up. He does this as quick as he can and hands them back to Alex as apologies spill from his lips.
The nineteen-year-old chuckles. “It’s alright. Accidents happen. I’ve done the same thing before.”
“I really am sorry though,” Jack says.
“Don’t worry about it.” He looks back at the jeans that Jack now notices are black. “I’m not sure what your size is, but I think that this is probably close. I’m going to grab this and the next size in a couple pairs of jeans and have you try them on.”
“Wait. I can try them on?”
“Yeah, I just have to get one of the workers and have them open up the changing room. Actually...” Alex looks around the store. His eyes stop when they spot the person that’s he’s looking for. “One of my classmates and friends is working today, Rian. I thought he was working today. I have to ask him how my interview went anyway.”
“Interview?”
“I’ll tell you about it when I ask him. Right now, we need to find some jeans that you like. You don’t mind that they’re fitting, do you? You’re not into loose pants or baggy pants, are you?”
“I remember always wearing tighter pants if that’s what you mean.”
“You’re starting to remember a lot.”
“Not really. It’s more like a feeling I get. I don’t remember what I wore, but I’ll know that it was completely different than this. I get that feeling that girls didn’t wear pants. They aren’t really memories. I guess it’s more like a feeling or just knowing.”
“Well, it’s better than not knowing anything.”
“Yeah, I guess it is.”
“You said that girls wore dresses?”
“Yeah?”
“Well, that eliminates everything after, what, the fifties? That gets us a little bit closer to when you’re from. Although, I still have no idea how you got here. Did a strange man ask you to get in his blue box?”
Jack laughs softly. “I don’t think the Doctor brought me here and just left me.”
“You’re right. He definitely would have kept you around. I mean, you’re a great guy. You’re a lot better than some of his companions. I don’t feel like you’d be messing up time or falling in love with the Doctor when you know that you can’t have him.”
“Yeah, what’s the point of falling in love when you’re not meant to be anyway.”
“Exactly! Anyway, let’s pick out some more pants. You probably won’t have to try on any shirts. I already know what size you’ll be.”
Jack starts to look through the pants in search of ones he likes that are in the size Alex told him he wears. He finds an indigo pair, a light grey pair, a dark grey pair, a khaki pair, and a rust colored pair. He shows Alex, who gives them the approval, before following the elder over to the guy that Jack believes is Rian.
Rian has lighter brown hair than Alex and brown eyes. He’s shorter than the two of them, and he’s skinny as well. Although he’s not as skinny as Jack, he looks to be about the size of Alex. He’s wearing a pair of blue skinny jeans and a black T-shirt that said Blink-182 on it. The lanky teen doesn’t look bad, and he’s Alex’s friend, so he couldn’t be all that bad either. Jack can’t picture Alex being friends with bunch of thieves or anything worse.
“Hey Alex,” Rian smiles when the familiar face comes over to him. Jack gets a look at his teeth. He can barely believe that they’re that white. How is it even possible for someone to get their teeth that white? “I was actually about to call you.”
“Don’t you have a girlfriend?” Alex jokes.
Rian laughs at his joke. “Of course, and I love her very much. Sorry, but you’re just not my type.”
Alex pretends to look crushed. “And I thought we had something.” The elder chuckles. “Anyway, what were you going to call me about? Is it about the interview?”
“Yeah, it is. You got the job!”
“Fuck yeah! Now I don’t have to work at that shitty place anymore. I can actually have a job that I really like. Did you hear that, Jack? This is awesome.”
“Jack?” Rian finally notices the lanky teen standing awkwardly next to his friend. He smirks. “Alex, I didn’t know that you made a new friend.”
“It’s not like that. Jack lost his memory, so I’m looking at for him.”
“Really? Well, that sucks. I hope you get your memories back.”
“Thanks,” Jack says quietly.
“Anyway, I’m getting him some clothes. He needs to try these on,” Alex tells Rian.
“Ok, follow me.”
Rian starts to walk to the back, and Jack follows slowly after Alex nudged him to get him to go. The shortest of the three unlocks the door and let’s Jack enter before shutting the door behind him. Jack stands there awkwardly looking at the pants before starting to try them on. Rian goes back over to Alex after shutting the door.
“Where’d you find him?”
The nineteen-year-old doesn’t want his friend to think that he’s crazy, so he decides to keep some of the details away from him. “I found him on the beach.” Ok, a lot of the details.
“Was it when you were at that party? I was going to come, but I had some homework to do.”
“Yeah, it was. It’s a good thing that you didn’t come. It sucked.”
“Really? Well, at least it went well for you. I may not be gay, but I can still say that he’s a good looking guy. I can tell that you think the same way by the way you reacted. It couldn’t have been more obvious.”
Alex sighs. “I don’t know a lot about him because of his lack of memory, but he is really cute. He’s really nice too and has great taste in music.”
“You’re not going to ask him out though... why?”
“It’s just that he doesn’t remember anything, and I don’t want to put a bunch of stress on him. I don’t even want to hint anything until he gets most of his memories back or is more comfortable around me. Hell, I don’t even know if he’s gay or bi.”
“I guess the whole memory thing would make it hard. Promise me though that you’ll start hinting when he gets comfortable with what he does know.”
“I promise.”
“What do you know about him? Well, I know that his name is Jack Barakat, he likes good music, I’m going to teach him guitar, he doesn’t understand modern stuff, he’s kind and doesn’t want to be a nuisance, he didn’t agree with his dad about something, he was in too deep and wanted to go home, and that he’s seventeen.”
“He’s seventeen?”
“Yeah, but I couldn’t take him to the police. They wouldn’t have been any help. Trust me on this. That’s why I’m getting him some clothes and I’m having him stay with me. Besides, he likes staying with me. He told me that he feels safe around me.”
“Aw.”
Alex just laughs. Jack comes out of the room with half the pants in his right hand and half in the other. Jack hands Alex the ones in his left hand. “This are the ones that don’t fit.”
“I’ll put them away,” Rian says as he takes them from Alex. “We got some new shirts in, so go ahead and look at those.”
Alex leads Jack over to the shirts on the hangers. The seventeen-year-old finds three shirts in this section. They are a black flannel shirt, a grey black striped thermal, and a black charcoal and turquoise striped thermal. On the walls he finds three different Blink shirts. The nineteen-year-old takes them after to the register to check out. Jack follows close behind and watches as Rian rings up the clothes and Alex pays for them.
“There you are,” Rian smiles. “I’ll text you you’re schedule.”
“Ok, I’m going to quit my job after I work tomorrow. They probably won’t care. None of them liked me anyway. Oh, do you know if Zack is working at Vans today?”
“Yeah, he is.”
“Ok. Jack, forget the CDs. I forgot that you’re going to need a pair of shoes. The ones that you’re wearing are falling apart. Plus, I don’t think they fit you. Are they too tight.” Jack nods. “We’ll stop by Vans and find you a pair of shoes. Then we can go to Burger King.”
“Ok.”
Alex waves goodbye to Rian before the two of them exit the store and start towards the next one.

Notes

I was going to make the mall only two parts, but the Hot Topic bit was really long. Actually, this is a page longer on my Google Docs than normal. I put in the Vans because I actually forgot that Jack doesn't have any shoes. My bad... Anyway, Vans, Zack, and Burger King will be in the next part that will end the mall bit.
Hope you like it! :)