Back to Her Teens: A Lesbian Ageplay Spanking Romance
Back to Her Teens: Chapter 9

The mall seemed to be even busier than it usually was for noon on a Saturday to Rhen as she and Dana passed by row upon row of parked cars.

All of them neatly crammed in side-by-side like sardines between the painted lines, making use of every available square inch of space they could manage to squeeze from the massive parking lot.

I guess it’s because the start of school is just around the corner…

She grimaced at the thought and tried not to imagine herself being lumped in with the rest of the back to school shoppers all out that weekend looking for deals before the semester began.

Of course today would be the day that we decide to go do this. Ugh.

How freaking appropriate.

For a while though it looked like they might need to turn around and come back later as they searched seemingly in vain for somewhere to park, and oddly enough Rhen found herself feeling more than a little disappointed at the prospect in spite of how embarrassing going out

“school shopping” with her new auntie was. But once again fate and luck seemed to be on their side, and after nearly ten minutes of circling around the crowded lot with nothing to show for it, a spot miraculously opened up near one of the smaller side entrances and Dana swooped in before anyone else could snatch it up.

“Hallelujah!”

Preening at the small victory, clearly taking it as a good omen for things to come, the older woman killed the engine on her large, red SUV

and pushed open her door. She then circled around to the passenger side and helped Rhen down, before taking up her hand and pulling her excitedly after her toward the sprawling three-story shopping center and its busily bustling corridors.

“Come along, cutie pie. Time’s a wastin’.”

As if the packed parking lot outside weren’t proof enough already of how busy things were that day, the milling torrent of shoppers making their way in and out of stores and moving in seemingly every direction that greeted them upon entering the blessedly air conditioned building more than confirmed it.

“Oh my, it sure is busy today,” observed Dana with a bemused little chuckle as she navigated them through the press of people and off toward their first stop on her list of stores to visit. “Stick close to me now, Rhen. I don’t want you getting lost, alright?”

“Uh-huh,” grunted the petite sophomore with a faint blush as she begrudgingly stepped in beside her aunt to avoid being trampled by a passing knot of high schoolers, silently thanking her lucky stars that she hadn’t insisted on continuing to hold her hand like she was a small child once they’d gotten inside.

She was already feeling way too young as it was without that added embarrassment on top of everything else that she was still trying to get a grip on.

There were way more people thronging the walkways of the mall than Rhen had been expecting there to be, and the sight of them all sent an electric thrill of secret excitement down her spine and between her legs as she passed them by. Even though she was currently dressed in what she still considered to be at least a mostly mature pair of jeans and a t-shirt, the feel of the front of her panties rubbing against her now totally smooth groin wasn’t lost on her at all. And she had to fight hard not to let her cheeks burst into flames as her snug jeans shifted against her bare front with each step, underscoring just how immature she knew she must look beneath her clothes.

How many of the dozens of random strangers walking past her and her aunt already saw her as just another young teen out shopping on a Saturday?

It was hard to say for sure one way or the other, but she had a sinking suspicion in the pit of her stomach that the number was only going to get higher as the day wore on.

It’s fine, it’s fine, it’s totally fine, she tried to reassure herself. I’m sure that if I just act like the mature adult I actually am, nobody will really notice anything odd or treat me any differently…

Swallowing a curse, she breathed out a long sigh through her nose,

trying to silence the cloud of butterflies inside her stomach.

Probably.

As they continued to pick their way through the chaotic corridors, Rhen’s wandering thoughts were soon ensnared by one of the stores they passed. Slowing down and drifting away from her aunt, she found herself drawn like a moth to a flame toward the front entrance of the busy video game store off to her right. It was packed practically from wall-to-wall with kids around her age, all examining the toys and games on display as some of them debated which systems were better, while still others begged their parents to buy them something.

Wait a minute…

Flushing scarlet, Rhen shook her head in an attempt to clear it as she quickly corrected herself.

It was packed with kids all around the same age as her adopted identity, not her actual one. Wincing, she felt her stomach do a few flip flops at the notion that she’d just inadvertently thought of herself as a bratty thirteen-year-old instead of a mature twenty-year-old college sophomore without even realizing it.

Yeesh. I guess I’m just better at this whole pretending to be younger than I actually am thing than I realized, she tried to joke to herself as she forced a wobbly smile onto her lips.

As troubling as those worries might have been to her just a few days earlier, they quickly rolled off her back now as she came to a stop in front of a grouping of cardboard cutout displays near the front of the store that showed off some of the hot new games that had just come out.

“Oh wow, that looks awesome,” she breathed excitedly, ogling a voluptuous, blonde-haired mage woman who was in the midst of fending off a horde of scaly monstrosities with fireballs.

“I thought I told you not to wander off?” came a low murmur against the side of her ear a moment later.

“Ah!”

To Rhen it seemed as if her aunt had just materialized directly behind her from out of nowhere, and the shock of it all caused her to let out a high-pitched squeak of surprise, jerking as her hands suddenly came down to rest affectionately atop her shoulders.

“Oh… um, oops. Sorry about that,” she apologized with a little shrug, trying not to give away just how much the older woman had startled her despite having just yelped like she’d seen a ghost. “I just, uh… kinda got distracted is all…”

“Yes, that does seem to happen quite a bit with you, young lady,”

observed Dana with a wry smirk as she tugged her in a bit closer so that her back was nestled up against the warmth of her torso. She gave her shoulders a little squeeze that seemed to say “And you’re going to be paying for it with your bottom if it keeps happening” as she continued. “So, did you see something you liked in there?”

“Um… maybe,” admitted Rhen, trying to ignore the sensation of butterflies in her stomach as she eyed a few of the new releases hungrily.

“A lot of those do look pretty fun,” cooed Dana as she slid her hands down from the younger girl’s shoulders to rub her upper arms.

She actually had no clue if any of the video games on display were any fun or not, she hadn’t touched one in decades, but she was willing to trust Rhen’s expertise on the matter.

“Tell you what, cutie pie. If you’re a good girl for me while we’re out shopping today, I’ll buy you a game when we’re finished. How’s that sound?”

“Whoa, really?” gasped Rhen, her excitement temporarily overshadowing any urge that she might have had to not sound like a giddy tween. Suddenly this trip to the mall had gotten a whole lot more exciting!

“You mean it?”

“I sure do,” confirmed Dana with another laugh, holding onto her niece’s upper arms as she bounced up and down with a burst of pent-up energy. “But first thing’s first. We’re going to get you some new clothes, then we’ll have lunch, and then after that I want to stop by a few other places to pick up some odds and ends that you’re going to need while you’re living with me. You definitely need at least a couple new pairs of shoes, and I want to pop by that organic hair care place too while we’re at it. Oh, and then there’s…”

Rhen was only half-listening now as the older woman continued to rattle off their shopping itinerary to her. She was far too busy trying to decide which game she wanted most to really care about what stores they’d be going to later. Besides, Dana was in charge of all that stuff anyway. All she needed to do was follow along and remember to say “yes ma’am” and

“no ma’am” whenever she asked her a question.

Her ears did perk up though a minute or two later as she gave her arms a light squeeze, as if she could tell that she wasn’t paying attention to her anymore.

“So after we take care of all that, then we can come look at games.

Deal?”

“Deal,” agreed Rhen, leaning her head back against the older woman’s comfortable chest and smiling up at her from ear to ear. “Thanks a lot, Aunt Dana.”

“Awww, anytime, hon,” she cooed, ruffling the younger girl’s unbound hair. “I love seeing you smile.”

Taking her niece’s hand in hers, Dana led her away from the game store and back the way they’d been going toward other end of the mall.

There, she ushered them into the massive, multi-story department store that dominated the entirety of the west end of the building.

Upon entering the store, they were immediately set upon by a perky sales clerk. She appeared to be only a few years older than Rhen was, but that was about where their similarities ended. Dressed in a flattering, but still very professional, dark skirt and white blouse with a matching blazer, she had a modest bust and wide hips, and a neon smile that she directed at the two of them as she swooped in before they’d made it more than a few steps past the doors.

“Hello, and welcome to Cashman’s! My name is Julia, how may I be of service to you today, ma’am?”

Rhen’s first instinct was to open her mouth and tell the overeager young woman that they were fine and didn’t need anything from her, but her aunt beat her to the punch before she could say anything.

“Well hello to you too, Julia. I’m Dana, and this little cutie pie is my niece, Rhen,” she said, her voice and demeanor the very picture of a confident middle-aged woman gearing up to spend a lot of money in the very near future.

Beaming fondly at her adopted niece, she guided her forward half a step with a firm hand along her lower back so that she was now the center of attention.

“Say hello, Rhen, dear.”

Rhen could feel her face flushing hotter and hotter with each and every embarrassing word of her aunt’s little introduction. She’d been hoping that if she stood with her shoulders back and her head held high, her too-small jeans and baby blue t-shirt wouldn’t subtract too much from the age others perceived her as. But just like that, she knew that any hope she might have had of being seen as a fellow adult in this woman’s eyes had slipped away before she’d even had a chance to snatch it up.

Pouting at the positively effervescent clerk standing in front of her now, she crossed her arms over her chest with a huff and chirped sarcastically.

“Hello, Rhen, dear.”

SMACK!

“Ack! Hey!”

Rhen bunny-hopped forward another step as both of her hands flew back to rub furiously at the seat of her jeans where a hard smack had just landed.

“Manners, young lady,” warned her aunt darkly, before turning her attention back to the now smirking clerk. “Sorry about that. Someone here has been pouty all morning, I’m afraid.”

“Oh don’t worry about it, ma’am,” waved away the younger woman with a tinkling laugh. “It’s always nice to see a parent who actually believes in firm discipline. You wouldn’t believe some of the little hellions that we get running around in here unattended, like it’s their own personal playground or something. It drives me crazy sometimes.”

“I can imagine so,” laughed Dana right along with the other woman.

Rhen could feel her face burning even hotter with each passing moment now as the two of them continued to make small talk about child-rearing and the importance of a well-spanked bottom from time to time for the next couple of minutes. More and more she found herself wishing that the stupid clerk would latch onto someone else to help instead. Eventually though, the younger woman mercifully brought the conversation back around to sales and Rhen was able to let out a small sigh of relief.

“So what brings you two into Cashman’s today?”

Rhen didn’t even bother trying to answer the question as she stood off to the side. Instead she just stared intently at the scuffed up toes of her well-worn sneakers so that she wouldn’t have to meet either of the other women’s gazes just then.

“Well now that you mention it,” said her aunt with a low chuckle as she held up a finger and grinned. “We’re actually here for a bit of everything. You see, my niece is going to be staying with me for the next year or two, and due to some unforeseen circumstances, pretty much all of her clothes, except for the one’s she’s wearing now obviously, have disappeared.”

“Oh no,” gasped their sales clerk, or rather, Julia, as her aunt had started calling her now that they were so buddy-buddy with each other.

“Did the airline lose your luggage while you were on your way to your auntie’s house, hon?”

“Um, yeah… Something like that,” mumbled Rhen around a fresh blush, unable to bring herself to look at the sickly sweet expression of concern that the other woman was giving her for more than a few seconds.

“Well that’s just awful,” she tut-tutted to nobody in particular, before switching back on her bubbly saleswoman persona an instant later as she turned her full attention to Dana once again. “But on the bright side though, you two have definitely come to the right place. From shirts to shoes, panties to socks, and just about everything in between, Cashman’s has got you covered. Literally!”

Julia snorted at her own joke, and Rhen couldn’t resist the little twitch it brought to the corners of her mouth either. Much to her own annoyance.

“I was hoping you might say that,” crooned Dana with a grin of her own as she stepped over to her niece’s side and put an arm around her shoulders. “Did you hear that, kiddo? By the time we’re finished here, you’re going to have a brand new wardrobe. Isn’t that exciting?”

“Hooray for me,” cheered Rhen in a deadpan voice, unable to stop herself from pouting at being called “kiddo” so casually in public.

She felt a small shiver run down her spine as her aunt’s hand tightened for a brief moment in a silent warning.

“You know, we also have an excellent selection of wooden spoons in housewares,” added Julia with a wink. “Or if you’d prefer, our men’s department also has a wide variety of genuine leather belts, as well.”

Rhen’s stomach clenched at the suggestions and she felt her knees wobble just a bit, but a moment later her tension eased as her aunt let out a low chuckle.

“Thanks for the tip, hon, but I’m sure we won’t be needing anything like that today.”

She let her hand slip down from around her niece’s shoulders so that it could cup her right cheek as she added.

“Will we, Rhen?”

“No ma’am,” squeaked the younger girl as Dana pinched her cheek.

Thankfully though, this time she managed not to hop forward. “I’ll be good!”

That managed to get a set of matching smirks from both her aunt and Julia that left the tips of her ears sizzling.

“So Julia, would you mind showing us around?” Dana finally asked after a few more terribly embarrassing moments of silence. “I have a feeling that it’s going to be a pretty big task to get this little lady set up with everything she’s going to need, and I’d appreciate having an extra pair of hands to help lighten the load.”

“Oh absolutely,” the clerk agreed readily, her wide smile seeming to gain another tooth or two as she ran a cool professional eye over Rhen.

“Hmmm… I think juniors would probably be the best place to start looking for things in her size. Most of the items from our teen sections would probably look way too big on her smaller frame, I’m afraid. Plus we’re having a buy two get one free sale on all of our outerwear in juniors, so that’ll help save you some money. Oh! Oh! And we just got in the most adorable little skirts that would go perfectly with your niece’s eyes. Come on, I’ll show you!”

Not waiting long enough to give either of them a chance to say no, the clerk took Rhen by the hand and began leading her and her aunt off in the direction of the juniors section and a huge display of pleated skirts in a wide range of colors and patterns.

Rhen had a feeling that it was going to continue be a long, long day.

—

For the next two and a half hours, or possibly more (it sure felt like an eternity to poor Rhen), the three of them shopped like there was no tomorrow.

After picking through the skirts that Julia had been so eager to show off to them, and coming away with half a dozen options to try on, they continued to work their way deeper and deeper into the juniors section of the massive department store. Her aunt and the sales clerk were two women on a mission it seemed, and the pile of things for Rhen to try on grew far faster than she could have imagined.

Holy crap, I don’t think I’ve ever even owned this many clothes in my entire life…

Her only consolation was that while the hideously adorable pile of potential clothing options grew, she was at least given a chance to voice her opinion about the things that her aunt and the eager clerk were picking out for her. The only problem was though that the choices she was offered usually consisted of things like picking between a pale green top with short frilly sleeves, or a bright pink one with the word “Princess” written across the chest in rhinestones and glitter.

More often than not Rhen found herself caught up in chewing on her thumbnail while she tried to decide which would be the least embarrassing item to be seen wearing out in public, only to have her aunt just shrug and decide she could have both instead.

“You need options, dear, and they’re both just so cute. We might as well have you try them both on and see how they look. If they fit right, we’ll just get them both and be done with it. I don’t mind.”

Of course Julia was no help at all in that regard either, as she busied herself with bustling away their selections to the changing rooms in back for later, and pulling out new and enticing items for them to inspect from seemingly nowhere at nearly every turn. Clearly the woman was a master of her craft when it came to talking people into buying new clothes, and with the huge commission she was sure to walk away with by the time they were finished, Rhen knew there was no chance in hell she could talk her into slowing down.

So instead she just followed after the two of them and tried not to pout too much. Especially after the first time her aunt had gotten fed up with her attitude and casually asked her if she wanted a spanking before they kept going. That had definitely been enough to get her to perk up and at least try to participate in picking out her new clothes from then on.

She just wished they weren’t all so… juvenile.

Rhen’s aunt and the ever vivacious Julia quickly fell into a steady rhythm of picking out four or five things each that they thought might look good on her, before marching her off to the back of the store and into the changing rooms there. Since they had so many things to try on, and were shopping with a member of staff who could ensure that nothing disappeared while they were under her supervision, they didn’t bother with picking a room for Rhen to change in. Instead they just had her strip down to her camisole and panties in front of the three-sided floor-to-ceiling mirrors at the end of the row of cubicles so that they could have enough room for their selections and the three of them to stand comfortably.

Well, two of them at least. Rhen hardly felt all that comfortable standing on the little raised platform in front of the mirrors, stripped down to just her undies in front of the two no-nonsense women as they critically inspected every inch of her body and the way it filled out the clothes they’d picked out for her to try on.

The first time this happened, Julia had clucked her tongue in disapproval, looking aghast as she said, “Oh honey, those panties have definitely seen better days.”

“No kidding,” her aunt agreed, frowning at them as well. “I can’t believe you decided to go out wearing those today, young lady.”

“But- I didn’t-“ Rhen started to argue, only managing to catch herself just before blurting out the humiliating truth behind why she was currently dressed the way she was.

Ugh. I should have known that something like this might happen.

Her hands fluttered anxiously at her sides as the two women standing before her eyed the faded and threadbare panties her aunt had left her with after confiscating the rest of her clothes that morning with matching scowls. Blushing as her fingertips brushed against the hole near the waistband on her left side where they’d torn some time ago. She resisted the urge to try and cover herself up, knowing that they’d just tell her to stop fidgeting and move her hands anyway if she did so. And as bad as things were just then, she didn’t at all feel like having the other people using the changing rooms all around her hear the pair of them admonishing her to behave herself.

Again.

Plus the huge mirrors looming behind her made maintaining just about any sliver of modesty all but impossible anyway, so it was kind of a moot point, she supposed.

After eying her thoughtfully for what felt like a very, very long time, the two older women seemed to reach some sort of unspoken decision, and a moment later they disappeared back out into the store as her aunt called over her shoulder.

“You just stay right there for a minute, cutie pie. We’ll be right back.”

With little other choice than to do as she was told, Rhen folded her arms across the front of her white camisole and let out a mighty harrumph.

“Damn it.”

Now she was well and truly stuck.

All of the changing rooms required a member of staff to unlock them before a customer could enter them, so she had no chance of hiding out in one of those unless she wanted to try squeezing through the six inch gap between the floor and the bottom of the door. Worse still, she knew that putting her clothes back on would just annoy her chaperones and might even earn her a swat or two for her trouble. So instead she contented herself with heaving out a long, put-upon, sigh, remaining atop the raised dais in front of the mirrors with a petulant scowl on her face as she tried not to think too hard about the fact that she was basically standing in the middle of a department store in just her underwear where anybody might see her.

As it turned out though, quite a few people did in fact see her waiting around in just her camisole and worn panties, but rather than be scandalized as she’d been expecting, the mothers escorting their daughters and the few young adults out shopping on their own paid her little more than a fleeting glance before going on about their business. After all, why shouldn’t they? She was just another young teen waiting around while her aunt went to fetch something for her to try on, wasn’t she?

“I’m not sure whether I should be happy or offended,” Rhen huffed to herself as she cocked one hip out to the side with a sassy grimace. “Ugh.

This freaking sucks.”

Her aunt and Julia were gone for nearly ten minutes, or at least somewhere around that long. It was hard to tell for sure since Rhen had left her phone in one of the front pockets of her jeans, and she didn’t want either of them stumbling across her digging around for it whenever they finally got back, lest doing so might give them more fodder to tease her with. So she resisted the urge to retrieve her phone, and instead tried counting out the seconds in her head to pass the time as she grew steadily more and more bored with each passing minute.

When the two older women at last returned, they each bore half a dozen pairs of panties, mostly in varying shades of pastels and degrees of childishness, along with a couple of plastic wrapped three-packs of tightly rolled panties as well. And while the loose pairs of underwear they carried seemed mostly bearable to Rhen, the ones she spotted in the three-packs were a totally different matter altogether. Those all had what appeared to be cute animals, or else little flowers or fruits printed all over them, and were undeniably childish.

Oh well… At least they’ll match my new hair style, she thought to herself with a wince as the fingers of her right hand slid subconsciously across the smooth front of her tattered panties. How… wonderful.

Her shopping escorts quickly set the bulk of their new selections off to one side, apparently not interested in giving Rhen a say in whether or not she went home with any of them. And from there, Dana thumbed through the individual pairs she’d brought with her, before selecting one and holding it up in front of her for a quick inspection. They were mint green with pink trim around the legs and waistband, and had a little bow on the front.

They were sickeningly cute, and Rhen knew immediately that they would look absolutely perfect on her as her aunt nodded in satisfaction.

“Here you go, Rhen, honey,” she said as she tossed the brand new undergarments over to the mortified sophomore, who managed to almost catch them as she flailed her hands out in front of her. “Change into those, and let’s see how they look on you.”

Rhen opened her mouth to argue as the soft cotton material flopped against the tops of her white ankle-socks, but the sharp look her aunt gave her as she started to speak caused her words to stumble and fall short before she had a chance to let them out. And so, heart pounding a mile a minute and blushing a brilliant shade of stop sign red, she quickly slipped her old panties down and off as fast as she could, before all but flying into her new ones.

“Oh yes, very cute,” declared Julia with a self-satisfied, professional nod as she eyed Rhen’s hips and smiled. “Pastels definitely compliment your pale complexion.”

“Um, th-thanks,” the younger girl squeaked as she craned her head back over her shoulder to try and see how she looked in her new panties for herself, before turning in a slow circle to admire them from the front as well.

As much as she hated to admit it, Julia had definitely been right about the color looking nice on her. Taking in her reflection in the mirror, Rhen felt a terrifying little thrill of panic mixed with a strange sense of excitement surge through her. If she hadn’t known any better, she would have sworn that a brightly blushing younger version of herself from nearly a decade ago was staring back at her just then.

“Alright, I’ll admit it. You were definitely right about those,”

conceded her aunt to the sales clerk with a good-natured grin as the two of them eyed the chubby twin orbs filling out the seat of Rhen’s brand new panties. “I’m glad you talked me into going with some fun lighter colors instead of sticking with those plain old whites and navy blues. Those panties are absolutely Rhen’s style, for sure.”

Not bothering to wait and hear what she actually had to say on the matter, her aunt stooped down again and picked out two skirts and a couple of different tops from their other piles of clothes they’d collected.

“Alright, cutie pie, now let’s see how these look on you next.”

—

By the time they were finally, finally, finally finished shopping for clothes, shoes, and just about anything else her aunt and Julia could think of that she might need, Rhen was one exhausted young lady.

But she was also very happy.

Although a lot of the things that her aunt had picked out for her had way more pleats or ruffles than she would have preferred, she at least took solace in the fact that it was all (for the most part) mature looking enough that she wouldn’t be immediately mistaken for a ten year old. Maybe a twelve year old on some days, but thankfully the majority of her new wardrobe was decidedly in line with her new identity as her aunt’s bratty, young, teenage niece. Moreover, Julia had certainly known what she was doing as she’d suggested things for her to try on, and Rhen had to admit that she and her aunt had picked out some very cute and flattering things for her to wear.

This was especially good news, considering the fact that she was now decked out in one of her brand new outfits as she stood patiently beside her aunt and waited for Julia to finish ringing up the last of their purchases. Her old jeans, panties, and t-shirt were gone, shoved down into the bottom of one of their bags, and in their place she now wore a lavender pleated skirt and a long-sleeve pink top. The outfit went incredibly well with her long dark hair as it flowed behind her in a ponytail, and their enterprising sales clerk had even taken the time to point out that the darker colors of her skirt and hair helped to highlight the minty green hue of her panties as well.

Not that Rhen had any plans of letting anyone see that for themselves anytime soon.

On her feet too, she now wore a fresh pair of comfortable, soft pink high-tops, still curling and uncurling her toes inside of them as she got used to the feel of them. Her aunt had bought her three other pairs of shoes as well, and Rhen couldn’t wait to replace excuses to wear them around campus later.

Despite how odd it felt to see herself dressed down so effectively in the reflections she caught of herself from the various mirrors hung up throughout the store, it all somehow felt right to Rhen as well. For years now she’d been trying to replace clothes that made her look more like an adult, to make her feel more like who she wanted her friends and peers to see her as, but the things she’d worn had never felt comfortable. Never felt like they truly belonged on her. And yet, as she swished the pleats of her new skirt around her hips as she bobbed in time with the rhythm of the pop music playing from somewhere overhead, she knew that she’d finally found a look that truly worked for her.

It’s just too bad that it shaves years off of how old I look, she snorted to herself, before smirking. Oh well… Some people spend fortunes trying to make themselves look younger. I suppose I should just be grateful that my body is so accommodating in that regard.

Truth be told, it was all a little overwhelming to think about the fact that she now had so many new clothes to choose from when she got dressed in the morning. And when she saw the final total for their little excursion through the juniors section of Cashman’s, her stomach immediately plummeted to her ankles.

Holy shit, that’s a lot of money!

She cast a shocked look from the register and its little display, to her aunt, and then back again, as a pit opened up in her stomach and worry gnawed at her. Were they going to have to return some of the things they’d picked out? She knew she shouldn’t have said yes to all those stupid dresses and tops. She just knew it!

But rather than baulk at the figure, her aunt just produced her debit card from her purse and fed its chip into the little machine beside the register without a moment’s hesitation.

“Wow, we got some pretty great deals today huh, Rhen?” she

observed with an extremely satisfied look on her face as she reached for the plastic pen tethered to the card reader and quickly scrawled out her signature with a flourish. “I was expecting this to all be a lot more expensive.”

“Our junior’s section always has really great deals,” chirped Julia as she closed out the sale and stuffed Dana’s absurdly long receipt into one of their many, many bags. “Thanks for spending the day with us at Cashman’s. I had a wonderful time, and I hope you both did too.”

“Oh, most definitely,” agreed the broadly grinning older woman with a nod. “And thank you again for all of your help, Julia. You were a lifesaver out there. I don’t even want to imagine how much longer it would have taken us if Rhen and I had had to do this all by ourselves.”

“Of course, ma’am, it was my pleasure,” beamed the all but glowing sales clerk from behind her register before turning her high-wattage smile on Rhen one last time. “Bye-bye, Rhenny, dear. Come back and see me again sometime, alright?”

“Um, yeah, sure,” mumbled a blushing Rhen as she snatched up as many bags as she thought she could carry in an attempt to put an end to her humiliation in this particular store as fast as possible. “Bye.”

Taking hold of their remaining bags, Dana quickly fell into step beside her retreating niece, and the two of them made their way out of the department store and off to their next adventure in the mall.

Rhen just hoped that it wouldn’t be nearly as embarrassing as this last one had been.