6. First Impressions Count

6 First Impressions Count Shopping is fun! And I don't think there's anything in the world that I love more than shopping for clothes. Think of it—if we didn't shop for clothes, we would be walking around naked all the time. Ewww, gross! We piled into my mom's minivan and drove to the mall, where they have this store called Macy's. It's a department store. That's a store that has lots of different

departments, so it has the perfect name. When we walked inside, Arlo looked like we were taking him to his own funeral.

"Don't you want to look handsome for the first day of school?" I asked him. "No." Arlo and his mom went off to the boys' department, and my mom and I went to the girls' department. There were so many important decisions to be made. Should I get a long, flowy skirt, or should I get a skort? (That's a skirt with shorts underneath.) Should I get pleather pants (that's fake leather), or should I get jeggings? (Those are leggings that look like jeans.) The outfit that I wear on the first day of school is crucial, because first impressions count. I picked out a bunch of things and went into the fitting room. I tried on a short skirt, a long skirt, and a high-low skirt. Then I came out and looked in the mirror with my mom to decide which things looked the best

on me. A few minutes after we started shopping, I saw Arlo and his mom coming over to the girls' department. They were carrying a bunch of bags. "You're done already?" my mom asked. "He's a boy," said Arlo's mom. "We finished half an hour ago." "Can we leave now?" Arlo asked. "Leave?" we all said. "We're just getting started!" Someday, when Arlo and I are married, I'll get him to dress up in nice clothes. He will look so handsome. But for now I couldn't worry about Arlo. I had important shopping decisions to make. I tried on a fringed crop top with rhinestones on it. I came out of the fitting room and spun around so Arlo could get the full effect.

"What do you think of this?" I asked. "I hate it." "Oh, you're just saying that to tease me," I told him. "You really love it, right?" "No, I really hate it." "I think you really mean the opposite," I told him. "You're right. I really love it," Arlo said. "You mean you hate it?" I asked. I wasn't sure if Arlo was using psychology on me or not. Shopping for clothes takes a long time. Poor Arlo was really bored. But what was I supposed to do? You don't want to make a mistake and get stuck with clothes you'll never wear. I got a nice rainbow dress for Picture Day. And just for the fun of it, I got a pair of pink sunglasses and a bathing suit with butterflies on it to wear at the beach.

"I picked out all my outfits for the first two weeks of school," I told Arlo. "I don't like waiting until the last minute." "Then why don't you start planning your