The dress was a black color but was dotted with sequins everywhere. It had straps that Aysha could tell went simply over the shoulders. She continued to stare at it, somewhat mesmerized.

"Would you like me to buy it for you?"

Aysha bit her lip and slowly shook her head. "Can I try it on first?"

Craytia grinned. "Of course!" She led Aysha to one of the dressing rooms. She'd also picked out a pair of jewel-studded, low-heeled, shoes. Aysha tried it on and it was safe to say that Craytia could buy it. The dress hugged her in all the right places. Aysha turned around a few times, observing herself in the mirror. She had to admit, she really did look beautiful.

Aysha stepped out of the changing room with a flourish. She had a smile on her face. It had been a while since she'd looked this beautiful. As in actually, beautiful. Not intimidating or dangerous. Just a beautiful nineteen year old girl. It had been a while since she'd been able to do or have a lot of things and it felt nice to have it again.

Craytia was clapping with glee. "You look gorgeous! Do you want me to buy it?"

Aysha nodded shyly. It felt awkward for her to be standing like this in front of Craytia. It didn't feel...natural. "What dress did you pick out?" Aysha asked, noticing the white bag that she was holding in her other hand.

Craytia put a finger to her lips. "It's a secret that you'll have the honor of seeing before the party."

Aysha went back inside the changing room and went back into her simple outfit from earlier. She held the dress close to her as she and Craytia walked toward the check-out line. The man standing at the cash-register had a bright smile on his face.

"Hi! I hope you were able to find everything you needed?"

Craytia and Aysha nodded.

The man was polite, yes, but he was trying to keep a cool facade on, and it wasn't working. His fingers were wrapped around the scanner and they were trembling. He was afraid of Craytia. Afraid that if he gave her bad service, she would kill him without a second thought. Craytia took the dress from Aysha's arms as the man scanned the tag and Craytia's card. His fingers were still trembling, but the smile remained on his face as he handed her the receipt.

"I hope you join us again!" He waved at us as we left.

Craytia finally let out a surprising laugh as we entered the car. She wiped tears away from the corners of her eyes as she kept laughing. "Did you see the way his fingers trembled? Wow. I can't ever get tired of the way people get scared when they see me, but I can't lie. He did better than most. He didn't immediately start screaming or running away. He kept his cool to the best of his ability."

Aysha wasted no time in replying. "How can you be happy that he was afraid of you? Think of how many people spend their days living in constant fear."

Craytia glanced at her and shrugged before quickly taking her attention back to the road. "Of course, I'm happy. This is the world we live in and this world benefits me. It gives me power and wealth. What more could I ask for?"

She wasn't wrong. As long as you had those things, you could have anything you wanted. You could eliminate anyone who you felt posed a threat and nobody would blink. It was sad, in Aysha's opinion.

It was ironic how when you were younger, you most likely thought of changing things for the better, but when you got older, you left those dreams. You thought of them as childhood illusions, and you lived your life according to what everyone else had dictated. In Aysha's opinion, that was wrong. It wasn't right. You needed to hold onto those childhood illusions. You had to make them real. So many people would have disagreed with her saying that she was being childish and unreal. As far as Aysha was concerned, you needed to become stronger to make them come true. If you weren't, then you probably couldn't make it come true, and that was what Aysha wanted to change.