The path less traveled (Demetra)

[Victor "Break" D'Armond]

Victor stood in the back of a little thrift shop, lines of used T-shirts and Jeans filling up the racks. Break loved his designer clothing, this is true, however for his shows, and sometimes just to wear he liked a bit more of an eccentric look, owning things that no one else would ever own, simply for the fact that it just isn't made anymore. Break wasn't looking for anything flashy, just a nice button down overshirt. It was always difficult finding an XL shirt in thrift shops, but nothing else quite fit over his shoulders the way he liked. he was far from picky, but if you can have what you like, why settle for less?

Today he wore nice but very casual dress shoes, with a tiny rise in the heel that clacked as he took each step. he trailed his finger along the soft fabrics as he looked for designs that would catch his eye. This was the first second hand shop he'd run into since he moved here, and he had the joy of a kid on christmas. the rest of his outfit was a simple White t-shirt that held fairly tightly against his skin, showing off his figure well with his skinny bootleg jeans. his faux hawk was also ever present, adding an inch or so to his height. he wore many little bands and cloth bracelets today as well, gifts from friends. Today simply felt like a good day to be artistic, but then... what day didn't? he chuckled to himself at his own observation. He kept walking till he reached the end of the line, a little bead of dissapointment fell on his heart as he realized there was nothing there for him. Maybe he could check again...

He began walking back up the aisle, taking careful note of each shirt one at a time.

[Demetra Katsaros]

I love summer. Even though I don't hate school as much as some other kids do, I still appreciated the vacation time to create my own schedule rather than adhere to that created by a counselor. However, with summer came warmer weather. Again, it was something that didn't really bother me-- how could the opportunity to be outdoors and swim in perfect temperature water be frowned upon?-- but hotter days meant less clothing. Hmm. Perhaps I worded that wrong. I'm not about to polish my strip teasing technique just because the seasons are changing. It's just that sweaters and tights are going to be stowed away, and tank tops, shorts, and sun dresses are about to bust out.

Unfortunately, I've grown a little since last summer. The average female stops developing around the age of sixteen, but apparently not me. I can't fit my butt into last years' shorts, and it will be rather difficult to let them all out, especially if the material doesn't allow for it. So I ended up at the thrift shop again, prepared to find a new round of clothes for my derrière.

It shouldn't be too hard to find something. I knew the basic rules of second hand stores: 1) Don't buy anything with a stain, 'cause chances are, the original owner has tried countless times to get it out already. 2) Don't buy anything that smells bad, because again, there has probably already been numerous efforts to get it out. Other than that, I would rely on my own tools. Anything that was too big wouldn't be a problem, since making clothes smaller was much easier than making them bigger.

As I wandered about casually (if I couldn't find anything here, there were other similar shops I knew I could visit), I noticed a guy looking down the aisles as he walked. He was nicely dressed, not in a formal manner, yet more put together than one would expect from typical shoppers here (excluding yours truly, who has uber talent with the sewing needle). "You need help finding something?" I asked in curiosity. "I don't work here, but I know the place well enough to help you out."

[Victor "Break" D'Armond]

Victor walked along smoothly, looking at each pattern on each shirt with interest. He loved the simple life, and summer, it was so easy to just look through everything at his own leisure, and decide what would work and what wouldn't. He found a baby blue shirt with a black design rolling up and down the sleeves and over the chest area. He quickly tried to put it on, but he realized before even one of his arms was completely in that it wasn't going to fit. Damn... it looked pretty chill too.

He placed it back on the rack and kept his pace, when then he heard footsteps behind him. He didn't turn until a voice asked "can I help you with something?".he turned to see who spoke and as soon as his eyes found hers they didn't move, their blue-green hue was quite enough to capture his attention. "I don't work here but I know the place well enough to help you out" she said, with a subtle confidence.

Break smiled, it was nice to see someone genuinely go out of their way to simply help their fellow man out. "Thanks, I'm just looking for a nice button down shirt to wear over an outfit like this for a concert... something with a nice design hopefully" he said with a little laugh, looking back at the rack of clothes with a smile, then back up at her. "My name's Victor" he said, holding his hand out to shake, suddenly wondering where this girl was from, maybe the school?

[Demetra Katsaros]

Hmm. Interesting. I thought over what he had told me as my eyes locked into his (eye contact is important for first impressions, you know), shaking his hand firmly. And I had been thinking recently that polite handshakes were a thing of the past. Silly me. "I'm Demetra," I introduced myself. "I go to Moral Crest High, not too far from here, so I frequent this place a lot after school."

Now I wasn't exactly the fashion expert. I mean, I'd like to say that my own clothes had an artistic appeal, yet I generally went by what I thought looked nice and hoped others would agree, not necessarily studying trends and runways. In fact, some trends were rather ugly, as far as I was concerned. But everyone has their own opinion, and the best thing to help out Victor here was to ask his.

"Well, a nice design can mean anything. It depends on what you like." I flipped through a pile of overshirts, trying to keep them somewhat neat. Yeah, it wasn't my store, but I was the kind of person who preferred things to be organized and tidy. "I personally like solids myself, and you can accessorize the outfit to give it more flavor, maybe another shirt in a lighter shade, a watch, a belt, shoes, and so forth. If you really like patterns, though, I think vertical stripes are nice. Nothing too bold or thick, with all the stripes in the same color family, and slightly varying sizes." I pulled out a long sleeved buttoned black shirt with light and dark grey stripes that fit my description. "Something like this. But of course, you may not be looking for something in dark colors and long sleeves, especially for day wear. If the concert is on a cooler night, however, maybe." I shrugged. "The most important thing is to find something that you're comfortable in."

[Victor "Break" D'Armond]

Victor liked the firm handshake, he returned it with grace, careful not to squeeze too hard. "I go to moral crest too, this is the first time I've been here though, I just moved here a little while ago" he mentioned with a smile.

Victor nodded his head, his hand slowly moving up to rub his chin as he took in everything that demetra was saying. he smiled as she mentioned the things she thought would look good, he always did love to hear other peoples opinions on the subject of fashion as he quite liked fashion himself, though he would probably never openly admit that.

She pulled up a black shirt with light and dark grey stripes running vertically. It was less of a design than he wanted, which is why he probably didn't notice it before, however the color of the stripes matched the dark hue of his pants, and so he took it from her. "thank you" he said as he put it on. it fit well, though the sleeves where a bit tight, he quickly wrapped the cuffs of the sleeves up past his elbows, alleviating the tension of the tight sleeves on his rather large forearms. "I do most of my concerts indoors in coffee shops and things like that, the band I'm in has yet to even practice so i'm just doing lots of solo acoustic stuff right now" he explained. "I have to admit, this shirt is pretty comfortable" he said as he stretched a little to make sure it wouldn't rip. It held beautifully. "so how do I look?" he asked with a little chuckle

[Demetra Katsaros]

I returned his chuckle as he casually modeled the shirt for me (I guess modeling isn't exactly the most accurate term to describe it. No wait, maybe it is. Hmm. Dictionaries are my friend, but only when I have one nearby.) "You look like a guy who should come here more often," I replied. "And here I thought I was boring you with all my talk about solids and stripes, but I guess you're one of those types of people who like to use your ears and listen when somebody talks to you," I joked.

Though I possibly did not need to, I continued to sift through the shirts, half searching for something else interesting and half just keeping my hands busy as I spoke to him. "Since I'm also one of those fascinating types that likes to listen, I'd like to say that I'm very interested in visiting some of those coffee shops you spoke of and even hearing some of your work. I'm often open to seeing people's artistic side, whether it comes in pictures or sound." I myself wasn't very creative, but hey, I wasn't so closed-minded that I couldn't appreciate the vents of emotions for others.

[Victor "Break" D'Armond]

"Thank you, and thank you. Ears are pretty useful if you teach yourself how to use them" he laughed, deciding this shirt was definitely going to be bought. he kept it on as he looked back at her. "Yeah, I'll definitely let you know when my next show will be, like I said I'm new here so I've only got one shop interested in me right now, and I'm not going to play there for another few weeks probably" he said. "It is refreshing to meet someone who really appreciates art though, sometimes I feel like the only one who still considers music to be an art form" he said with a smile.

his ADD kicked in and he looked at her hands sifting through the clothes, and behind her fingers he saw a navy blue shirt with a silver design running across the back and shoulders. "would you please mind grabbing me that blue one? its behind the one you're holding, thanks" he said patiently, his original desire was to simply reach out and grab it himself, but he wanted to be polite. "do you do any sort of artwork?" he suddenly asked (if she was grabbing the shirt it would be during that time)

[Demetra Katsaros]

"Oh, sure, no problem." I quickly handed him the shirt he was referring to. Hey, I apparently helped a guy find two items he was interested in at a thrift store. Score! Well, I don't know if I deserve credit for the second one, since he noticed it before I did, but whatever. I handed it to him. It was in my grasp. Partial points, right?

"Me? Art?" I raised an eyebrow. Did I look like the creative type? Maybe I did, with my long, hippie-ish hair, and my often quirky clothes. However, I wasn't one to promote a label or stereotype for myself. "It depends on what you consider an art form. I don't paint, draw, or do any sort of visual art, really, nor do I really do any performing arts. I can identify music and sound, but you don't want to hear my attempts at making them, especially not my singing voice. You'll be glad that you're the one in the band, not me," I joked. "But uh, I'm in the process of learning how to dance with a friend of mine, and even though I haven't reached a mastery stage, I imagine I've improved a little. What about you? You have any other interests besides music?"

[Victor "Break" D'Armond]

Break smiled taking the shirt. he had a pair of jack Purcell's that would match the navy blue, and a gray shirt that would match the borders. he hated to admit how much clothing excited him, but he hid it well, he smiled as she handed it to him, and nodded as she explained her 'artistic interest'. "dancing is cool... I do some hip hop and jazz actually... I also draw..." he started, thinking about all the artsy things he did. "and I've always wanted to try acting... i've never given it a shot" he said with a shrug. "I definately love art though, I believe in being well rounded... try everything once, twice if you like it" he explained with a laugh.

[Demetra Katsaros]

"Acting, hm?" I repeated. "You can probably be an actor, if you think you got the skill for it. I never thought it was a hard profession, but I realize now that it takes a lot of patience." Not that I had much acting experience myself. I was actually only an observer, providing costumes for the theater group while the performers rushed about on stage, spending hours perfecting their production. I wasn't particularly interested. "You thinking about film or stage? I'm not an expert, but I've been told that they're entirely different fields, making it a totally new game for whichever one you choose."

I started to sift through the smaller men's shirts, which were across from the pile I was looking through before. I didn't have a preference for male over female clothing, but sometimes they provided a good base to work with. After all, the only real difference between a man's clothing and a woman's clothing is size. Well, there may be other factors, too, but nothing that was truly of my concern. "If you decide to go with theater, though, give me a heads up and maybe I'll help with costuming for the play." Heck, I suppose I could do film costuming, too, but I had no background in that, and most professionals hired trained adults to do that sort of work. "You know, put in a good word after witnessing my genius here at the thrift store today." I winked at him playfully.

[Victor "Break" D'Armond]

"of course" Victor laughed, his eyebrows raised playfully back at her wink. out of the corner of his eye he saw her start to look at smaller shirts, and after she mentioned costuming... "I was thinking of starting on the stage, I always wanted to be in a musical, and if I got there I might as well do film too, just to get the experiance...if I ever get into anything like that I will be sure to give you a call" he said, along with the subtle thought of course you would need her number to give her a call, wouldn't you?. he hooked his thumbs into his pockets and laughed a little at this. "so you make your own costumes? do you ever make any of your own clothes?" he said with a small grin, a chuckle rumbling from deep in his chest, this girl was turning more interesting by the second, his kind deep blue eyes beamed.

[Demetra Katsaros]

I grinned widely. He happened to ask a question I loved to answer, though it didn't come up much. Maybe that was a good thing. People didn't often ask if I made my own clothes, which must've meant that my work was so decent that they assume it was created by a professional. Err... sort of a good thing. Part of the reason I worked so hard to make my attire have the aesthetic appeal in the first place is to encourage others to follow my path-- either take joy in rummaging through second-hand stores and unused cloth swatches and making a wearable design from it, or admiring my talent and giving me a little business. Both seemed like an accomplishment to me.

"Funny you ask that, because yes, I do make my own clothes," I told him proudly as I rummaged through my handbag for a pen and slip of recycled paper. "At least, to a certain degree. I'll make alterations if I like the basic pattern or design. Occasionally I'll start with just different cloth and sew something on my own, but I don't make my own materials." As I spoke, I flattened the ripped sheet onto my knee and began scribbling my name at the top. "I also make jewelery sometimes, too, but again, I start with already made materials. I don't create the beads by myself." Once my phone number was written down, I handed it over to him. "Give me a call or even a text if you're still interested. It was nice talking to you, Victor, and I'd like to help you out again."

I waved to him as I walked toward the back of the store, turning around to look one last time and smirk just before he was out of sight.

[Exit Demetra.]

[Victor "Break" D'Armond]

Victor watched her go, taking the number and pocketing it with a gentlemanly smile. he waved as she walked off. she was good, knew just when to leave to make her still a bit mysterious enough for him to think of her the rest of the day. he laughed to himself at this. Walking up to the cash register he pulled out his wallet and paid for the two shirts he bought. the lady behind the register looked up at him and he smiled. then a thought came to mind. "does she come here often?" Break asked casually, tilting his head toward where Demetra had walked off. The cashier nodded and smiled "yes, I see her quite often" she said with a nice smile. Victor's head bobbed up and down as he nodded that piece of information into his mind for later.

And with his purchase he grabbed the bag of shirts with a little crackling sound as their weight shifted in the bag, walking out of the store with a smile on his face.

-Exit Victor-