Panic attack

The bus journey was easily one of the best of Mai's life. She hardly took the bus as there was never a need to and at the same time, this would be the first time that Mai would be heading to the city with a group of friends rather than with her family.

'Good job Simon, I would have never thought of this.' Mai thought, as she smiled and stared out the window. She was most happy about Chris, who sat by her side and seemed to be just as excited.

However, there was one unpleasant thing about the journey, she couldn't shake off this horrible feeling that someone was staring at her. Whenever she turned around, however, everyone was just minding their own business.

'Maybe I'm just being paranoid recently, who from our town would want to stalk a bunch of losers on the bus?' She thought, but she had greatly underestimated a girl's jealousy.

———

"Whoa, do you see that, look how tall that building is, how do they make something that big without it falling over!" Simon said with the excitement of a child, pointing at one of the skyscrapers. "Do builders have to climb to the top and keep building? How are they not scared of falling off?"

In comparison to everyone else, it actually seemed like Simon, who had organised the event, was the most excited of them all.

"Is it really that big of a deal?" Shirley thought as she looked at the energetic Simon.

'Oh no, Simon is acting a little strange. He's acting like a farmer who has never even seen the city before. Or maybe someone who has been transported to another world for the first time. Even if that's true, she can't think badly of us.' Mai thought as she approached Shirley and linked her arm through hers so the two of them could walk side by side together.

"Don't worry about him, we've never seen buildings like this before. I guess you used to live in the city before you moved to our village so it's not that special for you. Why did you move?" Mai asked, trying to get her mind off of things. In the distance as she talked to Shirley, she could see Chris and Simon running into every shop they didn't have back in the village.

At least if the two of them were getting along, it meant in the future they could have more things like this, so for now she would just keep Shirley company.

"Oh you know, it's the usual. Father gets a new job and I have to move along with him. At first I thought I was going to hate it, but meeting you made my life a lot more fun." Shirley said with a smile, then she started to drag Mai along to catch up with the boys.

After exploring the city for a short while, they eventually entered a giant shopping mall which was full of shops, there seemed to be a shop for everything one would ever need. Of course, the things the boys and girls both liked were completely different and in the end they had naturally decided to split up.

"Don't worry about it Mai, we will get to talk to Chris later when we have lunch. You can't be clingy otherwise he will think you will be that way in a relationship as well. Trust me." Shirley said, dragging her over to a beautifully decorated storefront which had stunning white dresses on display.

Although Mai didn't mind shopping, she wasn't one of those girls that absolutely loved it. The main reason was because she just never knew what looked good, and she hated the shopping attendants that would fly around in the shop and ask annoying questions.

It just felt so uncomfortable, but at the same time Mai was too embarrassed to tell them to leave her alone. Eventually though, Shirley who looked to love shopping had come over to and handed her a purple dress.

"Here, try this one, I bet you would look super cute in it!" She said, "I guarantee it's Chris's style. We can even take a photo and send it to him asking him what he thinks."

Although Mai wasn't sure it was a great idea, just like she couldn't say no to the pushy sales attendants, she couldn't say no to Shirley either. After all, she was just trying to help her out with Chris.

Entering the changing room, Mai started to get undressed. As it was a dress she needed to take off her whole outfit she had put on this morning. With the clothes held in her hand, she was looking for a place to put them, as there was no hanger and usually the seat that would be in the corner was missing.

"You can hand your clothes over to me for the time being, and just let me know when you need them back." A voice said, with her hand being shoved through the curtain.

"Oh, what great customer service." Mai thought nothing more of it as she handed over her clothes. Putting on the dress she had to admit, it did suit her. For once she actually thought she looked quite nice and couldn't help but take some photos of herself.

However, once she glanced down at the price tag, she knew it was definitely something she couldn't afford.

'Sigh, maybe when I'm actually an adult and get a real job I can buy the things I want.' She thought, and proceeded to take off the dress.

"Could you please hand over the dress, and we will return your clothes. This is just a precautionary measure so we know you're not stealing." The same voice from before said.

Although Mai found it strange, it also did make sense.

'Maybe this is a new European style of shopping or something.' She thought as she handed her clothes and waited to get hers back. She waited, and waited, and eventually pulled the curtain back while still covering her body to see if there was anyone outside, but there was no one. She looked for her clothes along with the dress she had brought in but they had both gone missing.

"What the hell! How does this happen!" She began to panic. "My clothes."

Looking through the shop she tried to find where Shirley was, that way she could at least explain to her the situation and they could do something about it. However, at that moment, as she was about to call out her name, the two boys had returned and had entered the shop looking for her.

"Oh no!" Mai said quietly, closing the curtain back. "If I tell Shirley, will she tell the others? What happened to my clothes, what is going on! What happens if they both see me….." Panic had set in.

She was already in an uncomfortable environment and the situation had just gotten worse and worse. It was like her worst nightmare. Crawling up into a ball she started to take deep breaths, her breathing quickened and her mind was going dark.

She was curled up in the corner of the changing room and covered herself with her hands over the side of her arms.

"I hate…this." She thought, as her vision darkened and she began to blackout.

******