Bonnie was fed up with school and her roommates. She needed a break. She was falling behind in class and missing assignments. Her roommates accused her of theft, when they, in fact, were taking stuff from her. She felt like shit and on top of that, it was her 18th birthday. Her birthday was on a Wednesday this year, but the official family celebration was happening that weekend. She did not to to spend the actual day with her terrible roommates. She was homesick and wanted to be back with her parents, but they lived hundreds of miles away and wouldn't be visiting her until the weekend.
Fortunately for Bonnie, her favorite aunt who was more like a big sister to her, was just a 20 minute Uber ride away. When she needed a break from other people, she would pack her computer, schoolwork and dirty laundry and hang out with her Aunt Dee Dee.
Unfortunately for Bonnie, she picked a very bad day to drop in unannounced. Her auntie had urgent shopping errands to run and so she was annoyed that Bonnie showed up before her birthday weekend. Dee Dee saw how disappointed Bonnie was, however, so she relented and let Bonnie go shopping with her.
Bonnie was surprised, though, that her aunt did not get "ready for the 'gram" before going out. She typically spent a good hour changing clothes to find the right look, then artistically applying foundation, blush, lipstick, eye shadow and liner and making her face perfect. The final touches were picking the right accessories - jewelry, a purse from her large collection and just the right shoes. But today, she was going out in a baggy sweat suit with all of her hair tied up under a big blue baseball cap, a fanny pack around her waist and worn-out running shoes. She looked more like a grandma than an Instagrammer..
Bonnie herself was dressed in mid-rise white capri flare pants, with a sheer white crepe pocket shirt that showed her white lace bralette underneath. She wore strappy black high heel sandals. She had the look of an adorable but edgy smart girl, with big black glasses, and shoulder length straight black hair in an updated Rachel cut. Her cheeks were a naturally youthful pink, and she was wearing eyeliner to emphasize her Asian eyes.
On the way to the store, Bonnie could sense something was bothering her Aunt. She was by turns critical of Bonnie, sweetly loving, then silent as if she were trying to remember how to get to the store that was a regular destination. When they got to the store, Bonnie was further surprised to see her Aunt looking at expensive items such as computers, phones and tablets. Something strange was definitely going on, but her Aunt did not want to talk about it, so Bonnie just followed silently.
She got bored. To relieve her boredom, she decided to play a fun prank that she used to do as a kid with her mom - sneak a surprising item into the cart and laugh when the checker rang it up and her mom didn't know what to do. They passed an expensive jar of gold flecked night repair skin cream that was outside of its usual locked case. It would be the perfect 'prank' gift for her 18th birthday. She grabbed the jar like a little child and put it at the bottom of the cart, underneath all the phones and tablets that filled the cart.
When Bonnie asked her aunt about the electronics, she claimed that she was buying them for someone at the church. Her aunt then cleverly changed the subject and asked Bonnie about school. Bonnie told her about her anxiety about her struggles getting along with her roommates. She said they behaved like spoiled teenagers and did not know how to act like adults. They left stinky food in the trash for days. They left tampons in the bathroom. She was sure they took her prescription meds and stole her state ID. The roommates sounded inconsiderate, but to Dee Dee, it sounded like her niece, who had been home schooled, had no life skills. She needed counseling, but Dee Dee had her own problems at the moment, so it would have to wait. Dee Dee finished up by telling her niece that she needed to learn how to take care of her clothes, because it looked like everything she was wearing had shrunk and become see-through.
The checkout lines were long, so Dee Dee went to the self checkout. Bonnie freaked out and got a little bummed, since no checkout person would be in on the joke. She stood back as her Auntie purchased and bagged everything herself. She noticed that her Auntie split the purchase using pay apps on many different phones. She got anxious when she saw her Auntie leave the cream in the cart without scanning it. She tried to get her attention, but her Auntie was so focused that she did not pay attention to Bonnie
