Shadow poked around the contents of the store, deciding that he didn't feel like buying anything yet. He would wait to buy something...possibly something that caught and held his attention.

He was looking for something specific...something he wanted to give as a gift...

Maria checked out the 10 in-scents she had bought and then looked at Shadow. "Ready to go to the next store?" She was smiling still. She tried to remember what all Shadow had wanted to possibly buy. She decided that a video game store would be good to go to next. "Possibly the gaming store?"

"Sure," Shadow agreed, with a smile. He loved video games. It was a vice of his, along with skipping school and...highly caffeinated drinks. He seemed to be having a good time, whereas he'd seemed nearly miserable in school.

The girl smiled before walking out of the store and back down the branch of the mall. The gaming store was located on one of the walls of the rounded center of the mall. Maria walked in there and began looking around. Because video games were pretty popular, there was quite a few more people in here than in the import store.

Shadow didn't seem to like all the people in the store, but he kept himself cheery and occupied by examining the shelves. He adored video games. Especially RPGs.

Maria looked around a bit. She wasn't too into video games, and stores like this kind of made her uncomfortable. She considered herself kind of pretty, and a store with video game stereotypical geeks wasn't something she liked to deal with/be in.

After a while, Shadow made his decision and walked back to her. "Hm...I don't think I'll buy anything from here. I don't see anything interesting..."

Maria smiled at him. "Alright. Some type of clothing store next? Though there's sure to be a lot of people in any of the clothing stores in here." She started to wonder why he didn't want to be around a lot of people all of a sudden. School involved being around quite a few people. Maybe that is more of the reason why he skipped class was to get away from the people. Maria wasn't sure though, she was probably starting to think too much.

Shadow chewed his lip. Of course there were going to be a lot of people...

"I will be fine," he assured her finally, smiling. "I need some new clothing, anyway..." Clothes-shopping was something he enjoyed. Everyone was quiet and distant. Though, he'd been flirted with in clothing stores more times than he could count.

Maria nodded and smiled. She then walked out of the gaming store. Thinking of what would keep Shadow most comfortable, Maria was to one of the bigger clothing stores, where there was so many clothes that it had to have two floors. This made it so while there was a lot of people in the store, they were more spread out rather than clustered together.

Shadow seemed to relax when he saw that there weren't as many people as he'd thought there would be. He immediately started to browse through the more...expensive...clothing, trying to find something that appealed to him.

As he did so, he glanced back at her briefly. "We've been awfully distant to each other talking-wise ever since we left the school...is there anything you would like to discuss?"

Maria thought about that question as she glanced at some of the middle priced skirts. "Well..." she began. She wasn't quite sure what she wanted to talk to. No that was a lie, she knew what she wanted to talk about but didn't know how to approach it. She decided to just kind of be straight-forward with her curiosity. "I was wondering why you aren't comfortable around people all of a sudden. It seemed like you were more comfortable around them in the school, though I suppose I might not have been paying attention enough to notice if you were uncomfortable."

Shadow hummed thoughtfully, picking through the clothes.

"Well...a school is a more controlled environment," he offered, finally. "I feel more comfortable in a mostly controlled, and monitored, environment. When out in public, especially in places that tend to get crowded, that safety is mostly gone. And thus, I feel a little on-edge."

Of course, he wasn't going to tell her the other reason he was uncomfortable...she didn't have to know.

Maria nodded. That was a very reasonable reason that she was surprised that she didn't figure it out. She laughed a bit at herself for having been so stupid and complicating things so much. She had looked through quite a few clothes now and had seen things she liked, but could never afford besides saving money for awhile and then buying like five articles of clothing. She smiles at Shadow a bit "So what is living on your own like, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Living alone is like..." He pondered the question for a moment, before reaching out and selecting an expensive-looking sleek black pea coat. "Well...it can get lonely. But it's great not to have parents around..."

Maria nodded some. "It seems like it's just like people think it is. Me and my friends talk about it often. I think they'd like talking to you." She wasn't sure what she was saying. All she knew was that she wanted to hang around with him more. She was sure that she only wanted to because it was a change of pace.

Shadow nodded, smiling. "I...don't do well with large social groups...but...I can try," he amended, contently. He slung the pea coat over his shoulder and searched for at least one more article of clothing to purchase.

Maria smiled happily. Having Shadow in the group should shake things up a bit, and maybe all of the politics in the group would be destroyed. It wasn't until today that she had a problem with the politics of the group, but her time with Shadow had changed that. "sounds great. You could sit with us before the bell rings and at lunch. That is mostly when it is best to hang around with them. Or I should really say when if you want to be in the group and stay in it than you need to be around them at those times."

Shadow smiled, selecting a nice black dress shirt to go with the pea coat. "I would like that...I will warn you, though. I don't like to be pushed over, or stepped on...and if someone says or does something unsavory to me...I will defend myself."

Maria nodded "I wouldn't expect you not to defend yourself. I wonder why I don't do that sometimes." She started to think of the reasons why she didn't. Really it had to do with the fact that she had gotten used to being in the group. Also she knew that she wasn't the only one that was pushed around and told what to do and when to do it at times. She even found her friends quite fun, when the leader of the group wasn't around.

Shadow grinned, heading over to pay for his items. "What time is it? I know lunch hasn't started yet..we may still be able to go back in time to catch it."

Maria looked at her watch and thought for a bit. "Lunch starts in maybe 15 minutes." She smiled some, following him over to the check out counter

"Oh...we could make it back in time, if we hustle." Quickly, Shadow paid for his new clothing and bustled out of the shop. As they were exiting the mall into the parking lot, looking for his Jaguar, Shadow glanced back at her. "I sincerely hope there is no trouble with your friends...they did not seem to like me when I first saw them."

Maria carefully kept up with him. "they only didn't like you because all the under class students were following you around. It actually entertained us quite a bit." She shook her head some "one might try to flirt with you though, that I should warn you of."

"Mm. I'll try not to snap," Shadow promised, locating his car and popping the trunk so they could place their newly-bought belongings in the back. He then slipped into the driver's seat, letting out a big breath of air now that there weren't a lot of people around.