Someone Like You Read Online Free Page B

my complex hairstyle will stay as it is when I wake up tomorrow. About how frequently I will have to visit the salon. And what I will have to say when I go to one. Slowly and steadily, I start spending more time in front of every mirror that we pass by. As we flit from shop to shop, I notice more than a few eyes on me … on us. It feels nice. Simran, occasionally, bends over and whispers, ‘
He was looking at you
.’
    And I begin to think to myself, ‘Yes, he should.’
    Finally, we reach a
Forever 21
showroom that Simran has been talking about all morning. The clothes are inexpensive and very trendy, just like what I am
not
used to wearing. Simran frantically starts picking up tops, skirts and everything she can get hold of and dumps them on my shoulder. Occasionally, she shrieks, ‘We
HAVE
to get this!’ and everyone starts staring at us. I pick up a few things too, but Simran doesn’t approve of them.
    A little later, with a pile of clothes on my arms and shoulders, we head to the changing room and I ask Simran to stand right in front of my door. I don’t want to scamper across the entire floor of the shop to look for her in a silly dress.
    I try on a pink and blue floral dress that ends just above my knees. I wear it and stare at myself in the mirror. My cheeks flush and I start to blush as I look at myself. I feel … I can’t describe how I feel. It’s like I am born again as a different person, in a matter of four painful hours. It’s an amazing feeling. I leave the changing room, my head in a whirl and look at Simran, ‘How’s it?’
    ‘You know what, Niharika? I am almost jealous. My sister is the only girl in the whole of Delhi, who is prettier than me,’ she comes and hugs me.
    I don’t know why but I have tears in my eyes. I don’t remember the last time I was as happy as I am now. As we hug, I see other girls look at us. They don’t look pleased, and Simran whispers in my ears, ‘I’m proud of you. You’re going to make
so
many girls jealous of you.’
    I can already see that happening. I know now what blind people feel like when they first open their eyes to a new world, or a crippled person when he or she walks for the first time. I spend hours changing into every dress, every skirt, and every top Simran has chosen for me and keep staring at myself in the mirrors from every angle. I feel a little silly, but today is the first day when I don’t hate the physical form I have been given. For the first time in my life, I can say that—I feel
blessed.
    We leave the shop and try out some other clothes and buy what we like. Simran even shoots a few appreciative glances at the clothes I choose. The last stop is the shoe store where she makes me try everything. The clothes were easier to pick and I was getting a hang of it but choosing shoes is tough. Simran almost shouts at me when I picked up a
supposedly
hideous pair of red shoes.
    Also, trying out clothes is easy, while shoes are actually painful. Especially since Simran doesn’t let me put on anything that has heels less than three inches high. She makes mewear stilettoes with outrageously tall and thin heels and makes me walk around in them all around the store. On one occasion, I almost fall and end up making a fool of myself. But when I look at her, she doesn’t seem embarrassed by the way some people turn to stare at us. She just helps me regain my balance and flings the stupid pumps away. And that’s why I love my sister.
    ‘I think we are done,’ Simran says an hour later and pays the bill. It’s already eight in the evening and every part of my body is hurting. I can go on for another seven lives shopping, but I am sure we are out of cash by now. We have already spent all our savings from our pocket money, and Simran hasn’t got a single article of anything for herself. I have the biggest smile on my face and she notices it. It’s not just about how she made me feel about myself, it is also about how she made me feel about
us
.