Unwilling to downgrade herself to diapers or training pants, Laura decides to amp up her girliness. Alexis hates wearing a dress, so wearing the frilliest, pinkest dress she can find would reduce the likelihood anyone recognizes her as “Alexis”.
Laura grabs a pink, sparkly, and frilly dress, white tights, sparkly pink ballet flats, and pink hair ribbons, and ducks into a changing room. Once she puts on the outfit, she looks at her reflection in the dressing room mirror. How she looked a few minutes ago and how she looks now are like night and day. No one would mistake her for her niece now.
Confident in her change of clothes, Laura exits the store. Promptly, she feels her arm get grabbed. She looks up in fear. A police officer scowls down at her.
“You can’t just skip school, missy,” the police officer says. Laura realizes then that even if she couldn’t be identified as Alexis, she’s still old enough that any officer would think she’s supposed to be in class. “Come on.” Unable to resist, Laura is dragged over to a police car and put in the back. The police officer gets in the driver’s seat.
“So, which school do you go to?” the police officer asks. Laura’s mind races. What can she say?