A few minutes later, Amy met up with Lina, who had been looking for her. "I'm getting creeped out by this place," she hissed. "Can we leave?"
"Yeah, sure," Amy said. She had wanted to look around some more, but knew she could always come back another day. The girls left the store and started to walk home.
"What's with the socks?" Lina asked. "Have you had those on all day? I just noticed."
Amy was surprised that Lina could tell the difference between her old ones and the new ones. "Uh, no. I got them from a vending machine in the store. How did you--?" Amy stopped short when she looked down at her feet. The socks had changed! Instead of short white socks, she was wearing gray socks that ended a little above the ankle.
"How did I what?"
"They didn't look like this when I put them on," Amy said, knowing she sounded silly. "They looked almost like my old socks."
"Oh, okay," Lina said mockingly. "So the store really is magic, after all. Magic socks! What will they think of next?"
"I'm serious," Amy pouted.
"Come on, let's get going. My family is expecting me home for dinner. Would you like to come? You're always welcome."
"No, thanks," Amy said, disgruntled that her friend didn't believe her. "I've got stuff to do at home."
Soon the girls broke off to walk down their respective streets, but not before making plans to hang out the next day. As Amy walked through the breezy summer air, she kept thinking about how nice the socks felt as they rubbed against her skin and the insides of her shoes.
* * *
Amy didn't actually have anything to do that evening, and an hour after returning home she was sitting in her chair, drawing pictures in a notebook and wondering why she blew off Lina's dinner invitation. She felt upset by Lina's dismissal of her socks and the notion they could be magic...but the proof was right there on Amy's feet. She thought about taking them off several times during the evening, but they felt so good she simply couldn't bring herself to do it.
It wasn't until bedtime that she finally made the decision. After donning her evening wear, consisting of a white chemise and panties, the socks remained her only day clothes left. By this point, they had darkened completely to black. She sat down on the bed and slipped them off. She tossed them on the floor and climbed into bed. Only seconds after laying down, Amy grumbled. Her feet felt cold, and the rough bedsheets were agitating her skin. She knew this was odd, since she had always considered her sheets quite smooth, and the feeling was concentrated only on her feet.
After a few minutes of trying to ignore the feeling, Amy gave up and snatched the socks off the floor. She exhaled slowly as she felt the soothing sensation of the soft fabric slipping over her feet and gently hugging her ankles. With her feet no longer feeling cold or sore, Amy was finally able to relax and drift off to sleep.