Nathan allowed himself to be somewhat calmed down by Jess' whispers of reassurance. They continued down the line with no trouble, and Rachel and Vanessa soon walked away to some other stores or whatever they were going to do next. Nathan shakily paid for his things, but no one seemed to notice anything weird about him. When they finally left the store, Nathan stood there, not saying anything until Jess asked where they wanted to go next. 

[color=firebrick]"... Oh... right... Sorry to cut this short, but I think I should go back home. Uh... I have a paper that's due in two days and you know me, I haven't started on it at all yet,"[/color] he lied, looking up nervously at the mall ceiling. 

All of a sudden, he felt like crumbling apart. He was a pervert, a freak. He needed to get out of here. He needed to text Rachel and try to work things out between her. He needed to be normal, not this. Whatever this was, was not normal. 

He then made a run for it. Well, as fast as one could go in high heels and a long dress. He left the mall and sat at the bench of the bus stop. Once he sat down, he realized he hadn't even said goodbye to Jess. He put his face to his hands, feeling more frustrated with himself. How could he had abandoned her? This was her first outing as a girl and he just ran away? He really was the worst.