August 18

8:23 am | Breakfast At The Diner | 250 £

Katrina woke up later than she had anticipated. She had planed on going out for her shopping day an hour or two earlier than it was. The sun was already pounding down on the everything it could by the time Katrina was dressed and walking down the streets of London. She was wearing the same grey t-shirt, grey sneakers, black leggings, and necklace that she had worn for the last two years. It was pretty much her only casual outfit. Today was the day she was going to change that.

First, she needed food. Katrina made a promise to herself in the beginning of the summer that she was going to eat more. Since she was exercising more, she was going to eat more. It was the only way that she was going so stay healthy. Yesterday, however, she had not done that and had lived through the consequences. Breakfast was the first thing on her to-do list.

Katrina pushed open the door of a nearby diner and took a seat at a table. She had a surprising amount of money in her wallet. From money she got from art to money from jobs to exchanging magical currency to the local one she had somehow scrounged up 250£. However, by the end of the day, Katrina expected she would have close to zero.

The girl ordered breakfast to eat there and another meal to-go. She enjoyed every last bite of the breakfast. The meal sparked energy that Katrina funneled into motivation, she was going to go buy stuff.

9:15 am | New Shoes and New Resolutions | 235 £

Katrina decided to start off with the most expensive item on her list of things to buy. Shoes. Why did shoes always have to be so expensive? Katrina swung open the door to the store face scrunching up at the scent of rubber and plastic. She needed cheap shoes. The cheaper they were, the more she would have to spend on other clothes.

Katrina sat in the store for quite a while, trying on shoes and seeing which ones fit. Katrina couldn't believe how amazing putting her feet into shoes that were comfortable and that fit and also looked good. She was drawn to the colors that were closer to teal, reminding her of her hair.

Eventually, she found the one. It was a pair of black tennis shoes with a stripe of teal down the side. The laces perfectly matched her hair too. Sure, they didn't have all of the fancy cushioned pads on the bottom, but she could actually afford the shoes. And honestly, that was all that mattered.

Katrina left the store with her new shoes and put them on. Her old, damaged, grey shoes went directly into a dumpster in the alley. She had shoes that fit and looked good and would dramatically help her jogging. Now onto her next time on her list.

10:43 am | Expanding A Wardrobe | 181 £

Clothes. She desperately needed them. Katrina had not anywhere near enough clothes in her trunk. Since she had lost everything in the fire, she had also lost her whole wardrobe of normal clothes. It was time she finally went and fixed that. It took a while to find a store that she was familiar enough with and had clothes that she actually liked.

First, shirts. It took a while to find her size, she had grown quite a bit since she had been shopping. Eventually, Katrina found a few that looked good and fit her. A teal shirt, a couple of more fancy shirts, and a long sleeved one too. Then pants, Katrina was quick to find her size and bought a few leggings and jeans of different kinds. She also bought a new sweater and a jacket (that was on sale). She was able to find things that were in her price range and only ended up spending 80£ on all of her purchases.

As Katrina walked out of the store with a heavy bag on one arm, she felt relieved. She would be able to wear things for several days and have a bunch more outfits to choose from. A bit of confidence comes from wearing things you like.

12:52 am | Of Picnics and Ponds | 100 £

Katrina found a quieter park and sat herself down on a bench overlooking a small pond. She sat her bag of clothes to one side and took out the sandwich she had purchased from the diner this morning. It was slightly smooshed, after being crammed under the clothes, but it still tasted fantastic.

Her mind slowed down as she was able to relax overlooking the pond. It was odd that no one really noticed the fact that she had been shopping alone. They must have assumed her parents were just outside or would be there to pick her up. She was actually getting old enough to pass as a teenager, well, she kind of was, wasn't she. She had turned thirteen a few days ago after all.

Katrina finished her lunch pretty fast and looked down to the list written in pen on the back of her hand. Next up, journals.

2:31 pm | Keepers of Memories | 100 £

Katrina had only recently started journaling. Her brother had always been the writer and she had always been the artist. However, she found that by journaling, she was able to deal with things better and so that became her coping mechanism. However, Katrina filled up her last journal and needed a new one.

Katrina swung open the door to the bookstore, appreciating the scent of books for a moment. She ran her fingers down the spines of the shelf just enjoying the familiarity of being in a safe place.

Eventually, Katrina wandered around to the place that held journals and sketchbooks. She still hadn't decided exactly how many she wanted to buy. A few of each, or perhaps one of each that was a fancy or expensive type. She wasted away a while with mental pro-con lists until she came to the decision of buying one of each that was fancy. Two leather covered books, one with lines, one without.

However, Katrina got distracted in the clearance section on the way out. So many books she hadn't read. New authors, unique story plots, more worlds to explore, new people to meet. Katrina bashfully exited the store with a bag heavy with books. She had spent quite a bit more than she had originally planned, but it was so worth it.

3:01 pm | A Kat and Her | 81 £

Boomerang was one of the best things that had ever happened to Katrina. Her feline companion always had a way to make her smile and knew exactly what to do. It wasn't often that Katrina truly appreciated everything that her familiar did for her. As Katrina walked down the street with two heavy bags of stuff, she spotted a pet shop. It was going to all be downhill from here.

There was so much pet stuff, half of which, she hadn't even heard of. Katrina grabbed a couple small bags of kitty treats and a handful of the toy mice Boomerang loved. He usually ate a small bit of dry food each day since he was always getting treats from other students and catching mice and birds outside. But she wanted to pamper him.

Katrina grabbed a bag of the slightly fancy kibble and one of the fishing pole toys and refused to buy anything else. She gulped when the cashier rang out the total. She was down to only a fifth of what she had started with. But it was all for a good cause, right?

4:57 pm | Caring for Others | 63 £

Katrina now had three heavy bags on her arms. They were so heavy, in fact, that she kept having to shift them so they would stop cutting off her blood circulation and making her arms tingly. But she wasn't quite done yet. She still wanted to buy some presents for people and probably some snacks for later.

Gifts. Katrina loved giving people gifts. If she had more money, it would definitely be considered a bad habit. But thankfully, she didn't really have enough money to do that all the time. Today, she was going to buy five presents. Then she would send them out tonight as a summer gift thing. The people were: Bridget, River, Piérre, Adonis, and Thora.

First was Bridget, Katrina honestly had no clue what to get her. Sure, they were really close friends, but they hadn't really had the normal 'what kind of things do you like' conversation. Katrina had given her a 'friendship starter kit' back in December, but she didn't really know if Bridget had liked it or if there were any parts of it that she liked best. Katrina wandered the street for a while before deciding to go into the bookstore again. Katrina quickly spotted one of her all time favorite books, she grabbed it, paid for it and put it in a new bag. That would do.

Then there was River. They also hadn't really talked about what they liked to do. Katrina knew she had an owl and wasn't a big fan of athletic sports. Katrina ended up in an arts and crafts store. Honestly, she had no clue if her random idea would be something that River would like, but it was worth a shot. Macrame that was her idea. Katrina found a little kit on how to do it and bought that and an extra spool of the beige yarn. Who knows, maybe River would like it?

Then there was Piérre. Katrina was starting to get a feeling that she really didn't know people that well. Again she came to a loss at what to give him. Maybe some sort of prank thing? She knew that he liked the Elephant's Toothpaste Experiment and also had a very excited personality. Perhaps some sort of science kit? Katrina was still in the arts and crafts store, but came across a cool science kit. It was a growing colored crystals thing, the experiment was one that she had done before a bunch, but if he hadn't done it, it would be a pretty cool thing.

Next on her list was Adonis. She did have an idea on what she was going to get him, though. Near Pierre's gift was a cheap telescope. Perfect. Katrina remembered his fascination when she had shown him Saturn in the telescope back in the beginning of the summer. Sure, they had talked a lot (she had spent the last two weeks with him) but that was the first time she had real feelings fun with him. She purchased those two items and put them in her bag.

Only one gift left. She needed to buy something for Thora. Katrina had been really trying recently to make amends. What better way to do so then to buy a gift for her. Katrina wandered down the street again, unsure (for what felt like the billionth time) what to get her. Katrina ended up buying Thora a really nice quill and ink pot. It would seem like a weird gift to her, but it was something that Thora would be able to use and something that Katrina dearly hoped she would like.

That was it. She had bought gifts for everyone she really wanted to give gifts to. A glow of warmth filled Katrina when she looked down at the bag full of gifts. Later she would write up letters for each of them and send them out.

5:21 pm | Three Solid Meals | 23 £

It was odd how draining shopping was. Katrina's feet were sore and back ached and arms were stiff from carrying all of the weight of the bags. It was dinner time, but Katrina really wasn't hungry. She still had 23£ in her wallet, but she was unsure if she really wanted to use the last of her money.

Then, she caught the scent of a fast food place. It was delicious. You know that time in your life when you smell something that just smells so good but you know that it's not good for you at all but you can't help yourself. That was exactly what Katrina felt as she was drawn to the scent of butter and fried things. Katrina bought herself a burger and fries and a bubbly drink and sat herself down at a table placed outside.

Her bags were under the table and the food was on top. The meal was just as she expected it to be. Delicious. She scarfed it down too fast and felt her stomach complain. But it was so good. Katrina only had a bit of money left in her wallet, but really didn't want to head back with so little.

Over her dinner, she thought about the day and replayed it in her head. It was pretty successful. She had gotten new shoes, which would drastically help her running and keep herself from twisting her ankle again. She also bought a bunch more clothes that she had been needing for a while. It had gotten to the point where Katrina had three outfits that she wore on a daily basis, that is not normal for anyone to do. Then she had bought some books, the journal, and the sketchbook. Those would be put to good use. Those were the kinds of things that Katrina really enjoyed, it was a long time coming that she got something fun for herself. Then there was the kitty toys that Boomerang would love when she got back to her room and gave them to him. Finally, the gifts for everyone. She really hoped that they would appreciate them, it wasn't like she really knew exactly what they would want, but the gifts would be nice just as gifts.

Now, she was going to waste away the last of her money.

7:23 pm | What Else? | 17 £

Katrina couldn't help it. The last 17 £ was burning a hole in her wallet. She wanted to do something with the last of her money. Katrina went store to store, finding plenty of things she had absolutely no use for. Then she decided, why not treat herself. It had been a long day and the sun was hiding behind the buildings now.

Candy. That is what the last of her money was spent on. It was surprising the amount she was able to purchase. Gummies and hard candies, some gum, plenty of chocolate, a box of those cookies and cream cookies, some chewy caramel, some peanut butter treats, and a bag of assorted candies.

As Katrina left the candy store, she was grinning. She had gotten everything she had planned on getting and more. It was time to head back to the room and sort through everything, put it away, and mail out those letters with the gifts. It had been a well worked day and Katrina was exhusted.

Tomorrow she would be heading out to Bridget's house to sped the rest of her summer there. She was really looking forward to it. Perhaps, she could even share some of the candy with Bridget. She did have more than she could ever eat by herself after all.