Dark Intentions, #1 by Charlotte Byrd

Author:Charlotte Byrd [Byrd, Charlotte]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781632252760
Publisher: Byrd Books

19

Jacqueline

I'm still on the fence about whether or not I want to go to this party tonight. I have a simple cocktail dress, no gown, and no mask.

I looked at the Party City store, but everything looked pretty cheap and not particularly alluring, almost comical in design.

I should have ordered one online, but I had no plans of coming until recently. Still, Allison is right.

I do have a tendency to cancel on plans at the very last minute. It's like I just have this anxiety about going and I don't want to.

I always think that I will have a great time and plan on going, but when the time actually comes, I want to stay home.

It was like that the first time I went there.

It was like that the second, but going there with Allison tonight?

I don't know.

The doorbell rings and she looks stunning.

High heels, floor-length gown, hair in thick, flowing curls down her long neck.

Her makeup is flawless. Her face is contoured and the winged eyeliner around her eyes brings out their green color.

"You look amazing," I say, looking at my own sweats and my pasty complexion.

“You will look great, too. C’mon.” She grabs my hand and pulls me toward my bedroom. “It'll be like the good old days."

The ceilings of the room are abnormally low and waterlogged in parts from a recent flooding. But luckily, everything in the overstuffed closet wasn’t affected.

Allison looks through my clothes, pushing aside each item with great force before spotting the cocktail dress that I was thinking of wearing. "This will be perfect."

"Okay. What about the fact that everyone's going to be in gowns?"

"You can never go wrong with a short black dress. You know that."

"I'm going to be really underdressed."

"No, you're not. Besides, it’s better to be underdressed than overdressed. What if everyone there is wearing short dresses like yours and I’m dressed like Miss America?”

"Yeah. It would be really embarrassing to look like Miss America." I say, my voice steeped in sarcasm.

"Sit down.” She pushes me down to the floor, taking off her heels, and gets on her knees behind me.

This is the way that she would always do my hair and makeup back at Dartmouth. I was like her doll. I never liked to do it myself, and she loved to do mine.

On this occasion, just like before, she even came prepared with a little bag of her own tools, including the hairdryer and some of her favorite makeup brushes.

"Look, I don't know if I really want to go to this thing," I say, as she lines my eyes after applying foundation to my face.

"It's going to be fun.” She gestures for me to pucker my lips.

"Why can’t we just go to a regular club?"

"What is it that you don't like about this place?"

"I don't know. It's just stupid. I guess it's the expectation, you know? It's like everyone you meet, there's like a point to go into the back room. You can't just chat and get a number and that's it.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.