Page 44 of Shadows Within

“I have something in mind.” I grab my phone and pull up the picture of the dress I sent to Callum last night. I hold it out for her to see. She glances over for a second, paying attention to the road.

“Holy shit!” Her eyes pop and her brows lift.

“Is it too much?” I rummage through my bag on the ground and pull out my sour gummies. I eat them in my order of colours and offer a handful to Sophia.

“Honestly, it’s perfect. If it’s too much for the party, Callum can always just take you home.” She smirks, with a mouth full of gummies.

“Oh, trust me, I think he will anyways. We’ve spent almost every night together. He’ll come over at night or sometimes we meet on campus in this beautiful hidden spot. I forgot how nice it feels in the beginning when you like someone, and you just want to learn more about them.” Sophia and I haven’t talked about boys lately—I guess from the lack of action. That’s changed for me.

“Are you talking to anyone? You haven’t mentioned going on any dates recently.” Sophia is usually the opposite of me. She goes on dates regularly and keeps her options open.

“I’m not. Well, it’s complicated.”

I gasp. “Sophia!”

“What? I didn’t want to tell you... I’m still not telling you. It’s complicated and embarrassing.”

If she’s not ready to share, she must be really confused. Sophia tells me everything.

“Oh, now you have to tell me.” My eyes are glued on her. She doesn’t say anything as we pull into a parking spot on Main Street. We get out and meet in front of the car, close to the dress shop.

“Are you really not going to tell me?” I open the shop’s door for her.

“I don’t know what it is yet, like you and Callum but a bit messier.” She rolls her eyes.

“Oh God. I can’t wait to find out. Take all the time you need.” I pull her in for a side hug. She knows that I’m always here for her, just like I know she’s there for me. Sometimes that includes figuring things out on our own, even in complicated situations. I know the feeling, so I let her be.

The store’s dresses are colour coded. The walls are painted a soft yellow, and a bunch of frilly ball gowns hang near the front. As we walk over to the black dresses on the rack in the middle, a friendly, blonde middle-aged woman comes over to us.

“Can I help you ladies with anything?” The smile on her face tells me that she’s likely getting paid commission.

“I’m actually looking for this dress, or something like it.” I pull out my phone and show her the picture.

“What size?” She asks as she walks over to a different rack.

“Four?” I have no idea what size I am. I haven’t bought a dress in years, and the sizing is always different from jeans or pants.

“Hmm. Maybe an eight or ten?” She says as she looks me up and down.

I’m not offended. I spend a lot of time in the gym. I try not to take her comment personally and remember that she does this job every day.

“I’ll just try on both then.” I wait for her to grab them off the rack, but she doesn’t.

“We only carry one size of each, and I don’t have any left in those sizes. I’m sorry. How about another style, one that suits you a little more?” She plasters on her fake smile and eyes me up and down, like I don’t belong in this store.

“I’ll look around a bit, thank you.”God, I hate confrontation, but she was being a bitch.I’d rather raid Sophia’s closet and get out of here.

I find Sophia. She holds two dresses in one hand while browsing through a rack with the other.

“Let’s get out of here.”

She looks to me, confused. “But you didn’t even try anything on yet. Where’s your dress?”

“The sales lady is being weird, and I would rather borrow something of yours.”

She scans the store to find the sales lady. She rolls her eyes, places the two dresses in her hand back on the rack, and grabs my arm. We walk out.

Sophia looks to me as we head down Main Street.