6. Dressed To Kill
1736 Words
: : : Sophie : : :
“Aa-ooooohhhh!!!”
I hear a long howl as I look out my bedroom window. The howl’s coming from the forest, but I can’t see anything ‘cause it’s already dark. It’s almost 10 PM now but Taylor is still in my room. We came back from the mall earlier empty handed, so she decided we should look through my mom’s wardrobe in case we might find something. Something for me to wear to Kieran’s party.
“Sophie, stop daydreaming, we still got a bunch of these to sort through!” Taylor whines as she drops another box of clothes on the floor.
Letting out a sigh, I turn around and walk lamely towards her. I see my mom’s old dresses being sorted into piles, so I sit down on the floor and follow her lead.
Back at the mall earlier, we actually found a bunch of pretty dresses I liked. One in particular was this purple chiffon dress with a sweetheart neckline and gorgeous side slit. I felt sooo pretty in that dress, but when we saw the price tag, I almost fainted. It was wayyy too expensive for me. I need to save up as much as I can for college. Not to mention, when my mom died, I was left with a mountain of hospital debt. So, the last thing I can do is spend three hundred dollars on a dress for a party.
“Okay, how about this one?” Taylor says as she pulls out a floral-pattern dress.
“Mmm, too old-looking,” I reply.
“This one?” She pulls out a short black dress.
“Too sexy,”
“This?” She pulls out a bright red midi dress.
“Too red,”
Taylor rolls her eyes as she throws the dresses to the reject pile. She goes back to sorting through the box and I do the same, except with much less vigor and excitement.
Okay, don’t get me wrong. It’s not that these dresses aren’t pretty or nice, but honestly, I don’t feel confident wearing any of my mom’s dresses. She was a beautiful lady, very stylish, and she had a great body. But me? I’m pretty flat chested and I don’t have curves, so I’m just gonna look like a kid playing dress up in her mom’s clothes.
Most girls get their curves after puberty. I was waiting for that to happen, but I’m almost eighteen and I’m still as flat as ever. Taylor, on the other hand, has a great body. Her curves look even more defined after she got her ability to transform. I guess transforming into our wolf form is like our second puberty, because I see that in guys too. After they get the ability to transform, they become more masculine, their features are more defined… kind of like Kieran.
Oh, geez, stop thinking about him!
I quickly shake my head to get the thought of him out of my head. It’s stupid, I know, but ever since our interaction in the library, I can’t stop thinking about him. Talking with him was surprisingly easy. He has such a gorgeous smile and such cute dimples. And his eyes… It's the most beautiful color I’ve ever seen.
“Hello? Earth to Sophie?” Taylor waves her hand in front of me and I quickly snap out of my daydream.
“You okay there?” Taylor studies me intently. “You seem really distracted,”
Letting out a sigh, I shove the dresses in front of me to the side.
“Hey, Tay, can I ask you something?”
“Of course,”
“What do you think will happen to me if I can’t transform?”
Taylor looks up from the dresses instantly.
“Girl, don’t say that kind of stuff!” she scolds. “Of course, you will transform!”
“But I’m a half-breed,”
“But you’re still a wolf!”
I look down and start playing with my thumbs. The chances of pure wolf breeds to be able to transform is around 99%. But the chances for half-breeds drops significantly lower, which is around 49% and that’s huge.
“What’s going on, Soph?” Taylor sighs as she scoots closer. “Where’s all this stress coming from?”
“You know, if I can transform, maybe my body will change? And I’ll finally have some curves so I can wear dresses like this,”
“Sophia Rose Morgan!” she scolds again. “You are beautiful with or without a transformation!”
“That’s easy for you to say,” I scoff. “Tay, you could transform two months before your birthday in January. And as soon as you did, you saw it yourself, your skin started glowing, your hair’s gotten thicker and healthier, and your nails—-”
“Okay, babe, stop. I know where you’re going and I’m not letting you go there,” she cuts me off sternly. “You are not gonna doubt yourself, okay? When the time comes, you will transform. It’s in your blood,”
“Yeah but when is that? My birthday is in June, that’s six weeks away and I still feel nothing,”
“Some people don’t get to transform until the day of their birthday. Or sometimes it’s even later,”
I know Taylor’s just trying to be positive, but I’m a realist. There’s a bigger chance that I won’t be able to transform, ever. In which case, I just have to accept the fact that my body will forever be as flat as an ironing board.
And I’ll probably be closer to the humans than my own race.
“Look, stop worrying about things we can’t control, okay?” Taylor snaps her fingers bossily. “Let’s worry about what we can control instead, which is choosing what dress to wear so Kieran de Angelo will faint when he sees you!”
I can’t help but laugh. The thought of Kieran de Angelo fainting because he sees me, now that’s pure comedy.
But of course, a small part of me, just a tiny, tiny, tiny part of me, wishes that can be true.
“Oh! I think we got it!” Taylor says suddenly, pulling out a black long dress from the pile. “How about this one?”
“Tay, I’m gonna look like a nun,”
“This one?” She pulls out some kind of latex bikini dress thing.
“Am I the Little Mermaid? This isn’t a pool party,” I grab the thing and throw it away.
“This one?” she winks playfully and pulls out a sheer lace short dress.
“Taylor! That’s my mom’s lingerie! Put that away!” I squeal and Taylor erupts in laughter.
Well, I’m glad my misery is amusing to one of us.
“Tay, this is hopeless,” I sigh in frustration and flop down, lying on my back atop the pile of clothes. “It’s late and I’m tired,”
“But we need to find something, the party’s this weekend!” she insists.
“It’s fine if I don’t have a dress, I’ll just wear jeans—”
“Jeans?!” She grabs me and rocks my body like I was just in a coma. “Soph, you are not wearing jeans to that party, as your best friend, I can’t let you commit that crime!”
As she’s shaking my body, Taylor then notices something. A box that’s tucked away in my closet.
“Oh! What’s that?” she moves past me to inspect the box. Inside, she pulls out a lace white dress with flowers all over.
“Dude! This is so pretty! Why are you hiding this?!” she demands.
“My mom got that for me before she passed. She said I should wear it to the prom or to graduation,” I shrug.
“Well, maybe you can wear it to the party? And we’ll find something else for prom!” she pushes the dress to me and I reluctantly take it.
“Umm… I don’t know, Tay,” I pull the dress up. It's kind of see-through in a lot of areas.
“What now?”
“I… just don’t think it’s gonna look good on me,”
“Have you even tried it on yet?” she glares at me as I shake my head.
“Just try it first then!” she orders bossily.
I know this dress isn’t gonna look good on me. The lace is see-through in some areas including the chest and the stomach. But since Taylor is persistent and it’s late, I might as well satisfy her demand.
“Fine,” I say as I stomp into the closet.
I’m not thinking much of anything at all as I put the dress on. But to my surprise, the dress fits really well. I zip it up and I notice the lace covers my body rather perfectly, and I’m a little stunned at what I see.
Wow… I look… kind of good…
“Soph?” Taylor calls as she steps inside. “How is it—Oh my gosh!”
Taylor’s eyes go wide as soon as she sees me. Her mouth falls open like she just hit the lottery.
“What do you think?” I ask. “It’s not that bad, I think?”
“Not that bad? Are you kidding me?!” she gapes.
Taylor can’t form a sentence. It’s not everyday that she’s speechless like this.
I stare at the mirror in front of me and I’m honestly shocked too. This isn’t something I normally wear so I don't know what to expect. But the color of the dress and the way it fits my body, it makes me feel pretty.
“Well, well, well,” She says as she shakes her head from side to side and smiles victoriously. “Kieran’s really gonna faint after he sees you now!”
My cheeks flare red at the mention of that.
“Oh, shut up!” I roll my eyes and turn around because I don’t want her to see that I’m blushing.
But yeah, I am blushing.
And yeah, I hope that he does faint.
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- - - - - To Be Continued - - - - -
- Writer
