Honey Lips | ✓

Chapter Six

The moment Ivy locked the store up, her phone was bombarded with messages from her best friend practically demanding her to get over to her house since she only had an hour before meeting Luke at the diner and she had to 'dazzle him blind' in Claire's words.

So she made quick work of locking up and getting on her light green bicycle she stored in the narrow alley next to the store. Lucky for her living in a small town meant her bike was safe without a lock yet her trust levels didn't allow her to store her bike there each day without the lock.

Summer still kissed the evening sky but she could feel the chill of autumn slowly creep in. It was only mid February and the leaves were still as lush and green as they could be, but fall always started to stalk closer in the middle of the month and one day summer collapsed into fall.

This particular evening was still nice enough to call comfortable. Ivy didn't need a light jacket to cover her bare arms but had she worn one, she wouldn't have felt the need to strip it because it was too hot. She weaved her bike through the streets as the sun said its last farewells from the horizon and let dusk take its course.

Five minutes later she slowed down as she saw the bright yellow house the Donnelly family inhabited. Claire wanted her house to stand out and her colour choice did just that. In the middle of stark white houses and stone cottages, the quaint little house with two bedrooms and a small garden stretching all around it, never failed to catch one's eye.

There was no need for the blonde girl to knock since the house was her second home but she formed her hand into a fist and did it anyway. Her knuckles barely brushed the rough wood of the door when it was yanked open and nails dug into her arm, dragging her inside. A half wave at Arthur and the little boy who was engrossed in his building blocks was all Ivy could manage before she was pulled into Claire's bedroom.

Her kidnapper let go of her to pick up the outfit laid out on the bed and throw it at Ivy,"You're lucky I've still got some of my older clothes from when I was skinnier."

"I would've been fine just going with what I've got on right now," Ivy rolled her eyes, she rarely made outfit changes during the day except for changing into her pajamas. She smiled in thanks and headed for the bathroom to pull on the floral dress.

Stereotypes often let people think that someone like her would only walk around with band t-shirts, messy hair and jeans but she was a girly girl. Or rather, she could pull off both being a girly girl and a tom boy, depending on her mood. Deep down she loved dressing up and her best friend knew that despite the times she pretended to be annoyed by getting all dolled up.

A few minutes later she stepped out with her old clothes tucked under her arm, ready to be scrutinized by Claire. The brunette's face brightened at the sight of her,"If I wasn't married, I'd want you."

Laughter bubbled in the back of her throat,"Thanks."

After that a ten minute argument occurred between the two. Ivy said that she was keeping her face make-up free like she had done all day, it wasn't a date so why should she dress like it was one? Claire on the other hand argued that if she really hadn't seen it as a date, she wouldn't have accepted the dress and just stayed in her old clothes. The blonde had no comeback for that and it was settled that she would put make-up on but in a way like she wasn't trying to overdo it.

Twenty minutes later Ivy left the Donnelly house and paddled back to the music store's direction, her destination being the diner. She had a few minutes to spare when she arrived but didn't have to put them to use when she saw that Luke was already there, he was at the back as far from prying eyes as he could get. His eyes darted around, not lingering too long on one thing reminding her of a puppy searching for its master.