the Best of Us and the Rest of Us

03

iii. luck

♙  

"Wait, are you actually wearing that?" Eden asked me as I ran her straightener over my hair, "I thought you were going to change." 

   I had been in Eden's dorm for the last couple of hours getting ready, along with her and her roommate Jessica. I was wearing my converse, black jeans, and a semi oversized t-shirt. But neither Jess nor Eden seemed impressed by my look.

"What are you trying to say?" I asked, looking at her through the mirror.

  "I mean, the jeans are cute, but the shirt?" Eden grimaced, "Have you ever been to a party before, K?"

  "Wow, I'm taking serious offense to that." I joked, "You are really hurting my feelings."

  "What's she's trying to say is you look like it's wash day, and that's your last clean t-shirt." Jessica piped in, barely looking up from her phone.

  "Okay, that was a little harsh, Jess." Eden replied, "It's definitely street style cute, just not the first party of the year cute."

  "I was going for comfortable more than anything," I rolled my eyes. I wouldn't say I disliked parties; it was the fact that I was only going to know two people there that made me uneasy. But I guess it was better than playing twenty questions with my roommate all night.

"You can still be comfortable and also be very cute, a very cute moose, make all the boy moose go WAHH." Eden quoted, making the three of us laugh, apparently, Princess Diaries was a crowd favorite, "Borrow a shirt of mine. I'm sure something will fit you."

  I subconsciously sized up Eden, trying to figure out whether she was saying I'd be too big or too small for her clothing, before making my way over to the closet. I don't know what I had expected when I opened it, but Eden had a lot of clothes. And on top of that, there didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to her organizational strategy.

  "Eden, how do you know where anything is in here?" I said, filing through a couple of items, trying to figure out what each one was.

  "I don't know; whatever I'm looking for always seems to present itself. It's a gift, really." She laughed, "When you're done, come take a shot."

  I pulled a couple of tops out of the collection, holding them up against my chest to try and figure out if they'll meet the criteria. I settle on a long-sleeved, white crop. It has a high neckline, but the back is cut out with a tie to hold it on. Cute. I stand behind the open cupboard door, stripping from my t-shirt and bra, changing into the crop. The ribbed fabric is stretchy and soft against my skin. Comfy.

  "Okay," I closed the cupboard, walking toward the girls, "Are we all happy now?"

  "Holy shit, K," Eden gasped, "You're so skinny!"

  "Uh, thanks." I tucked my hair behind my ear, taking the bottle of vodka from Jess, "Comfy and cute, right?" I looked at myself in the mirror, tugging a little bit on the white material.

  Don't overthink it, Kennedy.

  I unscrewed the bottle cap to take a sip. The alcohol smell hit me in the face as I took a swig of the clear liquid, feeling burn down the back of my throat. My face tingling for a second afterward. 

  "Jesus, Edes," I curse, taking a look at the bottle label, "What the fuck is this? It tastes awful."

  "That's because it's cheap," She laughed as I took another drink from the bottle, "But you clearly aren't complaining."