Anesthesia

[38]

Agnes' dress

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Agnes tucked the hem of her short dress uncomfortably as she stood backstage, the applause ringing in her ears. Her heart was pumping in her throat and sweat beaded her forehead. Her fingers fumbled with the soft fabric of her skirt. She did anything but stay calm.

She already felt unconfortable in the dress she was told to wear. The ribbon around her waist was too tight and blue shoes were wrapped around her feet. The ribbon around came in contact with the throbbing bruise and she winced loudly, her hand grasping the silver bar near her, turning her knuckles pale.

"Hey." She turned around at the sight of Buzz, panting violently.

"What the hell took you so long?!" She whispered-yelled, her grasp around the bar tightening painfully.

"Sorry." He raised his hands and mumbled, grinning at her expression which made her even mad. He looked at her from had to toe and froze. "You look beautiful." He added truthfully, which made her blush slightly as she looked over at the performer.

"Should I do this?" She found herself asking in a small whisper, licking her lips nervously and tasting a bit of cherry flavor of her lipstick smeared on her taste buds.

"That's what you want, right?" Buzz sauntered towards her and eyed her softly. "You should probably go and show them what you've got. Maybe your mom never liked it because she've never seen it."

"Yeah but she's never gonna approve of that anyway so what's the point?" She murmured, a bitter sarcasm lingering on her lips but she bit it back. "Besides, what about this?" She looked down and nodded towards her bruised ankle. "It hurts. I can barely stand and walk with this, let alone dancing on my toes."

"Maybe it hurts because you pay too much attention on it." Buzz murmured softly. When she licked her lips and closed her eyes tightly, he added. "You know what I was thinking when I first saw you?" She looked up at him. "I thought you were a struggler and had your own flaws which made me realize that you were, in some ways, just like me. We both have flaws. So sometimes when I thought about you, I realized I was never alone."

"We both have flaws, Agnes. But the difference is that I never either tried to hide them. But you were different. Your flaws were visible but you never embraced them. You just were really desperate to get rid of them. And now, when you're almost there to the fulfillment of your dreams, you're backing away not because of your bruise, but because of what you believe about your bruise. Who knows how it might turn out? I mean, you don't really want to win. You just wanna participate."

"Yeah but-" She bit her lip and sighed. "You don't understand-"

"I do understand. I just don't agree with you." He snapped. "Agnes... I think that you're the most beautiful person I've ever met. You're funny. Sarcastic. Kinda annoying." She chuckled. "But you're amazing. You are flawless with flaws. That's why I like you."

Her eyes turned wide at this statement and she looked up at him. With the attention of amusement, she raised an eyebrow at him and a smirk was plastered on his lips and said, "Did you just say-"

"You heard me." He wasn't joking. She could see truth twinkling in his eyes and her smirk faded. Suddenly, he leaned over and planted his lips on Agnes' forehead before pressing his forehead against hers. "I know you can do this."

"What makes you so sure?" She whispered.

"Because I believe in you."