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Chapter 14: Shots Fired

"How about this one?" Penny asks, pulling the first dress from her closet. She's wearing a teal, short, tight dress with a long matching, flowing overlay attached with a jeweled belt. Her long, brown hair that usually looks so thin and messy is loosely curled, and she's planning on wrapping it up into some sort of fancy bun thing. She says she wants to look important because the party's for her.

I stare at the dress she's taken out for me. It's bright red and...small. I shake my head.

"I can't pull that off." Penny tosses the dress on the bed and pulls out another.

"This one," she announces. From the front, it's a simple black dress with a short, flared skirt. But when Penny turns it around, the back is made up of criss-crossing straps. I gasp.

"It's perfect!" Penny hands me the dress and turns so I can put it on. I have a bit of trouble with the straps, but it works.

"You look so cute!" Penny says, beaming. I smile shyly.

"Thanks."

"Here, let's go do your hair and makeup!" Penny pulls me into the bathroom and sits me down on a stool. I watch in the mirror as she takes a section of hair from the left side of my head and braids it, adding in sections. She pins it at the nape of my neck, sweeping the rest of my hair to the right side of my head. She takes out a curling iron and curls it, then runs a brush through the curls, loosening them. This is the prettiest my hair has ever looked.

"Ready for makeup?" Penny asks. I nod. I turn on the stool and Penny kneels and unzips the makeup bag I handed her earlier. She lines my eyes, flicking out the ends. My brown eyes glow instead of staying dull as usual. She adds bright, red lipstick that scares me at first, but after she's done, I love it.

"Thank you," I say, admiring myself in the mirror.

"No problem!" Penny exclaims. She starts on her own makeup, using light browns and pinks--much lighter and more natural-looking than what she used on me. Then, piece by piece, she pins her hair up into a messy bun-type thing.

"Are you ready yet?" Nate yells impatiently from downstairs.

"Oh, you shut up! We're almost done!" Penny shouts back. She pulls me out of the bathroom and back into her room. She starts digging through her closet, then tosses me a pair of black pumps with red bottoms.

"Put these on!" She demands. I obey, shoving my feet into the shoes, teetering in the five inch heels on the carpet. Penny pulls on silver strappy heels, and I follow her down the stairs.

The boys are waiting by the door in their collared shirts and nice pants. Everyone else will no doubt be more casual, but Nate is one of the most important people at that party, and Edge is probably dressed up for moral support. He let me lightly cover his bruises with makeup at home, so Nate wouldn't see.

"'Kay, let's go," Penny says, blowing past Nate and opening the door. Nate walks out after her, as I almost fall down the last three stair steps before Edge catches me.

"Smooth," he smirks. I roll my eyes as Edge helps me down.

"Shut up."

"Are you gonna be able to walk?"

"Probably not."

"Then why are you wearing those?"

"Penny threw them at me."

"That seems valid." Edge closes the door behind us, and we walk fast to catch up with Penny and Nate.

We walk to the bus stop.

"We wait here for someone to pick us up," Edge explains.

"Where exactly are we going?"

"The old Capitol building."