The Last Blue Rose// Reggie Mantle (1)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Although she had protested as much as she could, Veronica still managed to drag Caia along with her to pick out homecoming dresses. They had planned to get dresses and then head back to the Lodge apartment where Caia would spend the night.

"You know, I feel like we never really get time to hang, one on one," Veronica observed as they rifled through the mass array of many colored dresses.

Caia pulled a sleek blue dress from the rack and eyed it in the light before returning it to its place. "Yeah, I mean with Reggie and Betty and all, we never get time to be alone together," she agreed.

"Speaking of Reggie," Veronica began, turning towards Caia. "How are you holding up? I know you didn't end on the best of terms, so I've just been wondering." Caia found Veronica's genuine concern very sweet. She appreciated it very much and was glad Veronica hadn't used this trip as an opportunity to rope her into her plan.

She sighed and turned to Roni. "I don't know. There's a part of me that never wants to see him again, considering what he did. But there's another part of me that wishes so much that things could just go back to the way they were before," she explained. It was the truth, but she left out the part about all the times she had almost texted Reggie, begging to get back together.

"Well, that's normal," Veronica explained, beginning to look at the dresses again. "Back in New York, I had a fling with this guy that I thought I really liked. We weren't dating or anything, but it really hurt when I saw him with another girl. However, then I realized how much of a grade A jerk he was, and two months later we moved here." Suddenly, she squealed, causing Caia to almost jump out of her skin. She pulled a stunning peach a line dress with a ruffled skirt and lace flowers.

She held it up to Caia and squealed again. "Oh my god, this would look gorgeous on you!"

Even though Caia was sure she could pull it off or not, she tried the dress on. She stared in the mirror and couldn't believe what stared back at her. She looked good. For once in her life, Caia liked how a dress looked on her. Veronica, who stood beside her in a simple deep blue dress, apparently thought so too. "We look fabulous," she exclaimed, squeezing Caia's arm. "We're totally getting these."

Caia had smiled and agreed, but now as she took off the dress and glanced at the price tage, she wasn't so sure. There was no way she could afford this dress.

She sulked out of the dressing room to a waiting Veronica. Roni's bright smile disappeared as she noticed her friend's distraught expression. "What's wrong?" She questioned.

Caia averted Veronica's gaze. She felt embarassed, especially since Veronica could probably afford anything. "It's too expensive," she explained. "I don't have enough money."

Veronica's expression softened. She felt bad for the girl. In a second, she made a decision. "I'll buy it for you!" She offered.

Caia's eyes widened and she violently shook her head no. "I couldn't let you do that," she refuted.

Veronica waved off the air in a careless manner. "It's no problem at all." Caia knew it wasn't, but it still made her feel bad.

After much insisting from Veronica, the dress was boughten. They left the store with shopping bags in hand and entered a car, where the Lodge's personal driver chauffeured them back to the Pembrook.

As the night went on, Caia realized how much fun Veronica really was. She hadn't really gotten to know her that well and had only ever really seen the colder side of Veronica. However, the two girls seemed to be a lot alike as they gossiped and told stories and jokes the entire night.

They were doing each others' nails at about 11 o' clock when a knock sounded at the door. "Who could that be?" Veronica wondered out loud, setting down the nail polish brush. She stood up to answer the door and Caia followed close behind.