DIANA
"Hey, how does this look?"
I absentmindedly turned to look at Lexi, who stood staring at her reflection skeptically. She wore a white lace dress that went down to her mid-thigh and bore no sleeves. The front was simple and modest, sporting a neckline that went up to her collarbones, making the sight of cleavage impossible. The only thing that redeemed the dress from appearing too boring was the sexy triangle cut in the back that showed off her back, as well as the way it molded to Lexi's body perfectly. Overall it gave off a nice classy, but sexy look; and it was so Lexi.
"Perfect," I finally replied, and her green eyes locked with mine. I could tell by the way they glittered that she'd been thinking the same thing.
"Alright then, looks like I've got myself a homecoming dress," she said, and her smile transformed into an excited grin.
I smiled back in response, and she went back into her dressing room to change back into her clothes. When she came out again, she had her hands on her hips and there was a mischievous twinkle in her eye. I narrowed my own, knowing what that could only mean.
"Your turn," she then said and I groaned in response.
"Lexiii—" I started to argue but she shushed me with a look.
"We're getting a dress for you and that's final," she replied crisply, and I knew there was no changing her mind.
Sighing, I mumbled, "But he hasn't even asked me to homecoming yet..."
Abruptly, she stopped, and I only barely stopped myself from bumping into her back. She turned around then, and her eyes were wide as she repeated disbelievingly, "Luke hasn't asked you to homecoming yet?"
I shrugged. "The topic just never came up."
"But homecoming's in two weeks!" she continued disbelievingly.
Again, I shrugged. "I've never really cared much for homecoming anyway."
"You do know that your boyfriend's on the football team though, right? Have you ever even been to any of the games?"
I blushed guiltily, not answering. I did know that Luke was on the football team, but what with the whole Aiden situation going on I didn't really have much time to think about whether or not Luke was playing well on the field. Besides, the whole cheerleading thing wasn't really my forte. I didn't even really like football!
I noticed Lexi smirk before replying, "We're going to have to change that—starting this week."
I wanted to argue with that but I knew Lexi was right. I was going to have to start being more attentive to Luke if I wanted us to really work out, and if that meant going to his football games and being his cheerleader then so be it...
"You know we're not officially a couple yet," I said then, referring back to when she'd called Luke my boyfriend.
She rolled her eyes. "Semantics. You two pretty much have been since the moment you both laid eyes on each other."
Even though I scoffed, I couldn't help blushing yet again. It was weird, to think I was so close to having a boyfriend. This was unfamiliar territory to me, and I still had no idea how to deal with all of this. How pathetic was that?
"Alright, let's find that dress, shall we?" Lexi's voice rose perkily in total excitement. Already, I could tell by the look in her eyes that the only thing she was thinking about now was the loads of dresses she was going to have me try on.
Oh, great.
With that, she grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the dress racks and I wondered yet again whether or not it was a good idea to have agreed to letting her do this to me.
"Lexi," I said slowly, giving her a glare.
Her lips were pursed as she attempted to hold in a laugh. Her eyes lit up in amusement.
"Don't. You. Dare—"
Suddenly, she burst into laughter so hysterical, I was pretty sure everyone in the dress shop thought she was psycho. Looking around at the surrounding people, I saw a lot of worried faces and some dirty looks from the more prudish people in the shop. I fought the urge to stick my tongue out at them. I looked back at my best friend who was now hunched over on the ground, still laughing.
"You think it's funny that I look like a friggin' Christmas tree?" I fumed, and this only made her laugh harder.
It really was no understatement. Everything from the triangular shape of the dress to the dull evergreen color resembled a Christmas tree, and there was absolutely nothing flattering about it whatsoever. I honestly had no idea how Lexi, the fashionista she was, somehow managed to make such a horrible choice in clothing—unless she did it on purpose. Actually, there was no way in hell she would ever even pull out this dress unless it was to purposely make me look like a laughing stock.
Attempting to keep my composure I resumed my glare on her. However, I knew it was pointless; there was no stopping her now. Finally I gave in, and my lips started to quiver as I tried to hold in my laughter as well. It was no use, though, and before long I was right beside her on the ground.
It felt like ages before we finally stopped our laughter and turned our gaze toward each other, eyes teary and faces red. We both sported huge, goofy grins, and I was sure that we looked like complete idiots.
"God, it's been a while since we've done that, hasn't it?" she asked then.
My grin widened. "It has. I missed that."
A sudden strange look passed over Lexi's face that I couldn't quite comprehend. However, in the next moment it was gone and she got up. Perplexed, my brows furrowed as I tried to figure out what that meant, before I finally decided to let it go and stood up as well.
"You should get changed out of that," she said then, smirking, all hints of her expression before gone.
Giving her a dry look, I stuck my tongue out at her before taking her advice. Once free of the god-awful dress, I made my way out and spotted her facing the dress racks once again. She was sorting through all the different dresses hanging there, and once I joined her, she turned to face me.
"Here, try this."
Hesitantly, I took the dress from her. From what I could tell it seemed pretty decent, but I learned just moments ago that looks could be deceiving. After all, I'd thought the dress Lexi had pulled out earlier wasn't too bad either and look how wrong I turned out to be.
Noticing my reluctance, she said exasperatedly, "Just trust me."
I gave her a look before saying, "You know I actually think that's a lot to ask for, considering I'd trusted you last time, too, and that ended up being a big mistake."
She rolled her eyes but smiled. Giving me a little shove, she replied, "Oh don't be so over-dramatic! This time I really do think this will look perfect on you. Just give it a try, at least!"
My eyes narrowed in suspicion but finally I gave in and started walking towards the dressing room, Lexi following after me. Over my shoulder I called out, "Just so you know, if this dress ends up looking just as terrible as the last one, I'm going to kill you."
Her laughter followed, and she replied in mock-seriousness, "Noted."
I shoved myself into a dressing room then and started to take my clothes off when Lexi's voice floated through the door.
"So what's been going on with you lately?"
Although it was an innocent question, I could still hear a hint of accusation in it.
Confused as to what she was implying as well as where all of this was coming from, I asked, "What do you mean?"
There was a pause before she responded, "I mean you've been acting kind of strange lately."
I froze, now completely confused. "I have?"
There was an exasperated sigh from the other side of the door, and then she said, "Yeah, you have. You know, I would have to be a terrible best friend not to notice when something's going on with you."
I cringed guiltily. The thing was, she was right about there being something going on with me. I'd never told Lexi about everything going on with Aiden, and I had been so preoccupied with everything that even though I'd told myself I would tell her eventually, I never did. I never even thought about how this might be affecting her, even if unintentionally.
God, I was a terrible best friend.
Slowly, I opened the door and looked at her. She stood there and looked back at me fixedly, the look in her eyes accusing and a bit hurt. Okay, I deserved that.
"I'm sorry Lexi," I began reluctantly. "You're right about there being something going on with me. There's actually been something going on for a while now..."
"And you never told me 'til now?" she asked disbelievingly.
I shrugged guiltily. "I'm really sorry—I've just been so busy trying to deal with this that it just never occurred to me. I always said I'd tell you when the time was right, but I guess the longer I waited to tell you the more I let my nerves get to me..."
"So what is it, then?" she asked.
Looking around, I was glad to see that the dressing room appeared to be empty. Grabbing onto her arm I pulled her into the dressing room, and before she could ask what I was doing, I explained,
"I would rather talk to you when I'm not half naked and out in the open."
As soon as I closed and locked the door behind us I turned back to Lexi. She was waiting there with her arms crossed, staring at me expectantly.
Taking a deep breath, I said, "Whatever I'm about to tell you next, you have to promise you won't tell anyone—and that especially means Luke."
She raised an eyebrow. "You don't think I'd actually go and do that, do you?"
I sighed and shook my head. "No, of course I don't. But I just want you to understand just how serious this is."
Her eyes searched my own for a while before she finally responded slowly, "Okay, I understand. Now what is it?"
Dreading what her reaction was going to be after I finally let out the big secret, I closed my eyes before I finally answered,
"Aiden Vaughan is living with me."
A second passed by. Then five. Twenty seconds later, and still there was no response from Lexi. Wondering what the hell she was doing, I finally opened my eyes and saw her staring at me with an expression that was a mixture of disbelief, confusion, and lastly—horror.
"You've got to be shitting me," she nearly squealed. "You have to be lying!"
"I'm not!" I exclaimed emphatically, before covering my eyes with my hand. "I really wish I was though..."
"But—how? Since when?" she exclaimed, still seemingly not grasping the idea.
I sighed. "Since a couple of weeks ago," I answered. "His house burned down, and—"
"Woah woah woah, wait what do you mean his house burned down?" Her eyes looked like they couldn't get anymore wide.
Apparently the big news hadn't gotten around.
I hesitated before I responded more quietly, "I guess he's been trying to keep it on the down low; there have been other things happening as well that have put his life in danger—"
I had to stop before I finally continued in a small voice, "Which is why I offered for him to stay at my house."
By this point, her jaw had almost come completely unhinged. Apparently this bit of information was more unbelievable than anything else I had said.
"This all has to be a dream," she said, and it sounded more like she was talking to herself than anything. "It's all a dream, because there's no way in hell any of this could actually happen in reality."
Rolling my eyes, I grabbed her face with both of my hands and forced her to look at me. "Lexi, stop it. You know very well that this isn't a dream, and you better believe everything I told you, because it's all real."
Finally, I saw her eyes begin to clear a little and become a little less dazed-looking, which I took as a good sign. "You really mean it?" she then asked softly. "Aiden Vaughan is seriously staying at your house?"
I nodded my head gravely.
Her eyes searched my own for a long moment before she finally said, "You have got to be the luckiest girl on the planet."
Rolling my eyes, I sighed and let go of her face before stepping back. Now that was the Lexi I was used to. "I tell you that one of my worst enemies' house burned down and now he's staying with me, and all you have to say is that I'm the luckiest girl on the planet? Don't you think that's just a tad bit messed up?"
She gave me an exasperated look before exclaiming, "You're forgetting that he's your smoking-hot worst enemy! Besides, you guys must not hate each other as much as you say if you're having him stay at your house—for crying out loud."
I pressed my lips together; she did have a point about that.
"In all seriousness though, I really do feel bad for the guy; I would never have known his house burned down. I could only imagine how devastating that would be."
I nodded somberly, these were all thoughts I'd been thinking not too long ago. "Well," I said, "I can tell you that he was definitely a mess right after. He seems to be okay now, though. At least, I would hope."
She nodded, too, and knowing the topic was over, silence followed. Observing her, she appeared to be fine. However, I knew better than to believe that that was really the case. "Whatever you have to say, may as well say it now," I said then, and mentally braced myself for whatever onslaught was about to occur.
"I can't believe you waited this long to tell me."
She blurted this almost instantly, and I felt the guilt start to weigh me down at the anger, but also hurt that was in her voice.
"I know, and I'm so sorry—"
"We're supposed to be best friends, Diana. I've stuck with you throughout all the bad times, no matter how hard it got. You should've known that I would never judge you for any of your choices; best friends don't keep secrets from each other."
I grimaced, feeling like shit. "I promise it won't ever happen again," I said softly. "Please forgive me?"
Lexi closed her eyes and blew out a breath. Once she opened them, all the anger disappeared and was replaced with a soft look. "Done. But I'm holding you to your promise."
Looking me in the eye, she stated solemnly, "And whatever happens, we're in this together, alright?"
A corner of her mouth lifted into a smile and I found myself smiling back.
"Alright."
At that, all of the tension in the atmosphere dissipated completely, and it felt like an entire load had been lifted off of my shoulders. I honestly couldn't figure out a reason why I hadn't told Lexi before. All of my worries had been so trivial; she was my best friend, of course she would accept me no matter what I did. In fact, she was more than that—she was my sister. I'd forgotten what that truly meant. I hadn't realized until now that not everyone has the connection that we had, and I took that for granted. Lexi was really one of the few good things about my life, she was the only thing that kept me going when times were at their worst and I thought I couldn't handle life anymore. She was the only person who had been by my side through all of the bullying, the constant taunting, and the torture I'd endured through all the years. She was the only person I could really, truly trust in the end. Never again would I forget that.
"So can I try putting this dress on now?" I asked then in mock exasperation, "I've been in my underwear this whole time and it's getting slightly uncomfortable."
Flicking her eyes down to my half-naked body, she finally became aware of my semi-nudity. She snorted before looking back at me.
"I don't know, I kind of like you better this way..." she said playfully, wagging her eyebrows.
My jaw dropped at her insinuation. "LEXI, SHUT UP AND GET OUT OF HERE!"
Cackling, she opened the door and made her way out. Shaking my head all the while, I slammed it shut behind her and picked up the dress she'd chosen for me, holding it to myself. However, my mind wasn't in the action. All I could really think about was the conversation we'd just had. Just like that, I had one less person I had to keep my secret from.
The corners of my mouth lifted into a small smile. Maybe—just maybe—everything really would be alright. A sudden dark thought flew by, however and my smile faltered.
Now there was just one more person for me to come clean to.