GODS AND MONSTERS ↝ P. LAHOTE

[31]

"Alright, alright, full permission to tell me if this dress makes me look stupid." Leonora called from inside the dressing room, pulling aside the curtain and stepping outside to where Lark and Alicia waited. "How do I look?"

Leo wore a navy blue dress that went down to her knees with a v-shaped neckline. It hugged her body closely, showing off her figure while still looking effortless. 

"I think you look awesome," Lark assured her, studying the dress. "You look hot."

"Yeah," Alicia added with a smirk, "Jared will never know what hit him."

"Oh, shut up," Leo fought the smile that threatened to form as she turned to the mirror behind her, studying herself in it and no doubt picturing herself dancing with Jared at the reception for Sam and Emily's wedding that next weekend. "It's not too tight? Too revealing?"

"Not at all," Lark said. "It's perfect."

"Cool," Leo breathed with a smile before turning back to her friends. "Alright Lark, it's your turn. Let's see what you've got." she said, lifting up the two dresses Lark had draped over a chair in the viewing area and pushing her best friend back into the now-empty dressing room.

"Okay, okay, I'm going," Lark chuckled as Leo pulled the curtain shut behind her, separating Lark from the two friends on the other side, and she hung the dresses up on the hook, first changing into the long-sleeved purple one.

Lark looked herself over in the mirror in the dress, tensing a little at how stiff the fabric felt against her skin, and with a sigh, instead began to wriggle back out of the dress, trying her best not to rip it in her efforts.

"How's it going?" Alicia's voice rang from the other side of the curtain.

"Definitely not this one," Lark called back, instead reaching for the black skater dress with gold designs woven inside it.

Instantly, Lark felt much more comfortable in the second dress than she had in the first, which she took to be a good sign. She could definitely breathe much easier in this one, anyways. She pulled the curtain aside with a smile, revealing Leo and Alicia still waiting outside.

"What do we think?" she asked, leaning against the doorframe of the fitting room.

"That's the one," Alicia said adamantly. "You look amazing!"

"You do," Leo agreed as Lark stood next to her, admiring both their dresses in the mirror. "Alright, Alli, your turn."

"Here I go," Alicia said, disappearing into the fitting room, and Leo reached into her purse, pulling out her phone as it began to vibrate.

"It's Jared," she said, flipping it open to read the text message before typing back frantically on the small keyboard. "He said they're about done and are wondering where we want to meet. I guess the smell's beginning to give them a headache, though I told him it probably won't be much better back home."

With the number of vampires beginning to pass through the Forks and Port Angeles areas to come bear witness for the Cullens, the members of the Pack were wary about letting the girls wander off on their own, especially as the vampires' stench was beginning to grow stronger and stronger for them as more arrived in the area. While they were considered to be safe around the Cullen family, the majority of vampires hadn't adopted the same diet as the family had, as well as those that might not want to listen to the rules Carlisle had put in place about hunting in the area during their stay. Simply speaking, none of them had wanted to find themselves as the vampires' next meals, regardless of the werewolf stench that most likely coated the three girls from the amount of time they spent with the Pack.