Into the Light

36 Anna's POV

"Have you met you and Tara?" he replied. "Watch it," Tara yelled, grinning. "He's right though," she whispered to me. "Shut up," Kat laughed. "We're on the way. I promise. We actually just finished getting our nails done. Be there soon." "Okay. Be careful. I love you," Sam replied. "I love you," Kat answered, then pressed her finger to the red circle. "You guys are so in love," I sighed. Kat smiled at her phone, before she put it away. "Yeah, we are." "How long have you been together?" I asked. "About 7 years," she replied. "Wow. That's a long time," I said. "It's been an amazing time," she answered. We talked a little more about her relationship with Sam, and Tara's relationship with Jake. Then they turned the questions on me, but I wasn't sure how to answer them. "So, what's up with you and Colby? Is it serious?" Tara asked. "Um...I think so," I replied. "I really like him." "Just like?" Kat asked, raising her eyebrows. I shrugged. "Nope, you gotta answer!" Tara exclaimed. "Okayyyy," I replied, laughing. "I might love him. I don't know. I've never really loved anyone before. I think I do because...I've never felt like this about anyone else." "Yep, definitely love," Tara said, with a grin. Katrina reached over and patted my leg. "It's okay to open yourself up to people. Colby is a good guy. I'm pretty sure that he's fallen for you too. He's different now. Less guarded. Have you told him?" I thought back to when I had said the words to him. It was never me in control. I knew that I had said them and that he had said them back, but I didn't think that I had ever said them willingly. It had always been Lilith, using me to manipulate him. "That's a complicated question that I don't want to talk about right now," I replied, softly, and looked out the window. "Okay, no pressure," Kat said. "Are you excited about going out tonight? We can help with your makeup! You're going to look amazing. Colby will be picking his tongue up off the floor." I laughed and shook my head. "You guys maybe, but not me. I'm too ordinary." Tara sighed and leaned up so that her head was almost next to mine. "Girl, you really don't see it? You're gorgeous. You've gotta have confidence in yourself. That's the  most attractive thing. When you see it, everyone else sees it. So, who's a hot bitch?" "No," I replied, laughing. "Come on now, say it! Who's a hot bitch?!" she asked again. I rolled my eyes. "I am," I said, just to make her stop. "That didn't sound very convincing," she replied. "Who's a HOT BITCH?" "I AM!" I yelled. She and Kat started to laugh. "That's right! And we're all gonna know that we're hot bitches when we step into that club tonight. Right?" I smiled and nodded. "Right." Strangely enough, her little confidence boosting 'speech' did make me feel better about myself. Honestly, I felt a little out of place around everyone. Not because they weren't nice, but because they were all so damned gorgeous. Apparently, gorgeous people were drawn to one another or something. I knew that I could never fit in with them, in that aspect. When we went out together, I knew that people would be wondering how the ugly duckling fit in with the cool kids. I was being dumb, and I knew that. Old insecurities were hard to kill. We finally made it back to the hotel, and went up to the rooms. Kat and Tara stopped at their door, and handed me the bags. "We're going to get dressed first, and then we'll help with your makeup. Go ahead and get your dress on, but stay in the bathroom, away from prying eyes until we come over. I want Colby to have the full effect when he sees you," Kat said, winking at me. I nodded, and swallowed down the nervous ball that pushed it's way up into my throat. I walked to my door and knocked, holding all four huge bags. I had forgotten that so much money had been charged to Colby's credit card. The door opened, and Brennen stood there. He held out his hands to take my bags, so I let him, then scooted past him to get into the room. "Hey! You're back!" Colby exclaimed, from his spot on the bed. He was lying down with his hands crossed behind his head. "Yeah," I replied. "Sorry it took so long." He sat up and shook his head. "No, that's no problem. Did you get everything you needed?" Brennen set the bags down on the foot of Colby's bed. "Looks like she did," he laughed. I felt my face heating up. "I'm so sorry! I didn't know that they were going to get everything. I didn't need this much, but Kat and Tara bought it while I was changing and-" "Anna, it's okay. I told them to get whatever you wanted or needed. I'm glad you got this. You deserve to have your own clothes." "Why don't you have clothes?" Brennen asked, sitting back down on his bed. "Um, because uh," I stammered out, looking to Colby for help. "The house that she stayed in with her grandma burned down. Took out most of her stuff," he replied. "Damn. I'm so sorry. That blows," Brennen replied. "It's fine. Just material things. I'm just glad that my grandma is okay," I responded, going along with the lie. He nodded. "That's what matters." "You wanna let me see what you got?" Colby asked, pulling a bag towards him. "No!" I exclaimed, pulling it back. "Not yet. I need to get dressed and I was ordered to stay in the bathroom until they were finished with me." "Huh?" he asked, his brow furrowing in confusion. "The girls are going to perform their magic on her," Corey explained, keeping his eyes trained on his phone. "Hold on," I said, looking through the bags. I found the one with the dress, and the belt, then pulled the box of shoes out of another one. "You can look through the rest. I'm gonna go get dressed for tonight. Don't you guys have to get ready too?" "We have plenty of time," Corey replied. "Yeah, I already know what I'm wearing. I just need enough time to do my hair," Colby replied.