Always a Friend

Chapter 35

Chloe came over about twenty minutes after I texted her and brought her things with her. She was kind enough not to mention anything about the rude comment Mom made to me before she left for her night out with whoever she was going out with. My head was still spinning from the mean comment. I sat there staring at myself in my vanity mirror, stunned that a mother could be so cruel to their child by saying something so heartless without batting an eye. I blinked, trying to get the insult out of my head, and returned my focus to what Chloe was doing to my hair. I knew she wouldn't make me look hideous or anything like that, so I didn't know why I needed to pay attention to what she was doing. 

"Have you heard from Rhys?" She asked, peeking at me over the top of my head. 

"Hmm?" My eyes drifted up from my phone. "No. Was he supposed to?" 

She shook her head, looking down as she wrapped my hair around the curling iron. "Do you have any idea what you want to wear tonight?" She glanced at my closet as the perfect ringlet fell to my shoulders. "You should wear something cute." Cute? I didn't know whether to take that as an insult to my fashion choices or not. She wrapped another section around the curling iron. While she finished my hair, we discussed what I should wear to the party tonight. She thought I should wear a cute dress with wedge sandals; I tried to tell her I'd feel more comfortable in a pair of cute ripped jeans and a top. She sighed, setting down the curling iron. "Gem, you can't show up to a party looking like you do at school." She walked over to my closet and opened both doors. "Now..." She started shuffling through my clothes and grabbed a few dresses. "Gem, don't give me that look." She placed the dresses on the bed. I sat there sulking like a little kid because they were forced to do something they didn't want.  My arms were crossed, my brows furrowed, and my bottom lip jetted out a little bit. I didn't want to wear a dress to the party, but I knew arguing with Chloe would get me nowhere. 

                                                                                        *****

I walked out the front door, tugging on my dress, hoping it would make it longer. I took one step toward the edge of the porch when Ashton walked out his front door, hollering bye to his mom. I hurried down the steps, almost face-planting in the grass. 

"Hey, Gem, Chloe." Ashton unlocked his car. 

"Hey." We waved back. I tried to avoid eye contact and get in the car before he saw me, but he walked around his car and headed our way. "Wow...Nice." Ashton beamed, motioning to my dress. 

"I told you," Chloe whispered, walking past me to the driver's side. 

"Thanks." I tugged on my dress again, feeling a little overexposed. "Leaving to pick up your lovely girlfriend?" I raised an eyebrow, tilting my head. 

He pressed his lips. "No. She's going to the party with her friends. I'm to meet her there." He glanced down at his watch. "In fact, I need to get going before I'm late." 

"Yeah...You don't want to keep the queen waiting." I smiled. 

"Funny." He nodded, not impressed by my remark. "You look great, by the way. You dress like this more often; you'll have a date for the dance." He winked, motioning his hand across his chest. I glanced down at my dress and noticed just how low the neckline was. I grabbed it and tried tugging it up. "That's not going to work, but nice try." Ashton laughed. "I've got to get going. See you at the party." He turned and walked to his car. 

I stood there in one last final attempt at tugging the neckline. I leaned back, staring at the pinkish-orange sky, wondering why I let her talk me into wearing this dress.