Hold Me Closer

Chapter 13

Clare stood in front of her mirror, staring at the dress she had put on her thin body. It was a pretty iridescent white color, covered with fine glitter that shone in her lamp light. For another minute, Clear tugged at the bottom of the short dress to try to make it look good, but it was not working. Her body appeared distorted in the dress, making her torso look like a fridge. Disappointed that the dress she bought did not look as she had imagined, Clare ripped it off and looked for another dress to wear.

Her closet was a mess of clothing. Long sleeve shirts with T-shirts; shorts with the skirts—nothing was where it was supposed to be. As Clare's eyes searched throughout the closet, she was unable to find another dress. The only one she came across was the one that she and Felix made for class. As pretty as the dress was, it was not fit for a fall high school dance.

"Oh great," Clare sighed, "What do I do?" Annoyed, she flopped on her bed, stretching her arms and legs out far.

Options crossed her mind. One, she could wear the awkward looking dress. Two, she could possibly steal one from her mother, though that might end in a war. Three, she could wear the tiger one... or Clare could modify it.

She flew off her bed and swiftly grabbed her long dress from the floor. Sitting down at her desk, Clare looked at the clock. It read: "6:44PM". If she could finish the dress by at least 7:30PM—Felix was picking her up at 8PM—then she would have plenty of time to get the rest of herself ready.

Grabbing a pair of scissors from her desk drawer, Clare chopped away.

She stepped in front of her mirror, nervous to look at the modified clothing. Clare could have made it better, or made it worse.

Slowly, she opened her eyes, and once they landed on the dress, they immediately lit up. Clare had cut off over half of the skirt, so that it came above her knee, and had also modified the puffy sleeves, so that they fell off the shoulder instead. It fit perfectly for the dance.

A smile crept across Clare's face, filled with satisfaction that her thoughts worked out well. Quickly, she ran to her desk to do her makeup, because she only had twenty minutes before Felix was going to arrive. Unfortunately, cutting the dress evenly took longer than she thought.

After whipping her makeup on and grabbing her bag, she raced down the stairs to put her heels on. This was only the second time she had worn heels before, the other having been homecoming earlier that year, so hopefully she could balance in them well.

As soon as Clare got her second heel on, the doorbell rang. Her heart beat in her chest, a mixture of excitement and nervousness. Felix and her had talked throughout the week—not a lot, but way more than the week prior—though she and Zinnia... hadn't made up yet.

Opening the door, Clare was met with Felix's eyes, which were twinkling from excitement. He wore a black suit with a small stain on the corner of it. His hair wasn't styled specially, just Felix's normal everyday hair. Straight and parted down the middle perfectly. Clare's heartbeat beat in her chest. What Clare only fantasized of was actually coming true. Felix was standing in front of her in a suit and tie waiting for her. They were going to a dance together.

"Clare!" He said with a beaming voice.

"Hey!" Clare said, "You look... good. No. That's not enough."

"I think we should look at you," His eyes drifted across her body, checking out the dress. "Is that the dress we made in class together?"

Clare nodded with a smile on her face. "Like it?"

"It's beautiful! It fits your body perfectly." Felix stretched his hand out to Clare, his other tucked behind his back. "Shall we?"