Thea's Return (Book 2 in the Original SOCIETY Series) ✔

☙26❧

AN: I know it's not Thursday. But one, I was inspired to write another chapter and I figured you lot wouldn't mind. And two, I have something important on Thursday that might not be able to let me stay on schedule to update that day. So I hope this chapter is okay, and makes up for the schedule change. 

Enjoy.

ღ~✹~ღ  

My nose scrunched in doubt at my reflection as I was twisting from side to side to inspect how I looked. My eyes kept scrutinizing the length of the dress, and how the back of it seemed to hike up more than it should have because of my backside. I grumbled as I tugged the hem down but it kept going back to where it was before. There wasn't any cheek showing, but I just still felt like it was too short---even for my short height. 

Twisting to the right while pursing my mouth to the side in my inspection, I groaned in frustration before huffing, "This is stupid..." 

I was almost close to just calling it a night before the date even started. 

My stomach was fluttering with butterflies and my body shook with nerves as I stepped back from the full-length mirror and took in my reflection once again. 

The dress that I wore was simple; it was a coral color with a black velvet belt around the waist that was stitched to the sides of the dress. The neckline was modest and rounded while the sleeves of the dress came down to my elbows. The back of the dress was probably my favorite when I first saw it: it was a corset that revealed my skin between the criss-crossed spaces. 

I'd never owned anything so fancy---if you could consider it fancy---but when Aunt Penny dragged me to town through the back routes, she made sure to bring none other than Langley and Violet. Violet. And she actually was compliant to attending, sniffing with her chin upward that the least she could do was offer her two cents to make sure that I didn't dress like a nine year old that I liked to. 

I shot her a glare the whole way to the car and the she-wolf's green eyes met mine for a moment before smirking. Typical Violet. 

With keeping an eye on the dress shop every few minutes, the four of us searched the racks for the perfect dress for my date with Auric. I honestly felt so giddy---though I was horribly at hiding it---and bit my lip as I scavenged through each dress on display. When I had reached the end of one rack, I was slightly disappointed in not seeing anything to my liking. But then again it was only the first row. 

Turning to the second rack, I bumped into Langley whose eyes I barely saw over the pile of clothes she was hugging. I widened my eyes, glancing between her and the pile before stammering, "Uh... what... what are all those?"

"Dresses!" she beamed, lifting her chin to rest on top of the pile. 

I blinked hard, frowning, "We've only been here five minutes!" as I gestured to the clothes, asking how she managed to find all those so quickly. Langley smiled with a shrug of her shoulders that it wasn't that hard and then glanced at my empty hands to pout if I didn't see anything I liked yet. 

My shoulders hunched in disappointment as I felt my face get hot when I mumbled that I wasn't really sure what I was looking for. I glanced up at the woman's blue eyes who tilted her head with a small smile.

"It's alright, Thea. That's why we're here! To help you!" 

I smiled, silently grateful, then looked at Violet coming around the corner with only one dress hanging over her shoulder. I couldn't see it really but when I looked at the she-wolf, she lifted her chin and sniffed, "We apparently have a lot of work to do..."