"How do I look?" Ardiel asked Kiara.
Kiara turned around to have a look at her. Ardiel wore a royal blue, over the shoulder satin dress. It came down to her knees, and had an open back tied at the top. Her eye shadow was a light blue, her liner in a soft smoke style. Her hair in a front row braid made it look like she wore a silver crown. Kiara's jaw dropped.
"That dress is so gorgeous, it makes your eyes and hair shine. You're beautiful." Kiara signed to her. Ardiel couldn't help but blush.
"Thanks Kiara. I haven't stopped getting ready since my last exam finished, after I said hi to Brise, obviously." Ardiel smiled.
"She wouldn't have it any other way." Kiara replied. "I'm gonna go see my sister for a bit, I'll be back soon."
"Okay, tell her I said hi."
"Will do." Kiara left the room.
Ardiel took a long haul of a breath. She walked over to the bathroom and stared in the mirror, she barely recognized herself. She felt excited, for a moment.
Then it hit her. That feeling that rears its ugly head in the worst of moments. Her heart dropped and her lungs felt squeezed, a lump in her throat appeared.
*No, no, not now. This isn't happening. I just did my make up.. come on...*
She tried to hold herself together, but it strikes when it strikes, and there isn't much for stopping it. A bullet piercing through the armor she wore, leaving her exposed, anxiety was there to remind her that she'd never be free from it. She was genuinely happy with her life for the most part. For the first time since her incident with Jason, she was content with almost every aspect of her life, but that didn't matter. Her knees felt like they were going to buckle, so she went back to her bed and sat down.
The black, egyptian cotton sheets called her name, they told her to lay down, go to sleep, where it would all stop. Why was she suffering from an anxiety attack right now? Nothing was going on. She tried to tell herself all of the great things in her life right now, but to no avail, as anxiety is the big bad wolf and she was stuck in a straw house. She was a split second away from caving in when she heard a soft rap at the door. Her heart nearly leaped out of her throat.
*Breathe, breathe, we got this. Okay. Okay.*
She managed to compose herself before opening the door to see Ember Brown standing in front of the door, looking at her. He wore a red, royal oxford style dress shirt, with a black blazer to match. His dress pants matched the colour of the blazer, making the royal red tie and pocket hankerchief stand out all the more. His thick brown hair slicked to the side.
"You. Look. Fantastic." Ardiel put emphasis on every word, but Ember stood there, frozen.
He looked at her hair, his eyes tracing the outline of her face, down to her dress.
"Uh, I'm sorry, I don't mean to stare. You're just.. mesmerizing right now. More so than usual." Ember swallowed, obviously a little nervous. "Were you serious about going with me tonight?"
"Of course, why don't we go with Kiara and her date. Wait, who is she taking anyway?" Ardiel realized she never asked Kiara.
"My roommate actually, kinda funny. His name is Jacob Rogers. He's a nice guy, and he knows ASL now that Kiara taught him." Ember paused briefly. "Anyway, I just wanted to make sure we were still going together. I'll get out of your gorgeous hair."
"No, wait, come in. Have a drink with me." She didn't want to be alone, and she also needed a drink to loosen up a bit.
"Sure. What do you have?" He asked her.
YOU ARE READING
The Lost Element
FantasyA woman goes to what she thinks is a normal college, and finds out she has more power than she thought she could ever have. After learning who she truly is, she attempts to rescue a long lost relative. When this turns sour, she needs to fight a bat...
