the hating game ; lrh

thirty-two

"BLUE, BLACK OR RED?"

I hold three dresses up in front of Anna, who is sipping aggressively on a banana smoothie. The first dress is floor-length, strapless, and a royal blue with tiny diamonds sewn across it. The second is a black, mid-length, silky slip dress. The final one is a deep red, with only one thick shoulder strap and dropping at the mid-calf.

Anna frowns, finally detaching her mouth from the straw to shake her head at me. "Not the blue," she says before returning to her smoothie.

I place the blue dress back on the rack instantly, kissing goodbye to yet another potential outfit. Anna and I had been shopping for just over an hour and I was already growing tired of the experience — though I greatly appreciate Anna's fashion expertise, especially considering I have none, I had failed to take into account the fact that we would likely be spending hours at the mall before successfully locating a dress for the banquet. Even more tediously, Anna hadn't been asked by anybody this year, so her quest for the perfect dress was deemed even more important considering she would now be living vicariously through me.

"Do you like either of these?" I hold up the remaining black and red dress again, hoping that she might finally approve.

"Mmmm..." Anna wonders for a moment, her head tilting slightly to the side. Finally, she shakes her head disapprovingly. "Too plain."

"Both of them?" I sigh, holding onto the final hope that perhaps she might let this be over soon.

"Both of them."

I let out a groan, but place the dresses back on the rack regardless. Anna continues pushing through dresses, sipping aggressively on her smoothie as she does so, judging each dress harshly. I continue sifting through dresses on my side, trying to judge each as if I had Anna's eyes — they all look good enough to me.

"So, you and Jaden?" Anna asks suddenly, peeking over the rack between us and across at me.

"What do you mean?" I ask innocently, hoping that she won't press the matter.

"Don't play dumb," Anna scolds me, narrowing her eyes in my direction. "Do you like him?"

"I don't know," I tell her, hoping that she'll drop the subject before she presses too far. "He's nice."

Anna rolls her eyes, though continues training them on the array of dresses before her. "You kissed him."

"Not on purpose!" I correct her, remembering how angry Luke had been when they kissed at the party.

Anna smirks up at me, stopping her flicking of hangers for a moment. "But that wasn't the first time you kissed..."

"Anna!" I smack her hand lying on top of the rail gently, scolding her. She was the only person who knew that Jaden and I had slept together all that time ago, and she had vowed to keep my secret.

"What?" She removes her hand from the rail, letting it rest out of my reach upon some hangers. "You guys have history! It's a good thing."

"It's a secret!" I remind her, to which she rolls her eyes again.

"You can't keep any secrets from me," Anna teases.

I swear I feel my heart stop at her words — she knows. She must. Why else would she press the issue with Jaden? Secrets? She knows that I'm keeping something from her. Anna has always been able to see through me. I feel my heart rate rising, and while Anna isn't looking at me, I feel the sudden need to confess everything to her.

However, before I can get the chance, Anna suddenly yanks a dress from the rack and turns to me, eyes wide with excitement.

"This," she gushes. I try to peek over the rack to see the dress, but I'm not quite tall enough. "This is the one."