Only Fools

Chapter Three

"So, when are you going to put the outfit on?" Naomi asks me after taking one look at what I'm wearing.

"....this is the outfit," I say back slowly as I look down at what I put on. The black tank top ends right above my belly button. The short shorts are a dark shade of denim with rips on the front of my thighs. Around my neck, a chain hangs loosely and rests right above the top of my shirt, at first leaving a coolness on my chest.

"Is the rest of it invisible then?" she asks me, one eyebrow raised in questioning.

"Fuck you. I think I look hot in this," I tell her as I look back down at my outfit. I mean, maybe this is too much. Will people judge me for what I have on? I glance up at my face. Am I just overcompensating for a lack of confidence? My dark naturally pin straight hair stops at the middle of my back. My eyes are nearly the same shade of brown as my hair, nothing special or outstanding. Chubby cheeks hide anything that could be a stunning cheekbone or impressive jawline. My tan from summer is already fading because of the many cloudy fall days. I'm an average height, not short enough to be cute and not tall enough to be hot. The muscle gained from cheer makes my shoulders too broad which almost dissuaded me from wearing a tank top in the first place. So maybe this outfit does look terrible.

The chain was supposed to distract from my shoulders, but maybe that's not working. Maybe choosing to wear all black just makes me look even less tan than I actually am. Maybe because I'm not short enough to make this outfit look cute or tall enough to make it look hot, I do just look like I'm trying too hard.

"Actually, with that outfit it is more likely that you will look cold. You're shivering will be the dead giveaway. I mean, is there anything at all there to protect you from a gust of cold air? To be honest, I'm just worried that a gust of air will blow that outfit right off," Naomi voices her disapproval, though I'm not entirely sure why as it isn't anything different from what I normally wear, so I'm not entirely sure why she's being so extra overprotective this time. Is this time different for some reason? Should I change into something else? I mean, Nao has to be saying this for a reason. She normally says something, but this almost feels different. That could just be accidental on her part, but, then again, it could be purposeful.

"You know what? Let's just wait until Tori gets here and we can see what she thinks," I suggest.

Tori will probably assure me that everything is fine. If not, I can just change and move on. But she'll probably be wearing something similar, and I'll see that there isn't actually a problem. Unless there is a problem that is.

"I guess you'll be wearing that no matter what then. If I know Tori at all, she'll be wearing less than you and it'll be hypocritical for her to even try and disapprove,"

I just shrug as I lean closer to the mirror in order to apply my mascara.

"So.... I heard Dustin is probably going to be at the party tonight," Naomi says with a coy smile as she tucks an escaped strand of her short curly blonde hair back behind her ear.

"And?"

"I don't know. I just figured you'd like to know that your crush was going to be there. Even though I feel kind of betrayed by the fact that I had to hear about this crush today, and it wasn't even you who told me," Naomi says with a shrug as she begins to inspect her nails.

"I swore Ivy to secrecy," I explain with a shrug.

"Yes, because it would be a shame if word got out about your fake crush because your real crush couldn't keep it to herself,"

"You're a little shit. You know that?" I say with a laugh as I close my mascara and turn around to face her.

"Ok. But does she genuinely believe that you have a crush on Dustin?" Naomi asks me. I give her a shrug in response.