The Perfect Storm 2

Chapter 124

As Stephanie folds her laundry from yesterday and I clean up my bed, my phone vibrates and I take my phone out of my pocket but before I can look at the message, Stephanie stops me, so instead, I place my phone facing upward on my white desk—the desk I sometimes climb onto to watch the snow fall.

"What are your plans tonight?" She asks and I shake my head.

"I don't know." My voice is low and uncertain.

"There's a party at Hayden's house." She explains and I shake my head.

"I'm . . . I've got—" I stumble upon an answer.

"I know you and Miles are broken up, but that shouldn't affect your fun. He's probably going to party his ass off, are you really going to let him ruin girl time? Come on, I can dress you up, you'll look hot enough to keep Miles away from your flame." Stephanie smiles with an almost sinister look to her features.

"Okay," I mumble and she nods.

"Great!" she squeals.

"I'm going to hit the nail salon and when I'm back, it's makeup time." She smiles and I nod before she rushes out of the dorm. I sit on top of my desk before looking at the message. I gulp as soon as I see the name.

Miles: "Are we broken up?"

Madison: "Yes."

I roll my eyes at the message before placing my phone face down on the table. I don't know how to respond or react to Miles no longer being in my life. 

Before there was always uncertainty, always something that pulled us back but now, we both know there's no moving past this. I grab my toiletry bag and rush to the showers, hoping no one will be there and to my surprise it's completely empty, letting me relax my nerves in peace. I let the shower run for a few seconds before I finally step under the hot water. 

The water massages my shoulders but it doesn't completely loosen up my tense nerves. I run shampoo through my hair before grabbing body wash and stroking it over my body. The water runs for long—longer than I got used to in my mother's house. I let the waterdrops run over my face, washing off my mascara. 

After what feels like half an hour, I step outside of the steam that has now formed around me. I dry off my hair slowly and get back into my clothes, fully drying my hair on the way to my dorm.

"Oh, sorry." I hear a voice say and I didn't even realize I bumped into someone or that they bumped into me.

"You aren't by any chance Stephanie's roommate?" The voice asks and I finally turn around, my eyes crashing into his. They're a soft brown that smile into mine.

"Oh, uh, yeah, I am." I stumble over my words, unsure of who this stranger is. His eyebrows are black and thin, not as dark as Miles's and not as thick. His smile is white and it looks silly somehow. He brushes his slightly messy hair away from his face before giving me a smile.

"The dorms here are super confusing, do you know—I mean of course you know where they—it is, I just, I'm totally fucking this up aren't I?" He asks and I giggle.

"Our dorm is right here," I say, pushing the door handle and opening up the door with another small chuckle.

"I'm her boyfriend, by the way." He introduces himself and I give him another smile, unsure of how to respond.

"And his name is Elijah." Stephanie finishes for him and we both laugh.

"So you girls ready to go?" He asks and I look down at my feet as I bite my lip with a small smile.

"Not yet," I tell him with a kind smile.

"No babe, you came way too early." Stephanie whines with a soft smile of her own.

"My bad, hey, I'll hit Starbucks with the guys then and I'll see you in a few," Elijah says with aaa side smile, showing his white teeth.

"Thank you, baby." Stephanie smiles and waves him off he gives me a small smile before heading out through the door.

"I'm so sorry, he's such a goof but I love him." Stephanie chuckles.

"It's no problem, he seems to care about you," I explain and she nods.

"Yeah, he's one of the few guys I can connect with." She admits and I give her a kind smile.

"I'm glad you found him then." I smile.

"Me too." She chuckles.

"Anyway . . . " She turns to the window and then quickly to face me.

"New years eve party! It's time for makeup." She says and I begin to think about what I've gotten myself into. 

My stomach starts to churn at the idea of a party but I calm myself by offering Stephanie a smile.

"This is going to be so much fun!" She squeals before pulling out a small sparkly black dress with lace bows at the sides, the long ribbons stretching to almost knee-length.

"This is the sexiest dress I have," Stpehanie says and I smile.

"It's too bad I don't have anyone to be sexy for," I say, thinking of how my future with Miles doesn't exist anymore. Stephanie rolls her eyes before saying, "trust me, you won't need anyone named 'Miles'"She says and I manage to give her a genuine chuckle even though I don't want anyone with a different name.

"Put these in while I do your makeup." Stephanie smiles, handing me thick silver hoops. They're much bigger than I usually wear but they seem to be the perfect size when I put them in and look in the mirror. 

I close my eyes and get ready for Stephanie's brushes to tap against my skin. She taps a small burhs over my eyes in a dark shade before lining my waterline with brown and then returning back to the eyeshadow. 

She dips into light pink before barely brushing the color over the top of my eyes and going back in with a brown. I take a deep breath, trying to stay still and not breathe too much in order to prevent looking like a clown.

"Have you ever wore thongs?" Stephanie asks as she dips into a light-brown and covers the thin area right below my lower waterline. My eyes go wide at the question and her brush is inches away from touching my eyeball but thankfully I quickly recover.

"No . . . I—"

"Thank god I got extra pairs today." Stephanie breathes out before digging for them in her closet while I sit beside her desk and try to calm my heart beat. 

I've never worn thongs and I never planned to. Miles never seemed to mind when he took off my regular underwear, calling them cute on occasion. 

Stephanie places black laze underwear that looks like it won't cover anything. The only thing I've ever worn under dresses is underwear and underskirt shorts.

"I have my own," I say and stand up from the chair.

"Oh?" Stephanie looks at me confused and when I pull out my underskirt shorts she covers her mouth.

"Oh. My. God." She says and we both burst into laughter.

"It's not that bad." I chuckle, realizing that Stephanie doesn't have the same ideas as I do about what to wear underneath.

"I can't believe you got Miles with this." She laughs and I join her.

"You're wearing the thong . . . just the thong." She says and I want to question her but I don't dare.

"Okay," I mumble under my breath as I try not topicture myself having to walk in a short dress with string underwear on. 

Stephanie smiles at mebefore applying glimmer onto my cheekbones, curling my hair, and mimicking mynatural waves, and finally, smearing light gloss across my lips.