The Moon Is Beautiful

Chapter 4

“No.”

I sigh, plopping down onto my bed in defeat. Friday has rolled around very quickly and it’s nearly eight at night.

We are meeting the others at the club in less than an hour and I still don’t have anything to wear. No, correction. I do have clothes to wear, but every outfit that I have put on in the past half an hour has been rejected by Eliza. I don’t know what she will say yes to.

“Come on. That can’t be all.” she says, staring down at me with disbelief in her eyes. She knows that it is. I’m not very preserved, but there is a limit to how much skin I am willing to show, and I know that the type of clothes she wants me to wear goes way past my comfortable line.

“Oh well then, you’re lucky. I figured that you wouldn’t have anything appropriate to fit the occasion so I brought you some things from home.” she says, zipping her bag open. I should have known. She then proceeds to pull out multiple articles of clothing, piling them onto my bed. The lack of enough material these clothes are made of scares me.

“Try these on.” she says, throwing random pieces of clothing at me. I roll my eyes, but just strip out of my current outfit and slip into hers. The outfit she gave me consists of a black mini-skirt and top that has sparkles all over them. I immediately don’t like it. The skirt barely covers my upper thighs and the top reveals my entire lower stomach and belly button.

“No.” I say instead of her this time, shaking my head.

“Why? You look good.” she whines, staring at the outfit with satisfaction in her eyes.

“I don’t feel comfortable in this. It’s too revealing.” I whine, feeling the need to cover my legs with my hands.

“It’s just for one night, Rose,” she says, rolling her eyes. “Live a little and get out of your bubble for once.”

I feel offended. When she sees the offended expression on my face, she sighs.

“You know I don’t mean it like that. I just want you to try new things. Life is short. You never know when you will die, and I just don’t want you to have any regrets when you go.” she says, staring up at me with sincere eyes. I sigh in defeat, knowing that she’s got me. I can never win against her.

“Fine. I guess I could go out like this, just for one night.” I say in defeat and a wide smile immediately appears on her face. She’s so sly.

I slip into a pair of black combat boots, my favourite and then we leave my house. We take a taxi to the club and when we arrive, there is a long line at the entrance that goes all the way down the sidewalk.

“Let’s go.” Eliza says, grabbing my hand and leads me to the line.

“Rose! Eliza!” I hear a familiar voice call out and my eyes immediately find the person waving their arms at us from their spot in the line. Alyssa. I release a breath of relief and walk over to her and the unfamiliar man beside her.

“You made it,” she says, grabbing my free hand. “Stand with us.”

She moves aside to give space for Eliza and I to stand. I smile gratefully at her before my eyes move to the man beside her.

She quickly notices. “Oh! I completely blacked out. Guys, this is Peter. Peter, this is Rose and Eliza.”

“Hello.” he formally greets before turning back to the front. He looks a little…reserved. Honestly, he doesn’t seem like Alyssa’s usual type. Usually, she likes the typical bad boy type of guy who wears leather jackets and rides a motorcycle. Peter is different. He looks like a mature man who has seen many things in life through the thin rims of his glasses.