Her Narcissist

"Drama Queen"

eileah

"Are you sure?" It feels weird blinking when I have these weird ass lashes on my face and all this makeup. "I feel fake," I say, shuffling to the mirror in Ana's old heels. "Why? Look up," Ana says gently.

My eyes meet myself in the mirror and I gasp. I feel all the layers of self hate and lowered self esteem melt away. My makeup was flawless and looked way better than I thought it would. The dress Ana lended me was right at my knees, but the cut of it gave me curves I knew I didn't have. It was sparkly and dark, and it made me look like something expensive and amazing. Ana had placed a plain black headband on top of my soft curls, and there: I was done.

I wobbled in the heels closer to the mirror. The lashes made my eyes look alluring and my makeup made me feel like a goddess. I felt at home and confident and safe and regular in these clothes. My heart ached, wishing that younger me could have had this. I needed this.

I didn't feel beautiful because of the makeup and the clothes. I felt beautiful because I could finally see that being feminine and pulling this off made me feel confident in the side of me that had been stepped all over. I don't think I could ever go back to sagging or wearing guyish clothing after this. But that was a thought process for another time.

I turned around to Ana, wobbling my way over to hug her. I heard the front door opening and Tae and Laja heading back inside. I briefly wondered where they had been but I focused on thanking my best friend for bringing out this hidden side of me.

"No problem, bestie," she smiled warmly.

"I gotta get out these shoes though. I think ima wear some black platforms with these," I groan.

"Baby, you're going to a club. Not a Dolls Kill interview. Your feet are gonna be aching all night if you wear those. I only put you in the heels for the effect of you seeing how well it went with the outfit." Ana turned around and pulled out some pretty flats. "These. They have a comfortable sole but will look badass as fuck with this fit." I slipped out of the heels, stretched out my toes a bit, then put on the flats. Although I felt a million inches shorter, I liked these way better than the arch killers Ana had me wearing. "Thanks."

"Stop thanking me and let me get ready," she scowled. "Me and Tae are going to a fancy movie theater with his theater friends. They have expensive tickets because they know the actual director. I think it's like a viewing or a preview. Some fancy shit like that," she shrugged. Ana was going to wear a green velvet dress, wrappy black sandals and her hair to one side, pinned by a fake green emerald. If anyone could pull off this sexy Middle Age look she was going for, it would be my best friend. I helped her get her clothes on and zipped up, then helped her pick out lotions.

I hadn't felt this great in a long time, and a small part of me hoped that even if this happiness didn't last that long, at least it could stay for the rest of my night.

I was wrong.

Laja and I got to the club, courtesy of Tae's truck. "It doesn't start until nine, so we'll come in for a little bit," he commented. We all headed inside of Max's Secret, some topless lingerie strip club with the best mimosa's apparently. I found it absurd to be drinking those at night time, in a club, but nobody else seemed to share my reasoning.

Tae and Laja were chilling, pointing out women on the pole while Ana threw money at strippers, and I pulled out my antisocial mode. I felt really drained and despite how done up I was, I just didn't feel like doing much of anything.

"What's up?"

I look up and damn near jump for a second. "Delya. What are you doing here?"

"Laja invited me," she shoved her hands into her black corduroy pants pockets. I mean, I had told Laja she could invite her but I didn't expect her to actually invite Delya.