Stop and Rewind (HOLD)

Chapter 9: Out

"So," Ariana said as she pulled away from applying a final coat of gloss to my lips. "What do you think?" 

Turning to look in the mirror, I had to admit that as annoying as I found the whole beautifying process, I didn't look all that bad. Ariana and Vallerie always managed to keep me simple, yet approachable. And that style suited me just fine. 

"I think she looks hot," Vallerie stated. "Don't you Ari?" 

"Definitely." 

I lifted a hand to my face as I looked at my reflection. "Dude, my face is so soft! What did you use?" 

"'Dude'?" Ariana asked. "Newsflash, sis: I'm not a guy." 

"I don't care if you're male or female, I'm calling you dude," I responded. "But seriously, what'd you use to make my face so soft?" 

"It's this moisturizer my mom gave me." Vallerie laughed. "You would be more concerned about your face's texture than what you look like." 

"I swear, her attention span is the worst I've ever seen," Ariana said, shaking her head in mock shame. 

"It must run in the family," I responded, tucking a piece of light brown hair behind my ear. 

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Ariana said, glancing at her phone. "If Niall's true to his word, he'll be here in about five minutes." 

Earlier he had texted saying he'd have to move our plans a bit later because he totally forgot about something the guys wanted to take him to see. So now we were going out after eating an early dinner. 

"You know," Ariana mused ushering me to the room. "It's a good thing we picked out her outfit before-hand, otherwise she would have kept him waiting for, like, ever." 

"And on their first date too!" Vallerie said walking with us. I felt my cheeks heat up. 

"It's not a date," I said, almost assertively.  

"I mean, I just met him last night. We're just hanging out like friends would. It's just an..." I searched for the right word. "Outing." 

If it were a date, we'd go to dinner or a movie or something else as cliché as that. Not that I actually knew what we were doing, but I doubted it was any of that.  

"Uh-huh," Vallerie said, unfazed, as she held up the sleeveless top I would soon be donning. "Keep tellin' yourself that, kid." 

"Whatever," I said as I pulled on the shorts that they'd already laid out. 

"You better be careful in my white shorts," Ariana said. 

"Of course," I replied, still amazed she let me borrow them in the first place. I took off my t-shirt to replace it with the purple top that Vallerie was holding. 

"Your flip-flops are by the door," Ariana told me. "Oh, don't forget your sunglasses." 

"Right," I said, looking through my purse for them. I saw they were in there and closed my purse back up, satisfied.  

"Now all I need is my phone..." I thought out loud, walking into the living room to grab it. I glanced at the time then shoved my phone into my pocket. I heard a knock on the door and smiled. He was right on time. 

Ariana and Vallerie ran out into the living room, tripping over themselves. They converged around me, giving me hurried bits of advice that I couldn't decipher and fixing everything they could, from a stray hair to a tiny smudge of makeup. 

I shooed them away as I slipped my flip flips on. Then I opened the door, a smile stretched out impossibly far on my face. "Hi again!" 

"Hey," he said smiling. His blue eyes seemed to sparkle. "You ready?"