Basorexia - J.MAGUIRE

[2.40] dress shopping

Ciara and James stood off to the side, James facing the window whilst Ciara actually watched and helped the girls as they filtered through all the dress options they had. She was there as a second opinion for all the girls and a mental support to James, who even now didn't see how shopping in such a way could ever be considered enjoyable. An hour and a bit had passed and no single person had found a dress that they wanted to buy (on Chelle's Ma's credit card.) She didn't quite know how but James had managed to become shrouded in various fabrics and different accessories on his outstretched arms and one draped over his head.

Just as she attempted to advise Erin that her blue dress choice was not very 'her', Ciara couldn't help but notice James trying to move his head so the cloth on top would just fall and land in his arms. She chuckled softly then turned around, reaching up to take the regretted 'maybe' dress from his head. In doing so she had a direct line of sight onto the back window of the shop and found herself stunned to see a particular face staring back at her. She, after placing the dress on the full chair next to them instead of James, ran outside to greet Eion. "Hey," she smiled as she exited the dress shop, crossing her arms over her chest to close her jacket and avoid the chill of the wind.

He smiled back just a little brighter than she did, instantly comforting away the brief anxiousness she felt towards their unplanned meeting. "What are you doing here?"

"Shopping for the prom, well they are," she responded whilst gesturing through the window, where she knew the majority of her friends would all be. She also knew that half of them would be watching intently, trying to figure out who this random person was and why she knew him so well. Ciara had instantly concocted a backstory and just hoped it was believable enough to pass even James' suspicions.

"You're not going?"

"Nah. Not my cup. Dresses and all that they expose..." she trailed off as she glanced back into the shop, noticing how Michelle, Clare and James' heads snapped away to focus on something else. "Plus no one to take me, it's not something I would have wanted to go to alone," she shrugged, sighing softly.

She noticed his cocked brow and the brief curling of his lip. "I'll take you," he offered sincerely but she could not see anything but a joke.

"Christ sure you will," she laughed softly as she moved out of the way for an older woman who needed to get past.

"I'm serious, if you want to go I'll take you," he repeated, making sure to edit his expression to look the most sincere as he knew she read a lot of emotion from people's eyes and their facial movements. She was not particularly good at instantly reading expressions. He shuffled his bag over to the other hand and forked that hand through his hair.

Her brow crept up onto her forehead, the corners of her mouth turning up into a smile she quickly disguised by muffling it with her lips. "You sure?"

"Aye of course," he responded with a grin, watching as a glint of joy flashed behind her eyes. "I'd be glad to."

"That would be grand," she smiled brightly while shoving her hands in her pockets, wanting to hide the shakiness that her hands had suddenly taken on. From then on, they chatted for a little while about just about everything in general. And after about fifteen, maybe twenty minutes of catch up conversation the two briefly hugged goodbye and Ciara walked back into the shop as if nothing had even happened. The sound of the bell swinging against the door as it opened alerted the group to her presence but the questions did not follow until she stopped next to James in the same spot as before, sitting on the arm of a chair as her legs had started to possess a dull ache.

"Who's that?" James asked outright and without much hesitation, his voice shaking so subtly that she did not catch it. Clare, however, did.

"Eion," Ciara responded casually with a soft side, knowing that she was definitely about to be grilled about every single aspect of their relationship.

I'm getting so incredibly sick of the lies.

"Eion who?" Michelle pressed, suddenly appearing out of a changing room curtain with a dress that Chip instantly knew wasn't going to be the right one on.

"He's just a friend I have," she shrugged softly, adding to the pent up intrigue that the others all felt.

Michelle grinned, "Massive ride."

Ciara sniggered softly, "Aye?"

"Oh aye, the tattoos? Fuck. Me."

"For once I agree," Erin added somewhat dreamily, still staring out of the dress shop window where Eion had been standing beforehand.

"Well he's single, I can set you guys up if you want Erin."

Erin finally turned from the window, instead looking at Chip with a discrete smile, "You would?"

"Aye of course," she laughed softly, making the mental note to introduce the both of them at the prom. She didn't quite know why she had so quickly flicked from John Paul, her date to the prom, to Eoin but just supposed that was how attraction worked really. For some people it was instant and others it just burnt behind the scenes for years of friendship then finally just burst out in proclamations like the ones she read in books.

Clare suddenly appeared from behind the curtain, having tried on a darker blue dress that looked absolutely amazing. She, while looking over herself in the mirror, suspiciously looked between James and Ciara and asked, "Do you not want to like... ask him out yourself? You seem close..."

Chip desperately fought the urge to burst out laughing at such a comment. She knew that to anyone else, they would appear in such a way due to their closeness so she couldn't fault her friends for coming to some conclusion. When they went out for lunches and other meetups, they were always treated as partners and often received free desserts due to how 'cute they were together.' They both found it rather entertaining. "Eoin? Oh definitely not, he's like a brother to me."

Trauma bond and all that...

Erin perked up, grinning, "Well in that case..."

Chip, figuring that Erin and Eoin actually had the possibility to be a good match, decided to add to the image that she was sure was already in Erin's head. "He has a motorbike too and a sick ass patch leather jacket."

Her eyes widened as she cleared her throat, "He does?"

"What's so cool about a motorbike?" James' question came quiet, dozens of emotions hidden behind his voice that only Clare managed to catch. She had suddenly managed to see through various deceptions and could ever so easily read James' mannerisms like a book. And there was one thing that she was incredibly certain of, he had the fattest crush on Chip. Not that she would say a word to either parties until the time was right.

"Everything James," Chip responded absentmindedly, mind focused on the few trips that they had taken on said motorbike. If her Mammy asked, she had never set foot anywhere in the near vicinity of that bike. The others, even their new addition who Ciara had not noticed instantly, nodded their agreement while James was just left confused.