Being Blinded

Chapter Thirteen

Alfie:

Are you sure it isn't annoying?

Unromantic?

Rosie:

Not unromantic

Def for the best, they want to watch out the windows

As much as I love them

I'd rather our first date be more private than that

Alfie:

Thank fuck

I would have done it for you

However, did not want to deal with them

Rosie:

Mostly we should be thankful for hangovers

Unlike the chaos that swam around in my head last time, it's been suffocated into dust under the constant and unrelenting presence of my best friends. Going out to the tattoo expo was like dipping your toes in pool water, the sun has heated the first few inches.

Getting ready with them on our first official date is like the shock of diving in headfirst and being submerged in freezing water, though refreshing, still shockingly cold.

That's pretty much what is happening right now. My closet has been torn from the racking and spread across my mattress, Cassie is snug under my comforter and sorting my clothes into piles.

Fuckable and Is this your mothers?

I don't dare tell them I have always liked my Mum's fashion; despite the fact she can't figure out how to dress casually I have always admired the way it boosts her confidence. Adds to the fierce way she commands everyone's attention; it feels wrong to admire anything about her now.

Unlike my Mum's collection of business wear, pastels and dark reds and browns cover the expanse of my queen mattress. Folded over each other and barely hanging on to their hangers, anything that isn't green, brown, white and black has been thrown aside but thankful not labelled as a gross crime against fashion.

I'm not the best at going through some of the things I've bought over the years, Claudia and Cassie have always been good at picking out what makes sense and what doesn't. If the rest of us are left to our own devices, there's a fantastic chance we come home with something we regret.

Sophie claims that we do it to keep them happy, but I know that Sophie's sense of style is reliant on Claudia keeping her out of leggings.

It isn't that none of us like those pieces or care if there's comfort and enjoyment in them, it's that we all love dressing up. Not all of us are good at recognising what those pieces are.

"We need to choose something that's going to help make her feel confident and sexy" Claudia insists, standing with her hands on her hips.

Hung loosely over my knees sits a pleated black skirt, something I rarely wear due to the length and a deep brown mini skirt that has always boosted my confidence. "You don't even know where he's taking her, these could both be wildly inappropriate for where they are going!" Sophie insists.

Imogen is grinning silently, watching over my shoulder as she fixes the awful attempt at loose curls, I did an hour ago. Half of my hair is curled tight and sitting up by my shoulder, some loose in perfect appearance, with straight pieces with kinks in the middle hanging in between.

"So, jeans?" Imogen shrugs, "Rosie has loads of tight ones that will still make her feel sexy-"

"-And give Alfie a boner!" Cassie chimes, holding a forest green long-sleeved thermal up in front of her.