Edge of the Dark // Noa Olivar

viii. playing dress up

Joey made a quick pit stop to gather up the rest of the girls after she got the dress situation all sorted out. She cashed in one of her favors with a previous client of hers and got a dress fixed up that would fit Imogen perfectly, as well as a suit for herself. Though, she might have forgotten to mention to Noa that her "friend" happened to be a middle-aged woman with a drug addiction.

Noa was silent for most of the ride, only turning around to talk to Mouse or Faran occasionally as they rode over to Tabby's house to get ready for the dance. But it wasn't difficult for Joe to notice the constant glances Noa threw in her direction. The one that translates to: we'll be talking about all that later.

Talking about what?!

She grew anxious as they exited the car and walked up the stairs after Tabby's mom allowed them in with a gracious smile. Tabby held the dress with one of her hands as she lightly knocked on Imogen's door. The pregnant girl opened it a few seconds later, brightening up at the sight of her friends.

"Look, who's here! Your glam squad has arrived!" Tabby exclaimed, looking over her shoulder to see the others.

Imogen beamed, opening the door a little wider to allow them to come in. "Thanks, guys! Is that the dress?"

Joey nodded, running a hand through her wavy hair as she said, "Yup. I tried picking one that I thought you'd like. It's got your similar style, but just more loose around the belly. Do you like it?"

"Yeah, it's gorgeous! I love it!" Imogen beamed, eyeing the dress as she pointed over toward the hall. "There's a bathroom at the end of the hall if you guys want to use it to change."

"And there's another one in my room." Tabby added. "So I'm thinking we could do two per bathroom."

"Yeah, that works!" Faran stated, grabbing a hold of her dress. "Mouse and I will take the hall."

Mouse stammered, caught off guard. "Oh, yeah, okay!"

Noa met her eyes and for a brief second there was a question lying there. Us two? She was making sure Joey was okay with sharing a bathroom. She felt her heart skip a beat as she gave Noa a subtle nod — wait, should she have said no? The two of them would be inside a closed space alone. Not only that, they'd also be changing in front of each other.

Yeah, okay, this was a terrible idea.

Joey opened her mouth to tell Imogen she would stay with her and help her with the dress and all, but she never got around to saying it aloud. She already agreed, even if it was a silent gesture and the two other girls didn't know about it, Noa did. The girl would wonder where the sudden change came from since she had literally just nodded in agreement a few second ago.

"Jo and I will use Tabby's bathroom, if that's okay?" Noa said, glancing over at Tabby to confirm to was fine to use her bathroom.

"Yeah, go ahead." Tabby nodded, and Joey could have sworn she saw the girl smirk as the two left the room.

She shrugged it off and walked inside the room directly across the hall, but she didn't follow Noa into the bathroom. Although they've already seen each other naked about a million times, it didn't feel right to go insise with her.

"I'll wait out here." Joey cleared her throat, sitting down at the edge of the bed.

Noa arched a brow. "Are you sure? I don't mind changing in front of you — unless if it bothers you... then yeah okay I won't take long."

"What, no, it doesn't bother me. I just thought, you know, since you're with Shawn—"

"Actually, you know what, you're right." Noa interrupted, not really wanting to talk about her boyfriend yet again. "I'll be out in a bit."