Dressing Up

Chapter 1 : Dressing Up

Lizzie walked into the empty flat and fell onto the couch with a sigh. She pulled the blanket off the armrest and wrapped it around her shoulders, cocooning herself and enjoying the rare moment of solitude. This dingey room had been her makeshift home while she figured things out. Cynth had been great at letting her, Lizzie knew it was only a matter of time until the other flatmates got sick of having her there. She really needed to make an effort to get to know them better. Ugh how could she though? They were so boring and she- well she was a mess.

The door slammed and Lizzie slowly sat up, slightly frustrated to have to be social already. 

“Hey babe” 

A slim redhead sauntered into the room and sat down next to Lizzie. She tugged at Lizzie’s blanket. Lizzie groaned and then snuggled into her side.

“So any leads?’

Lizzie shook her head.

“They don’t know what they’re missing.”

Lizzie gave her a wry smile. “Only one interview so far and they specifically said I wasn’t what they were looking for.”

The redhead hugged her, “You’ll get there, give it time.”

Lizzie hung her head, “It’s been three weeks. I dunno Cynth. Maybe it’s the universe telling me my time here is up.”

Cynth hugged her tighter, “Rubbish. Three weeks is nothing. Give it another two at least?”

Lizzie shrugged noncommittally. “You in tonight?”

Cynth shook her head, “Nope, sorry babe, Ryan’s taking me to his cousin’s birthday thing.” 

Lizzie nodded, trying to ignore the deflated feeling that consumed her. Perfect Ryan, was taking her best friend out again. He was like a goddamn fucking fairy tale, doing romantic stuff all the time. Not that Lizzie was jealous - she was happy for Cynth, super happy. She just hated everything at the moment.

Cynth nudged her shoulder, “Tara and Lincoln are going to a houseparty tonight. Why don’t you tag along?”

Lizzie scrunched up her nose. The last thing she wanted was to spend time with people she didn’t really know. What was the point? Without a job or a proper place to live, she’d be heading home soon anyway. Cynth nudged her again, “Come on. You’ve been moping on this couch every night. Go do something new. What better way to get over Adam?”

Lizzie shrugged again. Just the mention of Adam made her heart hurt. How had it all gone so wrong, so fast? The door slammed and Tara came in dramatically.  “Hello my people.” She tossed her long black hair and smoothed her black pencil line dress.

“Hi babe” Cynth jumped up and gave Tara a quick hug then pulled her closer to the couch. “So can Lizzie come out with you guys tonight? I was telling her about your plans and she got excited.”

Tara looked at Lizzie with mild disinterest. Lizzie kicked at Cynth but she giggled and stepped away. Tara shrugged cooly, “Sure, if you want. It’s Lincoln’s deal, but we’ve got room in the car I guess.”

Lizzie attempted a smile. Nothing like a forced, ice cold invitation. A party was the last thing she wanted anyhow. She wasn’t in the mood to pretend she was a functioning human, especially with Tara and Lincoln. She’d never exactly warmed to them and she doubted they would want her there anyway.  Lizzie glanced at Cynth’s hopeful face and sighed. Maybe she was being melodramatic -meeting new people would be good for her. She’d barely stepped out of the flat in days and sitting in the dark by herself only made her think about Adam more. She was so sick of thinking about him.