Broken

Chapter 29

Chapter 29

The dress hadn't entirely been real inside my mind. Even after Rachel finally admitted she'd purchased the dress from our Vegas trip, and had it sent here, it'd been hard to believe I was really going to be wearing it at the dance. It was hard to still be disbelieving when it was hanging from the door just a few feet from me, but I was giving the effort my best shot. Its green, silky beauty seemed to be mocking me. There was no way I was going to be able to pull off a dress like that. Even assuming it didn't fall off of me, I was still going to look like a walrus.

"Stop fidgeting, Adri. It's just a dance, not a funeral, and if you don't hold still your makeup isn't going to turn out."

Rachel poked me in the ribs, and then went back to work on the last few details of my 'new and improved' look. I'd actually been trying to sneak a look in the mirror to find out how everything was shaping up, but it wasn't worth trying to explain. With the pall that'd descended over the pack once we'd made it back, it was almost certain she wouldn't believe me. Nobody even knew where we'd gone, but they'd keyed off of our mood faster than I would've believed possible. The results hadn't been good.

Jasmin stepped back around behind Dominic as I was watching, and for the first time I got a good idea of how the massively-piled style Jasmine had been working on for the last half hour was going to turn out.

Dominic frowned at my gasp. "Oh no, I really look that horrid?"

"No, you're gorgeous. All of you are amazingly gorgeous. I suddenly feel uglier than normal."

I wasn't sure my reassurance had been prompt enough, but Jasmin jumped in with a self-satisfied smile. "She's right, about how beautiful you look, Dom, if not about how pretty she is. James is going to pant when he sees you."

Rachel had started prepping for the dance early, doing first her own makeup, and then Jasmin's while I was still gone with Alec. By the time I'd returned, Rachel's youthful features had taken on a mature cast that'd make all kinds of boys wish they'd taken a risk and asked Alec's little sister out.

Jasmin had about the least reason out of any girl alive to be an expert hair dresser since her naturally wavy hair could just air dry and still look like she'd spent hours working on it, but an expert she was. The results of her efforts on Rachel's behalf were nothing less than spectacular, and the casual-looking knot of curls and twists was wispy in all the right places.

Even with Rachel currently an order of magnitude hotter than normal, Jasmin still captured the prize. Rachel's work on her behalf had resulted in a makeup job that was so incredibly understated, even us girls had a hard time detecting it. Her wavy brunette hair had been straightened and pulled back in what looked like an attempt to let some other girls shine for a change, but it just made her look like a goddess who'd decided to spend the night slumming.

Given who she'd spent the last hour being surrounded by, it was no wonder Dominic was worried she was the ugly step sister. She needn't have worried. Her features were even more exotic than Jasmin's, and Rachel had chosen bright colors that made her stand out much more than usual. James' macho cool really was going to finally crack tonight.

Maybe I could pull the dress off after all. Everyone would be so busy looking at the other three girls that they wouldn't even notice me. It wasn't ideal, but it was better than nothing.

A quiet knock brought us all around to find Jessica waiting at the door, her makeup and hair partway done, a dress bag slung over her arm. "Can I join you guys?"

Her voice was scratchy, and her eyes were red from crying, but she was putting on a brave face, and Rachel didn't even hesitate.

"Of course, Jess. We figured you wanted some privacy with Isaac, or we would've dragged you over here hours ago."