Butterfly

17. Cider, Parties, and Goodbyes.

Chapter Seventeen: Cider, Parties, and Goodbyes.

♡ Jessica Washington ♡

The day arrives for going out shopping with Olivia for a dress to wear to my auntie's wedding. Jasmine and Blake are out in town somewhere, fixing Jasmine's wedding dress, so I thought that today would be a good day to go shopping with Olivia.

Since Blake has been in my room, I've hardly spoken to River. Since being at the park, it's been weird between us. Probably not for him, but for me it has. He'll probably start asking questions soon about why I haven't been speaking to him, so I need to get my act together, basically.

"So, is there a theme for this wedding or is it just smart?" Olivia asks, as we walk into a dress shop to find something nice.

"There isn't a theme, I don't think. As long as I wear a dress, I think I'm alright," I reply, and Olivia nods, before we start looking around. While I find nothing which appeals to me, Olivia picks out about ten different dresses for me to try on.

We walk to the fitting rooms where Olivia hands me the first dress, which is dark blue. I take it into the fitting room and change into it, before looking at my reflection in the long mirror.

I like the dark blue dress, has straps on the shoulders and it is low and tight at the top, but at the waist it flows out into a loose skirt, which reaches just above my knee.

"It looks good," Olivia tells me, and I roll my eyes.

"Well out of the ones you've picked, I like this one, the red one and the cream one, so you might as well take the others back while I try on the ones I like," I reply, and Olivia nods, handing me the ones that I like, before taking the others back into the shop.

I try on the cream one next, but once I've put it on, I immediately decide that I don't like it. It doesn't match my skin tone properly, and I don't think it goes with my hair very well, which sounds strange.

I take it off and try on the red one. Well, it's more burgundy. I try it on, and I decide that this is the one I want. The straps go around my neck rather than my shoulders. It is fairly tight around my chest, but changed into a loose skirt at the waist which comes down to about mid-thigh.

I take off the dress and change back into my usual clothes, before taking the dresses back into the main part of the shop. I hang up the blue dress and the cream dress, before buying the red dress.

"So, how are things between you and River?" Olivia asks, curiously, as she starts looking around the makeup in another shop.

"Fine," I shrug, rolling my eyes. I should just start a gossip column aimed purely at Olivia just so she knows exactly what is going on in my life at every second.

"Really? Because from what I've seen, you've hardly spoken," Olivia replies, trying out a lipstick on the back of her hand.

"Once Blake is out my room I'll speak to him again, don't worry," I reply, rolling my eyes. Olivia raises an eyebrow.

"You better do," Olivia replies, before we leave the makeup shop.

We go into various other shops that Olivia wants to go in, before we start to head back to my house. Jasmine and Blake are back before us, and I see Jasmine's wedding dress hanging up on the side, now fixed.

"It's a beautiful dress," I comment, and Jasmine smiles from where she is sat on the sofa.

"Thank you. I bought you some drinks in the fridge," Jasmine replies, before Olivia and I walk outside into the garden to make the most of the sunny weather.

"Do you want a drink?" I ask, and Olivia nods. I walk back into the kitchen and see that the fridge has various alcoholic drinks in. I take out two bottles of cider, before taking one out to Olivia.

"It feels like we're celebrating," Olivia grins, and I nod.

"I don't know what we're celebrating but sure," I reply, smiling.

"Anyway, I was meaning to ask you something. So there's this party-" Olivia starts to say, and I roll my eyes.

"I'm not going," I interrupt, and Olivia sighs.

"Please? It's on Halloween, and I really want to go," Olivia pleads, turning her puppy dog eyes onto me.

"So? Go, if you want, I'm not stopping you," I reply, and Olivia sighs.

"I want you to come with me though, I'd look stupid if I turned up alone," Olivia replies, trying to persuade me. I roll my eyes, knowing that I'll end up agreeing to go to the goddamn party.

"Where is the party?" I ask, and Olivia bites her lip. Hopefully it's at least organised by someone I know, preferably someone I like.

"Tyler's house," Olivia admits, and I raise an eyebrow. Well, it's someone I know. I guess I asked for it. Someone I like, however, may be a stretch.

"So you want me to go to Tyler's party?" I check, as if this is the craziest thing in the world. I hate parties, and if it is Tyler's party, I definitely don't want to go.

"Yes. You probably won't even see Tyler. It'll be fun, Jess. Then you'll get the full high school experience," Olivia replies, and I laugh, shaking my head.

"I've had the high school experience, I don't need to go to a party to have that," I reply, and Olivia groans. I suppose I can drink away the nerves that come with a party.

"Please, I really want you to come," Olivia pleads, and I sigh, knowing that she won't shut up about it.

"Fine," I reluctantly agree, taking a mouthful of my cider. Olivia grins, bouncing out of her chair and hugging me.

"Thank you!" Olivia grins, before sitting back in her chair.

Olivia stays until after dinner, before she heads back home, leaving me with my auntie and cousin. We watch TV for a bit, some comedy show that is usually on just before the watershed, making it more child-friendly, consequently less funny. Then I wander up to bed, tired.

The next day, Jasmine and Blake are packing their suitcases into the back of the taxi, which I help them with.

"Well, I guess we'll see you at the wedding," Jasmine grins, hugging me.

"See you then," I smile, hugging her back.

"See you soon, Jess," Blake says, before he hugs me.

"Yeah, you too," I reply, before they get into the back of the taxi. I watch as the taxi rolls away, heading to the airport which will take them home. Every time they leave, I get an anxious knot form in my stomach. I guess it's just because I know that I'll miss them a lot while they're gone, but at least I'm seeing them again soon. I walk back inside my house after they are out of sight, and head up to my room where I start my homework.

~*~

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hey, I hope you liked the chapter! Sorry it's late, I've been at work all weekend and haven't had time to write as I've been given loads of work to do for school, which is also why the chapter isn't too good and quite short. If you did like it despite this, it would mean a lot to me if you dropped it a vote and left a comment? Thank you for reading, enjoy your week x