in my heart // n.h a.u

part two

Valentina Grayson never gives up a chance to get drunk. Whether it's just drinking with a few friends in the comfort of their own homes or getting embarrassingly sloshed at a nightclub, Val takes on every opportunity she can get. So, when her best friend calls her up during the week and tells her all about a Christmas party that Saturday night she's scored them invites to, Val knows she's in for a big night.

A knock on the door tells Val her best friend, Briar, has arrived so they can begin to get ready for the party — this might even be Val's favourite thing about parties, though the being drunk thing is definitely a major plus. She sets her phone down on the kitchen bench as her newest Christmas playlist (more than one, of course, because sorting Christmas-themed songs into different moods and genres is a must) is downloading on her Spotify app, and makes her way over to the door, unlocking it and opening it wide with a smile sitting upon her face. "Hi, Br—what the hell is in those bags?" Val asks, her eyes zoning in on the three large bags in Briar's arms.

"We should dress like candy canes," Briar says as she walks in, nearly tripping over her feet as she does so. "Found some cool striped dresses we can wear."

"And why are we doing that?" Val asks, shutting the door behind her friend. She also tries to peer into one of the bags, but Briar snatches it away from her before she gets the chance.

Briar only narrows her eyes towards Val for a split second before she marches to Val's bedroom and rips up all the bags onto her bed, emptying their very colourful contents. "You want to because I am," Briar says as she starts to rifle through all the clothes and decorations on the bed. "But if you don't want that, then there's an elf costume someone in here or a Mrs Claus one or—"

Val doesn't hear the rest of the options because the second she realises costumes are involved, her mind is spinning and her hands are almost shaking out of excitement. Val loves getting dressed up, so add Christmas into the mix and it's like all her dreams in one. "Wait, we get to dress up?" she asks, eyes flickering across the colourful goodies on her bed. Briar nods in reply, standing back as she peers down at all the options. "B, you never said we had to dress up!" she cries, grabbing Briar by the shoulders and trying to shake more of the confession out of her.

"I only found out this afternoon," Briar explains, then gestures her hands towards the costumes and decorations. "And I've been on a hunt to find the perfect outfit ever since."

Although Briar doesn't know it, Val is almost offended that her best friend never gave her a quick call to inform her of the brilliant news. Designing new costumes to wear — or, really, thinking up anything fun and DIY related — never fails to put Val in a good mood. Except that time when Maggie Porter's eighteenth birthday party theme was to dress up as someone or something that begins with the first letter of your name. Dressing up as Velma from Scooby Doo was Val's perfect plan, but the second she couldn't find the perfect orange jumper to match Velma's, everything went downhill. Val still doesn't like to talk about it.

Val tries to ignore her slight offense because they only have limited time to create their outfits for the evening, but if Val's being honest, they look pretty damn hot when it comes time to leave for the party. Maybe if they had a little more time things could've worked out a little more in their favour, but she figures most people will be dressing up as Santa or his elves, so Val and Briar's matching candy cane costumes are the perfect original addition. A red and white striped dress is the main focus of their costumes, though Val added matching knee high striped socks she had stored away from Briar's last birthday party. Briar also comes up with the bright idea that they should swap one shoe with the other and have one red and one white, adding to the candy cane effect. Val has never been more proud of her best friend.