A Year In Fort Lauderdale

Something About Night Skies and Tan Guys

Chapter Two

When we got back to the house, Cas threw me into the shower, ordering me to use ten times the normal amount of conditioner so my hair would be soft. she then put some product in it to make my naturally wavy blonde hair stay in place as it dries. Once finishing that, she rummages through her closet, searching for the perfect outfit.

"Try this on," she insists, throwing me a piece of clothing.

I quickly go into the bathroom and pull on the romper she chose. It's a black romper with a floral pattern on it, its length ending at my upper thigh, making me slightly uncomfortable. I get even more uncomfortable as I realize it goes off the shoulders, but happy that it's long sleeve, the sleeves loose and fanning out at the wrists. It's a very cute romper in all, just nothing I would choose for myself.

When I leave the bathroom, I notice that Cas has changed into a light blue romper, one with short sleeves and a small strap around her waist, carving her figure nicely. The light blue compliments her tan skin and dark hair.

"Wow Cas," I comment with a smile. "That is so cute!"

She turns to look at me while she puts in diamond earrings into her three ear piercings. "Wow to you!" She looks me up and down. "That fits you like a glove, a little short because you're a lot taller than me, but still very cute." She taps her chin lightly, looking at my feet. "Wedges or sandals?"

"Sandals," I respond immediately, knowing that I would trip in the sand and make a fool of myself. I'm not the most graceful human being on this earth.

She throws me a pair of tan sandals with black straps wrapping around my feet and ankles. They're very simple sandals, and make the formal romper dialed back to casual party style. Cas then pulls white wedges, the straps criss-crossing over her feet. She sprays her curly hair with a little bit of hair spray, then turns to me.

"Okay, let me do your makeup, and then we can go." I take a seat in the small stool in front of her vanity and she gets to work. She just adds concealer, light powder, little fill-in of my eyebrows, light brown eye shadow put onto my lid, and a little swipe of mascara to top it off. Cas starts to gather a small purse and I notice lip gloss on her vanity. I swipe a little of it on, its pale pink color looking nice with my complexion.

I take one last final look of myself in the full length mirror in the corner. I suddenly feel self conscious about my pale white skin against the dark romper. In my town, I would look amazing, but I feel weird about my pale skin while here. Everyone here is just so beautifully tanned.

"Are you ready to go?" Cas asks from her door, pulling me out of my thoughts. I nod slightly and we walk out of the house, telling Jenny goodbye as we walked out to the sidewalk. Cas points out the Grey's house as we walk past it. It's an insanely large one compared to Jenny's; the whole thing light grey in color with a dark metal roof and black iron fencing around the entire thing. It looks like it's two stories, and I can only assume it's as large on the inside as it is on the outside.

When we finally walk farther away from the house to the beach, I turn to Cas. "So, what are these parties like?"

"O.M.G. Teegan, you have no idea. They are so fun. There's music, and dancing, and food, and drinks, and then when the sun officially sets, they light a fire and ugh it's just the best thing you could ever imagine!"

The best thing I could ever imagine? I don't think that would be a party for me.

She continues to tell me all about her friends and who would be at the party and who wouldn't. I begin to take in the scenery around this place. Because we are so close to the beach, most of the houses are huge and as we get closer to the beach the houses are replaced with towering hotels and apartment buildings. Traffic is a little heavy due to it being the weekend and there are some packed areas on the streets.