Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Aria?"
To hear my name on her lips again is an odd feeling, like hearing someone famous say your name, not that she can be compared to a celebrity, but...
It's been almost a year since I last saw her at graduation. Of course, we didn't speak after our fall-out, and by some miracle, we were never in the same class. So, it's safe to say that we are complete strangers.
Strangers who were once best friends.
I realize that I am just standing there in a little black dress, gaping at her like a fish, so I close my mouth and swallow the lump in my throat. How do I respond?
"I'm sorry," I pretend to scrutinize her, planting a hand on my hip and cocking my head to one side. "Do I know you?"
It's like the dress has possessed me, lending me a new skin, a new persona that is more ruthless and more unforgiving. Ella's eyes widen, her glossy pink lips parted slightly, and it's in that moment that I know I have her convinced that she has made a mistake.
"Oh – s-sorry, it's just – you look like someone I used to – never mind," she shakes her head, flaxen ponytail swinging and her cheeks aflush. I feel the corner of my mouth curve upwards into a smirk.
"We don't all look the same, you know," I almost gasp at the way the words come out, almost passive-aggressively. She releases a nervous laugh.
"I apologize again, um, carry on," she sweeps her hands forward indicating to carry on and I watch her leave the fitting room area before wrenching the curtain shut.
Phew. I press a hand against the mirror and flick my glance to my reflection, wondering what Ella saw. With my hair twisted into a braid like this paired with this black dress...no wonder she bought my act. But I can't help but think that a small part of her probably does know that it's me, and that she'll forever see me as a total bitch.
Well, at least we'll share the same opinion on each other.
I walk out in my own clothes with the dress on my arm, instinctively searching for Taehyung. And I don't have to look far, for he is at the counter, and my heart drops when I see who he is talking to.
"Oh, so how long have you guys been together?" the smile she wears is as fake as the earrings that dangle from her ears, but Taehyung is too busy trying on the sunglasses at the counter to notice her expression.
"Not long, but it feels like I've known her for a long time," Taehyung replies as he slides off a pair of rainbow tinted aviators.
"Interesting," Ella leans her elbows on the counter, observing Taehyung. I wonder if she has a boyfriend, since she had a few back in high school, but never stuck to one for more than a semester. If she has one, she shouldn't be looking at him like that, and if she doesn't, well...she still shouldn't be looking at him like that.
