Darkly Devoted (Book 1, 2, 3)

DD Chapter 18 - Pink

Chapter 18

VIVIENNE DIDN'T meet with Nicole that evening. Nicole had gone to the hospital. The doctors said Michael was slowly improving. It was understandable that Nicole wanted to be there when he woke up. For some odd reason, Zissa and Sam sent her a text message inviting her out to dinner with the boys on Friday.

Vivienne reluctantly agreed. With Nicole gone, she had hit a wall in her preparation for Satan's Hollow. At least, by socializing with her schoolmates, she might learn more about what was in store for her. Vivienne decided to borrow one of Janun's dresses for her dinner date. She guessed she needed to pretend, at least, to be the willing girlfriend.

Vivienne hadn't been able to avoid the news that Remin High had soundly beaten Lethe Academy in a recent game. It was a big deal because Lethe Academy had won every game for the last three years. In fact, none of the students currently attending Remin High even remembered a time when they had beaten Lethe. They said that Lethe Academy had a vendetta against Remin because the last three Grand Masters were all Remin High graduates.

Vivienne decided not to be a spoil-sport. She figured she would seem less strange and antisocial if she wore a festive dress to dinner. Luckily, Janun had nothing but flowery, colorful dresses in her closet, in various shades of pastel. Vivienne picked a cotton-candy pink dress with Marie Antoinette sleeves. She felt a hint of irony in tying a black velvet ribbon around her neck to attract attention to it. It seemed unwise, seeing as she was dating a vampire.

Janun caught Vivienne trying to sneak the frilly, rustling dress back to her bedroom.

"Going on a date?" Janun asked, covering her smirk. "If you go dressed like that, you'll definitely be a virgin into your thirties. I think I wore that to my kindergarten graduation."

"I'm just trying to fit in with the other girls," Vivienne said with a grimace. "Don't popular girls always wear pink?"

"Wow, have you met any popular girls in real life?" Janun asked. "Or are you getting all your fashion tips from the Disney Channel?"

"Fine, then help me pick something out," Vivienne said and returned the dress to Janun's bedroom. Vivienne stood around awkwardly while Janun went through her closet. Although they were sisters, she and Janun didn't have very similar body types. Janun was all curves with a round face, big Victoria's Secret model breasts, and pear-shaped hips.

As Vivienne studied herself in the mirror, she saw only skinny toothpick legs, a flat chest, and a sharp chin. She wondered if it would take a miracle for Janun to find anything in her closet that would look flattering on her skinny body type.

Janun was right about one thing: Vivienne didn't know much about popular girls. The only popular girl Vivienne had known well back in Lewisville was Allison. Vivienne chuckled bitterly to herself as she decided calling up Lady Maglania's host for fashion tips wasn't an option.

Janun finally emerged from her closet with a black tank top and a mini skirt.

"Here, try this."

Vivienne made a face. "Oh, Janun, I look like a streetwalker."

"Sometimes, less is more. You have the figure for it," Janun said as she eyed her own larger waistline in the mirror. Janun tossed a sweater at Vivienne. "And here, if you're cold, you can always just throw a cardigan over it."

Vivienne held the miniskirt up against her hips and admired herself in the mirror. It was made to look like leather, but its texture was more like pleather. She had to admit that it already made her look more dangerous and adventurous. Then Vivienne furrowed her brow and placed the miniskirt back on the hanger.

Janun's phone beeped, and she chuckled, scrolling through her texts. "It's Julian. He always sends me these cute cat memes out of nowhere. So kawaii."

"Kawaii?"

"Julian is half-Japanese if you must know. Don't you have a boy of your own to obsess over?"

"Not yet."

"None of the boys at Remin High catches your eye?"

I just started school here, geesh," Vivienne said, and then she sat down on the edge of Janun's neatly made bed. "Back when I used to hang out with Allison, she used to push me to go to parties, dress up, and meet guys. I used to think it was more fun to talk about guys with her than actually to date one," Vivienne smiled sadly to herself. "But now, I don't think I'll get to do that — ever. Is it too much to ask for it — to both be in love with a boy and to be able to talk about it with my best friend?"

"Oh, Vivienne," Janun said. "Stop moaning about Allison Devon. You had fun with her, she moved on, get over it. She didn't make you who you are — there was always a pretty, popular party girl inside you. It's not like you only get one best friend in life. Sometimes, I doubt you even get one true love."

"How about one true enemy?" Vivienne asked softly. Janun must not have heard her because she went back to flipping through her magazine.

"I'm going to order these heels!" Janun said as she showed Vivienne a picture of a pair of shoes with laser-cut butterfly wings. "Julian is going to love them. He's so fashionable and sophisticated — nothing like the other nobodies in this tiny town."