Settling The Score

Part 8

I shifted uneasily, staring at my locked phone. I tried thinking of ways to get out of going tonight but kept coming up short.

Ten minutes. Lucy would be here in ten minutes and I still made no attempt to move from the position I've been slumped down in since I got home.

I was still a bit shaken from what happened at the parking lot, to be honest. Standing there frozen like a fricking statue was a very non-Leslie-like thing to do.

A loud gasp drew me out from my daydreaming. I lifted my head and met Lucy's disappointed looking eyes. She was wearing a flattering red dress, black heels, and of course, perfectly applied makeup, every curl meticulously placed.

"Leslie!" she shrieked, pulling me up from the bed. "This is unacceptable!" She left me standing there as she frantically pulled my closet to shreds.

"Since you should have been ready an hour ago, you will wear this, no complaints, and I'm going to do your makeup."
She tossed me a very thin-looking black dress, and honestly, I was too stuck in a daze to argue.

I complied robotically, but when I took a glimpse at myself in the mirror, what I saw was enough to snap me out of it immediately. There wasn't a thread of skin not showing. This dress left absolutely nothing to the imagination!

I was about to pull it off with a very firm "oh hell no" when Lucy gave me her rare I'm serious look.

Sighing defeatedly, I slumped down in front of my mirror. "Well then," I said with a wave of my hand, "Get on with it."

Lucy positively beamed as she applied my makeup, blowing out my long raven hair to fall in waves on my back.
She took a full minute just staring at me when her work was done.

"Wow," Is all she said, her jaw basically on the ground.

"Well, if I'm going to wear this ridiculously skimpy dress then at least let me pick my own shoes."
"Fine," Lucy shrugged as I grabbed my sneakers and ran downstairs before she could object.

*********************

I self consciously tugged at the hem of my dress, trying to pull it down in the process of getting out of Lucy's car.

Everything was still eerily quiet when we arrived at her house. I shot her an unamused look and headed for their porch swing.

She smiled at me apologetically. "Okay, so we may be a bit early, but I knew if I didn't drag you here myself, you'd have bailed. I just have some last-minute prep to do and then I'll be with you." And with that, she vanished inside.

"Whoa," a low whistle came from behind me, "You look beautiful."

I turned to see a smirking Mason making himself comfortable in the swing next to mine. He didn't look so bad himself, wearing loose jeans and a grey hoodie that sat snugly against his biceps.

I sighed, "You would think that, wouldn't you. Since this dress doesn't cover a thread of skin," I said drily.

He laughed under his breath. "Come on Carebear, just take the compliment. You always look beautiful, it's just that this is an opportunity for me to tell you that."

Rolling my eyes, I started swinging slowly. "I'm not falling for it, you know," I said, glancing at him sideways.
"Falling for what?" He asked innocently.

You know what.

"Hey, I'm just having a nice, civil conversation with you, that's all. Why can't we just be friends?"

Just friends?

"Just friends, Carebear, I promise."
The mischievous gleam in his eyes seemed to say otherwise, however, and I hadn't forgotten the little promise he made earlier today.