Aequalis

Chapter 13 - Just tonight

Clancy's POV

Leigh and I are sitting on the bed, waiting for Effie and Storm to arrive so we can start getting ready, because there was only one and a half hours left. Liv wasn't here, she was probably with her friends as well, getting ready and stuff. 
"Are you nervous?", I ask her, since she's sitting there, playing with her friends, like she does a lot of the times when she's tense. Or just bored. Actually, she does that almost all the time. Quickly, her head faces me, her eyes big, but then she lets out a big breath. "Yes, I am. What if this is my last chance to be able to catch Levin's attention?" Leigh's crush on that damn guy was massive, and I can't understand it, to be honest. I've never had such a crush. 
"Leigh, we see him all the time. He's the roommate of our best friends.", I try to calm her down.
"Yeah, but we never know when things are going to change around her. We are both above sixteen, we could be bought any minute." She's starting to panic again. Of course, living in The Lenimentum, you can never know what might happen. Food can run short and we would have to starve for days. Suddenly, the government can make a decision and ruin us even more. We could accidentally break the smallest rule and worst-case scenario get killed because of it.
Or like Leigh just pointed out, anyone above sixteen can be sold to a Satius. But that hasn't happened in quite a while. 
"You know that Aliums rarely get sold anymore. They just keep us here in order to make money off of us and have a feeling of power, and if someone does get bought, it's people who just turned sixteen."
I didn't see anyone get bought in quite a long time. I don't really know exactly what's going on out there, but it seems like people just don't want to or can't buy us anymore as they did when this all started. Maybe it's because of the poverty around the United States, or maybe it's more. But I know that there's no use in being scared all the time from being sold. 
Leigh's eyes fixate on the ground.
"Look. You can't live your life worrying all the time. Because that's not actually living. Just let go. Do what you want to do without thinking about these things. Like tonight. Tonight, just forget about what we are. Tonight, just pretend that you are normal. Not an Alium. Just Leigh Huff."
She raises her face, looking at me. "Can I?"
"Of course you can." I give her my genuine smile and she returns it. "We're all just ourselves today. No powers, just normal people."
She nods. "Okay." I give her a hug and she seems just as cheery as she was before looking glum. Finally, Effie and Storm enter our cell after we let them in. 
"It was about time!" I greet both of them with a hug, Effie being too familiar with it even though she doesn't really like hugs or any body contact and Storm almost jumping and shivering when I do the same with her. "How about we get dressed first?", Leigh offers. And we do.

The dress I'm wearing is deep red, just like my hair. It's short but not too revealing. It's a V-Neck and velvet. I pair it with a pair of black boots. High heels are too expensive. Regardless, I'm still in love with my look and the shoes kind of fit. Leigh's dress is beige. It's longer than mine, but still above the knees. It has glitter on the top half and tulle on the skirt. She's wearing it with beige ballerinas. It fits her image so well. Effie is wearing a short jumpsuit with a V-Neck, but not as deep as mine. It's black and it has shoulder straps instead of sleeves. It has yellow flounces on the ends. Effie isn't really a dress-wearer. She's wearing sneakers as shoes. Always comfortable, just like I know her. Storm's dress is dreamy. It's a crew-neck mesh dress – with a slip dress under, of course – and is flowy, just like the sleeves. The mesh reaches her knees and is black with moons and stars on it. She also paired hers with boots.  "You all look amazing!", Storm looks around in awe. 
"So do you!", Leigh returns the compliment.
"We'll look even more amazing after putting this on!" I hold up a tube of something that's apparently called 'Mascara' and another tube of lipstick. "Surprise!"
"Damn, how'd you get that?", Effie asks, her eyes widened just like the other two girls.
Well, it did cost me a lot of Croits. Together with the dress, almost all the money I saved up went into this night. The Mascara was 60 Croits and the Lipstick 50 Croits. Luxury items were always the most expensive. And these ones were the cheapest ones I could find.
"I have my sources."
"You mean the market as in sources? You didn't have to, Phoenix!" Effie doesn't like it that much when people think of others more than themselves, even if she does it herself because she's an amazing friend and person.
"Just shut up and let's put this on, okay?", I say.
We laugh and they all thank me. It's worth it. Just one night of pretending. What I said wasn't just for Leigh. I also want to be normal tonight. Just Clancy Phoenix.
So we all put it on.
"This thing works magic!", Leigh stutters.
Storm is the last one to put it on and she kind of seems to be unsure.
"Just tonight.", I cheer her on.
She smiles. "Just tonight." So she puts it on.
We all put on the lipstick as well. It's a darkish red. 
I go all in, putting a generous amount of it onto my full lips. Leigh turns it into a soft red and Effie does a little less than me. Storm puts on a bit to turn it into a tint of wine red.
"I have to say, we all look amazing.", Effie says, confident as ever. I agree.
"I mean, I spent almost a generous amount of my Croits for this damn dress! We better look amazing. I'm not going to be able to buy anything for a few weeks now, maybe months. It was pretty expensive.", I complain a little bit.
"I think we all spent a lot on our dresses. But it's worth it. Like I said, we look fire!", Effie grins.
"Just tonight.", Storm jokes, and we all start giggling.
Yeah.

Just tonight.

---

I'm so sorry I haven't updated in a long time, but I was in Turkey, without my laptop or anything so I couldn't really publish anything. I will update some more in the next few days though!

I hope more people will read my story since I really hold it dear to my heart. I'm working on another new story right now as well, maybe I'll publish it later this year. If you like this story, please leave a star or a comment or share it with your friends, I would REALLY appreciate it!!!