Things Money Can't Buy

Chapter 10

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Maddie, Megan, Ian, and I met up at the mall over the weekend to find some Halloween costumes. There was a specialty Halloween store in the mall, so we immediately headed over there.

I was having a tough time deciding where to even start with looking for a costume. Megan and Maddie were both pretty confident, so they felt comfortable showing a lot of skin. I didn't, and the majority of the women's costumes tended to be revealing. There wasn't anything wrong with wearing a revealing costume, but it just wasn't for me.

Ian immediately found his costume as he said it 'called to him'--it was one of those costumes where it looks like an ax is slicing through your head.

"It called to you?" Megan laughed. "What does that say about you?"

I laughed. Ian clearly didn't care much about costumes as he chose something within five seconds of walking into the store.

He shrugged. "It says a lot. Well, I've got my costume. I guess I'll just be standing here for the next three hours while you guys find something to impress Mr. Bennett."

That was probably true. Maddie and Megan were definitely not going to stop until they found something sexy enough. Surprisingly, Maddie and Megan got along great. This was their first time meeting each other, but they instantly clicked from their shared interest in multiple celebrities... one of them being, of course, Jason Bennett.

"I love this!" Megan exclaimed, pulling up a sexy pirate costume. "I'm going to try it on."

Megan was very thin and petite, so nearly anything she tried on fit her. The pirate costume was stunning; it wasn't surprising when she bought it for herself.

Maddie's face indicated that she was more than a little disappointed with the store. She had been shopping in the plus-size section, which didn't have nearly as many cute costumes and had a lot less stuff in general.

Knowing that I'd need Maddie's help with my costume, it was my goal to help her find the perfect costume. Earlier, after looking in the unisex costumes section, Maddie had physically walked over, grabbed me by the shirt, and dragged me back to the women's section, which made me laugh. It was a guarantee that Maddie would lecture me if my costume wasn't sexy enough.

"What about this?" I asked Maddie. In my hand was a sexy, black cat costume with ears and a tail. 

"Oh, that's cute!" Maddie squealed.

Maddie decided to try it on. When she came out, she was beaming; it looked amazing on her. She was grinning ear-to-ear with confidence. Without a doubt, that was the one.

Since I was a 'special case', everyone decided to help me find a costume. Whenever they held up a costume that was too revealing, I shook my head.

"Come on, Anna! Live a little!" Maddie groaned.

Even though it seemed like it sometimes, Maddie never forced me into doing things that I didn't want to do. Pressured? Yes, but she was always nice about it. She was definitely the cheerleader in my life, encouraging me to branch outside of my comfort zone. Sometimes I needed that, and we were usually able to find a compromise. She was a good friend.

"What about this? This is cool," Ian said. He was holding up a Wonder Woman costume.

I grinned. "I love Wonder Woman!"

While it was pretty revealing, that was how the costume was meant to be in the comics and movies. Taking it from Ian's hand, I beelined for the dressing room. The costume was actually really good quality for a Halloween costume, but what surprised me was that I actually felt sexy in it. The top of the dress was low-cut and emphasized my cleavage, but not excessively so, and the skirt reached a little above mid-thigh.

When I stepped out of the dressing room, Maddie squealed. "See, Anna, this is what you've been hiding from the world! God, Jason's jaw is going to drop when he sees you," Maddie said dreamily. "And I'll be there to see it."

I blushed. "No, it's not!"

Megan rolled her eyes. "Girl, Jason's obsessed with you."

"No, he's not. He just bosses me around."

"He probably gets off on doing that to you," Maddie pointed out, wiggling her eyebrows.

"God, I love dominant men," Megan chimed in, her eyes dreamy. "I'd do anything he asked me to do."

I blushed. "Stop saying that stuff in public, guys!"

I was embarrassed to admit it, but the thought of Jason being dominant in bed made my face feel hot. My ex-boyfriend from a few years ago was the only guy I'd ever had sex with, and he hadn't been able to satisfy me in the way that I needed. I wanted him to be rough and aggressive with me, but he never felt comfortable doing that.

Wait... what were my friends doing to me? I didn't want Jason.

"He so wants you," Maddie said as if reading my thoughts.

My response was to fake-gag as I continued lying to myself. "Gross. Jason's just annoying. I don't even care what he thinks about me." 

Maddie gave me a dismissive wave of her hand. "Yeah, yeah, we'll see what happens at the Halloween party."

After we bought our costumes, the four of us had dinner together, which was incredible. It was a relief that Maddie and my work friends got along so well. Eventually, we went our separate ways.

When I got back to my apartment, I decided to try on the full costume, including the dress, the boots, the headband, and the gauntlets. 

It was then time to look at myself in the mirror. Never in my life had I felt confident in my body before. It was something that had always been a struggle for me. 

I was a short, pale girl with long, wavy dark brown hair, green eyes, and a medium-size frame. I was curvy. Some people would kill to have the curvy body type, but the dream for me was to be tall and thin. It was ironic how many women seemed to always want the one body type that they didn't have. My boobs were my favorite feature because of their large size, but my hips and thighs were thick, which was something that made me self-conscious. It shouldn't make me feel self-conscious, but it did.

Then there was Jason, of course, who was perfect in every way. He was tall with a slightly tanned, muscular frame, and a chiseled jawline. His appearance was the prime example of masculinity. Jason's 'type' of woman was probably someone like his assistant, Natalie, or another gorgeous, wealthy woman.

While Maddie definitely disagreed, my appearance was very average. I sighed. My low-self esteem always got to me, and it sucked. I wanted to have fun at this Halloween party with Maddie, Ian, and Megan, and there was no way I was going to let my negative body image ruin the night for me. I wasn't dressing sexy to impress anybody, especially not Jason. I was dressing this way to feel good about myself for once.

Looking in the mirror again and smiling, I forced myself to acknowledge something:

I looked good. 

~*~