Not That Hard

2. Make a move

2: Make a move 

Three hours. Three long hours the girls walked through the mall looking for the perfect outfit and getting pampered. Stevie dragged her feet as she begged Rory to eat since lunch time quickly came and went during their haul. "It's almost two, Rory. We haven't had lunch and I'm starving!"

Rory stops in her tracks laughing at Stevie, "Stevie, I literally asked you if you were hungry, like, 30 minutes ago!"

Stevie deeply signed, "I wasn't hungry then, but I'm hungry now!" Rory says nothing, just grabs Stevie by the hand and pulls her in the direction of the food court.

"What are we feeling today?," Rory asks, standing at the table that they decided to claim their own. Stevie doesn't reply, as a stranger catches her eyes. As she looks in his direction, shyly, he looks up as well, making brief eye contact.

"Stevie? Did you hear me?," Rory asks, not realizing what was going on with her friend just yet. She followed Stevie's gaze after not hearing what her friend wanted to eat. "Go give him your number," she said casually. Stevie just about choked on air when hearing that.

"RJ, I can't just go up and give him my number! What if he has a girlfriend? Or better yet, married?! I can't tell you how many old peers have gotten married since we graduated, maybe he is someone who got married young too," Stevie rambles on. Rory doesn't pay any mind to her words as she writes down her number on a piece of paper and sticks it in Stevie's hand.

"Babe, the worst that can happen is that he won't text you. No harm down, girl. you'll probably never see him again if that happens and that's okay," Rory says, dragging out the 'okay'. She nods and then slowly turns, shaking with anxiety, as she steadily makes her way towards the group of guys.

So many 'what if's' make their way through her head as she walks, step by step. 'What if they laugh at me when I walk away', 'what if I become their joke', 'what If they don't even wait for me to leave, and laugh in my face'. The second they entered her head, she pushed them aside. She needs this, she needs to get out of this box she's created for herself. Like a switch, she channeled her inner Rory.

She slides her number towards the brunette boy, smiling sickly sweet, "hey, I'm Stevie and that's my number. Maybe you could text me some time." Without waiting for an answer, she steps backwards a few times, before turning back around and heading back toward Rory.

The look on Rory's face can only be described as amazement. Never once has Rory witnessed Stevie embrace the hot, bad ass, woman that she is. Sometimes she's wanted to grab the other girl and shake the insecurities out of her. She was a beautiful girl, with an amazing full figured body, and an even more amazing personality. Any guy would be a sucker to turn her down. She just wished Stevie would open her damn eyes and see, for once.

"Oh. My. Heavens. You did it! You actually did it," Rory exclaims as Stevie struts back, attempting to walk as gracefully as possible.

"Yeah, I know. Now please, can we get some take out and get out of here before I start crying?," Stevie laughs, over exaggerating.

"This is a celebration lunch and a celebration calls for waffle fries and Dr. Pepper!," Rory giggles as they shuffle to the Chick-Fil-A line.

☽ ☾

Once home, the girls ate their lunch and decided to part ways until it was time to get ready for the party. They agreed to shower and prepare themselves before meeting at Stevie's to do makeup and hair. Not only was Stevie going to school for fashion design, she was also a freelance makeup artist and photographer, just like everyone and their grandmother in LA. Even though this was common, she felt as if she had something that others didn't. She had a reason and a calling to go against the competition. Anytime the girls had a reason to get all dolled, Stevie took the opportunity to throw together a little photo shoot to both advertise her skills on social media and further expand her photography portfolio.

She stood in the mirror, admiring the dress that Rory helped her pick out. The dress was simple, a little on the shorter side, white, and had a tiny flower print all over. The sleeves were her favorite part, coming just off the shoulder into a little puff. For shoes, she chose a neutral colored, open toed, heeled clog. The best way to describe her outfit for the night was 'cottagecore'. She loved this style because it made her feel dainty and pretty, approachable, to say the least. It's been a while since she's felt like this. While doing semi twirls in her full length mirror, she hears Rory unlock her front door with the spare she let her have. Grabbing her phone she walks in to greet her friend.

RJ took a different yet similar route with her outfit. She decided on a pair of fit and flare jeans and a cropped top that almost matched Stevie's dress. It held a similar sleeve, but sat more as a cap on the shoulder and was lavender rather than white. As for shoes, she wore a similar pair to Stevie's except darker in color and close toed.

"Wow, you look like a total babe," Stevie calls, signaling for her friend to do a twirl.

"Yeah, says you! You look so cute that I want to stick you in a jar and keep you as my own little fairy forever!," Rory giggles as she admires the way Stevie was able to wear the dress with confidence.

"Now this is what I want to see, girl! You in a cute little outfit, working your stuff," Rory says as she walks past Stevie into the restroom, smacking her butt on the way in. Stevie just laughs while getting her makeup ready to finish both of their looks before the mini shoot.

"Has food court guy texted?," Rory asks as Stevie focuses on starting her friend's base. Stevie thinks back to when her phone dinged signaling a message from an unknown number about 20 minutes before Rory showed up. She was too scared to open it, so she left it for Rory to open.

"Yeah, but I haven't opened it yet. I want to be mysterious," Stevie said, making an excuse as to why she hasn't replied yet. Rory grabbed Stevie's hand, stopping her from blending any further, and giving her a look. The girls were so close that Rory was able to look straight through the lie.

"Unlock your phone and read the message," Rory says with a small smile. Stevie agreed to after setting her friend's face.

Stevie unlocked her phone, feeling like she was going to throw up, and opened the massage. Outloud she read, "'Hey Stevie, I'm Henry. You know, from the food court. Sorry to break it to you sweetheart, but I bat for the other team, to put it simply. I'm very flattered though and if it weren't for my attraction to men, I'd so offer to take you out.' With a smiley emoji. Oh my God, this is so embarrassing!"

Stevie looks down at the message again to see a typing bubble appear, "and he's still typing," she cackles, almost whining.

"Stevie it's not that bad, at least he said you're attractive! What does the new message say?, " Rory calls back trying to sooth her friend through fits of laughter.

"'but I have a tw—', oh my," Stevie busts out in a fit of laughter, reading louder, "'but I have a twin brother, Oliver, who's single and you're just his type'," Both girls stop all movement and stare at the text. They look up into each other's eyes in shock before throwing their heads back, laughing.

"Ask him if he'd like to come to the party tonight and to bring his brother! Do it, Stevie," Rory gets out excitedly.

Stevie doesn't think twice before sending Henry a message, asking if they would be free tonight. He replied saying that he'd be honored to hook her up with his brother and hopefully make friends with the girls along the way, to which the girls laughed. With that said, the duo finish off their looks and get ready for their photoshoot. Heading out the door, both girls traditionally kiss the poster of young Paul Rudd that hung on the back of Stevie's closet door for good luck.

☽ ☾

Bee's Note: I wrote Stevie up to represent me but Rory is who I aspire to be. Just thought I should share  that.