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Twenty
Mandy
The dress shopcomes into view, and I suddenly feel very nervous about stepping inside, despite having Erica's invitation to come here.
As if she can sense my nervousness, the door swings open and my fellow study group member."Hey!"She waves us inside.
I follow her, along with Evie, coming to a stop inside a shop filled with dresses of all different colours."Are you sure we're okay to be here?"
"Oh yeah, my sister owns the shop," Erica says."So you don't have to worry about any shifting or anything like that, all of the dresses here are made with that in mind."
"I'm not a shifter anyway."
"Yeah, but I am.Evie by the way."She holds out her hand to the other girl.
"Erica," she responds.
"Thanks for doing this for us, I can't believe the end-of-year ball is almost here," Evie says.
"No problem, I actually wanted someone to try some dresses on with anyway.So what are you thinking?"
"I have no idea," I admit.
"All right, why don't you have a look around, and when you find something you want to try on, there's a changing room there, and plenty of mirrors."She gestures to the corner of the room.
I nod and head over to one of the racks, smoothing my hand over the various dresses, looking for the one that feels right.
I catch sight of a deep purple dress that reminds me a little of the colour of my wings and take it off the rack."I think I'll try this one on," I say without thinking.
"We want to see you in it," Evie says.
"If it gets past my approval, you will," I respond, heading into the changing room.
I draw the curtain across and look at the dress again.It's nothing like I'd have picked a few months ago, especially the fact that it doesn't have a back, meaning the marks from my wings will be on full display.
But I guess my relationship to them has changed a lot since meeting Darius and being able to work through some of my own feelings about my sexuality and my magic.
I strip off my clothes, shivering as the cool air hits my skin.Some of that goes away as I slip on the dress.It isn't quite the right size, but the moment I see it on myself, I know it's the right choice.The neckline is high, but it dips low in the back, and the combination of mirrors in the dressing room lets me see exactly what it looks like.
I suck in a deep breath as I realise how beautiful the marks on my back look, especially when the colour is the perfect match for the dress I've chosen.
"So?Do we get to see?"Evie asks.
I pull back the curtain and step out so they can see."What do you think?"
"I think you'll risk Darius only being able to think about one thing all night," Erica says.
Evie and I exchange a look, but I don't correct the other girl.Mostly because this isn't the place to start trying to explain the ins and outs of my relationship with Darius.
"He'll love the dress if you do," Evie says."Turn around?"
I do as she asks, getting a small gasp from my best friend."It's backless."
I nod."Yeah."
"Well, I'd never have picked that out for you."
"Me neither, but I like it."I run my hands down the fabric."But I might need a size smaller."
