Isla
“So?” I asked the minute I stepped out of the dressing room, hopefully.
It was a blue oversized sweatshirt that I found really really cute.
Riley looked me up and down, then started shaking her head.
Amy nodded in agreement and I tried not to feel betrayed.
“I mean… this looks exactly like what you usually wear.” She said carefully.
“Oversized and unflattering,” Riley summarized bluntly.
“You told me to pick whatever I liked,” I accused Amy.
“I mean…” she said, tapping her chin.
“I get the loose fit aesthetics if we are going for cute but we are looking for an outfit that is club appropriate.
So more sexy, more skin.”
“I don’t want to go to a club!” I said for the umpteenth time.
“Nonsense,” Riley and Amy said in unison.
“Every girl needs to go to Lila’s at least once.”
Amy winked at me, “Trust me, you’d have fun.”
I frowned.
Even though I’ve never been to a club, I knew I wouldn’t be changing my mind.
I’d watched enough movies to know club scenes weren’t going to be my thing.
Being in a loud room with almost everyone drunk?
Thank you, next.
“That’s what you said when you sold shopping to me,” I whispered begrudgingly under my breath.
I’d been ambushed.
Turns out Amy had lied when she’d tried to convince me that shopping was a fun experience, especially since she had sold it as some wholesome girls’ bonding session.
But it was turning out to be anything but that.
And then there was the fact that Amy had shown up with Riley unannounced.
Remember when I said I’d woken up guilt-free?
That changed the moment Amy rang the bell and I opened the door expecting just her—only to see Riley waving at me with a sweet grin and Amy wearing an apologetic smile.
Riley had found out Amy was planning to go shopping without her, and that was simply an impossibility.
I’d been asked if I minded, and honestly, I did.
I’ve never minded more in my whole damn life—especially after the short car ride from my house to the mall where I now knew, in disturbing detail, what Ryder and Riley’s children were supposed to look like.
The knowledge that I had nothing to feel guilty about, since they weren’t dating so it was technically not cheating, didn’t help.
Riley was nothing if not consistent in her pining, and I was forced into proximity with her, listening, nodding, commiserating.
I couldn’t help it, okay.
I was a sucker for unrequited romance.
Check my Netflix watch history!
But I’d believed that everything was fine.
I’d just grab the first dress I saw on a hanger and make my escape.
Well, I was wrong.
Because apart from Ryder, there was only one other topic Riley found deeply stimulating.
Clothes.
She was hoping to get into college as a fashion design major specializing in styling and it seemed I’d unwittingly stepped in as her latest test dummy.
Or rather, she was very determined to turn me into one.
“Just try out my selection just once,” she all but begged, shoving the emerald green mini wrap dress that she had been pitching like it was life-changing since we stepped into the plaza.
“Fine,” I snapped, grabbing it and entering the dressing room.
I was still mad when I stepped out.
Huffing, I stood in front of them waiting for their criticism.
But it was cricket.
They were now staring wide eyed at me.
“So?” My voice lost the maliciousness I had been aiming for as I looked at their jaw-dropped expressions, now wondering if it was that bad.
“I mean…” Riley recovered first and for the first time she seemed to be at a loss for words, “you look very very very different.” She choked out.
“And that was what we were aiming for, right?” I asked, a little unsure.
“Isla, I mean…” Amy sounded shocked.
“I get wanting to be comfortable, but how big are those clothes you wear again?”
“I mean…” I sputtered, unsure of how to reply.
I never went shopping like this.
I bought my clothes mostly online or sometimes mom did.
She had tried to make me into her little pin-up princess but had eventually given up and only bought me oversized outfits.
“You just look so different,” Amy whispered then quickly added, “but it is a good kind of different.
I mean I had an idea that you were working with the rack but this is nice.
Really really nice.”
Okay…
“So, we can leave now?” I asked, a little uncomfortable.
Riley eyed me.
“You’ve always looked like this… all this while?”
The sharp look on her face irked me and I’d parted my lips, about to say something along the lines of the changing room not coming with a body type…
Then, “Isla?” A familiar voice said behind me, “I thought that was you.”
I turned.
It was Jason’s mother and suddenly, my retort was forgotten and my smile was blinding.
Jason usually joked that he could never tell whether I was with him only because of his mum or because I actually loved him.
Diane Cole was my idol.
She was the Ceo of a consulting agency, had served as a beta for the former alpha and was supermodel gorgeous.
After exchanging pleasantries with her, Riley and Amy had gone back to browsing through the racks so we were now alone together.