Bitten (Once Bitten, Twice Shy #1)(90)
The small brunette couldn’t help but smile when Melanie tugged open the door. Her first observation was that her bedroom was as disorganized as her locker and her second was that it was very… pink.
Melanie grimaced when she saw Katherine’s expression, mistaking her amused smile for something more jeering. “Yeah, I know – I think this wall paper has seen one too many centuries.”
“Nah, it has character,” Katherine assured, eyeballing the pale pink slabs of paper. “My old bedroom back in the states looked a lot like this one,” she lied, hoping to make her feel better.
“Really?” Melanie asked, seemingly intrigued, before abruptly shaking her head. “Sorry, I’m sure you don’t want to talk about that. Anyway,” she heaved a pile of laundry away from what must have been her closet door, “I have the cutest outfit for you to wear.”
Katherine bit her lip. “Actually, I brought something of my own.”
“Really?” Melanie asked, giving her rumpled sweatpants a long look. She shrugged. “Well, if you’re sure.”
“Quit dawdling girls,” Penelope interrupted from where she lounged on the bed. “We only have half an hour to get ready, tops, if we want to have time to stop for supper at Fort Saskatchewan.”
With no more warning than that, she began to pull her top off.
Katherine quickly averted her gaze, gesturing vaguely toward the door. “I’ll go change in the bathroom.”
Without waiting for a reply, she grabbed her bag and exited.
Fumbling out of her clothes and into the scrap of fabric that was her dress was a little difficult in the enclosed space of Melanie’s bathroom, but Katherine managed. With more than a little apprehension, she looked at herself in the mirror.
She saw a lot of skin.
The dress was even shorter than she remembered it. The flowy skirt hit her a few inches above the knee and while the neckline was somewhat modest, the bust was only held up by two tiny, lacy scraps.
Katherine twisted a bit. And did she mention that it was nearly completely backless? Yeah.
So much for wearing a bra.
Steeling her resolve, Katherine pulled on the rubber band that held her hair back in a ponytail and watched as the wavy mess tumbled free. Brushing her hair to one side so it cascaded down her right shoulder, she examined her reflection in the mirror.
Despite her discomfort in the revealing dress, Katherine had to admit – she looked good.
Hoping that her outfit wasn’t too much, she reluctantly let herself out of the bathroom and headed back to Melanie’s room.
She realized as soon as she opened the door that she needn’t have worried.
Melanie was wearing an orange sweater dress with a sweeping neckline. Agnes was in a leather skirt and red halter top. And Penelope – well, Penelope had squeezed into a skin tight, leopard print dress, out of which her breasts threatened to spill.
“Wow, Katherine, you look really good,” Penelope offered when she spotted her lingering in the doorway.
Katherine refrained from commenting on how surprised the girl sounded. “Uh, thanks. You guys look good too.”
“What shoes are you planning on wearing with that?” Melanie asked from where she sat in front of a cracked vanity, fluffing up her short hair.
It was then that Katherine realized she’d only brought her sneakers. And wouldn’t that be a fashion statement? Pairing her sneakers with the dress she had on. A statement that she had no idea how to dress herself, but a statement nonetheless.
Melanie must have recognized her deer in the headlights look because she immediately bounced over to her shoe rack. “Don’t worry, I have the perfect shoes for it.”
Katherine shoulders sagged in relief. Before she could thank her friend, however, Melanie had pulled out what must have been the most dangerous heels to ever be created. Five inch tall, lime green stilettos.
The color would blind all those who dared to look upon them and the pencil thin heels guaranteed bodily harm to all those who dared to wear them.
Thankfully, Agnes came to her rescue. “She liable to kill herself on those,” she scolded Melanie before offering Katherine a pair of plain black ballet flats. “Here, I brought an extra pair.”
“Thanks,” Katherine breathed in relief before quickly slipping them on.
“Fine,” Melanie pouted, “but at least let me do your make-up.”
Katherine reluctantly agreed.
Ten minutes later, she was completely done up.
Truthfully, she hadn’t worn any make-up since arriving in Haven Falls so the foundation felt a little heavy on her face. And while she thought the mascara helped her green eyes pop, the red lipstick was a little – okay, a lot – much. Unfortunately, when she’d tried to discretely wipe it off, Melanie had admonished her and applied even more of it to her lips.
Katherine and Melanie waited patiently for Penelope to finish French braiding Agnes’s hair before finally reconvening with the boys in the kitchen. They were munching on some barbeque flavored potato chips and the fact that they were still in the same clothes that they’d gone to school in – jeans and t-shirts – made Katherine feel more than a little ridiculous in the get-up she was wearing.
It didn’t help when the boys turned around and their eyes practically bugged out of their sockets. “Looking lovely as always ladies,” Jon complimented, throwing one arm around Agnes’s shoulder and the other around Penelope’s.