8. My best booty wiggle

EIGHT

MY BEST BOOTY WIGGLE

HARLOW

“Let me guess, one of these is for me?”

I walk into Lennon’s room and there’s about ten different dresses laying on her bed. I glance over the beautiful pieces of clothing and smile. Lennon has impeccable fashion sense and thank heavens for it because I’d be lost without her.

“Yes! Of course!” she shrieks. “I thought maybe this one?”

She points to a long sleeve mini dress that’s covered in black sequins. The neck is high in the front with a clasp resting at the nape, then opens up on the back until right above the waist.

“Is this not…a bit much?” I question, tilting my head to the side as I eye the dress up and down.

“No! It needs to be dressier because it’s supposed to be like a seated dinner party! It’s how they try to get people interested in rushing and stuff.” She smiles and gets up from her vanity. “Don’t ask me how I know so much. Those few dates with some of Beckett’s friends actually gave me a little frat knowledge.”

She picks up the dress and walks over in my direction before turning me to face her mirror. With both our reflections now in frame, she holds the dress up to me and smiles.

“See! Perfect dress for the perfect girl.” She kisses the top of my shoulder.

I take the dress and spin around to hug her. Maybe just for a night I can play dress up with my best friend and pretend my life isn’t such a disaster. “Thank you, Lenny. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Aw, Low, all this over a dress?! Have I really almost converted you to be a fashion lover?” She squeezes me tight then steps back before sitting down in front of her vanity. “Hey, that was sweet of Beck to stop by before tonight!”

My body goes rigid. “Yeah, well, kinda.” I walk over to her bed and plop down. “He came by because…” I let my words trail off, unsure if I really want to unpack all of this.

“Because?” Lennon quips, while leaning closer to the mirror, spreading a gloss on her lips.

“One of their fraternity brothers took a picture today of Shep and I, and sent it to Beckett.” I glance over my shoulder to catch her reaction in the mirror. She draws her eyebrows together, then plunges the lip gloss wand back into the tube.

“A picture of what? Was he upset?” She tosses her hair over her shoulder then casts a look my way.

“Um,” I realize if I tell her what the picture was, then I’ll have to tell her all that led up to it. “Talking. We were just talking. But yeah, he was.” I draw my bottom lip into my mouth. “Like, really upset.”

She gets up and walks towards the bed, sinking down next to me. “What do you mean? He seemed fine when he was here. What did he say?”

“He just wanted to know why we were talking, I don’t know. He just wasn’t happy with me, and I don’t think I did anything wrong.” My stomach knots up as I admit this. Lennon and I don’t talk much about Beckett, only because I know they’re friends and she thinks he’s a flawless guy.

“Well you know Beck, he’s just super into you. Probably sees Shep as competition? Or maybe he was just having a bad day.” She gives me a reassuring smile, shrugging her shoulders.

“Okay but?—”

“Beck is crazy about you-anyone can see that. I’m sure he’s not upset at all.”

“Lenny, I’m telling you, he was.” I try to press a little harder and hope she can hear the distress in my voice.

“Then the party tonight will be the perfect opportunity to make up. You guys are too cute together to fight.” She winks but it’s lost on me as I once again choke on my words.

“Okay, yeah,” I mumble.

“Perfect.” She gives my hand a light squeeze. “I don’t know how much time we have, so you might need to throw your hair up into a ponytail.”

“Right,” I say numbly, before getting up and walking through her door back into my room with the dress. Laying it down on my bed, I head into my bathroom and run my brush through my hair. It amazes me after all these years that it’s yet to turn green from the chlorine.

With a few mindless passes of the brush, I question myself and Beckett’s behavior earlier. Maybe it did look bad? I mean, yeah, my head was on Shep’s chest, but it was just for a second while I caught my breath. Would I be upset if I saw something like that of Beckett with another girl?

I shake off my thoughts as I gather up my hair and tie it off with a black scrunchie to match the dress. It doesn’t look great, but it’ll work. I put a little makeup on before shimmying the dress up onto my body.

Looking in the mirror, I softly smile at myself. I know I’m not ugly, but sometimes I forget how I look when I’m not in a swimsuit with my hair knotted into a bun. I walk into my closet and grab a pair of black heels, then sit on my bed to slide them on. My phone buzzes as I clasp the second one. It’s my family group chat, which can only mean one thing. Margot talked to our parents.

Mom

Hi, Harlow

How was your swim meeting today?

Margot-rita

Sorry, I texted them both this morning after our call. Don’t hate me.

Dad ??

You didn’t do anything wrong, Margot. We’re glad you told us. We miss you, fishy.

It was fine. I still have more rehab to do. Why don’t y’all come up this Sunday and we can grab lunch on Main Street somewhere?

Margot-rita

Is your traitor sister included?

Mom

Margot, you are so dramatic. Of course you’re coming. We haven’t spent time, all four of us in a while.

Dad ??

You know I’ll be there.

Great, well then I’ll see you all Sunday. I love you for checking on me, and just because. I’m sorry I dropped the ball by getting injured.

Dad ??

Don’t start. Text me or Mom tomorrow sometime if you want to talk more about the evaluation. We love you.

I set my phone down and try to not let my emotions get the best of me now that I’m thinking about seeing my family for the first time since I got hurt. I shake off whatever feeling is trying to settle in my chest and make my way into Lennon’s room.

“Hey there sexy, planning to go home with anyone tonight?” I lean against her door frame and give my best booty wiggle in her direction.

She spins around and squeals. “Oh my GAH, you are so damn HOT! Wow! Yes, I will be going home with you!”

She flips her wavy, brown hair over her shoulders before spritzing some perfume on her collar bones. “What?!” she says to me, raising her eyebrows.

“Sorry, but, who are you actually trying to go home with because that dress? Damn.” I look her over and admire Lennon’s figure in her own black dress. It has a lace bustier at the top then flares out into a silk mini dress. She’s a little taller than me and has more of a model figure than I do. The dress is perfect for her.

She rolls her eyes. “Okay, please. As if.”

“Uh huh, sure. Well, let's go before you and I just stand here and compliment each other back and forth for the next hour. I think our Uber should be here in about a minute.” I grab a small purse off her dresser and stuff my phone and apartment key into it before heading to our front door.