Chapter 12 - The Black Dress
Chapter 12 - The Black Dress
TORI's POV
I've never been much of a party girl. The loud music, overcrowded clubs, awkward conversations —it just wasn't my thing. And yet the next day, I was desperately looking over the clothes in my closet, trying to decide what to wear for Zach's party, or rather Zach's friend's party.
I kept on scanning my closet for clothes, and I had nothing appropriate to wear. Of the two of us, Chloe had always been the one to receive the party invitations. Since I was always with her, I was often included in the invites, but I always made up excuses not to go.
"I give up!" I said in frustration.
I walked out of my closet and laid down on my bed.
'What are you planning Zach? I thought to myself. Had he been planning to make me jealous again?
I thought of the day he introduced me to Samantha, that was really stupid. But he wouldn't do the same thing twice. Unless...
I had the worst realization of the situation at the party, which made me jump out of bed immediately.
He's planning to humiliate me in front of his friends!
It was just too good to be true. Zach being nice to me all of a sudden, then bam! There was always a catch. He would do anything to break up with someone. I wouldn't let that happen, and most importantly, I would let him embarrass me in front of his friend.
I rushed to my closet again and scanned for clothes. I have to look as decent as possible. My face was serious the whole time searching for clothes. I should go shopping. Seriously, I didn't have any party clothes here, should I ask for Chloe's advice?
"Tori, are you okay?" Sonia knocked on my open door.
"It's nothing, Sonia, no need to worry." I answered as I continued to ransack my closet for something to wear.
I didn't realize I was making such a mess until I saw Sonia walk in. Clothes were lying everywhere. I knew I was smart, but when it comes to fashion, I was a total idiot. 'Thank God for uniforms.'
"Big party?" Sonia asked. "I haven't seen your closet this messy before." She started to pick up discarded clothes off the floor. I felt bad seeing her arrange the mess I made.
"Oh, it's okay Sonia. Leave it there. I'll fix them later. Could you just make me something sweet please?" I smiled. I had to keep her busy with something else so she wouldn't have to worry about me.
"All right. I'll go make you cookies. By the way, something arrived for you today." I walked out of the closet and saw a box from Chanel.
"What is it?"
"I think it's a bag," Sonia said before leaving to make cookies. I slowly lifted the cover of the big rectangular box, unfolded the paper sheet covering the thing that I assumed was cloth, and gasped at the black fabric neatly folded in place.
My eyes were completely focused on what I guessed was a dress until I noticed a white card in the upper corner of the box. I opened it.
Wear this later. – Zach
I threw away the card and immediately lifted the cloth. It was a dress. It was a chic black dress. It was simple and elegant.
"Wow." Was all I could say. I was worried that the dress wouldn't suit me. It was kind of short, and it wasn't my usual style. But then again, I thought, maybe my style was just lame compared to this.
I shook my head and carefully lowered the dress carefully back into the box.
In the next instant, my phone rang. I saw it was Zachary and took the call. "What's this?" I asked by way of greeting.
"You got it. Good."
"Next time tape your card so it won't end up some place else."
"Noted. Thanks for the advice smarty-pants."
"So, what's this?" I asked again.
"Haven't you seen a dress before?" He asked teasingly.
"Of course, it's a dress dummy! I meant, what's the dress for?"
"That's a difficult question, Victoria," he replied sarcastically. "I don't know. Maybe hang it in your closet? Give it to charity? Or better yet, wear it!"
"I'm perfectly capable of buying my own clothes, thank you very much."
"Yes, I know," he said without missing a beat. "But I don't trust your sense of style."
The nerve of him! "Excuse me!"
"I'm introducing you to my friends as my girlfriend. We wouldn't want you to make us both look stupid in front of everyone, right?"
"Alright. Whatever." I remembered how short the dress was. "Wait. What makes you think I'll wear something this short?" I rolled my eyes and started pacing my room as I talked to him, agitated.
"Stop making excuses! Maybe you're too fat for the dress."
"I'm not!" I protested.
"Probably from eating too many cookies—"
"Stop it! Okay, okay, I'll put it on!" I couldn't believe I was having this conversation with him!
"Good girl. You really hate being teased, huh?" He asked, chuckling.
"How did you know my size, anyway? And how are you sure this will look good on me?" I asked worriedly.
"Well, your body frame looked the same as the mannequin that dress was on, so—"
"What!" I interrupted.
"How else was I supposed to know? I guessed."
"You could've asked me."
"Then it wouldn't have been much of a surprise, now, would it?" he said playfully.
What he said made me pause. I couldn't help but smile. "Anyway, the dress is beautiful, but I really don't think this will look good on me."
"Trust me. I have been to a ton of parties, and I see girls wearing dresses like that one all the time."
"More like hit on girls wearing dresses like this one all the time," I muttered.
"I heard that!"
I laughed, then sobered abruptly as I thought of something else. "Wait a minute. Are you trying to make me look goofy in front of your friends? Because if that's the case, well—"
"Look, just trust me on this," he said impatiently. "Stop making excuses and just try it on! I wouldn't have sent you that dress if I'd wanted that. You're my girlfriend, remember?"
I sat on my bed and let out a big sigh. He was right. I was beginning to understand the reason for his gift. Maybe he really did want me to look good in front of his friends. But then again, maybe he was doing this for himself. Either way, I guess I had to try it on.
"Hello? Still there?" He asked.
"Yes! Fine! I'll try it on," I said in defeat.
"Good. I'll pick you up around seven. Don't make me wait. Bye."
"Wha—" He hung up.
Why was I not surprised? I lifted the dress out of the box again and went to stand in front of the mirror. I held it up against me and looked at my reflection. I didn't feel very confident about this, but what else could I do? I'd told him I'd try it on.
This was a very bad idea.
* * * * * * *
ZACH's POV
What's taking her so long? It's almost eight for fuck's sake!
I stood up from the damn sofa in Tori's sitting room where I've been waiting for ages and started to pace. She was taking too long. Why did girls take so long to get ready? It was almost eight! Not to mention that her nanny was starting to give me the creeps.
"Is Tori ready yet?" I asked for what seemed like the hundredth.
"If she were, she'd be here by now, you asked that question for the hundredth time." She replied, sounding annoyed.
I looked at her and got my phone out of my pocket to call Tori. "I made myself pretty clear, right? So tell me, why am I waiting?" I said the moment she picked up.
"I-I'm not really sure if this dress suits me, Zach." She answered with a bit of hesitation.
"It's been almost an hour. For the love of god, just get down here!"
"All right, all right! Just don't laugh! If you don't have anything good to say, just keep your mouth shut or I won't go to your party!" She threatened.
"Whatever! Just come down already!" I flopped down on the couch for a sulk. What a pain! Finally, after a couple of minutes, she made her appearance.
"What do you think?"
I got to my feet, staring. She shouldn't have been worried.
"Say something!" She demanded.
"I thought you wanted me to keep my mouth shut?" I said with a smile.
"Come on, everyone knows you can't keep that thing shut." She said her arms in her waist.
"Very funny." I said smiling.
"What?" She asked. "What?"
"You're just... staring at me." She said irately.
"I can't help but.... stare..." I mumbled. What the hell was that? That was lame! "O-Okay..." I added. I was talking non-sense.
"I-I don't feel comfortable wearing this, feels like I'm only wearing a towel or something." She kept trying to tug the hem of her dress down, but I caught her hand and told her to stop it.
I didn't know why I was flustered the whole time. I couldn't think of anything else to say to her. I didn't want her to change her clothes. She looked gorgeous. I couldn't quite put my finger on why exactly she looked so amazing. She was hot, all right, but I saw a lot of hot girls every day. There was just something different about her.
She looked amazing actually. The black dress fit her perfectly, exposing her long legs. She was wearing a pair of black pumps with high heels. Her long, black hair had been curled expertly to look bouncy and natural, and her makeup was very minimal. I struggled to keep my cool because, for the first time I could remember, I was stunned speechless by my date.
"You look great, Tori." I said without hesitation.
"You're just saying that." She said worriedly.
"No, I'm serious. I can't look away actually." I said in the smoothest way I knew how. There you go, you nailed it! At least you're having a normal conversation now.
She still looked worried, though. "I just think it's too revealing. It's kinda—"
I held up a hand to cut off any further protests. "It suits you. Tori. I meant every word." I'm still staring at her all this time. She just smiled at what I said.
"What did I tell you? You look great, right? And here you are, ranting how it wouldn't suit you. Now, let's get going." I took her hand and led her to the elevator.
"Thank you, Zach."
"For the dress? Come on, it's nothing. Like I said, you wouldn't want to make us both look stupid in front of everyone, right?"
"No, not for the dress," she said, smiling. "Although I should thank you for that too. But thank you for not saying anything stupid."
The entire ride down, I couldn't take my eyes off of her, and every time she caught me, I'd try to hide the fact I was looking, like suddenly staring at my watch or fiddling with my phone.
What the hell, man? Be cool! You've been with a lot of pretty girls, super models even, and you can't keep your eyes away from this one?
"The dress really suits you, Tori," I said as I helped her into my car.
"That's like the third time you said that tonight." She eyed me strangely before smiling. "Thanks, Zach."
* * * * * * *
James have rented an entire lounge bar for his party. By the time we got there, it was already getting into gear. It was early, but I spotted a couple of people I knew already well into their cups. I noticed that my entrance has created a sensation, with girls looking over and checking me out. I smiled at them. The attention was nothing new, and I've learned how to handle it long ago.
I was looking for James, but he was nowhere to be found. He's nowhere to be found—he was probably in a private room with some girl. As I continued to scan the place, there were a couple of guys who were looking my way too. Probably trying to figure out who Tori was and what I was doing with her.
I looked at her and couldn't help but chuckle a little at the way she looked inside the club. Don't get the wrong idea, she still looked beautiful. It was the fact that her big innocent eyes made her look like a lamb brought to slaughter. I felt the urge to protect her.
The very idea of some guy hitting on her or, worse, trying to take advantage of her filled me with a cold kind of rage. I snaked my arm around her waist for good measure, just to send the message that she was hands off. Tori was startled. She was surprised at what I just did. I just smirked.
I wanted everyone to know that I was sending them signals and threats that nobody could touch this girl.
It worked, obviously. People started looking away, minding their own business. I could see groups whispering to one another looking at us.
They knew then and there, without a doubt, that Victoria Peige was my girlfriend. No one messed with what was mine.
---END OF CHAPTER TWELVE---
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