Rosewood, December 31, 2011
"That looks great on you," Alison cooed in her best friend's ear, her glossed lips just inches away from Emily's ears.
Emily eyed the full-length mirror, specifically her reflection against the boutique's backdrop. Small, handmade shelves hung on otherwise sparse walls. Racks of overpriced sundresses and stylish stilettos littered the quaint clothing shop. It was just like Alison to insist on dress shopping in December.
Emily inspected herself while standing perfectly still. The strapless black dress with minor frills fell right above her knees, emphasizing her long, tan legs and muddy sneakers. As she exhaled slowly, Emily saw the frills dance ever so slightly, as if they moved to a tiny orchestra no one could hear. She smiled at the thought.
"But it looks better on me, don't cha think, Em?"
Alison's figure invaded the mirror as she nudged Emily to the side. There she was, wearing the same little black dress, frills and all. She did look better in it, Emily thought. Alison was shorter and lacked Emily's athletic build, but Alison had grown into her body this past year. The dress accentuated her modest curves.
Suddenly, the bell above the store's door rang. Emily heard the click-clicking of high heels and turned in time to see her other two best friends, Hanna and Aria, strut towards her. Embarrassed by her abnormally girly appearance, she hopped back to the dressing room and hid behind the thick, velvet curtains.
Still admiring her own reflection, Alison smiled at the incoming girls from the mirror.
"What do you think?"
Hanna was used to this question and had already decided on the answer before she even arrived. You couldn't be in Alison's clique, and consequently one of the popular girls, without a little ass-kissing here and there. Even if it meant lying every once in awhile. She would do what she had to to remain Alison's friend; it was better than being Hefty Hanna.
"It's perfect," Hanna replied with a toothy smile.
Alison twirled with affirmation, letting the fabric caress her skin as she moved. She closed her eyes and smiled while half-spinning in the natural light that was now beaming through the storefront windows.
Aria also smiled at this sight. She was leaning against shelves of expensive accessories, shadowed by her other two friends' larger reflections. Aria always seemed to be in the shadows, seemingly insignificant compared to her other friends. Yeah, she was considered the most creative of the bunch, but her artistic talent only got her so far. Emily was the jock, Spencer was the brain, Hanna was... sometimes funny, and Alison was their fearless leader. What could Aria really provide the motley crew?
"What's going on in there, Ar? Am I boring you?" Alison tilted her head expectantly, waiting for doe-eyed Aria to notice the smirk creeping on her face.
Before Aria could answer, Emily emerged from the dressing room, back in her skinny jeans and oversized tee. She smiled shyly at Hanna and Aria and then looked down at her sneakers. Maybe she should have gone for glamour over comfort, Emily thought. Isn't it better to look your best than feel it? At least Alison always said so.
"So, we're all in agreeance then? Yes to the dress?" Alison looked around the semicircle of girls that had involuntarily formed around her. This was where she felt safest, she thought, amidst her friends, shopping for party dresses. You could never have too many: friends or dresses. Another smile crossed her face.
"You look radiant."
Without alerting the others, Spencer, the brain and the final member of the "fab five", as Alison called it, was there. Dressed in what was considered typical Hastings' attire - a fitted sweater vest and riding pants - Spencer nonchalantly greeted the others. She let herself peer into the standing mirror centered in the middle of her friends and felt quite pleased with her altogether appearance.
"Well, thank you for finally showing up, Spencer. I don't know what I would have done without you," Alison teased.
Spencer took Alison's sarcasm with ease. After a decade of friendship and growing up as neighbors, Spencer knew when Alison was being playful and when she was truly upset. The latter usually came with a passive-aggressive smile.
Alison was really in her element now. She was surrounded by her best friends, all of whom adored her. Nothing could take this moment from her.
Still in the short, black dress, Alison casually strutted to the windows overlooking the other downtown store fronts. She spied children in petticoats flocking to their parents and single people taking their pets out for afternoon walks. She witnessed an old woman guiding her older husband to the town's only cinema across the street. She saw neighbors she knew and strangers she'd heard of. Nothing seemed out of place.
She turned back to her friends. Aria, Spencer, Emily, and Hanna had been watching her with piqued interest. Beckoning the others with a wave, Alison smiled, the sunlight illuminating her face.
"See, girls. This is what it feels like to have it all..." She let the sentence fade as she turned her attention back to the street.
She was too fixated on her own happiness to notice what didn't belong: the man hidden in the shadows just a few yards away.