II. The Fitting
1:59, 1:59, 1:59… 2:00!
Diana had her eyes fixed on the clock at the head of the classroom. She was sitting in potions class on a Monday. Diana was getting increasingly nervous and was about to quit on the whole "Quest To Obtain The White Suit" altogether. On the one hand she wanted a suit so badly. A suit of armor that was made just for her. She had spent the yesterday daydreaming about it as she helped her teammates with their homework.
On the other hand Diana started to realize that she hadn't thought this whole plan through. Making up a story for the appointment was one thing but in the next 30 minutes she would have to show up. She didn't have a carefully crafted plan and since her magic wouldn't work in town, she was on her own. The thought of that made her heart sink.
Diana only snapped out of her panicked thoughts when she saw people getting up from their seats. Class had ended, and now it was go time. As she rose, collecting her things and trying to layout her next moves, Hannah and Barbara interrupted her.
"Wow! All of that was so easy after the help you gave us Diana!" Hannah exclaimed.
"Yeah we are going to do great that test Friday!" Barbara said.
Hannah noticed that Diana seemed distracted.
"Diana? Are you okay? You've been really distracted since Saturday."
"I'm fine." Diana reassured quickly trying to figure out the next step in her plan. "Girls, I won't be attending fourth period today."
"What?!" Both Hannah and Barbara exclaimed. Diana never missed class. Barbara stepped forward, but Diana tried to push pass her.
"Diana, are you sick or something?" Barbara queried.
"No, I have important family business to attend to this afternoon. I trust you both can manage without me."
Hannah and Barbara sat there stunned as Diana exited the room and headed down the hall. Once there Diana shifted her focus back to her plan. She walked quickly down the hallway, avoiding anyone who would question or halt her progress. She managed to make it to her room and grabbed her broom. Even though she had plenty of time, she hurried. The difficult part was getting out of the school, where people knew her. She slipped behind the back of a building and without halting took off on her broom.
After she gained some height Diana pointed her course to town. However before leaving Diana noticed Akko, Sucy and Lotte walking in the middle of the courtyard. Sucy said something, Akko got huffy and said something back.
Diana's heart skipped a beat. She hated it, the fact that she couldn't control her body's responses to Akko. The way she would get all flustered when Akko hugged or grabbed her and the way she loved to see Akko's bright shimmering smile. She could fight it all in her mind but her body betrayed her. She had feelings for Akko and it pained her every time she was reminded of it. Diana shook those feelings from her mind and leaned urging her broom to fly faster.
It was 2:24 when she landed at the shop. Her nerves were high as Diana reached toward the door to pull it open. She did her best to brush away any lingering doubts. The ringing of the doorbell announced her arrival.
The store was relatively empty with employees mostly stocking shelves and chatting among themselves. Diana fought the urge to leave and walked toward the counter. Her stomach dropped when she saw the same female employee. She hadn't planned what to do if this happened. The employee spotted her and stood waiting for Diana.
"Oh, hello again. Where's Mr. Cavendish?" She asked.
Diana inhaled deeply. This was it.
"The appointment is actually for me. I fabricated that story the other day. I was embarrassed." Diana confessed.
Emma fought back a smile and nodded knowingly. Every muscle is Diana's body was urging her to run out the door, hop in her broom and race back to Luna Nova. Back to a place where she was in control of surroundings. Here she was shaken up.
Emma called over a young man in the same uniform. "Oliva's not busy, is she? Good, have her take 2:30 and tell Paul." She turned to Diana who was still fighting the urge to bolt.
"Oliva will be with you shortly." She said.
"Wonderful." Diana said feigning confidence.
Although talented in many things, faking confidence was one of Diana's oldest skills. She had learned from an early age how to cover up weakness and project strength. Whenever Diana felt scared or insecure, she would throw up a wall of steeled, unwavering confidence and keep marching forward. That was one of the main reasons people admired her, everyone else saw Diana Cavendish: the brightest of Luna Nova, not Diana Cavendish: a witch straining to live up to her family's legacy and almost cracking under the pressure.
"Ms. I can take you back, now." Oliva said.
Diana followed her into the back of the store where the fitting rooms were. Diana appeared to be calm and disinterested, but she secretly excited. She never thought she would make it this far. She was getting closer and closer to her goal. She wanted to know how it would feel to wear that white suit. She could see it now, her personal armor fashioned from fabric and thread but powerful nonetheless.
Once they were in a fitting room, Oliva opened one of the cabinets and rummaged through it, searching for a measuring tape. Diana relaxed a little, now that the ruse was up she wouldn't have to lie as much. Although Diana still planned on covering up information about herself, she wasn't about to leave herself completely vulnerable.
"So do you have a name or should I keep calling you Ms.?"
"It's Diana." Diana considered giving a different name but decided against it.
"Alright Diana, I'm going to start off by taking some measurements. Then, if you want, we have some ready made suits for you to try on. Trying some on may give you more of a sense of what kind you would like. Does that sound good?"
"Yes, that sounds like a reasonable idea." Diana said.
She had to stop herself from being so tense. She reassured herself that she had made it through the tough part. Now she just had to go along with Oliva and everything would be fine.
As she lifted her shoulders and extended her arms for Oliva to measure them, she started to consider some of the consequences of this whole suit affair. Diana wondered as she obeyed Oliva's simple commands what other obstacles she would have to overcome.