Page 140 of Falling for You
I grin. ‘Thanks.’
‘Can you make me a pair after?’ she adds, peering at the lace. ‘I’m serious.’
I shrug, laughing. ‘Sure.’
‘Are you going to wear a mask? We have to, don’t we?’ Penny asks Tanya, who nods.
‘Yeah,’ I say. ‘I just need to finish it off.’
‘You’ll look great,’ Tanya says, picking up her water bottle. ‘It makes me wish I was going in fancy dress.’
I pause, my smile faltering. ‘What do you mean? Are you not?’
‘Well, not really,’ she says, shaking her head. ‘I’ve got this amazing dress which is quiteBridgerton-esque and a mask, but it’s not nearly as cool as your costume.’
I look at Penny, who is curled up on our armchair. ‘What about you, Pen?’
She looks up from her phone. ‘I’ve got a dress, too; it’s not as fancy as Tanya’s but it is pretty nice.’ She turns her phone towards me to show me a picture. ‘I managed to get it from a charity shop.’
I look at the photo. It’s a gorgeous, pale pink, floor-length silk dress.
Penny catches my expression. ‘What?’
‘Nothing,’ I say, suddenly feeling ridiculous standing up in front of them in my bat costume like a five-year-old. ‘I just thought we’d all go in fancy dress together.’
‘We are!’
‘Properfancy dress,’ I say, flapping my arms stupidly. ‘You know, scary Halloween costumes.’
‘Oh, I’m sorry.’ Guilt sweeps across Tanya’s face. ‘The theme is masquerade ball, so I just thought I’d wear a dress this year. There will be lots of other people in scary costumes, though!’
Penny frowns. ‘Really?’
‘Yeah! They’ve hired performers and I’m pretty sure the waiting staff are all dressing up as witches.’
I raise my eyebrows at her. ‘So I’ll look like I’m working there?’
Penny snorts and I kick her.
‘You’ll look like the best-dressed person there,’ Tanya says, her eyes earnest. ‘Honest.’
I shrug, flopping onto our lurid pink beanbag.
Penny puts her phone down. ‘You are still going to wear it, aren’t you?’
I look down at my fingernails, and for some ridiculous reason I suddenly feel like I might cry. ‘Well, if I’m the only one I’ll look a bit stupid.’
‘No, you won’t!’ Tanya says at once, and I see the protective-older-sister side of her take over. ‘It’s so incredible that you can make these costumes. If you let me pass on your Instagram to some of my clients, you’d be working in Diorlike that.’ She snaps her fingers with such conviction I can’t help but smile.
‘You have to wear it, Annie,’ Penny says. ‘How long have you been working on it for?’
‘About six weeks.’
‘And you’re seriously not going to wear it because we aren’t wearing fancy dress?’ She raises her eyebrows at me. ‘That’s ridiculous.’
‘That’s easy for you to say,’ I say childishly. ‘You’re going to look like a princess.’
‘I’m wearing Uggs underneath.’
