Page 1 of That First Night
“I’m not cut out for this shit,” I mutter to myself as I slip into a fancy ass dress.
It’s way outside of my comfort zone from what I’m used to wearing. I’m the one you’ll usually find wearing a black pair of yoga pants, an oversized tee, and my hair up in a messy bun. Certainly not this elegant black gown and dressed to the nines.
“Would you just relax, Pey?” Avery says to me from the couch. “You look fucking hot.”
I’m wearing a slim fit floor length black gown. It’s strapless and shows every curve I have, leaving little to the imagination as far as my shape goes. And trust me, I have shape.
“Kali, are yousureyou don’t want to take Avery tonight instead? You know how I get in social situations,” I say with a baby-faced pout.
“No Pey.” She raises her finger and points it to my chest. “You’re not getting out of this tonight. You promised me you would be my plus one to this charity gala.” Now she’s poking me in the chest.
“Ugh Kali…fine,” I huff as I retreat away to her bathroom to finish getting ready.
I don’t understand why she asked me to go in the first place.
We are going to a charity gala tonight for her job. Kali is an editor of a popular fashion magazine in New York City and her boss contributes to many different organizations that support children in all different circumstances. Tonight's event is to raise money for children with pediatric cancers.
If it wasn’t for the children, I would be doing everything I could to get out of going. I am not the friend you want to take to a social event, because I am quiet and have social anxiety. Even tequila doesn’t loosen me up enough to be comfortable at a social event.
And Kali knows this about me.
She was there when I embarrassed the shit out of myself our first year of college.
All my life I had wanted to be a teacher. I love kids and I love being around them, which is why I’ve worked in a daycare center for the last two years. Part of the curriculum for first year students was taking a public speaking course. Our very first assignment was a“How to”presentation where we had to pick a topic to show the class. Kali crushed her presentation, of course. She has always loved fashion, so she did a full presentation on how to accessorize sweaters in the fall. The class loved it!
My presentation was a total fail. I mean, I ended up passing by the skin of my teeth. I did a presentation on how to make my signature vegan chocolate chip cookies. When I walked up to the podium, I tripped over my own chair because I was so nervous and that caused some students in the class to chuckle at me. My face became hot, and I probably looked like a tomato by the time I got to the front of the class. When I finally got myself together, I realized that all my cards were out of order.
While I stood there, the giggles from the class kept coming. I was already so embarrassed, so the last thing I wanted to do was make eye contact with my classmates. I knew that if I kept my focus on Kali, I would find enough comfort to continue the presentation.
Only when I looked up to find her face, she had a straight look of horror plastered on her face, almost like she was embarrassed for me. Giving her a little ‘what is it’ look, her eyes trailed down to my chest and then back up to my eyes. Her eyes got wider as if to tell me,‘Look down, sis.’
When I looked down, I noticed the top three buttons of my blouse were completely opened, exposing my thin white lace bralette.
I had basically flashed my entire COMM 110 class.
I ran out of the class so fast with tears streaming down my face.
I am forever grateful that my professor let me restart the presentation after I had collected myself and I got a C+ on it. I took that as a major win, because you know, C’s get degrees. And I’m not talking about my tits.
So yeah, the anxiety is real.
I have no idea how I managed to have two best friends who are total extroverts. They would prefer to go out on Friday nights, while I would much rather stay in and rewatch episodes ofFriends, drink wine, and eat cookies.
ButI promised Kali I would be there for her.
So here I am, in this tiny New York City bathroom in Kali’s apartment, finishing the last curl of my long, blonde hair. Shuffling through my bag, I find some bobby pins to style my hair half up to keep it away from my face and slightly off my shoulders.
I’m not the type of girl who should be wearing this dress. I wouldn’t consider myself to be a bigger girl, but I certainly don’t have a model type body. I am self-conscious of my shoulders and chest area. I have a little extra fluff around the armpit and it’s the exact reason why I hate strapless dresses, but Kali gifted this one to me and I found that it covered up my insecurities beautifully. Kali tells me that I’m nuts for being insecure about things like this, but as my best friend of 15 years, she's required to say these reassuring things. But wearing this dress, I actually believe her.
As I step out of the bathroom, fully ready to go, Avery lets out a low whistle from the couch.
“God. DAMN. Pey,” she says with wide eyes. “You’re a fucking knockout.”
Avery has no filter on her what-so-ever. We welcomed her into our friend group 5 years ago when she moved here from Vermont and was hired as an assistant to one of Kali’s bosses. We fell in love with her no bullshit attitude. Out of the three of us, she’s the wild child. She was the missing piece of our best friend puzzle and ever since, the three of us have been inseparable.
“I would literally fuck you right now if I had a dick,” she says as she walks into the kitchen to refill her glass of wine. “Maybe tonight is the night you find one to fulfill thoseneedsof yours.”
“Avery,” I say as I send her a pointed glare. “You know I swore off any form of dating after the last failed attempts.”
