Page 17 of The Summer of Us

“You do love your sales,” Paige said.

Olivia gave a dramatic sigh. “You know I do,” she agreed, walking over to a rack of clothes labelled 30% off, her sandals clicking against the shiny white linoleum.

The rest of the store was almost empty, except for the clerk behind the counter, and a young woman looking at dresses on the other side of the room, and every little noise seemed to echo.

Paige hovered by Olivia's shoulder as she began to rummage through the fabrics, tugging on sleeves before dismissing them with a shake of her head. “That's nice,” Paige said as Olivia pulled out a grey and blue skater dress with frilled sleeves.

“For you,” Olivia clarified, holding the dress up to Paige and casting an appraising glance over her.

“Me? Oh, I don't think so. Dresses don't really suit me,” Paige said quickly, but Olivia ignored her.

“I think it should fit, but why not try it on, just in case?”

Paige sighed. “Alright.”

“Perfect. I'll find something too, and we can try them on together.” She thrust the dress into Paige's arms before turning back, humming softly to herself.

Paige glanced down at the dress in her hand, wondering if it really would suit her. She was more of a pants kind of girl, and even wearing shorts was a stretch out of her comfort zone, preferring jeans or sweatpants on most days. But if Olivia thought it would look nice on her, why not give it a try?

“What do you think of this one?” Olivia said, pulling out a strappy black sundress with a sunflower print on it. “Too much?”

Paige shook her head. “No. I like it!”

Olivia grinned. “Alright then, let's go see what they look like.”

There were some changing rooms at the back of the shop, so they both slid into a separate cubicle and drew the curtains across.

Paige kept her shorts on but took off her shirt before slipping the skater dress over her head. She smoothed down the flared skirt at her waist and tugged out some of the creases before studying herself in the full-length mirror.

The dress stopped just above her knee, the material breezy and light. The neckline was a comfortable height, not too close to her throat but not revealing anything either, and the puffy sleeves were a cute added touch.

Surprisingly, she didn't hate it. Olivia always did have a knack for this kind of thing.

“Are you ready yet?” Olivia asked, her voice muffled through the curtain.

Instead of answering, Paige pulled aside the fabric and stepped out.

Olivia was wearing the black sunflower dress, and she looked stunning. It was shorter than Paige's, with a V-shaped neckline that just started to dip between Olivia's cleavage. Paige's throat went dry, and she had to swallow several times before she could even bring herself to speak.

“Paige, I love it! It suits you perfectly,” Olivia said, pressing her hands to her cheeks.

Paige glanced down at herself, holding her hands shyly behind her back. “It does?” she muttered, shuffling her feet. “You look amazing too.” More than amazing, you look incredible.

Olivia grinned, doing a little twirl so that the edge of the dress grazed the top of her thighs. Blood rushed to Paige's cheeks as she tried not to stare at all of the exposed skin. It wasn't any more than when she'd been wearing her shorts and t-shirt, but this felt different somehow. More intimate.

“You should definitely buy it. You look seriously stunning.”

Paige was sure she was just being nice—Olivia had always hyped her up in the past—

but her chest still swelled. “Thank you,” she said. “You too.”

She turned back to the changing room and Olivia stopped her. “Wait, we need to take a picture, for the scrapbook,” she said, grabbing her phone from her cubicle. “We both look so good.”

Paige uttered a half-hearted protest, but Olivia had already grabbed her hand, pulling her in close. She could hardly catch her breath as Olivia pressed her cheek against Paige's, the air trembling between them.

“Smile,” Olivia said, and Paige lifted her lips into a faint smile, the pinkness in her cheeks accentuated beneath the bright fluorescents. Olivia snapped a couple of photos, then pulled away just as quickly, leaving Paige scrambling to draw in a breath.

They changed back into their regular outfits, and Paige had to take a moment to herself in the quiet of the cubicle to stop her mind from spinning. What was wrong with her? Why was she acting like this around Olivia—her best friend for the last ten years. Had something changed between them that she wasn’t aware of? She didn’t understand anything that was going on in her head—or her heart—right now.

---