Shattered Rose (Winsor Series) - By T L Gray Page 0,57
wallowing in confusion and frustration until I realized how ridiculous it was. I was not going to let Jake determine my happiness anymore! I’d given him everything, and he let it go. Words…he was always so good at saying the right words, but never doing the right things. I was done. I got out of bed and headed to the bathroom to get ready. I had come here for one reason, to help Issy deal with her dad. I was not going to let my drama affect my friendships or my life anymore.
With my pep talk finished and my mind almost convinced that Jake no longer affected me, I went through the motions of getting ready for dinner. I opted for black dress pants, with a sleeveless cream and gray ruffled blouse that would work for the party if I needed it. I pulled on my gray cardigan sweater to make the look dinner worthy and touched up my makeup. My hair was a disaster, so I twisted it up with a clip to keep the wildness under control. One last look in the mirror and I knew I was ready.
I was slightly petrified of this dinner especially considering that lunch had been a nightmare, and this wasn’t even the house that Issy was worried about. I knocked on Issy’s door to see if she was ready and almost fell over when she opened it.
Issy had gone out of her way to take her punk look to the top of the charts. Every inch of her hair was a neon pink fuchsia color that had been flat ironed straight to reach her mid back. She had a black dog collar around her neck and a stud nose ring in that I had never seen her wear before. Her outfit was even more shocking. She had on gray and white stripped, knee-high stockings that stuck out a good six inches above her high heeled combat boots. Her flare skirt was gray pin-stripped with an attached chain dangling from it, and the skirt length barely hit her mid thigh. The most conservative thing on her body was the long sleeved black sweater with a red and orange flame that ran across the side of her torso.
Before I could even utter a word, Issy looked me up and down and scoffed, “You look like my mother. Don’t even think you are wearing that to the party.” She had her hand on her hip like she was lecturing me.
“First of all, I thought we were changing before the party, and second…you can’t possibly wear that to your dad’s house,” I exclaimed still reeling from the look.
Issy pulled me into her bedroom and shut the door. “I decided we’re not going to change. If I’m going to get lectured and judged, I want to make it worth it.” She walked over to her bag on the bed and pulled out a sage green shirt that looked like it only had material on one side of it.
“Your pants are cute, but you are wearing this top. You can keep your cardigan on until we leave my dad’s, but it’s coming off as soon as we get to Ben’s.”
I held up the green top. It was a beautiful silky green halter with fine beading woven throughout. It was cut with three crisscross straps along the back and fell just an inch below the waistline of my pants.
“Issy, this had to cost a fortune. You sure you want me wearing it to a college party?” I was being practical as usual, and Issy’s response was one of exasperation.
“Just put it on so we can go. Oh, and the hair comes down.”
“Issy, it’s a mess.”
“Better than looking like a frigid CEO!” she retorted as she pulled the clip out of my hair. I could feel my frustration starting to get the better of me, but pushed it down and took a deep breath. Issy’s spunk was what I loved most about her…except when it came to dressing me.
“Much better. I don’t know why you complain about your hair so much. Most women would kill for half of it.” She was done with my look and went about putting her things in her purse. She grabbed her car keys and spun around saying, “Let’s go!”
“I don’t think so, I’m driving,” I said taking her keys from her. Previous experience had taught me never to rely on Issy for a ride, especially when going to a party that included unlimited alcohol.