CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

"Rose!" Anna shouted, the bouquet of flowers in her hand falling to the floor. "What the hell do you think you're doing right now?"

Rose turned on the bed she was currently in, placing a pillow over her head.

"Oh my God, this girl is insane," her friend said before battling the pillow out of her hand.

"I thought you'd be ready by now." She screeched again.

"I am," she grumbled. The pillow had been taken away but there was no way Anna was going to drag her off the bed. They weighed the same at most.

To her utter disappointment and surprise, Anna started doing that immediately, as if she'd heard her thoughts. They struggled, and when Anna saw that she was getting nowhere, she grabbed her two legs and started dragging her down the bed.

"Stop, stop," she cried but her now ex-best friend ignored her pleas. Or what best friend forced her friend to go to a party, even outside of her wishes? An ex.

Anna won that round and she stood by the side of the bed, clutching her duvet to her chest.

"Please tell me you've taken your bath, Rose," she moaned. Then, clearly seeing the answer on her face, she groaned, pulled the duvet off by force and herded her into the shower.

"Bath," she ordered, looking and sounding serious. "I mean it." Then she left her.

She tried to hold out; she wasn't three after all, but she eventually gave in. For the previous two weeks, she had been the deadweight in their friendship. After a 3-years absence of asthma attacks, it seemed like she couldn't go more than 3 days without having them. Worse, she'd lost her appetite and always felt nauseated. If she hadn't been sure that there'd been no penetrative sex, she'd have assumed she was pregnant. Anna, however, called it depression. 

So, they'd both lodged in a hotel room because she couldn't bear the thought of going home to a lifeless house, and she wasn't allowed to be within 6 feet of her father.

She scrubbed her body and let the much-too-hot water course over her skin. She'd probably been lying down for the past 20 hours. She couldn't remember the last time she'd actually taken her bath, washed her hair or even eaten something besides ice-cream and crackers. She made herself do all that before she left the bathroom. She brushed her teeth until it shone, washed her hair until she was sure she was no longer breathing in air but water and forced herself to guzzle about two cups of the tap water. When she stepped out of the bathroom, she felt like a completely different person.

Anna was standing in front of the door. When she saw that she's actually taken her bath, she just turned around and headed to the closet. Rose had not gone back home and she'd been depending on the store downstairs or Anna's clothes to survive. She actually didn't have anything she could wear for the party.

"I don't have anything to..."

Anna shoved a gown in front of her, shocking her speechless. She collected it with reverence. The gown was amazing—magical even. It was a deep purple gown that shimmered and shined, with stones arranged around it.

"What is this?" she whispered.

"Just wear it," Anna said, her voice curt. "I got it for you."

She stared at her friend and had to will the tears back. Nodding, she wore her underwear and the gown. It fit like a glove. The arms were a little off, showing off a peek of her shoulders and the gown was long enough to cover her feet, except in heels. Next, her best friend thrust forward a new pair of gold heels, which she collected too, sitting down to put it on. 

"Let's fix your hair," Anna said with the same tone when she was dressed, and she did as commanded. Her friend walked her to the vanity mirror and magically produced hair products, blow-drying, oiling and combing before she arranged her long, black hair into waves at her back. She sniffed to hold back tears.

"I'm sorry," she whispered but Anna ignored her, adding peals and accessories to her hair. When she was done, she bent down in front of her.

"I'm mad at you," she started.

Rose nodded in agreement. 

"We both had an agreement where you'd use until yesterday to mope and prepare to take your crown today and..." her friend turned her head, sniffing back tears.

"I'm really mad at you." she finished with tears rolling down her cheeks. 

On the chair, she also had tears rolling down her cheeks, 'I'm sorry' rolling like a broken record on her tongue. 

Eventually, her friend stood up and she also stood up to hug her. They both cried in each other's arms.

"I don't like seeing you like this, Rose." Anna whispered, and she nodded in agreement.

"I know."

"I think you should get help."

She shuddered but whispered, "Okay."

They separated, sniffing and laughing at each other's faces. 

Rose looked at her friend as she wiped her cheeks, "Where's your dress?"

Her friend scoffed, "For what? I'm not going."

"Anna!"

"What?"

"You can't just throw me to the wolves and leave me alone."

"Why not?"

"Please."

"Nope. So, wipe those tears and let's fix your makeup. You can't go to your father's 69th birthday looking like this.

She twirled in the mirror, "I do look pretty if I say so myself."

"Yes, yes, just put your ass in the seat. You're so far past fashionably late at this point."

She rolled her eyes but obediently packed her butt back into the seat. 

By the time Anna was putting on the last coat of gloss on her lips, they were both doing their best not to look at the other person. Which wasn't entirely possible so tears still ended up streaming down their faces from the force of their laughter.

"Your mascara is original," Rose said, giggling.

"Of course it is." Anna responded from her position on the floor.

"Now come on, let's go. I hired you a ride."

"Really?" she squealed, running to the window with her bare foot.

She heard the satisfied smile in her friend's voice. "Yup."