Close the fridge

"This. Yes. This is the one." I hear Shannon mutter while slowly lifting up a mask off of the local costume shop's shelf.

"Imogen, come here." She quietly calls for me.

I slowly walked over to Shannon.

"This is the mask. You'll look beautiful in it! Black is definitely your color. We have to get this!" She told me excitedly, and I saw that she had an aqua colored mask in her other hand.

"What about that one?" I ask, pointing to the mask.

"That ones mine."

"It's beautiful. You're gonna look amazing" I tell Shannon's while we walk to the front counter to pay for our masks.

"We both will."

}|{ • }|{ • }|{ • }|{ • }|{ • }|{ • }|{

Shannon decided to go dress shopping by herself, she said that she wanted to surprise me. When she got home, I saw the prettiest dress I had ever seen.

"This is so pretty!" I say with a gasp. "Who is this for?" I ask.

"Oh no one. Just a certain little girl by the name of Imogen..." Shannon says sarcastically.

"Are you serious?!" I ask with a grin in my face.

"Totally."

Shannon bought herself a white long dress with beautiful beadwork on the front.

By the time Shannon was done showing me the dresses, it was 10:27 pm.

"Let's go to sleep, we have a pretty eventful day ahead of us tomorrow." Shannon says after loudly yawning.

"You're right. Goodnight, Shan."

"Goodnight Im." She says as she settles in bed next to me and turns off the lights.

             ☯☯☯☯ 3:42 am ☯☯☯☯

You're scared about tomorrow, aren't you? I mean look at you, almost 4 in the morning and you're here, lying in bed next to Shannon with your eyes open and drowning in your own thoughts. You're afraid he's going to recognize you. You can hide your face with a mask, but you can't hide your voice. You're afraid he's gonna reject you. What if he doesn't? I mean, you don't have a recognizable voice. Your face will be covered. It's not like you're gonna dance with him or anything. Now calm down. Go to bed. You need your sleep.

I fell asleep as my thoughts swam around my head like fish in the ocean. One by one, they were going deeper, and deeper... til there was nothing left.

}|{ • }|{ • }|{ • }|{ • }|{ • }|{ • }|{ • }|{

"Wake up Imogen!" Shannon yells at the top of her lungs while jumping up and down on my bed.

"Go awaaaaay!" I tell Shannon as she continues to jump in my bed.

"Nope!" She yells into my ear as she starts hitting me with a purple pillow.

"Okay I give, I'm up I'm up!" I manage to say between laughs.

"Great!" Shannon says while getting off of me. "Now go jump into the shower. I need a blank canvas if I'm gonna work my magic." I laugh when she waves her fingers in the air like jazz hands.

"I got youuuu." I say while grabbing my towel and walking into the bathroom.

As soon as I jump in, my body feels relaxed, as if okay with the events that are going to go down today. As if on cue, my brain came up with one thousands reasons why I shouldn't go to the party. 

Calm down, you can do this Imogen. It's gonna be okay. The plan is bulletproof. Walk up to him, tell him you love him, then walk away. Simple. There's no way you can mess that up.

Knowing me, I can, and I will.

}|{ • }|{ • }|{ • }|{ • }|{ • }|{ • }|{

"It's already 3, and the party starts at 6, Imogen!" Shannon yells to me from the kitchen.

"Well maybe if you closed my fridge and slapped some foundation on my face, we wouldn't have this problem!" I yell back from my room.

"True true" Shannon says, suddenly appearing in the doorway.

For the next 2 hours, Shannon did my makeup and curled my hair to perfection.

"Can I see? Please?" I asked Shannon using the nicest voice I could make.

"No. Go out on your dress and shoes, and then you can see yourself." She tells me with a stern look.

"Okay. And Shan, thank you. I can honestly never thank you enough for all you've done for me. You're such a great person and the bestest friend anybody could ever have." I tell Shannon while giving her a giant hug.

"Aww Imogen, don't worry about it. You deserve to be happy. And you're also the bestest friend anybody could ever have. I'm so glad we met! Now go change!"  Shannon yells me, and I do what I'm told.

When I come into the room, Shannon is finishing her makeup, and about to start straightening her hair.

"Oh. My. God. You look amazing! Here, put the mask on" Shannon says, stopping what she's doing and handing me the black and white mask off of my bed.

I put it on carefully and then turn to look at myself in the mirror.

"Oh my gosh, Shannon! You're amazing!" I say as she shows up behind me in the mirror.

"And the best part is, he won't know it's you."

A/N: hey guys! Thanks for 600 reads! Holy sweet mother of pearl, I didn't even think I would get 5 reads lol! Thank you from the bottom of my heart ❤️ Also, Imogen's mask is in the picture above, the dress will be in the next chapter.

- Clari 💜