you're the main attraction
the second that you walked in

Aurora Holland

"I'm telling you, this will look beautiful on you!" Paige exclaimed, holding another glittery skirt in my direction.

Despite knowing I had plenty of clothes to choose from, Paige insisted we go shopping for the party later tonight. She said I needed to dress to impress, and if I didn't know any better -- she was channeling her inner Vivienne Holland.

Dressing to impress was something my parents were huge about, thinking first impressions were the most important. Sure, there's a bit of truth to that, but in my personal opinion, depending on the first time you meet them, I don't think they're all that important. People can put on this fake persona and act like someone else, what matters to me is what they're truly like.

What their personality traits are, their interests, and hobbies. Things that actually make a person a person. Not doing anything they can to impress other people. 

"Maybe this with a cute shimmery tank top?" She continued to look through the racks.

The mall was awfully busy, but it was probably because it's a huge mall and a Saturday. I was already feeling nervous about starting school at Riverway High on Monday, but now I have to be nervous to go to some party tonight.

To make matters worse, I have no idea whose party it is. It could be an absolute psycho's party. There could be drugs and alcohol.

Oh, who am I kidding? There's going to be drugs and alcohol.

We continued to look through what felt like the hundredth store we'd been in today, and I just shook my head any time Paige held a top or skirt I didn't like up to me. She's got style for sure, and her style is beautiful, I just know that although they're cute now, the moment they slip onto my body - they're going to look ugly. 

It was like that from store to store, the only items we left with were things Paige saw and liked herself. She failed to find anything I was willing to wear, and so she just sat with a defeated look on her face as we munched on some cheesy fries in the food court.

"You gotta like some of these, Ror." Paige sighed, setting her lemonade down.

"It's not that I don't like them, everything you've shown me is cute. I just don't think any of it suits me." I admitted, wiping my mouth with a napkin.

Her jaw fell, seemingly shocked at my response. "You're saying... you're saying you've liked everything?"

"Yep."

"From the first item of clothing I picked up?"

"Yep."

"In the first store we went to?"

"Yes, Paige," I answered with an eye roll, finishing up the rest of my food.

"We could have already gotten your outfit by now!" She exclaimed, slamming her hands on the table.

People nearby looked at us, but I just smiled nervously before putting my attention on my cousin. "Paige, I told you I liked all of them."

"You're so insecure for no reason, Aurora." Paige leaned back in her seat, "You would look good with anything on. We could even try things on before buying them, and if worst comes to worst and what we buy ends up not being what you want to wear, we could mix and match with stuff we own."

"Or we could just wear what we already own," I said.

"You're telling me now that you're not being forced to wear the same crappy uniform every single day, you're not taking advantage of it?" Paige asked, "I went all out on every single one of my outfits in anything I did the moment I left Point Prep. Whether it be school... the grocery store..." She then trailed, "I'm surprised you're not jumping at every piece of clothing I throw at you."

"I love clothing, and I love that I'm not wearing a uniform anymore." I shrugged, "I just don't see why dressing all fancy for a high school party is worth it."

"Not just any high school party, Ror. This is your first high school party. You want it to be memorable, right?" Paige asked. "Look, now that we've both got food in our bellies and aren't hangry anymore, can we look at this from a different perspective?"

"How so?" I asked.

"You be more open to different styles of clothing, and I will be more considerate that it doesn't have to be a tight skirt and crop top. We'll find something we both think is cute, and I'll only put my opinion in whether I think the outfit matches or not. Other than that, it'll completely be your decision." She explained.

"All my decision?" I asked, "Like... all of it?"

"Well, not every little bit of it." She squinted, a pained look on her face. "You know I can't give you full choice. I just mean you'll do the looking, and I'll suggest something every once in a while. That way I'm letting you make the final decision and I'm only giving ideas on what to put together. You're not getting things thrown in your face left and right."

I didn't say anything, knowing that whether I agreed or not, Paige was going to ultimately make the decision on what I did. But this was big for Paige, as she usually prefers to be the one in charge of choosing my clothing.

"Fine," I finally gave in. "But I ultimately get to choose, and you can't rush me. I need to look at the options."

Paige squealed in her seat, clapping her hands together excitedly. We gathered our trash and made sure nothing was left on the tiny table before throwing it away. We began in a nearby store we hadn't gone to yet, the both of us looking at the different clothing choices.

I'm surprised she got my parents to give me the okay for me to go. They believed her little white lie, but then again she's never been known as the troublemaker she truly is. They had no reason to think she was lying, and although my mother was skeptical at first -- she quickly gave in when my father cut in and talked about how it would be good for me to socialize with the other students at Riverway High, and it could help me gain friends.

My mother being my mother, got excited at the idea that I'd have friends that weren't actually family.

I always thought it was okay that I had only one true friend - that friend being Paige. Sure, I had 'friends' with Paige when we both attended Point Prep, but the moment Paige moved to Minnesota was the moment when everyone suddenly wasn't interested in me anymore. Although it hurt, I was fine with it.

I'd rather have my one good friend be my cousin than have a bunch of fake friends. I don't even know how Paige can keep up with that sort of thing, trying to decipher who's real and who's fake - who has good intentions and who has bad intentions. It all seems like too much work, and I'd much rather prefer being alone anyway.

Although, I will admit, getting lonely isn't always fun. It's nice to have someone to chat with and even just lay around with, and Paige wasn't exactly the type of person who liked lying around.

It took forever, but we finally decided on outfits. We also bought a couple of extra pieces of clothing as our 'decoy' clothing. We needed clothing to wear leaving the house so my parents didn't get suspicious we were dressing up.

Paige's idea was to wear the decoy clothing, then she would go park in an abandoned parking lot where we would switch into the clothing we actually planned on wearing for the night. Our hair and makeup would already be done, but we both agreed to keep it minimal so my parents didn't get curious.

It wasn't long before we were just goofing around, taking up a bit of extra time before it was time to go to my house to get ready. Paige had lots of bags in her hands, whereas I had a good two or three total. It was getting hard for her to carry all of her things, but since she's very experienced in shopping - she made it look easy. I found myself jealous of her at that moment, as although she struggled to hold the bags comfortably, she looked flawless and didn't show the struggle.

"Paige!" The sound of someone calling after my cousin caught our attention, and my eyes shot to hers as she began to look around for the person calling after her.

Her eyes widened and a bright smile appeared on her features, and she lifted her hand and waved in the direction behind me. The bags weighed her arm down, but that didn't stop her from aggressively waving her hand back and forth.

My eyes followed hers to see who had called after her, and I looked to see a group of teenagers heading in our direction.

Oh my god, they're all so beautiful.

It was a group of five teenagers; three boys and two girls. They stopped directly in front of us, their eyes on Paige.

This was how it usually was. I was invisible, Paige wasn't. Everyone's eyes watched her, nobody's eyes watched me.

"I didn't know you were coming to the mall otherwise we would've invited you." The boy in the middle said.

I'd still gone unnoticed, which was okay with me. It gave me more time to look at the beautiful people standing in front of me. The boy who had spoken was the tallest of the group, with dark-brown hair and dark brown eyes to match. He had tanned skin and a big smile.

The next boy was tall as well, with sandy blond hair and light-colored eyes. His skin was tan as well, as if he spent most of his time outside. As I looked at him, he seemed to notice and his eyes moved from Paige to me.

My cheeks burned at the attention, as usually I was only used to getting any type of attention if Paige were to say something to someone. He smiled as he saw me looking, and I just looked down at the shopping bag in my hands.

The others had yet to take notice of me standing there, and so I looked back up expecting the blond boy to have put his attention back on my beautiful cousin. Instead, he was still looking straight at me, a soft smile covering his features.

"I'm Cameron," He introduced himself quietly. He glanced over, seeing Paige talking about shopping and how busy she'd been lately.

Truth was, Paige hadn't been that busy. She was only 'busy' because she's been helping me get used to the move. She had plenty of opportunities to leave and go hang out with her friends, but instead, she insisted she help me and my family unpack, even going as far as to give me the 'grand tour' of Riverway.

Remembering that this boy - Cameron - had his attention on me, I looked over to see him looking at me. He didn't seem mad that I hadn't responded and instead was waiting patiently for me to say something. It was as if he knew I was nervous, and so instead of pressuring me to talk to him, he just politely smiled my way.

"I'm Aurora," I finally mustered up the courage to say.

"Wait, you're the famous Aurora?!" The voice didn't come from Cameron, and instead from one of the girls who had been standing in the group.

She stood between Cameron and the other taller boy, who made her look like an Elf of some sort with their height. She had beautiful dark-brown hair cascading in natural waves down her back, and she had deep-brown eyes to match. She wore a simple outfit -- a light pink blouse, skinny jeans, and a denim jacket. She wore flats to match her shirt, and she had a couple of layers of necklaces around her tan neck.

"My name is Bailey Letterman, we've heard so much about you!" The girl then exclaimed happily.

It was then I realized that this caught the attention of everyone else, including Paige. She seemed shocked to see that the attention was on me, as it never was.

"Right," She said, seeming to remember I was standing there. "Guys, this is my cousin Aurora. Aurora, this is everyone-" She motioned to the five standing in front of us.

"That's the worst introduction I've ever heard," The last boy spoke. "I'm Griffin Lakes, this is my sister Guin." He motioned to the other girl.

"I'm Bailey - as said before, and this is my step-brother, Cameron," Bailey spoke again, tapping Cameron on the arm. He hadn't said anything since his introduction, but part of me was glad as I already had more than enough attention on me.

"And this doofus is Logan," Paige said. She had motioned to the main person she'd been talking to, the one who called after us as we were walking.

He was the first boy I studied, before putting my attention on Cameron. He was extremely attractive, and I think I felt something in my body as he smiled down at me. I've never had much attention on me, as Paige is usually the center of attention.

And I'm not complaining. She knows how to handle attention, and I like that about her.

"Logan Jackson at your service," The boy said as he bent forward in a bow.

"Well, now that we've got introductions through," Paige awkwardly said. It was odd she seemed awkward, considering she's the absolute opposite of it. She usually knows what to say, and when to say it, and never runs out of things to talk about. She always knows how to keep conversations going, which I think is one reason she's so loved.

"Are you coming to the party tonight, Aurora?" Logan asked, seeming to ignore Paige.

I glanced over at my cousin, shocked to see her simple statement was ignored and that the attention was still on me. She looked just as shocked and just shrugged in response.

"Oh, uh, we're already going to a part-"

"We will be there!" Paige exclaimed, cutting me off. She fixed the bags on her arms, sending me a look. "Party of the year, right?"

"Something like that," Logan said. His eyes were still on me, and it felt awkward. "Sure will be when you guys show up!"

"We were actually shopping to get her something to wear for the party," Paige spoke, nodding her head to the side as if to point to me.

My cheeks flushed again, and I found myself wanting to be anywhere but here. I'm not good at things like this, and I've never had to worry about it before because no matter what Paige did to try and get some attention on me - it never worked. The attention was always, always on her. She would try and get at least one person's attention on me, but since Paige was labeled as the most beautiful girl at Point Prep, they preferred to look and talk to her.

It was different here. So far, everyone I've met is absolutely breathtaking. From Bailey to Griffin, they all looked like they could be models.

I clearly just don't fit in here... and I haven't even had the experience of my first day at Riverway High.

"Well we'll let you guys get to it and uh- we'll see you tonight?" Logan asked Paige, his eyes bouncing from her back to me.

Paige nodded excitedly, her grip on the bags growing tighter. "We can't wait! When should we get there?"

"Whenever you want. You can even come early if you want," Logan responded.

"I'm going early to help set up!" Bailey exclaimed, "You want to carpool?"

"Pick us up at 6? We'll be at Rora's," Paige said.

"Cool. Text me the details and we'll see you in a few hours!" Bailey exclaimed excitedly.

"Nice meeting you, Aurora," Guin spoke up for the first time since arriving.

"Yes, most definitely nice meeting you!" Logan quickly exclaimed, a tint of pink coloring his cheeks as everyone looked at him. "I mean- yeah same."

It was silent after that, an awkward tension brewing between the group. I just looked at the ground, too afraid to be the one to speak up first.

"Well, see ya!" Paige finally exclaimed, seeming to be back to her usual self.

She turned and continued walking in the direction we were trying to walk in before, and I quickly followed. I didn't bother to look back at the group, as my face was already flushed enough from the attention they had on me.

It was silent as we made our way through the mall, finding the exit fairly quickly. Paige had a look of determination on her features, and I don't know whether it be to get the heck out of the mall, or to get to this party.

Either way, I found myself a nervous wreck.

If that entire group of five were very attractive and open - a lot like Paige - then what would the rest of the people attending the party be like?