into the car's back seat with embarrassment. she could hear her best friend twisting the story to sound worse than it actually was.

"so then i open the door, and who was there?" marianne gossiped to charlie, retelling the events of just a few minutes ago. "no one other than neil perry!"

"sounds like you guys had a fun night." charlie snickered, looking back at an annoyed amélie. her face was red from blushing.

"oh my god, he was tired. we cuddled and fell asleep in each other's arms. is that really that interesting?" she admitted. her stomach turned at this. she was proud.

"not particularly, no." mari chuckled, rolling her eyes and continuing to gossip to her boyfriend.

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once they arrived at the mall, marianne knew where she wanted to go. "i want to go to sasha's!" she exclaimed. sasha's was their local dress shop, and every girl made sure to buy their dresses there.

"hold on, i've got to go meet knox." charlie glanced at his watch and then at the people passing by, hoping to spot his friend.

"why?" marianne asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

"because shopping with you is boring." charlie replied, a sly smirk on his face. mari rolled her eyes at this, but still kept a loving smile.

"and just for that, you're buying my dress." she replied, trying her hardest to seem irritated with charlie. she just couldn't. she loved him.

"i was going to anyways." charlie grinned, earning a kiss from his girlfriend.

amélie had to practically pull her best friend off of him so they could actually start shopping. "let's go marianne."

"okay." marianne grinned, beginning to walk towards the store with amé. sasha's always smelled so good. they both inhaled the sweet scent as they scanned the walls and racks of dresses.

"what are you young ladies looking for today?" a worker asked, approaching the two girls with a smile.

"we actually have a school dance coming up, and want to buy dresses." marianne piped up.

"okay, we'll give you each some options to try on." the woman nodded, pointing marianne and amélie towards the dressing rooms.

"thank you." amé smiled, walking towards the rooms. after a few minutes, there were tons of dresses hung outside each girls different room.

amélie tried on her first dress, which was a poofy blue one. it was quite unflattering, and made her giggle at the sight of herself in the mirror.

"amélie, look at this." marianne called out. amé peaked out the door to see her friend, and bursted out laughing.

"oh my gosh." she held her hand over her mouth. marianne was wearing the ugliest bright yellow dress ever.

"you look like a blueberry." mari pointed at amélie's dress, which only made her laugh harder.

after a few more minutes of the girls trying on dresses, marianne had one in specific she wanted to show off.

but first she had to comment on amé's bright orange spaghetti strap dress. "too bright!"

"i know. that one's actually pretty flattering on you." amélie admired the white silky dress marianne was wearing.

"do you think so?" she grinned, doing a twirl to better show off the dress. it had small flowers outlining the neckline.

"yeah!"

marianne turned to look at herself in the mirror, and groaned at the absence of charlie. "i wish i had the opinion of my boyfriend right now, but he's probably fucking around with knox."

and almost on queue, charlie emerged from the racks of dresses, knox by his side. "you look amazing baby." he swooned, grabbing marianne from behind and planting kisses down her jaw.

"thanks." marianne blushed, pulling herself out of his grasp. "hi knox."

"hi." knox nodded awkwardly. amélie stepped out of the dressing room, in a black and white lacy gown.

"i like the lace." charlie raised his eyebrows, getting an elbow to the gut from marianne.

"that is too sexy. every boy who looked at you would be obsessed." she shook her head at amé's attire.

"ew marianne." amélie crossed her arms as she looked at herself in the mirror. it was pretty risqué, she had to admit.

"she's telling the truth." knox nodded, getting a glare from both girls.

"just saying, you don't want that to happen." mari reluctantly agreed, making amélie roll her eyes with frustration.

"that was my last dress." she groaned, getting ready to put away all the other dresses unsuccessfully.

"amélie, what about this one?" marianne asked, holding up a long black dress with golden roses she'd just pulled off the rack.

"i'm sick and tired of trying stuff on." amé groaned, opening the dressing room door so she could change back into her regular clothes.

"it's so cute. i wish they had it in my size." mari hinted, glaring at amélie to take it. "wow! it's your exact size! you have to try it on now."

"fine." she sighed, taking the gorgeous dress. it felt amazing on her body, the mesh rubbing against her skin. she was really hopeful that this one might actually work for her.

"woah." knox breathlessly said as she stepped out of the dressing room. she rolled her eyes at the comment playfully.

"woah is right." marianne nodded, stroking the dress. it was beautiful. it fit perfectly.

"you look beautiful." knox admired, getting a blushed response from amélie.

"thank you." she was overwhelmed by the compliments, she just hoped neil would like it.

marianne shut down knox quickly, though. "knox, she's your best friend's girlfriend, give it a rest."

amé quickly argued back. "we're not dating." yet.

"marianne, i'm just trying to be nice you know. i've got chris." knox smiled proudly. mari was persistent, though.

"and chris has chet." she playfully hummed, causing knox to get even more defensive about his "almost"-relationship status.

"it's a work in progress!"

"yeah, mhm." marianne nodded, teasing knox. that only made him even more defensive and angry.

"she likes me, i know it!"

amélie sighed, watching the two bicker back and forth. "i'm going to pay."

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also, thank you all so much for 1k reads!!! it means so much 💗💗🫶🫶 hope you guys enjoyed this cute chapter, i wanted to focus on the friendship of marianne and amélie, and even amélie and charlie. there will be another chapter this week (hopefully, sorry if there isn't school is kicking my ass rn)