The second I walked into my house after another adrenaline-packed ride from Fitz, my phone buzzed. It was Clare.

Clare: Hey Char, wanna come with me to the mall to look at dresses for Vegas Night?

Charlotte: Yeah sure! I'll meet you at the food court in a half hour?

Clare: See you there! :)

I walk up to my room and throw my backpack down on my bed. I quickly change out of my jeans and heels, and put on some sweat pants and flip flops. There wasn't going to be anyone at the mall that I needed to impress, anyway. Eli walks by my room and peeks in the doorway.

"I personally like the more relaxed look, Char," Eli says, leaning against the frame of the doorway.

"Hey, can you drop me off at the mall? I'm going to look for a dress to wear at Vegas Night with Clare," I tense up, waiting for the "Fitz is a bad guy" lecture. Instead, he walks into my room and sits on my bed, looking around awkwardly.

"Look, Char, you're going to Vegas Night with Fitz, aren't you?" He asks, sounding more and more like a concerned parent by the second. I nod, not knowing what else to do.

"Okay, well I don't know why you like him. But I can't stop you. Just… please. Be careful with him, okay? Don't let him pressure you. I know his type. Just… be careful." Eli fidgets for a moment and gets up.

"Well, I'll be waiting in the hearse" He says, and leaves.

I take this as Eli's blessing. I grab my purse from off my coat rack and walk outside to his car.

Once at the mall, I find Clare quickly, sitting alone at a table, texting with a shy and happy face on. She was probably texting Eli. Will Fitz ever have that affect on me one day?

"Hey Charlotte!" Clare calls over to me. She waves me over to her table, and I navigate through the maze of shoppers, who glare at me as I crush their paper shopping bags when I push by. I take the seat across from Clare and toss my purse on the table.

"So, where to first?" I ask, eager to get a dress before every girl in the grade snags all the good ones, since there are about six stores total in my area that sell formal dresses.

"How about we start at Jessica McClintock and work our way left?" Clare suggests.

"Works for me."

About twenty minutes later, Clare and I are standing in front of the giant mirror in the back of the store, which covers the entire back wall. She is wearing a beaded blue chiffon dress, and I am wearing a tight strapless black dress with a red ribbon across the waist.

"You should get that, Clare. It really brings out your eyes." I say. It really was amazing how the blue fabric matched them almost exactly. Knowing how reserved Clare is, I knew she would have nothing good to say about my dress.

"Eli is gonna freak if he sees you going to Vegas Night like a s- … like that." Clare fidgets to find the price tag on the back of the dress as a distraction. She pretty much called me a slut, and I didn't know how to react. Am I? I made out with a guy I knew for about eight hours, and now I'm going to a school dance with him, possibly in this dress. And I'll admit, it is a little short. And tight. But I'm not dressing this way for Fitz… right?

"Look, all I'm saying is that Fitz liked you before you started dressing that way. You don't need to change the way you dress of how you look for a guy," Clare says. She did have a point. I walk into the dressing room again, and try on a dress that had caught my eye the minute I walked into the store. It wasn't tight, and it wasn't nearly as short as the other one, but it was one that I knew fit my real personality. When I walk out again, Clare starts clapping happily.

"It's so cute! You should totally get that one!"

I walk over to where she was standing and face the mirror. It was a dark blue, strapless, satin dress that hit a few inches above my knees. It had a bow that stuck out on the side of my hip, and the bow had a fake diamond in the center. It fit me perfectly, and it was the perfect combination of elegance and edgy.

Before we pay for our dresses, we pick out clutches and silver high heels to go with them. One last stop at a Halloween store for feather boas (hey, it's not called "Vegas Night" for nothing!), and we are ready to make the dance one of the best nights of our life.

OMG GUYS! I AM SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SORRY I HAVENT UPDATED IN FOREVER! No, I did NOT forget about you! I just started high school and my uncle died a few months ago and those have drained me physically and mentally. I will be updating MUCH MUCH more often. Oh, and tell me if I should continue my other fanfic. Check it out :)