Free Embrace by Melissa Toppen

the passenger seat and focus on the road in front of me.
                  The further I get from the venue, the fewer cars there are to surround me. Driving through the darkness I am sure of only two things.....
                  One, I have to be the absolute worst sister in the world for keeping whatever is going on with Zayne from Alec, especially after everything Alec has done for me.
                  And two, seven o'clock tomorrow can not possibly come soon enough......
     
     
     

 
     
    Chapter Eight
     
     
     
                  “Are you kidding me? You can't wear that!” Emma exclaims, leaning her small frame against the doorway of my bedroom and crossing her arms in front of her chest.
                  “What's wrong with it?” I ask, looking at my black lace skirt and silver sequenced tank in the floor length mirror in front of me.
                  “You look like you are heading to one of your grunge bars.” She laughs, shaking her head at me.
                  “Grunge bars Em? Really?” I grimace, meeting her eyes in the mirror. “I think it looks okay.” I say, turning my attention back to the mirror.
                  “It looks fine, just not appropriate for a date with the man that you are completely gaga for. You should be shooting for unforgettable, not okay. Wait right there.” She says, quickly backing out of my doorway and disappearing down the hall.
                  I think Emma was more excited then me when I told her about my upcoming date with Zayne. “I'm really rooting for the two of you.” She had said last night while we laid in my bed and I filled her in on everything that had taken place last night. “You two are gonna show the world that fairy tales exist.” I couldn't help but laugh at that comment.
                  I also can't help but feel like maybe this whole thing is just one monumental mistake. And I keep making it over and over again. Isn't that the very definition of insanity? Doing something over and over again expecting a different result.
                  It's like I'm an alcoholic and Zayne is the hardest liquor around. No matter how many times I tell myself I'm going to stop, once I see the bottle, I can't resist taking a sip. And taking a sip leads to me drinking the whole damn thing.
                  Reappearing just moments later and pulling me from my thoughts, Em crosses the distance of my room and tosses a scrap of black material at me. “Here, try this.” She says, shooing me away from the mirror.
                  “What is this?” I ask, holding up the small piece of material in front of me.
                  “It's a dress Grace. Now shut up and try it on.”
                  Quickly slipping out of my original outfit, I hesitantly step into Emma's black dress. It takes me a good two minutes to pry the material onto my body and by the time I finally get it into place, I'm quite certain that it is restricting my ability to breathe normally.
                  “Em, you can't be serious. If I eat a carrot you'll be able to see it.” I say, indicating to how tight the dress is.
                  “Oh don't be ridiculous.” She says, swiping her hand through the air and then making her way over to stand in front of me.
                  Grabbing the front of the strapless dress, she twists it to the side and then pushes my boobs together. “Hey!” I exclaim, swatting at her hand.
                  “What? You want everything to be in the proper place don't you?” She laughs at my expression and then continues to fiddle with the material.
                  “Now look.” She says, turning me towards the mirror and grabbing the hem of the dress to fix the bottom just as I catch sight of myself.
                  “Wow.” I