When Fate Has A Say

"There is no way in hell that I'm wearing this in public."

Katie grinned mischievously at her scowling best friend, who was standing in front of a full-length mirror, observing herself with a look of pure and utter disgust. "You look gorgeous. Look, it makes you look skinny."

"Less fat," Alicia argued. "There's an even less chance in hell that I'm skinny and gorgeous than that of me actually wearing it." She vainly tugged at the neckline with one hand, trying to draw it higher, while her other was occupied in finding a way to arrange the slit in the bottom of the robes to where it didn't reveal as much leg as it wanted to. "You are going to pay."

"It won't be any more expensive than the bill," Katie retorted. "I paid for this and you're going to wear it. To the party."

Alicia rolled her eyes, still fiddling with the neckline. "You know, you should have saved the money and bought you something nice for your birthday, because I'm not going to be able to afford anything."

Rummaging in the top of her closet, Katie turned and raised an eyebrow at her teammate. "Oh, yes you are, or I'm going to have to do something to you."

"Please. I could hug you and smother you with my fat."

"I thought you were going to say 'chest' there for a moment. Thank you for saving me the embarrassment."

"I think that you just un-saved yourself." Alicia paused for a moment. "I really don't think that's a word, though."

Katie turned from her rummaging again. "I just subjected myself to it, I suppose. That the word that you were looking for?"

"Not like it's a Scrabble contest," the brunette muttered under her breath. "Doesn't matter, though- Mandy Brocklehurst probably couldn't spell to save her life, but who cares? She's gorgeous and attractive and--what?"

A large makeup bag clutched triumphantly in one hand, Katie was using the other to hold onto the doorframe for support while laughing. "You--you sound like you're some jealous little abused person trying to steal back your man from the bitch who stole him from you."

"Do not," Alicia squirmed. "I'm not jealous- I, well, I guess I am. And as far as stealing him goes- well, I don't want to steal him, but I do want to find a way to be with him. Mandy dropping dead is an option. But doesn't that make me the bitch?"

Katie shrugged, pulling out several different shades of lip-gloss. "Only if you're Mandy."

Groaning, Alicia flopped on the bedspread, narrowly avoiding Circe, who purred loudly, flexing her claws. "See, Circe loves me. I don't need any guy. I'm perfectly happy the way that I am."

"You've told yourself that so many times that you actually believe it," Katie sighed. "Now, which shade? I think that the lighter would be good for you- you hate wearing makeup."

Alicia sat up, observing the two different gloss containers that Katie held. "Okay, so if I hate it anyways, why would I hate the lighter shade less? It's still the same."

"You're so hopeless that it's adorable," Katie laughed. "The lighter one won't make it look like you're wearing it."

"So I have to wear it... why?"

The blonde couldn't help but burst into peals of laughter at her best friend's confused expression. "Because I'm going to make you a knockout tonight- so much that Harry will want to kiss you. And lip-gloss makes your lips much more..."

"Kissable?"

"I think that you're the Scrabble Queen."

Alicia gave a sigh of mock defeat. "Touché."

"Don't I know it," Katie retorted, unscrewing the cap of the gloss. "Now, open your mouth."

"Why? I don't want to take him from her- well, I do, but they're engaged," Alicia finished lamely. "I'm not going to run around stealing engaged men from their fiancés, who will then view me as the fiancé-stealing bitch." She pressed her lips firmly together, leaning away from Katie.

"You're only a bitch if you're stealing him for his money, the fact that you'll get good sex out of it, or simply because you know that you can," Katie reassured her. "That would be something that I'd do- not my sweet little innocent Alicia. Besides, I get money and good sex from Oliver anyways."

Alicia covered her ears. "Please, please, let's not discuss that. The thought of you doing anything with anyone- especially Oliver, mind you, because I know him too well- disgusts me."

"Have it your way," Katie shrugged. "But I'm telling you, he's one of the best. Now come here."

"Why do I need to know that?" Alicia asked with a smile. "It's not like I'm ever going to know what I'm missing." Looking at the lip-gloss in Katie's hand, she withdrew. "I thought that you said the lighter one!"

Sitting cross-legged on the bed to where she faced Alicia, she grinned. "I'm very impressed that you could tell the difference. Now open." Alicia conceded, and Katie skillfully applied the gloss. "Rub your lips together. And smack."

Alicia glared. "I'm about to smack you for making me do this, and not in the way that you mean. Besides, when are you going to fix yourself up?"

"The artist never takes as long on themselves as they do their subjects. But you won't take too long- you don't need any base or blush, because you have great skin anyways." She paused for a moment, picking out a blue shade of eye shadow. "Close your eyes." After working for a moment in silence, the blonde ventured forth again. "Alicia?"

"Hmmm?" Alicia shifted slightly, opening the eye Katie wasn't working on in order to observe her.

Katie paused. "Well, you don't want Harry for his money, his looks, or just because you can. And you don't want to steal him from Mandy. So why are you letting me do this? I mean, as your best friend, I should know, but... I don't. You don't have to answer. I swear."

There was a long silence, during which Katie finished applying the eye shadow and a bit of eyeliner, as well. Taking the silence as a sign that her friend didn't want to talk about it, she continued applying, giving only slight directions. "Blink. Oh, come off it, it's mascara, it won't hurt you."

"It might."

"How? I swear I won't poke you in the eye. I used to put this stuff on myself in the car before I got accepted into Hogwarts, and I was what, like, nine?" Katie tried to shake the feeling that this was going to be unfairly hard on Alicia. Making her go there, making her face a guy that she had finally admitted that she was in love with, even when he was engaged. Making her realize that he was leaving, as were all chances for her.

"Fine," Alicia replied softly. "Just don't put too much on, okay?" She paused for a moment, laughing. "It doesn't really matter whether or not I let you do this to me- I'm still going to look awful and he's still not going to notice me as anything more than Alicia. I think we had, what, maybe one conversation the whole five years that we were at Hogwarts together. And I doubt he even remembers it."

Katie scoffed. "Sure, what guy doesn't remember a conversation that he had with a good-looking girl two years older than him?"

"I'm not sure- which is why that I'm sure he remembers everything that you or Angelina said to him." Alicia was staring determinedly at a piece of hair that she was twirling through her fingers, unwilling to meet Katie's eyes.

"Catch," Katie demanded, standing up and tossing Alicia a soft-bristled brush. "I've got to go work on myself a little bit. So brush your hair, but don't do anything else until I come back- lord only knows how you would destroy my art."

"Ha," Alicia muttered. "Art. Please."

Katie chuckled, shoving the makeup that she had used on Alicia back into the bag. "I'm going to pretend like I didn't hear that, okay?"

"Not like I care what you pretend or what I look like."

"Sure you don't."

Katie was almost finished with applying her own makeup whenever she realized that the silence hadn't been an attempt to ignore her, but rather one to come up with a rebuttal that Alicia's truthful mouth would allow her to say.