𝗣𝗶𝗻𝗲-𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀

ᴘɪɴᴇ-ʜᴇᴀʀᴛꜱ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴇɪɢʜᴛ

-Gabriella, aged 18-

I lost all semblance of breath as the pale green fabric constricted tighter around my torso, like a fancily-embroidered bloodthirsty cobra. I could have sworn I saw glowing white stars dance in my peripheral as it was pulled tighter, tighter, tighter, my rib-cage so compressed I wondered if all my bones would snap clean in half. 

"Jesus fuck, Lex, are you trying to... wheeze... kill me?" I squeaked at my evil little best friend who stood behind me, one of her tiny feet hiked up onto my lower back as she tightened the ribbons of her latest lacy torture device. "Kinda need to be in tact... wheeze... for... wheeze... tomorrow... Not in the mood for an," I made the noise of a dying mouse as she pulled it perpetually tighter, "An A&E trip. Fuck." 

"There." She made a satisfied noise, and knotted the two ribbons of the corset into a golden bow. Her hands clapped together with content as I turned around to face her.

"When your professors told you to make a corset, I assure you they weren't requesting to murder your best friend in the process. What have I done to hurt you?" I spluttered. She adjusted the bow on the front, and tugged at a stray piece of white lace, her deceivingly angelic face a portrait of absolute concentration.

"Don't be dramatic. You've survived much worse then fashion." She grinned after tweaking everything exactly how she wanted it. In the name of Luna, sometimes I wondered if the girl thought I was a sort of steel-reinforced mannequin, rather then a living, breathing kinda-human. I couldn't help but love her regardless, though.

"Couldn't you have practiced on somebody else, maybe? Someone who didn't super need their body to be intact for a massively important event tomorrow?"

She stuck out her bottom lip. "You have the perfect body for my artistic visions though."

"Free me, you demon." I turned around again, and she pulled the ribbons even tighter for a split second. "Bitch!" I gasped. With an evil chuckle from her, she finally unlaced the corset, and my lungs were free to take in oxygen. I gasped for it like a fish out of water, doubled over in relief as my organs began to function again. I stretched out my fingers as I felt the blood flow back into them.

"You know I love you really, Gabriella." She beamed as I flung the death-trap onto a nearby chair, pulling my t-shirt back on as she began to write up her report.

She was right, though, and I loved her too. Ever since my first day at Blackwater high, actually.

I'd been a complete train-wreck. I was late, because I'd slept through my new alarm, and I'd caught the most dreadful cold (most likely from a walk I'd taken the day before in the pouring rain, without a coat, let alone proper shoes, feeling utterly miserable alongside a plethora of other horrible emotions) that had left me with a snotty nose and bright pink cheeks. She'd offered me the seat next to her in History class, and silently passed me a tissue. 

We'd been thick as thieves ever since. 

God, I'd even told her about the boys, whom I hadn't even really spoken about to my mother, or even my therapist, for fear of simply breaking down. And she'd just listened. She hadn't judged. And she'd passed me a tissue, yet again, when the tears ran down my cheeks.

Alexia had supported me the whole way through my heartbreak, despite being aware that it was completely my fault and that I didn't even deserve to cry, and she had continued to support me through the ups and downs of high school, then applications, and now at Blackwater University that we'd both chosen to attend. 

Her unfaltering support and invariable friendship was the sole reason why I allowed her to remove the functions of my lungs and limbs with her evil clothes, and also why I occasionally skipped my beloved track races to attend her fashion presentations (despite not knowing the first thing about the topic).