The "Corset"

Between the two options, it seemed obvious which was more preferable to her: the corset. It was close enough to her original outfit, but was unique enough she could pass it off as a costume. It also had gorgeous red roses stitched in a metallic crimson thread, which definitely helped decide things.

Ruby quickly shimmied out of her original corset, and slid the new one on. Even before she looked in the mirror, she could tell it was a big leap; her arms being bared made her feel every breath of wind in the room, it seemed. And it felt lighter than her old one, and a bit breezy. Finally she turned and looked in the mirror.

And just about had a heart attack.

In her initial look at it, she had thought it was a solid fabric; but instead, it was a sheer black cloth, with the roses helping hide some of her skin. Blatantly though, there were two roses parked directly over her boobs, hiding her nipples but making it obvious that that was their purpose. It wasn't showing anything, but it was certainly risque. Which left Ruby conflicted. On the one hand, she wanted to grow out of her shell, and push her boundaries. Despite her close friendships with her roommates and neighbors, she still felt as though she was a bit naive and sheltered, and looked down on by her classmates because of it. On the other hand, this was a bit much.

The box the corset had come in had caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. Pushing the dilemma aside, (and keeping her eyes away from the mirror), Ruby went back to the box.