Reconstructing Amelia (unedited)

Chapter 70

December 14th, 2019

"Amelia,"

Someone was shaking me gently. I opened my eyes, realising I was now in the passenger seat of Cato's car. "What?" I mumbled sleepily.

Cato laughed softly. "We're here,"

I sat up, glancing out the window and reading the sign of the boutique. "I need a dress?" I questioned, turning to look at my brother for an answer.

"Our charity gala," he explained. "We hold one every Christmas Eve in honour of Mom and Dad. There are tons of people, and we dress up, dance, eat food, and we raise money for charity,"

"That sounds . . . really nice," I said softly, already picturing the evening.

Cato smiled proudly. "Yeah. Mom would've loved it,"

We climbed out of the car, heading for the shop.

"Also," he said as we stepped inside. "I made plans for a restaurant tonight. I know everyone's a little tired,"

I nodded. "Okay," I was too busy staring at the racks of dresses and shoes.

The shop smelt sweet - like flowers. Honestly, it was a bit overwhelming.

Cato gestured around. "Take your pick," he said. "Anything you like,"

I didn't move.

"Amelia," He placed a gentle hand on my shoulder. "It doesn't have to be super fancy, just pick out something nice,"

I sighed, forcing myself to move as he nudged my shoulder. I browsed through a few of the racks, not really finding anything to my taste. I didn't really even know what my taste was, but nothing seemed like me in the slightest.

"What about this one?" Cato asked, holding up a sparkly blue dress.

I glanced up at him in amusement, failing to hide my smile.

He smirked at me. "What's so funny?

"I dunno," I answered with a soft shrug. "It's just weird seeing you like this,"

"Like what?"

"Like everything is normal," I met his gaze shyly.

He had a slight grin on his lips. "This feels normal to you? I feel normal to you?"

I nodded, a blush creeping across my cheeks. "A little,"

Cato reached out and squeezed my hand, his green eyes shining. He let go after a few seconds, gesturing for me to keep browsing.

I filtered through dresses for another fifteen minutes until I finally found one I liked, delicately pulling it off the rack.

"Did you find one?" Cato asked, peering over my shoulder.

I quickly hid it behind my back. "It'll be a surprise," I told him playfully.

"If you insist," He motioned for me to go try it on.

I hurried to the dressing rooms, carefully slipping on the dress. The chiffon felt cool against my skin as I turned to study myself in the mirror.

The dress was a simple scarlet red, A-line, with a long slit down my left side. It had long sleeves, which would hide the scar that ran down my forearm.

I couldn't stop staring at myself; how different I looked. I looked older, my body accented in ways I'd never dreamed of having myself look like.

I changed back into my clothes and hurried back out to where Cato was waiting.