Crushes Over Papercuts- A Mid 90s Tale

Chapter 22

Lily rummaged through the suitcase sprawled across Nicole's bedroom floor. I had already zipped up the back of her fuchsia halter top dress but that didn't stop her from kneeling on the floor in it.

I unwrapped the curling iron from Nicole's locks. "Lily, you're going to wrinkle your dress."

"I can't find my tripod. How else am I going to get pictures of the four of us together before the dance?"

"Don't we have enough pictures?" Nicole asked.

"We need some with all of us in our dresses." Lily flipped the suitcase upside down. " It's not here." She bit her lip. "Psst, Nicole," she whispered.

Nicole was sitting on the bed in front of me while I curled the back of her hair. "What?" she whispered back.

Lily mimed a camera click then pointed to Tiffany who was helping Lauren bobby pin her chignon.

"Jenny-," Nicole whispered "shake your head no for me."

I did.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Tiffany, can you take pictures of all of us?"

Tiffany clapped her hands together. "I'd love to!"

I laughed. "You know Lily does what she wants, Nicole."

"We only let Tiffany in my room to help with hair and makeup since she's really good at this stuff. I don't want her thinking we're her friends or something."

I hair sprayed the last of her curls. "She can help us get some good pictures and then you don't have to see her the rest of the night."

We finished our hair and makeup with lots of help from Tiffany and strolled into Nicole's backyard. Lily spent five minutes teaching Tiffany how to use her camera and another five showing us how she wanted us to pose.

Tiffany followed Lily's instructions to get the perfect pictures. "You girls remind me so much of me and my friends last year. We all had dates of course, but other than that it's so similar."

"We don't need dates to have a good time, Tiffany," Nicole snapped.

After the pictures were complete, we grabbed our bags and threw them in Lily's trunk with Tiffany following behind.

"You all look so pretty. I'm so glad you let me help you get ready for the dance." Tiffany stood back and admired her work. "I don't think you girls could have looked this good without me."

She had a way of wrapping an insult around a compliment but I couldn't help but agree with her. Our makeup and hair were the best it had ever been and with us all glammed up in our colorful dresses, we couldn't wait to arrive at the dance.

"I'm so excited!" Lauren jumped into the passenger seat and the rest of us hopped in.

Lily put the A/C on. "Windows up ladies. Got to protect the hair."

We rolled out of the driveway with the windows up and the music loud.

#

Black and white limos lined the hotel courtyard as men in rented suits and women in cocktail dresses paraded out. Through the hotel lobby we reached the banquet hall where an arch of silver and purple balloons signified the official entry to homecoming. We passed under the arch and into a darkened room where a crowded dance floor filled the space.

"Let's dance!" Nicole shouted over the music.

The four of us scooted between the dancers and became one of them.

"I'm having so much fun!" I said as I danced the best I could in unfamiliar heels.

Lauren waved her arms in the air and Lily pulled out a disposable camera from her clutch and we all huddled together. Four fast songs and two achy feet later, the DJ switched to a slow song so we left the dancers and found a table close to Paige and Wendy to drop off our small handbags and catch our breath. Before I could sit and rest my feet someone tapped me on the shoulder.