Forgiven // l.h. // Book 2 in Bully Series

26. Dress Shopping!

"Oh my gosh, you have no idea how excited I am for this!" I practically squealed as Katie, her sister Melanie, and I exited her small car. The building was large, and as the three of us approached it, I could see the various wedding dresses in the tall windows.

"Welcome to Sweetheart Bridal, do you have an appointment with us today?" A short woman with light blond hair greeted us as soon as we entered the shop. Katie nodded, giving her information to the woman. We were promptly led to a room near the back with a pedestal, some couches, and a tall, three-section mirror.

We were wedding dress shopping. On Monday, Katie had asked me if I would like to be a bridesmaid in her wedding. Of course I accepted. Who wouldn't? There were only three bridesmaids- me, her sister, who was also the maid of honor, and another woman I had yet to meet named Arden. Arden was actually on a business trip in London for the next two weeks, and had given us her measurements in case we also happened to find a bridesmaid dress that we all liked while she was away. But our main focus today was Katie's wedding dress.

"Alright ladies," Another woman bearing the same uniform as the first entered the room, beaming. "Which one of you is the lucky one?" She questioned. Katie lifted her hand a bit, signaling it was her.

After a few minutes of being told where certain dresses were located, the woman, whose name I learned to be Anita, let the three of us loose into the store to pick out some dresses for Katie to try on.

"I'm really hoping for a mermaid style dress. Maybe a sweetheart neckline? God, I have no idea." Katie enthused as we walked down the hallway. I laughed. Kendra and I may have spent hours as teenagers planning every detail of our theoretical weddings, but I knew that if I were ever in Katie's position, I'd be the exact same way.

--

"Christ, Katie! I don't know how the hell these ribbons are supposed to work!" I giggled at the complaints I heard coming from behind the curtained dressing room. It was only the third dress out of about twenty that we'd picked out, and the three of us had already been here for about an hour. My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out. It was a text from Luke.

From: Luke
hows the dress thing going

I smiled, quickly typing a response.

To: Luke
Lots of ribbons. Haven't found the one yet.

Katie came out of the room a few moments later. The dress was cute, and certainly flattered her, but it wasn't a mermaid gown like she wanted. On to the next one. My phone buzzed yet again.

From: Luke
sounds boringg. u free tomorrow?

I huffed and rolled my eyes. This was far from boring. Dress shopping was practically my favorite thing to do ever. I remembered ninth and tenth grade homecoming being the best because Kendra and I dragged Wyatt through the mall trying on every style of dress imaginable. I'd even been able to go to one prom because Wyatt asked me since Kendra had gone and gotten her own date and left him all alone. I still had the pictures in my phone. I sent a quick 'yes' to Luke just as Katie came out with another dress.

"Oh my gosh, I love this one." I gushed, standing up and crossing the floor. It had the sweetheart neckline she'd mentioned as well as the mermaid bottom. But it was a subtle bottom, which was nice. I never mentioned it when she mentioned it, but I had a weird dislike for mermaid style dresses. This one, however, was absolutely gorgeous.

"I love it too. What do you think, Mel?" Katie turned to her sister, lifting her eyebrows in questioning. She smiled, nodding.

"I think we may have found the one, Kay." She agreed.