THE last thing for Kristen to do was to buy herself a nice dress. Wait, scratch that. The perfect dress. As she loved saying lately, the perfect dress wouldn't find itself. Like, always, she was right.
And there they were - The Ocean Gang, walking around the vintage shops of Los Angeles, the sun showering them. Their "leader" was hoping she would find there the desired dress. Surprisingly, there weren't that many people, roaming down the streets. Was it because it was a weekday and most people were at work or at school? And where were the paparazzi?
Kristen stopped. "Here!" , she pointed at the vintage shop she had talked about to her friends. They all followed her obediently, like puppies. The smell of paper hit their nostrils and a bell on the door rang as soon as they entered. They were greeted by an old lady, who must had been the shop assistant. No one else seemed to work there. Poor her , Kristen thought, feeling sorry for the unknown woman. What if she had no family? Or friends? Our heroine could not imagine a life without her friends and family.
They were looking around the shop for something interesting, when the actress gasped. There it stood, on a manequin - the perfect dress. Champagne colored, strapless, long enough to cover most of her body, but not too tight to forbid her from dancing. It was beautiful. No, scratch that. Breathtaking would be the word that could describe best the dress. Like it had come right out of her wildest dreams.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Kristen's eyes turned into pancakes. Her mouth was opened so wide from shock, drool nearly escaped it. Her friends held back laughs at the sight of their leader standing in such an awkward, yet funny position.
"Miss?" , the shop assistant's voice brought our heroine back to reality. "Would you like to try it on?" , she was pointing at the dress. A small "Uh huh" came out of Kristen's mouth. This time, Alannah let a chuckle.
Kristen had no problems putting on the dress. It fit her like a glove. Like it was made for her. Stepping out of the dressing room, she felt confident - like a new person. Like a princess. Only a crown was needed. She already had her imaginary kingdom planned in her mind.
The actress couldn't stop checking herself out in the mirror, giggling like a little girl. She couldn't believe how beautiful she looked. She hadn't felt that way for a long time.
"You look beautiful, my love."
She remembered Robert saying that countless times. Tears brimmed in her eyes. Were they from sadness or from joy? She didn't know. What she had to do was not let them fall and ruin her makeup.
"Wow!"
Gasps were heard. Her girl friends all cooed at how gorgeous she looked. For the first time in weeks, Kristen felt like everything was going back to whatever it had been before the preparations of the party - everyone getting alone with eachother. She missed those times.
Good moments never lasted longer, alas.
"OKay, okay, enough," interrupted them CJ. "Now, let's pay for the dress and eat ice cream!" , exclaimed him and raised his fist like a superhero.
"Not yet!" , Kristen barked and some of her friends rolled her eyes. Of course "the queen bee" wouldn't let them go out.
"We never go out to have fun anymore!" , her friends begged again. She refused, using the explanation that until the party was ready to be thrown, they would not have fun, at all. First came work, then leisure. That was how she had been taught as a young child.
"This party has to be perfect!" , hissed she, like a snake.
That was it - the last straw.
How could Kristen treat her friends like servants? When they had done nothing, but to help her, to give 100% from themselves?
"You know what, Kristen?" , Alicia shouted, attracting the attention to the shop assistant. "Plan your party alone, because none of us are going to help you anymore! You don't deserve it!" And with those words, she stomped out of the shop, the rest of The Ocean Gang following her, turning their backs to Kristen.
