Love Me | Series Book #1

THIRTY ONE

"Guys come take a look at this!"

I stepped around the rack of dresses, to direct my attention to Rachel. She held up a teal mermaid tail gown, adorned with a silver sequined belt wrapping around the waist.

"Love it," I shot her a smile. She twirled in a circle, the dress fanning out around her.

"Me too," she lifted the tag and made a face. "But not the price. Four hundred dollars? I don't think so."

She hooked it back on the rack. I gave her an understanding smile while thinking about the five hundred dollars tucked into my wallet. None of it had come from book sales. As soon as I uttered the word 'prom' to my mother she drove straight down the road to the bank to cash a check for me. It was before I had the chance to tell her that I might not even be attending.

Aly stepped out of the changing room with an array of dresses slung over her arms.

"Ugh," she grimaced, stacking all twelve of them back onto the rack outside of the dressing room. "None of these do anything for me."

"What happened to the dress you found online?" I asked, remembering the rose gown that she'd shown me during lunch. There was no point of her wasting her time here when she already knew exactly what she wanted. Aly wasn't one to settle for anything.

"They're sold out," she said with a pout, crossing her arms together.

"Aww," Rachel patted her on the back. "Well, we can always try that place down the road. I don't think any of us are getting anything here."

That was her way of letting us know that she couldn't afford it. Aly rose her perfectly plucked brows at me.

"What about you Kaya? I haven't seen you try on a thing."

"Oh," I plastered on a smile. "I agree with you and Rachel. This store doesn't have what I'm looking for."

Aly scoffed, as she began scouring through her discarded rack. She withdrew a crimson open backed satin gown.

"Try this. I bet you'd look ten times hotter in it than me. Red just washes me out, but your hair's darker so it works for you."

I didn't comment that her hair was barely a shade lighter than mine, thanks to her fresh highlights. I just took the dress from her without a fight. Just like it wasn't worth fighting my way out of prom. I didn't have a choice but to attend. Aly and Rachel would make sure of that.

I headed into the dressing room that Aly previously occupied. The door had barely closed to a crack, when another hanger shoved its way through.

"Oh and this one!" Aly had sprung another dress on me. I hung the dress onto the hook along the wall. Before I could turn my face to the mirror, I caught sight of a white piece being tossed over the door.

"Aly!" I warned her.

"Last one I promise!"

I slid the dress over the door, and hung it up in front of the previous one. I kept my eyes on the door as I undressed, so that I wouldn't be caught by anymore surprises. As I reached for the crimson gown, I caught sight of its plunging neckline.

It was a no before I'd pulled it over my head. But, on second thought, I slid into it, hoping that it wasn't at bad as it looked.

It was worse.

I pulled the straps down letting the satin gown fall to the floor. Next up was a blush strapless babydoll number. As I pulled it on, I couldn't help but think that I would fit in perfectly with tinkerbell and her fairy friends. Not as bad as the first one, but more ideal for freshman year homecoming.