A Life Less Average

twenty-four

poppy 

Faye and I had planned on boycotting the Winter Dance, but Lewis had asked me with a strained look on his face, as though he had expected me to say no but needed an answer regardless. And how could I have said no when three seconds earlier I had agreed to be his girlfriend? Girlfriends went to the dances with their boyfriends, and they were excited about it. 

I had obviously said yes. Which meant Faye was coming, whether she liked it or not. 

The two of us had been shopping hundreds of times throughout the duration of our friendship, but never had our shopping trips involved the type of dresses we were now looking at. We were used to searching charity shops and vintage places for hidden gems. Faye could add 'finding Levi jeans in charity shops for under ten-pounds' to her CV.

And it wasn't as though I never wore dresses. If it was black, or dark grey, I was immediately interested. But these dresses... I wasn't too sure. They were all just slightly outside of my comfort zone. 

Colourful. 

Poofy and girly. 

It didn't surprise me. I had walked by this store countless times on my way to work, or as Faye and I shopped our way across town. A couple of times I had glanced through the windows, only to see fancy looking mum's and their fancy looking daughters. Both Faye and I were wearing hoodies and ripped jeans, and we couldn't have looked more out of place if we tried.

Down the road from here was the bar Faye and I frequented. It was late afternoon and the place would be open for those who fancied a drink after they finished work, or for the few people who were just very eager to kickstart their nights. 

I knew Oliver was working tonight. He had told me, and I remembered him from the few times Faye and I had gone on one of our twelve hour benders. He worked early's through the week, and late nights at the weekend. He was there, serving drinks to people who shouldn't be out, if I wanted to stop by. I had ignored his message, suddenly riddled with guilt. The night before I had signed a verbal contract. I was now a girlfriend, and I had a boyfriend. There were rules I had to adhere to.

We crawled through aisles and aisles of pristine girly dresses. Faye had suggested we wear black, but I knew that Lewis was excited and I wanted to surprise him. I wanted to show him I was serious about us, since he didn't seem too convinced after my 'never been in a relationship before' speech at dinner. He had loved Rachel's dress that much, I knew I needed to go bigger. Better. 

"What about this?" I asked, holding up a lime green dress. The bottom fluffed out with lime green netting. 

"That may just be the most disgusting thing I've ever looked at in my entire life," she said across the store as she flicked through the rail in front of her.

Faye caught the eye of a lady behind the till, the lady who owned the store. The lady raised an eyebrow, but she couldn't hide the pained expression on her face. This store was obviously her pride and job.

"Sorry!" Faye mumbled, her face burning red. 

"Okay, so no lime green. How about red?" I pulled out a satin ball gown. 

She shook her head, her lips pressed tightly together. The lady at the counter was talking to another customer, rather than listening to us slander her work.

This place had every single dress you could possibly imagine within these four walls. It would just take time, and a stroke of luck, to find the right one. And that was what I intended to do: search the entire place until I found the right dress.

Along the back wall was a series called 'Fashion Through the Decades' ranging back to the 1800s. Giant frocks got shorter as the years edged towards the modern age. 

"I just need to find something that doesn't make me look paler than I already am," I said. And I wasn't sure where to even start. I didn't know what colours looked good on me because I never really dabbled in the spectrum of the rainbow. I stuck to neutrals. Black and white and grey. 

Faye was lucky: almost any colour looked good against her caramel skin. The contrast was almost always amazing, so she had never been afraid to go bright and bold. She was the rainbow and I was the cloud.

"I'm thinking either yellow or gold," Faye said, holding up two bright gowns. They were practically sparkling, and I knew that whichever she chose she would look amazing. 

"Try them on!" I suggested. "But wait until I've found some." 

She nodded, the two dresses strung over her arm as she continued to look. A short time later, she glided towards me, a pale pink dress held out at arm's length.

"It's perfect," I said, disregarding the selection I had chosen myself. I quickly shoved them back on the nearest rail knowing full well that the lady behind the counter would probably ban me for life if she realised it was me. 

"Try it on!" she squealed. "And I'll try these on!" 

We hurried into the changing rooms. There were six cubicles placed in a circle, and at the centre of the waiting area was an expensive plush pouf for friends, or mum's to sit in anticipation. 

We tiptoed over the thick white carpet in our scuffed trainers, and parted into adjacent cubicles. 

I looked at my reflection in the full length mirror before trying on the dress. The blue hair might be too much for this dress, I thought. I could always dye it another colour, one that would match the delicate shade of pink. Or I could always go back blonde for the night. Either way, the blue was going to have to go.

I slipped out of my Vans hoodie and skinny jeans, and pulled the dress over my head. 

The material was soft, as though it had already been worn in. The hem reached just above my knees and the sleeves were finished off with thick lace. It somehow didn't wash me out. Instead, it seemed to compliment my pasty skin. 

"Okay, dress number one," Faye announced. 

I pulled back the curtain of my cubicle. She was stood beside the pouf, her hands on her hips. She knew it looked amazing. 

"Holy shit," she said. "I mean, I'd lose the stripy socks, myself, but that's the one!"

I looked down at my feet at the mismatch stripy socks I had thrown on that morning. "Yeah?" 

"Hell yeah. You look amazing. Who knew baby pink was your colour?" 

"Nobody!" 

She twirled, wrapping the attention back around herself. "Whaddaya think?"

"You're the only girl in our class who can pull of gold. Screw the yellow dress. You're taking first prize," I said. 

Something in that moment changed my entire mindset. Maybe the dance wouldn't be that bad after all. It might actually turn out to be a pretty good night. We might actually enjoy ourselves. And, if the dance turned out to suck, at least we would both look hella good. Well, after I changed the blue hair. 

We changed back into our ordinary clothes, but as we walked out of the shop carrying our new dresses in bags, I felt a little less ordinary. I had, in my hands, the ticket to being somebody else for the night. I would change into that dress, and have a perfectly magical evening with Lewis. With my boyfriend, and my best friend. 

When did I become a normal teenage girl?

Faye was eager to get home so she could try on her dress again, but before we headed for the bus stop I had one last shop I needed to go to. 

We traipsed through the aisles of the Superdrug until I found what I was looking for. But the question was, what colour would I choose this time?

And would Lewis like it?