The Night I Fell In Love

Chapter 5

Josephine

I woke up on Saturday morning with a feeling that I had something to be anxious about. Then I recalled the date tonight that dad imposed on me and the Creep from hell and I groaned aloud, falling back onto my bed. I wished I could escape the concert thing tonight, or at least escape from Big Ben. Whichever prospect would have made me extremely happy.

I sighed and got out of bed, dragging my feet a little. After all, it was the start of the weekend. Luckily Joanna was still sound asleep so I had the shower all to myself. I thought about my other problem while I shampooed my hair. I had nothing to wear for the concert tonight.

Not exactly that my closet was empty, but I got the distinct impression that the concert's dress code required something a little more formal than jeans and t-shirts, and the fact that I practically lived in jeans didn't help my cause much. I had no idea what to wear.

I would have had the perfect solution on Thursday. I'd found this gorgeous pink blouse in Ruby's Gems when Mari and I went dress-shopping after school. It was dressy yet casual, and it would have complemented my denim skirt. Unfortunately, some bozo in a Lincoln High blazer wrenched the blouse right from my fingers.

I could feel my blood boil at the memory of the scene. He was such a jerk up! He had the colossal nerve to say that he found it first too! And after about thirty minutes of haggling over it, he pretended to be a gentleman and gave it over to me. By then I'd changed my mind about it. If the blouse had attracted an idiot like him, then maybe it wasn't such a good buy.

I got out of the shower, still reflecting on what to wear. After that blouse fiasco, I'd lost my interest in shopping and Mari and I had come home empty-handed. Now I was in a quandary about what my outfit would be for tonight. It didn't help any when my mom wasn't speaking to me. She was still sore about my going over to Mari's house right after dinner with Big Ben.

I went down to scrounge up something to eat. Mom never cooked on weekends. She deserved a break in her daily routine too. But to my utmost surprise, she was already downstairs making my favorite, pancakes with maple syrup and blueberry cream.

"Good morning, mom," I greeted her cautiously.

She nodded, flipping a pancake, "morning, sweetheart."

Whew, at least she was talking to me. I lingered by her side, "mom, do you have any idea what one wears to a concert? I'm having a bit of a dilemma with my wardrobe."

She softened at that, and I knew that she was making pancakes as a peace offering. She glanced at me, "concerts aren't all that formal, honey. You can wear a blouse and some slacks, or a casual dress."

"Oh, mom. I found this perfect blouse the other day, but," I made a face, "some moron swiped it right off my grasp and I couldn't buy it. Do you have anything semiformal that I can borrow?"

Mom thoughtfully smiled, "I'm glad you're finally taking some notice about your appearance, Josie. Ben must have made a big impression on you." I grimaced at her words but thankfully she was too busy to notice. "Let's see...I have that green floral print blouse."

"Not that, mom. It's too flowery for my taste."

"Tell you what, I'll take you shopping to the mall and we can buy some new clothes together. How does that sound?" Mom was really excited now. I was completely forgiven.

"I'd love that more than anything, mom. But I have that experiment in Chem that I need to finish. My partner Tony isn't exactly the most dependable guy in the world. I invited Mari over to help me this morning. Then we're going to the mall but to watch our school trivia contest."