Welcome to the Queendom

Chapter Twelve

The next day I woke up late, around 11:40 and dressed in a black sweater, black and white printed tights, black boots that stopped just below my knees and-to add a splash of color-a light teal scarf. I straightened my hair and made my way over to the elevator bank, hitting number 10-the floor below mine. When the bank stopped, I unloaded from the lift and walked over to room 557, Dean's room. I rapped on it twice.
"Hold on," I heard him say from the other side before it swung opened. He was wearing jeans, a simple black long sleeve and a gray leather jacket. "Hey," he greeted.
"Hey," I said. "Did you get my text?"
"The one with the directions?" he asked as he unlocked his phone. "Yeah, I was just heading over there now."
"But it's only a quarter till noon," I pointed out. "You don't want to be too early." He nodded in agreement. "But do you think you could drop me off at Muzzie's. Brie, Nikki, and I are meeting over there for dress shopping."
He raised one of his eyebrows at me in amusement. "Chelsea Renee wants to go dress shopping? Are pigs flying right now?" He snapped his head to the window across his room as I swatted his arm.
"I don't want to go shopping for a dress," I said. "But the girls are making me for the Spring Ball Sunday."
His mouth made a small o as if he just remembered. "Oh yeah, that's right," he agreed. "Sure I'll drop you off." He stuffed his room key and wallet in the pocket of his jacket and his phone in the back pocket of his jeans before closing his door behind himself. "So who are you taking as a date?" he asked nonchalantly.
I smacked the middle of my forehead with my right palm. "Man!" I exclaimed. "I completely forgot about that. I can't walk in there looking like a complete loner."
"Well, we can go together," he suggested. I smiled at him before shaking my head. "No, you should invite your date. Do you know if the guys are bringing anybody?"
"Roman's bringing his wife, Galina, but Seth wants to stay home because he hasn't found a date yet."
"Do you think you could talk to Seth for me?" I asked.
I saw his shoulders drop just a little. I wondered if I was just imagining it. "Sure, no problem."

About ten minutes later we pulled up to the curb of the dress shop that graced Louetta Road.
"Thanks, Dean," I said before giving him a kiss on the cheek and climbing out of the car.
"When should I pick you up?" he called out the window.
I waved him away. "Don't worry about it. I'll ride with Nikki and Brie back to the hotel."
He shot me a thumbs up before shooting down the street, leaving a whitish-gray exhaust in his wake. I tightened my scarf a little before heading inside.
I spotted Brie and Nikki sitting in big white recliner-looking chairs before a huge wall covered in floor to ceiling mirrors. They were talking to a lady in black who looked to be a worker here. I walked up to them and the taking stopped replaced by smiles. Parenthesis enclosed the lady's fern green eyes as she did so.
"Hi," she said brightly. "I'm Linda, you must be Chelsea." I nodded as she took my hand in hers. She gestured me over to the last chair and I sank down into its plushy cushions.
"We were just talking about the style of our dresses," Nikki gushed. "They're going to be puffy and vibrant colored. Are you okay with strapless?"
I nodded my head. "Well ladies," Linda said, "let's get started. Ashley! Miranda!"
Two girls raced to Linda's side. One was a redhead with grayish-green eyes. The ends of her hair were in elaborate curls with the top of her head sporting a slight hump. The other had jet black hair that was pulled tight into a perfect low bun with a sharp part in the middle of her scalp. She had lake blue eyes and her slightly portly stomach stretched the mid section of her uniform just a little. Linda went behind them and placed a hand on their outer shoulders.
"Girls," she said to us, "these are the ladies that will be working with me today. This is Miranda," the redhead, "and Ashley," with the baby blues. "Who would like to go first?"
"I do! I do!" Nikki exclaimed, shooting her hand in the air. She ran up to the half foot high stage (that I didn't know was there until she stepped up because it blended in with the midnight black carpet) and stood before the ladies, her hands clasped behind her back.
"Miranda," Linda said, "Please take Ms. Nikki to the back so that she can rummage through our selection.
When Miranda and Nikki faded into the back and Linda and Ashley walked around the store, waiting for Nikki to emerge in the first dress of her choice, Brie plopped down in Nikki's chair and leaned over the armrest.
"So you and Dean are good now?" she asked. I picked up a bridal magazine from the table between our chairs and flipped through it nonchalantly.
"Yeah, we're good."
"Did you find out what scared him?"
"Some ex-girlfriend. He said she was a lunatic and followed him here."
Brie leaned back a little, frowning. "Wow," was all she was able to say. Just then the door opened and I snapped my head in that direction. I locked eyes with a girl. She had dirty blond hair that reminded me of Dean's, but that's all I was able to make of her appearance from such a long distance. She was sporting jeans, a light gray cardigan with a white tank underneath and gray heeled boots. I turned away from her and went back to absentmindedly flipping through my magazine pages without really comprehending the styles of the wedding dresses.
"Here I am!" I heard Nikki singsong. She strutted out from the back with her arms outstretched as if saying Ta-da! She stepped up onto the stage and put her hands on her hips. "What do you think?" she asked as Linda and Ashley came back. She was wearing a paper white strapless high low dress. The skirt flowed down her backside in ruffles to make a kinda small yet very noticeable train.
"You want a train on your dress?" I asked.
Nikki nodded as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "We need to look as regal and elegant as possible. It is a ball."
"Yeah, but if you're trying to look regal and stuff, then that's not the dress," Brie said. "That's an I'm-sexy-and-I-know-it dress."
Nikki arms wilted a little. "Really?" she asked and Brie and I nodded our heads in unison.
"Besides," I chimed in, "you don't want a train, especially in white. What if people step on it and get it dirty. And aren't we trying to wear vibrant colors."
Nikki eyes grew wide. "You're right," she said as she gathered the train in her arms and ran (impressively in heels) to the back room with Miranda right on her tail.