Jaded Eyes (Jori)

21: The One

"You're jealous."

"No, I'm not! I just don't see why she can't text Amelia back later." Jade responded, wanting to prove to her best friend that there was no jealously.

"Why'd you say her name like that?" Cat asked.

"Like what?"

"You said Amelia like it's a name of a person you hate."

"Whatever. It's just that- she's always on her phone. It's like Amelia is the only person who actually can have a full conversation with her." Jade said, wanting to bite her nails, but then remembered that she'd have to repaint them.

"You did it again."

"What?"

"Amelia. Hey, I get it though. It sucks when the person you hang out with the most finds someone else to talk to." Cat said, trying to get Jade to understand that the same thing happened to her when Tori came to the school.

"Really? You?" Jade said totally oblivious.

Cat was defeated. "Yeah, like three years ago," she lied. "Anyway, ditch that fool. I have a better idea for today." Cat said while walking outside of the school.

"Oh really? What kind of idea?" Jade asked carefully.

"Since homecoming is on Friday... We should go look for outfits!!" Cat said while jumping, putting her feet behind her. Her backpack almost fell off, but she caught it before it hit the ground.

"Yeah, hard pass."

"Are you kidding me? Homecoming is where people can truly be a better version of themselves and frankly you-" Cat stopped herself.

"Good call. Anyway, it's pointless. I broke things off with Beck, as you know, so I don't have anyone to go with." Jade said messing with her fingertips.

"Oh come on, that's stupid. Just come with me!" Cat tugged on Jade's sleeve, in hope that would change her mind.

"Cat, you're stretching out my shirt! Now it's gonna get wrinkles." Jade says, adjusting her shirt, so the shoulder seam is where it should be.

"Ok, fine. You if don't want to see Tori in a pretty dress, dancing under the moonlight, then that's on you." Cat said, slyly, while turning on her heel to head for the drivers side of her car.

Jade didn't comprehend the last statement Cat said until they were both in the car. "Wait, Tori's going? Did she tell you that?" Jade said, making direct eye contact with Cat.

"Yeah, in biology. She really excited for it. She already picked out her dress."

"Do you have a picture?"

"Well, does it really matter if you see her dress or not, if you don't go to homecoming?" Cat smiled.

"Cat. Do you have a picture or not?"

"Fine, alright. Here," Cat said, pulling out her pear phone, and opening the messaging app. She scrolled for a bit, until she saw it.

Tori's dress was a deep yellow, with the bottom going no longer than mid-calf. The top was plain, but had vertical creases that ended at her waist. Around her center, there was a royal purple colored belt, no thicker than an inch. It was gorgeous, and something Jade definitely wanted to see Tori in in real life.

"Yeah, okay. We can go dress shopping."

—

"So we have a wide selection of dresses. The ones up front are shorter, and the further you enter the store, the longer they get. On the tables in the middle of the room, there are some catalogs you girls can look at if you have any other questions, just come and find me."

"Sounds good, thanks Michelle." Cat said, turning away from her and looking towards the hundreds of dresses.

"This is gonna take a while." Jade said, starting off with the shorter dresses.

Jade picked out a green dress that was too tight on her, and she needed Cat to come in the changing room to help her out of it. The next dress she tried on was a lacey black one, and Jade accidentally ripped a section of it. To be honest, no one would ever really know it was supposed to be ripped because it looked too goth anyway. Too goth even for Jade, so that was saying something. Cat was getting bored of the dresses so she wandered over the the suits. She found a teal one with a white under shirt. When Jade saw it on her, she almost cried. Who knew Cat could rock a pantsuit? Jade was losing hope, until she found it.

A royal purple dress, with sleeves where the solder was cut out. The sleeves ended just past her elbow, and the dress itself ended just past her knees.

Jade found herself slightly swaying in the mirror just enough so that the dress was moved back and forth across her legs. Cat came up from behind her, and hugged her.

"That's the one."

"I know."