I was lost in a sea of taffeta and tulle, silk and satin piled up to my eyeballs. Lucy knew exactly what she was looking for in a homecoming dress—at least she thought she did—but everything she tried on didn’t seem to fit right, or didn’t look right, or something….
This was our second weekend of shopping, and the first one had gone much like this. I had managed to find my dress within an hour on the first day of looking, but Lucy Burk was having issues, and after six more stores, I was about to suggest she just close her eyes and randomly pick one when she surprised me and said, “Hmmm, I think this one might be the one.”
The pile of discarded dresses was starting to get to me, so I began to casually put them back on their hangers while she wasn’t watching. The changing rooms at this particular store were pretty big, and they had a bench inside them, which not only provided me a place to sit while she went through the stack, she was also provided plenty of room to toss each dress when it didn’t work for her. “I like it,” I said, eyeing the form fitting pink satin dress that had a sprinkle of silver rhinestones across the bodice. “It looks great on you, and it’s not at all complicated.”
“You think it’s too simple then?” she asked, turning to look at me.
“No, I think it’s glamorous.” It was strapless, which told me her mom would probably insist on a wrap, but it was really pretty. It would also sort-of match the lavender gown I’d picked out last week, that is, if I decided to go. Lucy had gone ahead and agreed to go with Jason, despite hurting Jessica’s feelings, and I was still praying for a miracle that Liam would ask me. I had stopped holding my breath on that a week ago; otherwise, I would’ve either passed out or turned blue by now.
“Okay,” she said, looking at herself in the mirror again. “I guess… this is the one.” She looked at me and smiled, and I almost started to believe that the saga was over, though I wasn’t sure.
“Great!” I exclaimed. “Then, let’s hang these other ones back up and go get some lunch.”
Lucy groaned. “Don’t they have people for that?” She was taking the chosen one off and getting dressed in her jeans and sweater again as I fought the discarded dresses.
“I’m sure they do,” I replied, hanging another one up on the hook on the wall. “But I don’t want to leave a mess.”
She made another sound, like she felt sorry for me for not being a slob. I absently wondered if there was any chance Liam would be in the food court. We were at the same mall we’d seen him at a few times before, and I hoped he’d be there.
“What’s wrong?” Lucy asked. “You have that look on your face.”
“Oh, nothing,” I replied, grabbing the last unwanted dress and adding it to the others on the rack.
“Yeah, right.” She slid past me to sit down on the bench to put her sneakers back on. “What’s up, Cass?”
“Well,” I began, picking up the dress she actually did want from where she’d tossed it and grabbing the hanger, “I was just thinking… maybe Liam’s not going to ask me to the dance.”
“It’s possible,” she agreed, pulling her hair out of her sweater. “Maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe you should go with someone else. Anyone else.”
I tried not to snicker at her. “I know you hate him, Lucy, though I don’t know why. But… I was thinking… maybe I should ask him.”
Lucy’s eyes bulged out of her head, and her mouth dropped open. She stared at me for a long moment like I had announced to her that I had actually turned into a vampire overnight. “Uh, Cass, I don’t think that’s a very good idea,” she stammered.
“Why not?” I asked, bracing myself. She really didn’t think there was any way he could like me, did she?
Taking a deep breath, Lucy scooted over and signaled for me to sit next to her. I hung the chosen one on a hook on the back of the door and sat down. “Look, Cass, I wasn’t going to say anything because I didn’t want to hurt your feelings, but I heard he… asked someone else.”
I felt my breakfast lurching upward, searching for an exit and started gagging, trying not to throw up all over the sea of taffeta. Lucy reached for a water bottle she had in her bag and handed it to me as I began to sputter. I took a drink, swallowed a few more times, and then asked, “Wha—what?”
“I’m sorry. I mean, I know the girl said no, so I don’t think he actually has a date. It’s just… he did ask someone else.”
I inhaled deeply, trying to keep my composure as tears stung the backs of my eyes. Trying to stay rational, I asked her, “How long have you known?” It would be stupid of me to get mad at my best friend when she was just trying to protect me.
Quietly, Lucy replied, “Since Valentine’s Day.”
I turned and stared at her again, my eyes bugging out. “That’s been, like, two weeks!”
“I know,” she replied. “I’m sorry. As much as I don’t like him, I was hoping maybe he’d go ahead and ask you, since you wanted him to so bad. So, I didn’t mention it. Besides….” Her voice trailed off.
“Besides what?”
“Nothing. I’m sorry, Cass.”
We sat in silence for a really long time while I debated whether or not to ask any more questions. She was trying to protect me, but it seemed like everyone in the world thought I was some sort of fragile little snowflake and couldn’t handle the truth about anything. But then… I was the one who’d almost vomited and burst into tears in learning that Liam had asked another girl to homecoming. So maybe they had a point.