Talent

Ch. 8

{Chapter Eight: Shopping}

As Jordan tried to wake me up the next morning, I kept pulling the covers over my ears, and swatting at her sleepily with one hand.

This went on for a few minutes before I surrendered and sat up.

"What do you want so badly that you needed to wake me up?"

"You and me are going shopping, and it's gonna be a blast. We haven't spent as much time together as I'd hoped we would, 'cause you have to rehearse so much. You have no practices today, no rehearsals or anything, so it's you and me, baby!" Jordan respond. She looked pretty. Her medium brown hair fell in soft waves, blue eyes shining, a pink glow in her cheeks, and she wore her favorite light wash ripped skinnies, and a neon green Aeropostale tee.

"Hang on a sec, lemme get dressed and get ready and we can go. And you're right, we're gonna have loads of fun." I untangled myself from the blankets, and clumsily picked out my dark wash ripped skinnies, my purple Ambercrombie tank, my white Love Pink sweatcoat, and my white flipflops.

I pulled my hair into messy pigtails, applied some makeup, grabbed my purse, and headed out with Jordan.

We drove along, energetically chatting about my hatred for Andie, the pros and cons of who made it through the last round, and blaring the radio, until I saw the place.

It was a small red-ish-orange-ish-brown brick building, that sat at the corner of one of the backstreets we'd been taking, with orange tree's growing in front, and in big, gold letters, it was entitled 'Dotty's Designs'.

I told Jordan to pull up in front of it, and we got out to take a closer look. On a smaller sign next to the door, we read 'Dotty's Designs: resale, vintage, and quirky custom clothes, all available here.'

"This place looks adorable! Let's go in." I said, because I felt at home, even just outside the cozy building.

"Whatever you say, chica." responded Jordan, seeming a bit intimidated by the non-brand-name boutique.

We pushed open the dark redwood door, and walked into a shop that l could only describe as cute.

The walls were wallpapered a rusty orange color, with huge brown and cream polka dots. Around the room, mismatching racks and shelves were place and filled with every kind of clothing, shoe or accessory imaginable. A desk made of the same wood as the front door sat along the left wall towards the back of the shop. It was covered with papers, strewn with pens, and had just enough room for a customer to set something beside the cash register.

"Hi there! I'm Dotty. And as I'm sure you're aware, you're in my store. Can I help you with something?" A woman, apparently named Dotty, said from behind us, causing Jordan and I to jump.

She was equally as cute as her store, petite and smiling. She had skin almost as pale as mine, short chin length hair, a dirty blonde color, brown eyes, and light pink lips. She wore dark grey jean capris, brown low cut converse, a cream colored quarter sleeved v-neck, gold earrings with rust colored pendants, and a brown apron at her waist that was covered with rusty-colored orange polka dots.

"Yes, thank you. I'm looking for a dress or outfit to wear for a singing performance I have to give." I answered, while Jordan caught her breath from jumping at Dotty's introduction.

"Well, with your skin tone and eye color I would usually suggest something red and showy, but as we know, that would clash with your beautiful hair. Ah, we can figure out color once we figure out the style of dress that you want. I hope you don't mind my saying, but I think you should definitely go with a dress, I think it would compliment your shape and give you that semiformal look, you know?" Dotty spoke in long, quick sentences, and sounded out of breath by the time she finished.

"Sure, a dress would be great. But for sure go with semiformal, because it's not a black tie event or anything. So, semicasual, semiformal. And thanks about my hair." Jordan stood by, enjoying the way I worked to find something great.

"Right, right. Come with me, vintage dresses and Dotty customs are kept in the back. Vintage ones need repair, customs need work, plus they're what people wanna try on and the one changing room I have is off the back room of the shop. Small but efficient, i'd like to say." The first thing that came to mind when she finished was 'Just like you', small but efficient.

We went towards the back of the main shop, and through a pair of French doors. In the room we entered there were three mismatched racks, two of dresses and one of all sorts of things, a staircase along the back wall that I assumed led to Dotty's home, a huge and extremely cluttered sewing table, a door labeled 'dressing area', and a great many easels with thousands of designs sketched out in the notebooks that rested on them.

"Welcome to the 'Dotty Designs' designing headquarters! We'll measure you up and have you try on some dresses. Sound good?" Dotty seemed at peace in the cuddly, cute, original little room, and I felt very comfortable because of her relaxed attitude.

After shaking my head at pink taffeta held up by Jordan, shaking my head at maxi dresses held up by Dotty, and letting out a frustrated sigh, Dotty held up the perfect dress.

"Omigawd! That one! It's definitely the one! It's great!" I flipped out, fangirling insanely.

"You think so? This is called ' It Takes Tulip's to Kiss', it's a vintage styled Dotty custom. You like?" Dotty spoke, voice sounding proud, smoothing the skirt of the dress.

"How couldn't I? With a name so cute for such a beautiful dress? It's everything I was looking for! How much is it?" I asked, bracing myself for a number I couldn't afford, knowing my horrible pricing luck.

"Twenty two. Not bad, right? For a dress like this." Dotty replied, straightening the dress on it's hanger.

"Twenty two hundred? We're still in highschool! We were looking for something more within a teenage price range." Jordan inserted, not wanting me to respond to the offered price.

"No, no, no, silly! Twenty two bucks, total. Sheesh, I'm not Vera Wang for crying out loud." Dotty laughed, seeming a bit amazed that someone would assume such a price for something she'd made.

"Well, I'd would love to buy it, but could I try it on first?" I asked sweetly, unable to wait to feel the gorgeous fabric against my skin.

"Sure, go right ahead. May I suggest some white flats? Some jewelry?" As Dotty handed me the dress, Jordan jumped in and said she'd handle my accessories. She must've felt left out of the shopping experience that day.

"Uh huh, yeah. Slide 'em under the door while I'm putting this on."

I pulled the garment over my head, tugging the hem down to where it belonged, and aligning the neckline properly with my neck. The dress was elegant, yet only semiformal, exactly what I described. It was a soft, non-paten, cotton-y, taffeta like material, one hard to fully describe.

It was a pastel yellow, and hung about three inches above my knee. I spun around, and the skirt whirled out. It was amazing.

I put on the white flats, the silver chain necklace with a white pendant, the silver bracelet with yellow and white charms, and the small silver bobby pin with a yellow heart on it, all of which had been slipped under the door. Even without my hair and makeup done, I could tell that this dress was going to look fantastic on me, and I was excited. I planned to wear it on a future night, if I made it past the upcoming round.

I walked out and showed it to the two, who both loved it, then payed and happily told Dotty that this wouldn't be the last she saw of me.