Feelings

19: Preparations

5 hours to get ready. I can't do anything because I don't know what to do. Dad is my only source of help for this date. I'm not going to waste this time so I ask Amélie to come over to help me before she leaves the school.

"You want mon aide?" 

"Yeah."

"Pourquoi?"

I can feel myself starting to get a bit warm. "You're the only girl I know right now that I can ask for help with this thing. We'll just go over to my place and try on whatever."

"And you are sure that is all we will do?"

Oh, gross. "Of course!"

"I will have to ask first."

I listen to Amélie's phone call with her parents. "Oui, je rentrerai à l'heure à la maison. Nous ne sommes pas ensemble! J'aide seulement avec son style. Je promets que je serai en sécurité. Merci, au revoir." Amélie sighs. "Yes, mes parents said I can help you. They will not stop bugging me."

"About what?"

"Pas de votre soici. Allons-y! We should go now."

Alex finds us. I'll never hear the end of this. "Whoa! Thought it was you and Wren! You're the international kid, right?"

"Ça, c'est moi. Jae, what does he mean?"

I stare daggers at Alex. "Alex, she's my friend. She's helping me with the thing."

"Ohhh, the thing! Alright, makes sense. I'll join too," he says.

"Um, I don't think so. You don't have much style other than your usual," I say."

Amélie nods. ''Oui, je suis d'accord.''

"Damn, ok then. See you around." Alex jogs off.

Amélie keeps on asking me what kind of style I want and a ton of fashion terms I've never heard of before. "My mama is a fashion designer. Because of her, I have a sense of fashion. Do you want cottagecore? What about rétro? Or emo?"

I know what emo is, and it's scary. "No way do I want emo. It doesn't have to be something crazy complicated and specific."

"You prefer something facile?"

"What?"

"Sorry, I meant simple."

Close enough. "Yeah, I guess."

"Bon. Je sais maintenant."

I open the door for Amélie and we head into my apartment room. "This is petit."

I shrug. "We only need space for me and Dad."

"What about ta mère?"

Is Amélie close enough that I can tell her? She asked, so I guess I have to tell her. "Divorce."

"Pardon. I did not mean to intrude on your personal life."

"It's ok. I'm ok with it."

Amélie walks into my bedroom. "Où sont les vêtements? We need to get to work."

"Here." I show her my drawer full of clothes.

She frowns at the sight of them. "I do not know if this will work. La sélection is not great. I can try to manage something, but there is no guarantee."

Amélie will have better chance than I do at picking out something good. "Ok."

After 2 hours of sorting, mixing, combining and testing, we still don't find anything good.

"Jae, I am sorry, but you do not even have a sweatshirt."

I think a sweatshirt is basically a sweater with no hood. I don't really want one because I like having a hood. "So, nothing?"

"Rien. I wish Colette were here. She is better at this than I am. Oh! I can call her. Let me try that."

Colette picks up after Amélie's 5th attempt.
"Amélie, pourquoi m'as-tu appelé si tôt? Il est deux heures du matin."

"Pardon, j'aide un ami," replies Amélie

Colette speaks in a sleepy voice. "Avec quoi?"

Amélie looks at me. "Il a besoin d'une tenue pour son rendez-vous."

"Shh, mes parents dorment. Tu aurais dû me dire que!"

I see Colette with a cup of coffee on a white desk after 15 minutes. "Will she help?"

"Colette loves helping people prepare for their rendez-vous."

"Permettez-moi de le voir," says Colette, no longer sleepy.

Amélie turns her phone so Colette can see me and my drawer. "Ici. Je n'ai pas pu l'aider."

Colette takes a long look at me and the clothes I have. "Je ne peux pas aider. Je suis désolé."

"Quelle? Je pensais que tu pouvais aider?"

"Il a des options très limitées. Il n'a pas beaucoup de vêtements d'extérieur ou quoi que ce soit." says Colette.

Amélie sighs. "D'accord, merci quand même."

"Au revoir, Amélie."

"On se voit quand je reviens." Amélie hangs up.

"Neither me nor Colette can help you. I think we should wait until ton père gets back."

I confess to Amélie about why I like Wren while we wait. "Wren is... different. I can relate to her personally. She has a unique personality and she's the first person I've seen that kinda talks back to a teacher like she did on the first day."

Amélie twiddles her thumbs. "She is différente. Wren is quite defiant towards authority."  

Dad walks in carrying some thing. "Who's this?"

"I am Amélie Paquette." Amélie stands up and holds out her hand for him.

He reaches out to shake it. "Nice to meet you. Very formal. You're Jae's friend?"

"Oui. Oh, forgive me. I am still adjusting to Anglais." She winces every time she says something in French in front of Dad. I'm kind of sorry that she has to deal with getting used to another language.

"No need to be sorry. I can understand some French."

"Thank you."

Dad tosses some clothing at me. "I've got clothes for the date. We've only got an hour."

It's a white polo t-shirt and a light grey sweatshirt. When I put it on, it kind of makes sense. I stand in front of the big mirror in Dad's room. "It's cool."

Dad proudly holds out a pair of round glasses. "Wait. I know the perfect final touch."

"Dad, I won't be able to see through those."

"Don't worry," he assures, "these are an old pair of glasses I had. I swapped out the prescription lens for some plastic ones." Dad slowly slides them down my head until it rests on my nose. "Perfect!"

When I look in the mirror, I look so different. Not in a bad way." Maybe this is hopeful thinking, but I think I actually look cute. What I'm worried about is how Wren will think. Will she have some kind of outfit too? "How long until we leave?"

"Uh, I think in a few minutes. I'll head down to the car. Come down if you're ready."

I come out of the bedroom and Amélie gasps. "Mon dieu! That outfit is perfect for you!"

"You think so?" I ask.

"Oui, beaucoup!" Amélie walks over and readjusts my glasses. "You look very cute."

Good thing she does, but what matters is what Wren will say. That butterfly is at my heart now, and that's where the fluttery feeling is coming from. In less than an hour, I'll be ice skating with Wren. Does she know how to skate? Dad taught me how to a long time ago because he was a talented figure skater. "I do wish you well with Wren. Rendez-vous demain." Amélie smiles and leaves the apartment. All me now.