1941 (l.h.)

chapter 1

"Vera! Telephone!"
I sat up in bed, rubbing my tired eyes. Glancing at the clock, it read that it was 7:30 in the morning; who in their right mind would be calling this early? I hurried down the stairs as fast I could, almost falling halfway down. As soon as I reached the cold hardwood of the first floor, my mother yelled again.
"Vera! It's Catherine! C'mon!"
Of course it was Catherine. She's my best friend. But what in the world convinced her to call this early on a Saturday morning?
"Thanks, Mom! And good morning." I said, kissing her on the cheek and taking the phone.
"Good morning, Catherine! To what do I owe the pleasure of this spectacular wake-up call?" I asked sarcastically, running my fingers through my short auburn hair.
"Oh, shut up; don't use that tone of voice with me, young lady. I was calling to tell you that you could come over today, but if you're going to act like that, I might as well not even invite you." Catherine said, the fake seriousness evident in her voice. She was only a year older than me, but she acted like such a mother sometimes.
"Um, I don't know how well hanging out all day would go with my mom, seeing as how I have to help around the shop today, but I could ask if we could hang out later! Does like, 5 work?" I asked, smiling. My parents owned the flower shop in town, and so my siblings and I were always forced into working.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. Just ring the bell when you get here!" Catherine said, hanging up abruptly. Well, I guess that was the end of that conversation. I put the phone back on its hook and began to trudge back up the stairs. As soon as my foot touched the last step at the top, my mother called me down again.
"Vera! You need to take out the trash and get ready to go! Today's a busy day at the shop, it being Mothers Day and all, so let's go. Put some pep in your step!"
Mothers Day?!? It had completely slipped my mind. That means it was highly doubtful that I would make it to Catherine's by 5. And, it meant that I had to hurry up and make a card so it didn't seem like I forgot Mothers Day. I grabbed the trash bag to start walking it out to the alley and began thinking of all the possibilities for gifts that I could. There was your basic card, but I wouldn't have time for that. I obviously couldn't give her flowers, since we own a flower shop and all. She doesn't eat candy, so that ruled out basically any other thing I'd be able to do. Piggybacking on my brothers' gifts? Sort of a shady move, but it would have to work. I dumped the trash in the bin in the alley and started to walk back inside.
"Hey, Michael? Michael?" I asked, knocking on the boys' bedroom door. "What do you want, Vera?" Michael didn't answer, unfortunately. He was the younger of the two, only 8, and he would've happily let me sign my name on his gift. But instead of Michael, Will answered the door. He was 13, and he constantly tormented everyone in the house, with the exception of my father. Dad was the one who taught him how to play baseball, so they bond over sports.
"Vera? What? If you don't answer in 5 seconds, I'm slamming this door in your face." he said, crossing his arms. "Hey, did you know that today is Mothers Day?" I said, desperate for him not to close the door. "Yeah, I did, actually. Why do you ask?" he said, smirking. Great. Nothing bad ever comes from his smirk! "Well, wait, can I just talk to Michael instead? He's the one I'm looking for."
Coming to their room was a bad idea. I should've waited and intercepted Michael at the shop before he gave his gift to Mom.
"No, you cannot talk to Michael. He's busy making a card for Mom, since it is Mothers Day after all. Now what do you want? I've asked you already, and you have yet to answer." Will really had to make this difficult. "Well, um, see, I, uh-" I started to speak, until I was rudely interrupted. "You forgot to make her a card, and now you want to just sign your name on one of ours. Am I right, or am I the opposite of left?"
He thought he was clever.
"Okay, yeah, fine, you got me. I forgot about Mothers Day. Can I please just sign my name on one of your cards?" I was getting irritated, but I needed this. Mom would be so upset if I didn't. He smirked again.
"I'll let you sign the card if you do my chores for a week. If Mom and Dad ask why, you tell them it's because you feel as if you need to contribute to the family more." I didn't want to, but I was desperate.
"Fine. Fine. I'll do it. Just let me sign the card, Will." I said, pushing him out of the doorway. The card was laying on the desk, so I grabbed a pen and signed it. Now that I finally had achieved what I came into the room to do, I practically sprinted out so I would be able to get ready before heading to the shop.

***

I got done working at the shop and started to walk to Catherine's house. It was only 4:45; Mom let me out early, since there weren't a whole lot of people coming in today. As I was walking, I heard loud music playing from a block over. I went to investigate, and I realized that the fair was in town! I had completely forgotten, but this gave Catherine and I something to do tonight. I kept walking until I reached her house, and she opened the door as I was walking up the front sidewalk.

"Hurry up V! We only have an hour to get ready!" Catherine began shouting, visibly excited. Get ready? Get ready for what?

I ran up the steps to the front door, and as soon as I was within distance, Catherine grabbed my arm and began running up the stairs. We reached the top of the steps, and I finally got the chance to ask a question (after catching my breath).

"Catherine," I panted. "Catherine, what are we getting ready for?"

"Oh, I must have forgotten to tell you this morning! Cal and I are going on a date tonight to the fair, and he's bringing his friends. They're both single, he says. We're gonna get you a guy, V!" she said, smiling. How is she not out of breath?

"And I think tonight might be the night with Cal, if you know what I mean. So if it doesn't happen, then I'm gonna need you there to go down to the corner store and get ice cream with me. And if it does, I'm gonna need someone to tell all about it afterwards!" Ohhh, that made sense- no wonder she'd been excited all day. She and Cal have been dating for almost a year now, but since she's only 17, her parents won't let her get married yet. I guess they just couldn't wait. But why'd she have to tell me? That's a little too much information.

"Okay, but come on! We need to find an outfit for you, V. If Cal's friends are anywhere as near as good-looking as him, you'll definitely have to look your best." Gee, thanks Cat.

"You're going to definitely have to do a dress. A skirt just doesn't cut it. My yellow dress maybe? No, that washes you out. The green? No, I look better in the green. Aha! Wait, I found it! My navy dress with the polka dots! Yes, you definitely have to wear this."

I tried on the dress, wary of how it would look once it's on. Catherine and I have very different body types, after all. But that never stopped her from forcing me to try and wear her clothes. She zipped up the dress and let go, to see if it would fall off of me or not. Surprisingly, it didn't! It fit perfectly.

"Oh my goodness, V! You look amazing! Look!" She spun me around to look in the mirror. I loved this dress.

"Wow, Cat, you know how to make a girl look good! This dress is perfect!" I squealed with delughtment.

"Now we just have to get your hair and makeup done! That shouldn't take too long. I'm thinking of curling your hair, yeah?" Catherine was even better at doing hair than she was at picking out dresses, so I let her have free reign.

***

Soon enough, we were ready to go. Catherine and I grabbed our purses, and out the door we were.