the grudge , e. call

five; prom dress

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It took Maliah seven hours to get ready for the prom. First she woke up and did her own nails; a full acrylic set and little gems on her ring fingers. Then, was her hair. She shampooed, conditioned, blow dried and styled her hair into a classy updo. She spent an hour on her makeup and twenty minutes just trying to get a perfect wing on her eyeliner. Maliah wasn't often concerned with how she looked, but how many times would a girl get to go to her junior prom? One time. And Maliah was going to make that count.

Then when it came time to put on her dress, her stomach dropped. It fit tightly when she tried it on at the department store, so what if it didn't fit her now at all? Maliah shuddered at the thought and then pulled her dress out of the plastic garment bag her mother had put it in. She stepped into it and called for her mom.

"Come zip me!"

Ilene came in and worked the zipper up. "What have you been eating recently?"

"Nothing different than what I have been eating," Maliah said, suddenly panicking. "Why? Does it not fit?"

Her mother stepped down and grabbed her by her shoulders to turn her around. "No, it does fit it's just snug. Is this your normal size, sweetie?"

Maliah nodded. "It's a six, Im a six."

"You might be a seven."

"Okay," Maliah said, snapping a bit at her mother. "I already feel uncomfortable in the dress and I know it's a little too small, so I don't need you to call me fat in this. I know."

Ilene rubbed her daughters arm. "I wasn't meaning it that way, but you know... it's not
abnormal for your body to change especially at your age. It's completely normal, hon."

The teen girl nodded in response. "Yeah I know. I just wish it didn't coincide with prom," she said sadly. Then Maliah shook her head. "Whatever, it's fine. I don't know why I'm making such a big deal of this. I need to find my shoes."

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Embry arrived at the same time Maliah's aunt did, with their cousin Abby in the backseat in a teal dress. Like the respectable young man he was (his mother's words, not his), Embry got out of the car and rang the doorbell as opposed to honking like he normally did. Ilene opened the door for Embry and Abby, welcoming them both in. Abby dejectedly sat on the couch across from Quil who was flipping through the channels and Embry stood, his eyes locked on the hallway as he waited on Maliah.

Abby tried to make small talk with the two boys, but Quil kept side eyeing her and Embry was tunnel visioned on the hallway, which paid off because a few minutes later, Maliah came out. Her dress skimmed the floor and her heels clicked on the wood floor.

"You look..." Embry trailed off and his eyes swept over her body. She looked hot, gorgeous, stunning, and any other synonym he could possibly think of. There wasn't a word good enough to encapsulate it, so he settled on, "Wow. You look wow."

Maliah grinned. Suddenly the nervous feeling in her stomach dissipated, her self conscious thoughts faded, and she was at peace. "You look pretty 'wow' yourself."

They spent the next thirty-five minutes taking pictures together. A few of Maliah and Quil, some with Maliah, Quil, and Abby, Abby and Maliah, Maliah and Embry, Embry and Quil. After Ilene had exhausted all combinations of the teenagers and her memory card was full, she let them go.