Forever Yours

chapter twenty-three

The next morning, we wake up early. It's premiere day—also New Year's Eve—so we want to be fully prepared for anything. Like the fact that I forgot my dress for the ball.

I scream like someone just died and Joel, Connie, and Dad all come running to see me crying in the bedroom.

"Willow, honey, what's wrong?" Dad asks.

I try talking in between sobs, "I... forgot... my d... dress." God, I am such a crybaby.

"That's okay! We'll go to a boutique and find you a new one, don't you worry," Connie says to calm me down. I nod and stop crying. Then Connie and I head out to find myself a new dress.

We go to about three boutiques until I find dresses that I would actually wear. I pick out four black dresses that I want to try on, but Connie just frowns at me.

"What?" I ask her.

"Well, you always wear black so I just thought we could spice it up a little."

"But your dress is black," I remind her. She shushes me and drags me over to a dress I never thought I would pick out for myself. It is a huge ball gown in my favorite color, yellow. It's not a bright yellow, more muted. It's satin, but the bottom is covered in fluffy tulle.

Connie urges me to try it on. I look at myself in the mirror in the fitting room. It fits me perfectly. The bodice of the dress stops right before my waist, then comes down to the heaping amount of tulle. The top comes down in a V showing off a little bit of cleavage. But not too much, just the right amount. I love it.

I come out of the dressing room to show Connie and she loves it so much; I think she might cry. "Oh Willow, you look beautiful!"

"Thanks," I say shyly. She tells me we must get it and I agree.

Once I am back in my regular clothes, I take a glimpse at the price tag. Holy shit! Four hundred dollars?! How am I supposed to afford that?

"Um, Connie," I say as I walk out of the fitting room, "I can't afford this."

"Oh sweetie, don't worry about it. I'll buy it for you!"

"No way! I cannot let you buy this."

"It's nothing really." She grabs the dress from me and sure enough, she pays for it.

We make it back to the hotel around noon. Connie tells the boys to close their eyes, she wants the dress to be a surprise. She hides the dress in my closet until I get to wear it tonight.

The ball starts at six, so we are thinking we need to be there by five thirty. Connie and I start to get ready around three, just so we have plenty of time to do our hair and makeup. The boys say they don't need to get ready until later because they only take ten minutes to get ready.

Connie curls my hair and pins it up into a beautiful up do. She does the same to her hair. I do both of our makeup, simplistic but makes a statement. The boys gawk at us once we are both gussied up. It's nearing five o'clock, so Connie and I get into our dresses while the boys get into their tuxes.

Joel, Connie, and my dad are all waiting for me in the sitting area in our room. I take a deep breath and look at myself in the mirror one last time. I feel beautiful and I hope Joel thinks so too.

I step out of our room, and everyone looks at me. Everyone smiles, especially Joel, but I can tell he is trying to hide his enthusiasm.

"You look wonderful honey," Dad comments. Connie agrees.