LOVELORN

57|Dresses & discoveries

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Prom was just a week away, and reminders were everywhere. Posters were scattered around the school, and most of the gossip circling was related to the hyped-up event. A while back, my friends managed to convince me that we should all go together. School dances weren't my thing, but I agreed regardless. Part of me was influenced by all the excitement hovering in the air, and the other part of me was dreading it.

Another piece of me felt sad that I wasn't going there with Zora as my official date. While I'd never been one for grand gestures like promposals or being affectionate in public, I didn't want to worry about hiding our relationship either. I was terrified to come out, but I also desperately wanted to. We had decided to come out to Mara and Silas, then Avi, and then become more public if we felt we were comfortable with it. But I wasn't sure if that would happen in time for prom or if I wanted it to. We didn't want to rush anything.

It didn't help that Zora was popular and there was a horde of guys who had been asking her to prom for many weeks. She'd rejected, of course, but ever since we became official, I had this urge to tell them she would never go with them because she was my girlfriend. It was possessive and silly because it wasn't like Zora would say yes to them anyway, but that didn't rid me of my jealousy. Zora often noticed and would go to great lengths to remind me that I was hers and only hers whenever it happened. It usually ended up with me flustered, but I liked it nevertheless.

Another issue with prom was that none of us had our dresses yet. I was largely to blame for that. So much had happened recently that dress shopping had gotten pushed to the side a million times. Finally, on the Friday before prom, we'd found a time to search for something to wear.

"Would pink suit me, or should I dye my hair another color for prom?" Mai asked, holding a blush pink dress in front of her body.

"Pink would look great on you, but you can do a lot better than that dress," Mara chimed in after she had done a thorough scan of it.

After another glance at it, Mai agreed and put it back on the rack. While Mara and Mai were asking each other for input on their dresses, Zora and I were tucked away in the corner, where I was watching Zora search for a dress.

"What color would fit me?" She asked, frowning thoughtfully at the overwhelming number of options.

"Any."

She shot me an unimpressed look over her shoulder, sarcastically throwing out: "That really helps narrow it down."

"It's your fault for looking good in everything."

Even if she tried to hide it, I saw a smile twitching on her lips. "All right, charmer."

A minute or so later, Zora held a crimson dress up, awaiting my opinion. It was a rather classic silk dress with a corset body and a slit running up her leg. I immediately knew it would look beautiful on her.

"Gorgeous, you should try it," I urged her, already imagining it on her.

She looked at it again. "Do you not think it may be too boring?"

I shook my head at the absurdity of that suggestion. "Nothing looks boring on you."

"Consider me yet again charmed, but also still equally as clueless as to what dress I should get."