Vanilla

Chapter Twenty

Dedicated to kureizi_jeez for the cutest fan art anybody's ever drawn me. Check it out on the side.

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            Nora was on a mission.

            It wasn’t a military agenda, nor did the fate of the earth rest on her shoulders, but the look on her face could’ve fooled anyone. No, as she stood in front of my wardrobe, sifting through the hangers and their respective outfits with lightning speed, Nora was focused on one thing and one thing only: finding me something to wear.

            “You didn’t even think about it?” she was asking, as her fingers lingered on the fabric of a printed vest top. “Not at all?”

            “Well…” I said sheepishly, from my seat on my bed across the room. “I thought since you’d be here, you could pick me out something… you know, like you used to?”

            It was partly true. However, another reason distinctly tainted with truth was that I’d been so caught up in spending the past day and a half with Daniel, goofing off by ourselves in order to keep us out of Gram’s way, that I hadn’t even spared a thought on matters such as what I was going to wear to her long-awaited exhibit. And so, when Nora had bounded into my room late afternoon today, asking if she could borrow that gold necklace of mine she’d always liked, she’d been horrified to find me standing in front of my wardrobe without the faintest clue.

            “You know, there’s always my jeans,” I offered. “It’s not like a formal event or anything. They could work.”

            But all I got by way of response was a dismissive one-handed wave. “We can find something better,” she told me. “Something that will make Daniel do a double-take.”

            “Oh, no.” I got to my feet warily, stepping closer to where my older sister was standing. “Is that what all this is about?”

            But she was barely listening; moments later, her moving hands froze on a particular hanger. Wasting no time, she unhooked it from the rail, holding it out in front of her so that the airy fabric floated gently in the incoming breeze from the window. “This,” she said simply, her eyes skimming up and down her choice. “This is what we’re looking for.”

            It took me a while to even recognise; I couldn’t recall the last time I’d worn the dainty cream-coloured dress she was holding out, if at all. Its thick straps and sweetheart neckline flowed into an airy skirt, the entire fabric decorated by a bold floral print.

            “I didn’t even know I owned that,” I said truthfully.

            “Well, maybe you should start looking a bit harder,” Nora said, tossing me the hanger. “It wouldn’t surprise me if you’ve got a stash of Prada handbags in the back of there you don’t even know about.”

            “That’d be nice,” I murmured, but most of my attention was captured by the dress. It did look like it might be sort of flattering, which was something of a miracle when it came to my plain figure. But I was tall enough to get away without heels, and I could always do something with my hair…

            “Come on, then, try it on,” Nora egged me on. “I want to see how it looks.”

            I did as she said, wriggling out of my jeans and pulling the dress over my head right there on the spot. And when I’d tugged it over my hips, Nora stepping in to assist with the zipper at the back, I wondered why I heard a sharp intake of breath when I spun around to face her again.