Oxygen

Chapter 31 - Dress after dress

School went well today. We have a week from today before formal, and everyone was anxious to get their dresses and have everything organized.

Luckily for us, our school was closed for the afternoon, so every girl in the senior year was going dress shopping.

Evelyn and I were sitting in her car, waiting impatiently to get off the motorway. Ev shouted and bashed her fists against the wheel every time someone tried to pass us.

When we fonally got to the mall we parked the car down the street and headed to the first dress shop.

The first one was called 'Petite femme', which means little woman. We opened the door and trundled inside.

As we had expected, the shop was packed with teenage girls, frantically ripping dresses from each other in an attempt to get the perfect one.

Evelyn tried on a few of the straggling dresses at the back, but nothing suited. I decided to wait until the next store to avoid trying on multiple dresses.

The next store was much quieter and cheaper. For my small budget, this was the best place to go. The middle aged woman greeted us warmly as we went inside, and tried to help us out with our choices.

In the end Evelyn had at least ten dresses slung over her arm, while I had picked as little as possible, so I held three dresses in my hands. Evelyn went in first and I watched as she came out of the white dressing room, checking out every one.

"I need something that shows my ass" Evelyn explained, and I laughed as she tried to turn around to look at the back of her dress.

"That one's not right" I said, ushering her back into the changing rooms. Evelyn pouted but went back in.

Next she came out with a red dress, covered in little silver diamonds over the bust. The red dress hugged her tightly to her waist, and had a little flare as it ended at mid thigh. It looked beautiful with her gorgeous blond highlights.

"That's the one" I said, smiling as I brought her in for a hug. "I love it" she said. "Nik better ask me to the formal soon, or this is gonna be one huge waist of time".

I grimaced as I remembered Nik's accidental avoidance of asking her. I tried to calm Evelyn so that she wouldn't suspect anything. "He'll ask you soon enough, I'm sure".

"Yea you're right" she said, smiling excitedly. She got changed from the dress back into her blue jeans and her huge star trek T-shirt.

She ushered me into the changing room, and I took a deep breath as I hung the three dresses on the rail.

The first dress was immediately wrong. It was black, and stuck to my skin from my waist to my ankles, and hung loose at the top, with cutouts at the sides. It just looked all sorts of wrong, it wasn't me. I decided not to show Evelyn this one, instead changing into the second dress.

This dress was slightly better than the other one; it was a tan colour with long tight sleeves and a fitted bodice. The problem with this one was that with my pale skin, I looked like a ghost. I decided to show Evelyn and she shook her head in agreement with me.

Finally, I put on the last dress. This one was a dark navy blue sort of colour, which went to my ankles.

The top half was a fitted bodice, which showed off my small waist with the sparkles on one side. At the waist it changed into a thinner fabric, like chiffon or something. It was a thin, light skirt which flowed down elegantly to my feet. With a simple pair of black heals, which I'm sure Evelyn would let me borrow, I would have the perfect fit.

I stepped out of the changing room in bare feet and gasped as I saw my reflection in the wall length mirror. Evelyn copied my response as she got off her chair to stand beside me.

"Oh, wow Fern" she said, and gave me a hug. I wiped a tear from my eye as we stood there in the moment, hugging each other tightly. "You look hot" Evelyn said, laughing through tears.

"So do you" I reply, and we smile at each other excitedly. After I change back into my sweatpants and T-shirt, we pay for the garments. The lady at the counter beams at us as we show her our choices. She wished us good luck as we leave the store and head to the food court.

"I'm so glad we found the perfect dresses, this day couldn't get any better" Evelyn said, sucking up her strawberry milkshake through a straw. "Yea, today has been perfect. Thank you Ev" I said, chucking a fry in my mouth. We talked about our perfect formal night and how excited we were to wear our dresses.

By six o'clock I was home, hanging my beautiful blue dress with the plastic cover in my closet. I stared at it for a while, before Bonnie came in to have a look. "Oh, Fern, it's absolutely beautiful" She said, tears piercing her eyes. I sniffed, trying to hold back the water works again. I smiled at my mother, wishing she was really my Mum. This is one thing I wish my Mum and Dad hadn't missed; watching me through the best times of my life. I knew they were out there somewhere, living happily in the clouds, and they would always be in my heart.

While I sat in bed that night, I listened to songs from Grease, quietly singing along to Hopelessly devoted to you. As I reached the chorus in a quiet whisper, I got a text buzzing my phone on my nightstand.

I turned it on and saw a happy message from Evelyn.

Evelyn:

Hey Fern, guess what? Nik asked me to the FORMAL!! So much happiness right now!!

Talk tomorrow xx

I smiled at the text as I put my phone down on the table. As I listened to my music again, I couldn't take my mind off one person. I missed him so much, and I wished he could be here with me.

As I thought about it, and tried to push a message from my mind to his. The longer distance made it more difficult, but I was satisfied when I got a reply. Jordan? Are you there? I thought.

Hey, my beautiful, he said sweetly. I smiled as I continued the conversation. I told him that I got the perfect dress, and he demanded to know what it looked like. I had to think about Evelyn's dress to push the thought out of my mind to keep it a secret.

When I realized it was already past midnight, I told Jordan I was tired and went to bed. Goodnight, my sweetheart. I love you, I said. Night, my world, Jordan replied. I couldn't hold back the smile as I drifted off to sleep. I can't even describe how much I love Jordan. This kind of love can't be explained.

************************************

Hey everyone,

Thanks for reading. The formal chapter is coming soon, I promise. Don't forget to vote!

What do you think of Fern and Evelyn's dresses? Fern's dress is actually one I would like to make for my own formal when I'm a senior.

Thank-you for reading!

Alice xx