Second Lanark

Beginning - Part 16

I'd never been to Value Village before, but we'd driven there hoping to find something to wear to our 1970s night at The Breeze. The four of us were becoming increasingly less of a foursome, but I'd convinced Jill to come with us on this shopping trip. I was already regretting it and not because of Jill.

Tricia held up a pair of floral pants. "How about these?" she asked.

Lark grimaced. "No. Those won't work."

Tossed over Lark's arm were the only pair of bell bottoms and the only psychedelic style shirt in the entire place. When she'd tried them on, the pants had been tight, like split your ass open tight, and we'd all tried to subtly tell her that maybe they were just a little too tight. But, she'd clung to them stubbornly. I was pretty sure they'd fit Tricia like a glove, but that was hard to say without Lark freaking out.

She'd been lording her outfit over our heads for the last thirty minutes as the rest of us scanned the racks for anything that might even pass as 1970s attire and didn't smell like mothballs or have a stain.

"What about a thrift shop?" Jill asked, picking up a patterned shirt that looked more cowboy than 1970s chic.

"Does anyone know where one is?" I asked, checking my watch for the millionth time. We still had to get back to our residence, get dressed, pre-drink and decorate the bar.

"There was a payphone outside. We can check the yellow pages." Tricia suggested, rifling through yet another dead end rack.

"We don't have time. You guys just need to pick something." Lark held up her outfit again, admiring it.

I went back over to the clothes rack that had my size and pulled out a patterned dress that seemed like it would fit. Nothing was quite right for the 1970s, but I just needed to pick something and get out of here.

I wanted to get back to our residence in good time so that I might catch Rob before Rachel latched on to him. He seemed to have taken to splitting his time between the two of us, and I knew he'd at least locked lips with her once. I wasn't sure where that put my chances, but I was starting to feel pretty frustrated. No kisses for me – just a lot of flirting and hanging out. My impersonation of a British accent was getting better, though – always a bright side.

Tricia grabbed a shirt and some pants off the rack and shrugged her shoulders. "Whatever. I'm so done with this now."

Jill sorted through another three racks while we all stood by impatiently. When she went for a fourth rack, Lark bumped her shoulder aggressively and pulled out a dress that wasn't too far off the mark. She pushed it at Jill.

"Here. Just wear this. We need to go," Lark said.

Jill frowned and looked at Tricia. "Do you think this will work?"

In unison, Tricia and I said, "Yes."

We paid and I drove us all back to our residence. We ran up the middle stairs to avoid distractions and disappeared into our rooms. We'd had to sell tickets to this bar night as a fundraiser for our floor and I'd convinced most of the swim team to buy some. I was looking forward to the party, even if our 1970s theme choice ended up feeling pretty unfortunate.

I flew through my hair and makeup, hoping I'd get down to Rob's room before Rachel. I finished the last coat of my mascara and looked in the mirror. My eyes looked a little wild, and I turned to Tricia.

"Am I being ridiculous?"

"About what?" she asked as she widened her eyes and applied her own mascara.

"About Rob. He spends so much time with Rachel, and I even saw him kiss her. Like, right now, I'm rushing around so I can get to his room first. That's screwed up, right?"