A Doll of Hope

Chapter 9

The next day at school, Christie told Bethany about what had happened.

"And then what? What happened next?" She asked anxiously.

"He gave me a ride home and said he'd see me Saturday." Unable to contain herself, Bethany let out a squeal.

"Eek! That's so romantic! I'm so proud of you Chris! You really got him wrapped around your finger." Christie gave her a funny look.

"I wouldn't really go that far." Bethany gave her a goofy grin.

"Right." Christie pushed her hair behind her shoulders trying not to blush.

"By the way, got any idea about what you're gonna wear?" Christie looked up.

"I don't know. The only dress I have is my summer dress that I wear around the house. I guess I could fix it up a bit." Christie looked at Bethany who had a petrified look on her face.

"You're kidding right?" Christie blushed.

"It's not that bad. It just has a few loose stitches that's all." Bethany slapped her head with her book.

"Oh man. You need more help than I thought."

"Huh?"

"Nothing never mind. But there's no way you can go to a high school dance in something that's going to require maintenance. We need to get you into something new and fancy." Christie sighed.

"Beth, you know I don't have the money for that kind of thing." Bethany smiled as she wrapped her arm around Christie's shoulders.

"No need to worry. Everything will be just fine. Trust me." Not sure what to expect, Christie realized all she could do was take Bethany's word. That evening after getting home from work, Christie sat at her desk staring at her sketchbook.

"A high school dance? Wearing something new and fancy? That sure isn't something I pictured myself doing. Than again, I've been doing a lot of things I didn't picture myself doing lately. I wonder if Matt's going to wear something nice and new too? His sister does work in the world of fashion. So he probably won't have a choice. He did say it was really hard to tell her no." She remembered with a laugh. Closing her eyes, she tried to envision herself in a beautiful dress dancing with Matt in his shiny suit.

"I wonder, if Matt's a good dancer? I'm sure he's better than me. I have no idea how to dance. Everyone makes it look so easy. What do you think Maria?"Christie looked at Maria who was sitting on the table next to her. Maria just sat there with her tail wrapped around Christie's pencil jar. As she stared at her sketchbook, Christie was slowly able to make out the image of her and Matt in each others arms dancing the night away. With a smile on her face, she took her pencil and started drawing.

The next day, Christie found herself sitting under a tree while everyone else was talking about the upcoming dance. With the shade from the tree shielding her from the sun, she worked on the newest addition to her sketchbook. It was a picture of her and Matt in fancy clothes dancing together under the moonlit sky. With a big smile on her face, she added the last bit of detail to the background.

"That's beautiful." She heard someone say. Catching her by surprise, she jumped out of her skin to see it was just RJ.

"Oh, RJ. You startled me."

"Sorry. That you're new creation?" Christie held her sketchbook up proudly.

"Yup. I started it last night, but was too tired to finish it. So I thought I'd bring it with me to school in case I had a moment." RJ squatted down to get a better look.

"That's cool. I like how you used the night sky as the background. That sure is a fancy dress you're wearing. It almost looks like a wedding dress." Christie's face turned bright red.