The First Date

Preparations

   "THIS IS PERFECT!!!!!" I scream and look at the dress I've pulled out of my closet. Not too much, but not too little. It's perfectly practical! Just perfect for Branch! And perfect for me and Branch's date tonight.

"Well, turn around and show us!" I hear Suki say from her and the other girls' spot on my bed. I grin widely and turn, holding the dress out in front of me. Suki smiles back at me and gives me two thumbs-up.

"OH, YEAH!" Smidge yells excitedly. And oddly, Satin and Chenille stare at the dress with their mouths hanging open. Uh, oh.... Either this is really, really bad or really, really good.

"Umm.... Chenille, Satin? Do you like my dress?" I ask, questioningly. They seem to straighten up and snap out of their stupor.

"Yeah, sugar, it's-" Chenille says, waving her hands out in front of her.

"Yeah, girlfriend, it's, uh-" Satin adds, with a strange sound to her voice.

"Something!" they chime together. I raise a brow and purse my lips.

"What's wrong with it?" I ask, crossing my arms.

"Nothing!" they exclaim defensively. I sigh and walk over to them.

"Please tell me what you really think. That's why I asked all of you over. I want to make sure that I don't look stupid for my first date ever in my life with the best guy in the whole world." They exchange a glance and I give them a pleading look.

"Well... If you really want to know what we think," Chenille says, and grabs the dress from my hands, holding it away from her as if it's some sort of disease.

"To tell you the truth," Satin trails off.

"We really just don't like it at all," Chenille finishes.

"No color!" Satin adds and inspects the white lacy frills at the bottom.

"No pizzazz!" Chenille pitches in while pointing at the embroidered flower patterns at the bottom.

"And most of all-" Satin says.

"No style!" they say at the same time, both grabbing one of my arms and dragging me out of my pod. I glance at Suki and she shrugs her shoulders, taking a sip from her soda and following us out the door. Smidge hops down from the bed and follows behind her.

"Girlfriend, you gotta have a dress that pops!" Chenille says. All of us giggle at the pun. Pops! Haha!

"I'm sure we got something to spice you up a little, right, Chenille?" Satin asks her sister. Chenille nods, grinning widely.

I willingly walk with them as we head for the twins' pod. We converse about what Branch could be planning to do for our first date. This is so EXCITING!!!!!! I can't wait to go out with Branch! The more that we talk about it, the more excited I feel!

We finally arrive at their pod and they waste no time in pushing me through the door.

"Alright, honey, let's go get you a dress!" Chenille exclaims excitedly. We all take a seat on their beds. Ooh! Squishy!

"Okay, you guys! Wait here and we'll be back in," Satin and Chenille exchange glances then finish together, "two minutes."

I nod and smile. Once they disappear into their enormous walk-in closet, I turn to talk to Smidge and Suki, who are sitting on Chenille's bed.

"So, what do you think they're going to come out with?" I ask. Suki shrugs.

"Probably something poofy."

"Or glittery," Smidge says.

"Or colorful," Suki adds.

"OR HAIRY!" Smidge stands up and shouts. Me and Suki stare at Smidge. She looks at both of us, then sits down quietly. "I liked that idea..." Suki looks at me and we both laugh.

"That's pretty weird. I like that though. It sounds soft and fun!" I say with a huge grin. "Whatever they've got, I'm one hundred percent sure I'll love it!!!"

"We're back!!!" They suddenly shout simultaneously, jumping out into the doorway, holding up a glitzy, sparkly blue dress. I watch it shimmer... This is beautiful!!! It's like a glitter troll rolled into a dress!

"Wow," I say, my mouth hanging open.

"Put it on!" Smidge yells excitedly.

"Okay!" I grab the dress and head for the closet. I shut the door behind me and take off my current clothes, shortly after pulling on the new dress.

I look in the mirror at myself. The dress comes down to my knees and has spaghetti straps. Whenever I move, it glistens and bedazzles everywhere. I love this!!!! It's absolutely incredible!

All I can think is who's that hot babe in the mirror. That's me!!!! I strike a pose with one arm on my hip, the other behind my head, and my lips poked out. I look and think about how far this dress is from the one I was going to pick.

Wait... What if Branch doesn't like this one? What if it's too flashy for him?! What if he decides I'm just not his type?! What if-

"Hey, Popps, you coming back in here? We want to see too, you know," I hear Suki say albeit impatiently.

I step out of the closet and watch as everyone's eyes bug out and their jaws drop.

"Girlfriend, you're the definition of wow," Satin says. Chenille nods.

"Yeah," Smidge agrees.

"You're going to knock Branch dead with that thing," Suki says. I grin, knowing that this is a great compliment since Suki doesn't get that excited about dresses and such. But wait! I don't want to knock him dead so hard that he's scared of me! My grin fades quickly and I look down at the floor.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Chenille asks. I look back up at my friends and their worried faces.

"I just.... I don't want to scare him off," I say reluctantly, not wanting to spoil the others fun. Their eyes widen and they run over, hugging me the moment they're in range.

"Poppy, honey, you're not going to scare him off," Chenille says.

"Yeah, Branch loves you no matter what you wear," Satin adds.

"Besides, if he gets scared off by this then he's the biggest, trollin' idiot I've ever seen," Suki states bluntly. I giggle. Well... I feel a bit better about it. After all, what is the possibility of me shocking him so bad that he runs away?

Alright!!! Finished the first part of this story! The next chapter will be their date. J I hope you all have enjoyed it so far!!!