A Goddess Wears Orange

Chapter 18

Yumi stood in the presence of the Goddess, but she didn’t dare lift her face to hers. 

“Oh my God.” Lisette stepped back and stared at her, as did Fran and the other members of the Costume Committee. “Yumi, you have to look.” 

“I don’t think I want to, from the way you guys are acting,” Yumi grumbled, tugging at the black top of a two-piece swimsuit that she was wearing. Lisette had gotten permission to use the Home Economics sewing/dressmaking room, the only room in the school other than the washrooms with a full-length mirror, and the bunch of them were now helping Yumi put on the red Goddess costume. It had seemed innocent enough when it was hanging on the clothes hanger—at least the top half of it consisted of more than just a strip of cloth—but now that she was actually wearing it… 

She tugged at the swimsuit top again. “I think this is a bit too small for me.” 

“You know, she does kind of, um, fill it up,” Fran agreed. 

Lisette frowned. “That’s strange. I borrowed this from my aunt because I thought the two of you were the same size, but somehow, it looks much more, er, conservative on her than it does on you.” 

“Meaning what, exactly?” Yumi asked suspiciously. 

One of the girls giggled. “Meaning you look like a Victoria’s Secret model in it.” 

As Yumi’s eyes bulged in horror, another girl quickly snatched the red top from the hanger and handed it to Fran, who swept it over Yumi’s head, smothering her protests. “There, see? This will cover you up nicely,” she soothed, arranging the drapes and folds of the cloth. Then she bit her lip. “Um, I think we’re going to need that double-sided tape after all,” she said to the others. 

“Excuse me. Can we come in?” 

There was a knock on the door, and one of the girls opened the door to reveal Audrey, Tala and, since she was currently cosplaying as Juno, Tala’s striped, bulging tummy, which preceded her by a good six inches. The two newcomers walked or waddled in, with the star-struck sophomores making way for them, but when Tala laid eyes on her sister, she stopped and stared. “Yumi, oh my God.” 

Yumi, the only one who didn’t look surprised at the sudden appearance of the queen of South Crescent High, smiled weakly at her sister. “Hi, Ate. Thanks for coming.” 

“Of course, little sister. We brought some things that might help. I hope that’s okay,” Tala said to the others, raising her pink makeup kit, while Audrey smiled and put down her Katniss-inspired weaponry to reveal the tote bag full of hair-styling paraphernalia. 

Yumi glanced sheepishly at the others, belatedly realizing that her friends might be offended at her need to call in reinforcements. But before she could apologize, the girls squealed in excitement at the prospect of a real-live makeover, while Lisette and Fran exchanged grins. 

“Oh my, my, my,” Tala said as she waddled around Yumi. “Maybe we shouldn’t let Dad see you like this. He might end up crying in a corner or something.” 

“Your parents are coming?” Audrey asked. 

“Yes, they said they’d drop by to check out the fair this afternoon.” 

“Is it really bad?” Fran wrung her hands worriedly. “We based the costume on some artwork we saw of the Aztec goddess of beauty and fertility, but maybe it’s a little too much?” 

“For our Yumi—and definitely for our dad—it might be a little too much.” The younger girls’ faces fell until Tala smiled like a cat. “But for a Goddess of Love on the warpath,” she continued, shooting Yumi a conspiratorial glance, “this is just perfect.”