Falling Slowly

Chapter 11- Dresses with a Side of Ramen

After school Lyla, Simon, and I took Simon's car to get to Sunnyfield Mall. I cringed at the sight of the huge building. Malls were just not places where I felt comfortable.

Stepping out of the car, Lyla immediately dragged me to the entrance with Simon following close behind.

"You know there's this boutique that I think will have the perfect dresses!" Lyla exclaimed happily.

I glanced at Simon and smirked when I saw him roll his eyes playfully. "Well ladies, I'm just going to go that way," he pointed in the opposite direction, "call me when you're done. Or maybe if you get hungry we'll meet at the food court. See ya." He turned around and walked away.

"Okay, bye!" Lyla yelled back. Then, she took a deep breath and turned towards me. "Ready to find a dress that will definitely impress Jacob?" She raised her eyebrow playfully. I groaned and turned on my heel, walking away.

"Let's just get this over with." I said, loud enough for her to hear. Lyla seemed rather amused and caught up to me so we were walking side by side.

[30 minutes later]

"Rebecca! What do you think of this one?" She held up an emerald green dress that went all the way to her ankles. The material was silky and light, and almost sparkled under the artificial light in the store.

"Wow, it looks, um," I paused, try to come up with a nice adjective, "very pretty." I grimaced at my lack of vocabulary and gave Lyla a weak hey-I-tried smile when she shot me an annoyed look.

"Yeah, but do you think it will look good on me?"

I bit my lip nervously. How do you tell someone you don't know shit about whether or not something looks good on them? Might as well just say everything does and not take any chances.

"Why don't you just try it on?" I suggested.

"Hm... Okay." Lyla looked around for a store attendant. "Margaret! Can you add this dress?"

Margaret wordlessly nodded and took the emerald green dress from Lyla's hand and walked to the changing rooms to add it to her rack of dresses.

Lyla smiled and was now looking at me. "I think I have enough dresses for me," she paused happily, "now time for you! Let's see, I think Jacob's favorite color is navy blue? So you should totally get a dress in that color!"

"Sure, we'll see." I mumbled as I followed her towards a rack of dresses.

"Okay, how about this one?" Lyla was holding up a navy blue dress that reached my knees and had lace designs on the edges. There was also a chunky black belt attached to the waist.

"Um. I don't think it's me."

"What! What are you talking about? It's so you!"

I rolled my eyes. "What about this one?" I picked up a white dress that was cinched at the waist and had black floral patterns on the skirt. "Actually..." I twirled it around on the hanger. "Never mind." I put the dress back onto the rack.

"Wait, hold on!" Lyla reached for the white dress I was holding earlier. "I think this would look cute on you." She held it up to me and examined it. "You are definitely trying this on."

[20 minutes later]

Lyla snapped a picture of me on her phone. "Okay, wear the navy blue one next." She ordered. I sighed and went back into the changing room. Taking off the pale yellow dress I just tried on, I slipped on the navy blue dress.

Stepping back outside, I gave an unenthusiastic twirl and sighed. This was probably the tenth dress I've tried on today, and I think I had enough. My eyes blinked toward her when I heard a squeal come out of her mouth.