The Misfits

The First Date | Charlotte

Alec and I had set up a plan during science a month and nine days [ exactly ] after the fiasco of trying to figure out the whole mess that we had put ourselves into. I knew that it would be impossible, it was like trying to untie a mass of necklaces, that was impossible! It seemed to be going alright for everyone except for poor Estelle and Halden, I felt sort of bad for them. Especially Halden, the thing that Estelle said that day were awful and I felt even worse because I chose Alec over him.

Even after what Alec did.

I stared at myself in the mirror. Today I cared so much about the date that I actually put on makeup, I am not kidding, I literally put on mascara, eye shadow and eyeliner. And my suspicions were right, makeup is awful but I suppose that it made me look a little bit better. I left my hair down and straightened it, putting a hairband.

It was the clothing that I had the most trouble with, I do not really have dresses or nice skirts or anything of the sort, my whole wardrobe is made of sweaters and worn jeans with a hole in the knee. I took in a deep breath, knowing exactly what I had to do, but my dad could never find out, it would either trigger anger or he would burst into tears.

My dad's bedroom was just across the hall from mine, but he never went in there unless he was going to sleep or changing, or maybe he would go in there to relive memories of my mother. Sometimes he can not handle those memories, rarely can I, but is not because I miss my mother, it is because she treated me like an old book that she does not want anymore. And those memories bring back the depression I once had.

Sneaking into my dad's room was the easiest thing I have ever done [ or I should say the easiest sneaking I have ever done, reading the last book of the Harry Potter series was the easiest thing I have ever done. ], he never goes in there. I open up the door and it creaks in the slightest, but otherwise it was all good.

I slip inside and tiptoe [ bringing out the T-Rex arms ] towards his closet where he keeps all of mother's old cloths. I pop the lid open and rummage through it. Almost all of the clothing that mother wore was really, really nice clothing. Tight black skirts, white button up shirts, black high heels, etc. It was hard to find something that would be nice for a date-like occasion.

Finally, I found a white dress that was sleeveless and the skirt kind of flowed out. It was beautiful, I could only hope that Dad would not recognize it. I pulled it out and carefully shut the lid again. When I turned around, my dad as standing right there watching me with his hands in his pockets.

I paused and just stared at him like I could not believe what I was seeing. Did I really think that I could just sneak some of mother's clothes and nobody would catch me? All I was really thinking about was Dad recognizing the dress, I did not even ponder on the idea that he would catch me in the act!

"Dad, I-"

"No, it's okay, Charlotte. I don't mind if you take one of Mom's dresses, I really don't." He interjected, his voice gentle but his eyes were wet with tears. "Alec seems like a nice boy..." Dad's eyes flashed for a minute as he said this, probably remembering how he ditched dinner. He smiled at me to cover it up. "You have fun." Dad walked out again.

I let out a breath that I did not realize I was holding until now and I followed him out of the room to my own bedroom. I closed the door behind me and smiled down at the dress, it was so pretty.

With shaking fingers, I pulled on the dress and some white flats. But the dress made me feeling slightly uncomfortable, there were no sleeves and I always [ even in the summer ] wore a sweater to hide my arms. An idea stuck me, I went to my closet and looked around for a nicer sweater I could pull on over the dress. I found a black one that went just passed my elbows, it would be perfect.