more life / b.simmons (2)

33

one month later

kyra is nearly sweating as she vigorously pushes through racks of dresses, trying to find the perfect one. amari looks as well, not as stressed as her daughter because she knows that they'll find her dress—even if they only have 5 hours before the dance and they still have to do her hair and makeup.

"mom, theres nothing here," kyra whines, her arms burning from pushing the racks around so hard and fast. amari ignores her daughters complaints and instead hands her three dresses she found in her size.

"try these," amari says. kyra looks at them like amari just offered her sardines on pizza. with a scoff, amari says, "just try them."

"fine," kyra takes the dresses from her, and the two of them walk to the dressing rooms. kyra steps in one with a sigh and amari rolls her eyes.

"you act like i have bad taste. who do you think dressed you until you were 10?" amari asks.

"i'm not acting!" kyra held through the door. amari scoffs.

"girl, i will pull your ass out of that dressing room and take you home—then you really won't be able to go tonight," amari threatens, taking a seat on one of the chairs.

"i was joking, momma!" kyra whines.

"sure you were. but i wasn't," amari replies, scrolling through her phone. in the dressing room, kyra mocks her and continues trying on dresses.

stepping out with a weird look on her face, kyra stops in front of her mom with her arms out. "that's cute!" amari says and kyra grimaces. it was long sleeve, maroon, vneck mini dress with bandage wrap material. "i don't like the bandage wrap aspect, but it looks good on you. look at your legs." amari says.

kyra checks out herself in the mirror and shakes her head. "it's too form fitting," she says. amari nods understandingly and tells her to try on the next one.

she tries on the next dress, a white, spaghetti strap dress that ties in the back, revealing a small portion of her back. both kyra and amari like this one, but it's not the one. "i don't want to wear white, yknow?"

"why?"

"i hate when people where white to school dances. it gives off wedding vibes—i'm not marrying keanu,"kyra says, looking at herself in the mirror. but damn, did she look good.

"ooh. yeah, take it off and try on the other one. there will be no marriages tonight," amari says as kyra retreats back into the dressing room to try on the last one.

the last one is teal and the same style as the white one, but there's a cut on the thigh. her legs look extra long in this dress, and she can't tell if she likes it or not.

"what about this?" kyra asks, messing with the straps. amari looks up at her in awe.

"wow, baby girl. you look so pretty," amari says. "turn around." kyra spins and amari checks to make sure that the back is long enough. she might have her fathers height, but she's still built like her mom. "do you like it?"

kyra shrugs. "i don't know yet. it's kind of short," she says, pulling the dress down, but it's at its farthest.

"it's not as short as you're making it out to seem, kyra. trust me when i say that id let you know if it was too short," amari says.

"dads going to think it's too short," kyra points out. amari tells her to turn around once more and shrugs.

"you'll be fine, kyra. if you don't like it, you don't have to get it," amari says. "try dancing in it." kyra pantomimes what shed do on the dancefloor, and when she lifts up her leg, amaris eyes widen and motions for her to put her leg down. "either don't dance like that, or get a different dress, cause girl..." amari says, rubbing her forehead.