Toxicity

23

AMELIAS POV
Today Mer and I were going dress shopping. I was nervous. I hated wearing dresses. My bruises from Ryan have gone away though. That was good.
"Hey you ready?" Meredith asked.
"Yeah," I said. We walked downstairs and Derek was on the couch.
"You guys leaving?" Derek asked.
"Yup," Meredith said, "we'll probably be gone 2 hours, might stop for lunch."
"Okay sounds good," Derek said, "Amy have fun."
"I will," I said.
"Alright I'll see you guys later," Derek said. Meredith and I walked out to her car.
"So do you have a style or color in mind?" Mer asked.
"No," I chuckled.
"Figured," she laughed, "just gives us plenty of options."
"Except yellow," I chuckled.
"Gotcha," Mer said.
"When did I become this person that goes dress shopping and cares about fabric color," I laughed.
"When you found a nice boy," Meredith said, "how are things going with Link."
"They're good," I smiled.
"That's good," she said, "he's a really sweet boy."
"Yeah he is," I smiled.
"And your brother likes him," Meredith said.
"Yeah Derek does," I said. We parked at the mall and we got out and started walking in.
"You have to keep an open mind," Meredith chuckled, "you can't hate everything."
"You know me all too well," I laughed. We walked into the first store and Meredith smiled.
"Look at this one," Meredith said.
"Ew no it's pink," I said.
"Okay so pink is out of the question," she laughed.
"What about this one?" Meredith asked and pointed to another one.
"Too shiny," I shrugged.
"This one?" She asked.
"Too puffy," I said.
"Why don't you suggest dresses?" She chuckled.
"I'm looking," I said.
"Okay," Meredith said. I felt my phone buzz and it was Link.
"How's shopping going?" He sent.
"Good," I lied. I was so not a girly girl. This was so out of my comfort zone. I stopped walking and looked at a navy blue dress.
"This ones cute," I said.
"It is," Mer said, "Wanna try it on?"
"Eh," I shrugged.
"Amelia," Meredith laugh, "there's a dressing room right there go try it on."
"Fine," I said. I grabbed my size and walked into the dressing room. I put it on and looked in the mirror. It was okay. I opened the door and Meredith smiled.
"It's pretty," she smiled.
"Eh," I said and looked in the mirror.
"Well that's okay if you don't like it there's other shops we can try too," she said.
"Okay," I nodded. We continued walking around the mall.
"Are you and Link matching?" She asked.
"What?" I said.
"Well like I don't know sometimes the boy matches their tie to the girls dress," Meredith chuckled.
"Are we supposed to do that?" I laughed.
"It was just a question it's really personal preference," Meredith said.
"Okay," I said. We walked into another store and we walked to the dress department.
"Look at this one," Meredith said.
"It's pretty," I shrugged.
"Amelia open mindedness," Meredith chuckled.
"I'm trying," I said.
"Okay," she chuckled. I looked and saw a black dress.
"What about this one?" I asked.
"I like it," she said. I went and tried it on and looked in the mirror. It was pretty. I felt pretty. I smiled as I opened the door.
"You look happy," she smiled, "do you like it?"
"Yeah," I said.
"Do we have a dress?" She asked.
"Yes do," I smiled.
"Yay!" She said, "Amelia you look so pretty."
"Thanks Mer," I smiled. We bought the dress and continued walking around the mall. I was happy.
-
Meredith unlocked the door and Derek was still on the couch.
"Looks like you had a productive day!" Meredith laughed.
"I did," he said, "Amy did you get a dress?"
"I did," I said.
"That's good," he said.
"Yeah," I said, "it is."
"Never thought I'd see the day you actually went to a school dance," he joked.
"Shut up," I said.
"Link has made you soft. Not saying it's a bad thing," he said.
"He has not," I said.
"It's not a bad thing," Meredith laughed and hugged me. I chuckled and sat down next to Derek on the couch.
"I'm not soft," I said and looked at him.
"Fine, you're not soft but you're just nicer," he said.
"Nicer?" I chuckled.
"Yeah," he said, "you're happy and loving. You do romantic things with Link, you smile, you laugh, you go to the movie theaters with him and buy a dress so you can go to a dance together. You're in a good relationship, so what if you're a little softer?" I chuckled and smiled.
"I am happy," I said.
"When's the dance?" He asked.
"Two weeks," I said.
"Can I have a guardian moment?" He asked. Since it was weird calling him my "dad" we called it guardian moments instead of dad moments.
"Do not ask to take pictures of me and Link," I complained.
"Amy," he chuckled, "you'll want to see these pictures in a few years or when you're older."
"No I won't," I chuckled.
"Meredith will want to take pictures of you anyway," he said, "so it's happening."
"Ugh," I said.
"Come on let yourself have this good thing," he said.
"I am!" I chuckled, "you keep saying that."
"I'm proud of you," he said, "you've come a long way."