Evan wrinkled his nose. “One shoulder dresses make everyone look like Tarzan. Besides, I don’t think that pink is your color.” He turned around to a second rack, pawing through a sea of blues that bled into wild turquoise.
“This!” He yanked out a dress and held it out to her, imminently proud. The deep blue dress had thin spaghetti straps and a ruched bodice. It flared out gently, unlike the masses of cupcake dresses they had previously seen. The delicate fabric was scattered with tiny beads that sparkled each time the dress moved. It was gorgeous, but it horrified Brynna.
“Shouldn’t we wait to buy dresses until we actually have a date for the Winter Formal?”
“Of course not,” Erica said with a frown. “I read this article about this woman who was single but she wanted to get married super bad. She bought a wedding dress and voila! The universe kicked out a man and she was married within a year. It’s all in the power of positive thinking, you know? Put it out to the universe.”
“That sounds really pathetic,” Brynna scoffed.
“Stop being so negative,” Erica said through the dressing room door.
“Ugh.” Brynna turned back to her reflection in the mirror. “I hate the way my shoulders look in spaghetti straps. I look like a linebacker.”
“Negative, negative,” Erica sang. “Okay. One, two, three, open the door!”
Both girls threw open their dressing room doors and appraised each other. Erica was hiding her ridiculous grin behind her hand, but Brynna’s mouth dropped wide open.
Erica looked amazing.
The delicate straps on the dress she was wearing showed off her tanned, strong shoulders. The ruching along the side accentuated her hourglass figure, and the deep blue fabric with its multitude of sparkles made Erica’s brown eyes look that much darker, that much more mysterious.
“This is my dress,” she breathed.
“No.” Brynna took a step backward. “No,” she said again. “I hate that dress.”
Her heart was beating, and she tried to suck in those slow, Dr. Rother-assigned deep breaths, but her mind was tumbling.
Get a hold of yourself, Brynna. It’s a different dress. Lots of stores probably had that dress.
“Okay,” Evan said, shoving the offending dress back into the rack. “You can just say you hate my taste. You don’t have to go catatonic.”
“I’m sorry. I just—that’s just not my style.” She grabbed the closest dress she could find. “This. This is more my style.”
“Oh, Bryn, that’s going to look awesome on you.” Lauren stepped out of the racks with a dress slung over one arm. She fingered the edge of the dress Brynna was holding, and Brynna looked down at it herself. It was white with a single strap and a gauzy bust line. A row of delicate rhinestones lined the bodice, catching the light just enough to reflect back a tasteful sparkle. There was ruching at the waist, and then the dress flared out with a full skirt. She blinked, surprised at how simple and lovely it was.
“You have to try it on!”
Erica’s dress was forgotten as Lauren and Darcy rushed Brynna to the dressing room. They holed up in the adjoining two, commentating through each step of their trying-on process.
“This thing makes me look like a Vegas show girl—in the worst possible way,” Darcy moaned.
“Is my butt really that big, or is that just sequin distortion? Please say it’s sequin distortion,” Lauren responded.
“I don’t know,” Evan called from his spot outside of the rooms, “but I’d vote for giant ass over fabric failure.”
Brynna removed her clothes hastily, slipping the cool fabric of the dress over her head. Immediately, she felt the satin slide down over her chest, felt the way the bodice hugged her curves as the filmy skirt flittered just above her knees.
“Oh, Bryn, that’s amazing on you!”
Lauren hung over the side of Brynna’s dressing room, eyes wide. Darcy popped up on the other side, her shoulders engulfed by an obscene ruffle of pink.
“That’s amazing! If I didn’t already have my dress, I’d buy that one.” Darcy made a motion for Brynna to spin and she obliged. “It’s really gorgeous!”
Brynna slunk out of the dress, hurriedly slipped into her own clothes, and met Evan at the counter. Darcy and Lauren had already discarded their failure frocks and were poking at a display of sparkly jewelry.
“I think I’m going to get this one.”
“Lauren.” Darcy pointed to her watch. “If you want me to drive you to practice…”
Lauren swung her head to Evan. “You’re going to pick me up at eight, right?”
“Duh.”
“Great.” She shoved the dress she was holding into Evan’s arms. “Tell Mom I said thanks. And find me some shoes!”
Brynna and Evan could hear Darcy and Lauren giggling until they were out of the store and had blended into the throngs of mall people outside.
“Do you not want to go to homecoming with Teddy?” Evan asked, stepping closer.
“Why would you say that? I like Teddy. I want to go with him.”