Stay || Benny The Jet Rodriguez

The Party

July 19, 2021

I woke up that morning and automatically went back to figuring out what I was gonna wear.

I didn't have any party dresses, just a few cute rompers, and one long dress but it was way too fancy for a back-to-school party.

I threw myself face down onto my bed in frustration. I had to look better than Wendy and the fact that she's a year older than us and her parents are loaded means that she has perfect party dresses and outfits. My dad and I aren't poor, but we're not loaded. It's more of just normal. We have a lot of nice things, but we don't live in a huge house like the ones on Phillips old street.

I didn't expect to be going to a party this summer so I didn't pack anything for one. At the beginning of the summer, I thought I would just be laying in bed all day scrolling through Instagram and complaining about how much I wanted to be in Texas with my friends instead of here. Now, I'm not even going back because of how much I fell in love with the people and the town. Honestly, if I had never met Benny or the rest of the boys, this summer would've been miserable. I've also met so many different people while working at the Bakery and I've learned all their stories. I love having conversations with the regulars and watching people's stories fold out. It's beautiful really. Sometimes I'd even draw a customer if they interested me. When Phillips worked there he said it was "creepy" but I thought it could be cool if I drew some of the customers or even the whole shop when it's full and hand them on the walls.

I figured that groaning while laying in bed wouldn't help me figure out what to wear, so I took a shower.

Jeans and a cute top wouldn't be good enough to beat whatever dress Wendy would be wearing, but the only dress I had was way too fancy. It was more of a church dress than a party one. I could wear a different romper but I already wore my favorite one on my birthday and now it has a bad memory tied to it.

When I got out of the shower, I put on Bennys sweatshirt and shorts, then put on a face mask so my skin would look clear.

I laid in bed once again trying to think of what to wear when there was a soft rock on the door. There wasn't a beat to it so it wasn't Dad's, but it wasn't too soft to where you could barely hear it like Grans.

"Come in, " I mumbled since I could hardly open my mouth due to the face mask drying.

"Hey, I-" Joe entered the room and looked around in shock, "Woah."

"Yeah, I have nothing to wear, " I said dramatically plopping my head back onto my pillow.

"I wouldn't say nothing, I mean that's like your whole closet, " she laughed.

"I mean to this back-to-school party, " I sighed, "I wanna go and make a good impression on everyone so I'm not just the new girl ya know?"

"Does this also have something to do with that one Wendy girl?"

I looked up at her confused about how she knew as she lightly pushed through the pile of clothes to sit on the edge of my bed.

"How do you know about, " I fake gagged at the thought of her name, "Wendy?"

"Your dad tells me everything. I think you have every right to straight-up smack that bitch." she talked as if she was the same age as me. That's what I loved about her the most, she could understand everything even though she was a lot older than me.

"That's what I'm saying!" I said still unable to move my mouth.

"I might have something you could wear, but all of my dresses are too formal, " she paused to think and then gasped, "oh my God! We should go shopping!"