Homeroom

61: Dress Shopping

[A/N] SOUNDS GOOD FEELS GOOD IS OUT AND 5SOS IS PERFORMING IN MY STATE ON MY BIRTHDAY! LIFE IS SO GOOD RIGHT NOW.

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"How in the world is it April already?" I ask Shay as we walk towards Rachel's Closet, a prom dress shop located downtown. A little bell above the door dings when we step into the cute, little shop. Tons of dresses hang on racks, so we start digging.

"Senior year's going to be over in, what, two months? That's crazy." Shay pulls out a blue dress embellished with gems and immediately puts it back.

"I was looking forward to graduation for so long, and now, I feel like it all went too fast." I pull out a really tight-looking, full length dress. It's mint green and very plain. It could look okay, I don't know, I don't think my dad would ever let me leave the house with it on.

"Ooh, try that on, Callie," Shay giggles. "I bet that'd look really good on you."

"Okay, I'll try it on."

After searching through rack after rack, we both pick a dressing room and start trying things on. I slip on a short, pink dress and show Shay as she emerges from the stall in a magnificent midnight blue gown. It's skin tight in all the right places. "That's a keeper, Shay," I gape, eyes glued to her gown.

"Thanks, sunshine. But, Callie, that one has got to go."

I look down, biting my lip. "Yeah, you're right."

I go back into my dressing room and put on the mint green dress. Though I can barely breathe in it, you can easily see every contour of my body as if I wasn't wearing anything at all. Impulsively, I snap a picture of myself and send it to Aaron.

Me: *Picture message* What do you think?

After a minute or so of starting at myself in the mirror, my phone vibrates.

Aaron: Holy duck

Aaron: typo I meant fuck

Aaron: 😍😍🔥🔥

Me: srsly? 

Aaron: you're teasing me no fair

I smirk, shoving my phone back into my purse.

I take the dress off, not bothering to show Shay, and slip on a strapless, blood-red dress. At the top, it hugs my top half snugly and slowly grows so that at the bottom it's wide and poofy.

"Yo, Shay," I yell. "I think I found the one."

"Ooh, let me see!"

I unlock the dressing room door and step out into the open, showing her the dress. She gasps, squealing. "That looks so good on you! That's the one, Callie."

I smile. "Thanks. And by the way, that midnight blue one looked good on you."

She smirks. "Yeah, it will. Ooh, that's going to be fun. Should I get that one?" She spins around in the orange dress that makes her look like a traffic cone.

"Yes, get it!"

After undressing and putting everything back, we approach the sales lady at the front desk. "Did you guys find everything okay?"

Shay and I nod.

"Alright, I'll ring you up first," she says, smiling at me. The woman pulls out a price gun and scans the barcode attached to the dress. "Alright, that's going to be $378.99."

I internally whine. My dad only gave me $200, but I guess I brought my stash of birthday money with me for a reason.

I pay the sales woman and hand over my dress so that she can bag it for me. Shay's dress comes out to be an even $300, but she had her mom's credit credit card to use.

After we leave the boutique, we end up lying our dresses in the trunk of her car and going out to eat. Today was a really nice day, and I glad we spent it together.

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"Hey, lovely lady," Aaron greets me, kissing me on the cheek before he sits down next to to me on the stone wall outside the school. Our feet dangle so that a small creek runs under us.

"Hi, Aaron, what's up?"

He tries to hide an infectious smile, but fails. "Nothing much, you know, we just got booked to play at the Great Eagle Tavern. Nothing new."

I gasp. "Are you serious."

"Hell yes," he exclaims, beaming and giggling a bit.

"Oh my gosh, that's awesome!" I hug him really tightly, pressing my nose into the crook of his neck. After I give him a good squeeze, I untangle myself from around him. "When are you guys playing there?"

"We made a deal with the owners to perform every Sunday night for two hours after 7 P.M.."

"Well, you know I'm going to be there," I exclaim.

"I was hoping."

We sit in a comfortable silence for a couple of minutes, enjoying the warmth of the sun on our backs and the easiness between us. I rest my head on his shoulder and later feel his arm snake around my waist.

"I really really love you, Callie, you know that?"

"I love you to, Aaron Gerald Hanson."

He pauses. "Hey, how did you know my middle name?"

"Al told me."

"And how did that come up in conversation?"

I shrug. "I don't know, I guess I was just wondering and knew he knew the answer."

"Oh."

Another cloud of silence closes in around us for a short moment before I hear the clomping of rushed footsteps on grass. I lift my head off Aaron's shoulder and turn around to see Charlie running towards us with a backpack that is definitely not his, laughing hysterically as Zander chances him.

"What the..?" I start to say before Charlie throws the backpack in the creek.

'"That's what you get for rigging the Battle of the Bands," he says, laughing.

"I didn't rig it, the people like me!" Zander shoots backs, shoving Charlie. "And now you destroyed all of my notes!"

Soon, they get into a full-out brawl, wrestling each other viciously. Aaron rushes to the both of them, struggling to break them apart. I lower myself down into the shallow lake and jump on a few, giant rocks to get Zander's waterlogged backpack. Once I get it, I throw it back up over the stone edge and pull myself back onto the grass, where all three boys are standing in silence, breathing heavily.

"Here." I throw the backpack at his feet.

He looks at his belongings and then back up at me, eyebrows furrowed. "What did you do this for?"

"It's a peace offering. Let's all just stop wasting our energy on hate and start being, at the least, tolerant of each other."

Charlie nods. "Okay, I'm sorry, Zander."

"Apology accepted." He grabs his backpack and slings in around his shoulder. "And for the record, I didn't rig the votes." With that, he walks off the grass and into the street, heading towards the student parking lot.

"Do you think he's serious?" Charlie asks as we watch him.

I nod. "If he did rig the votes, we'd be the first people he'd tell."

Aaron clears his throat. "So why make peace with the devil? I thought you loved a good fight."

"Yeah, well, peace was long overdue. This war has been going on for too long."

He nods, Charlie nods, and I nod, too. Peace was long overdue.

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[A/N] I'm not going to lie, I really liked this chapter :) Thanks for voting and commenting :) :)