The Big Five

29. Darned Tripping Mechanism

"No way," I crossed my arms and shook my head. "There is no way I'm ever going to wear that....that tripping mechanism."

Maggie sighed. She was holding an elegant dress. It was green and had some sort of shine on it. It reached the ground and that was enough of a reason to not wear it.

"Come on, Nic. You promised you'd let me pick our outfits."

"Nuh uh, no way I'm wearing that. Never. Nada. No."

Maggie pouted and threw the dress on her bed. She sat down and fell on her back.

"The banquet is tomorrow. We don't even have a date. And there's no point in going without our dear friend, Emma. Maybe we should just ditch it."

"What?" I exclaimed, panicking. "No! I promised Emma that we'd go! And what about her Valentine's banquet. We need to know what the banquet hall looks like!"

Maggie sighed sadly. "I guess we can't. It's too bad. I'm too tired to look for another dress. Maybe next year."

"Aww, come on, Mag," I whined. "You can't do that. Fine. If it makes you feel better, I'll wear the dress. So stop talking like that and go tomorrow, alright?"

"Promise?" Maggie asked timidly.

I nodded. "Promise."

A sly smile formed on her mouth and I realized I fell for her trap. Just as I was about to say that she was an unfair hog with a fox's brain, she stretched and let out a groan.

"Great!" She said. "It's not like I wasn't going to go tomorrow. I was totally gonna go without you!"

I clenched my fist and glared at her. "Maggie," I warned.

She smiled and looked up at me, holding out the dress for me to take.

"Now why don't you try it on to see if it fits? Be a good girl and do it for Emma?"

I sighed and snatched the dress from her. Maggie really knew how to get what she wanted.

"Fine. But it's only because of Emma. If it weren't for her, you'd have been dead meat."

I tried on the dress. It fit snugly around my waist. The back was longer than the front, trailing behind me like a cape when I walked. The top was modest, showing little cleavage, and had a strap only on the left side. The strap was folded together to look like a flowery pattern.

Maggie gushed when she saw me.

"Nicole! It's absolutely adorable! Anyone who rejects you is one crazy guy!"

"Maggie!" I hissed, annoyed that my face was heating up. "Shut up. It fits, so we're good. I'll come over here tomorrow and we can hang out before going to the banquet."

"Good idea! The dress can stay here. I don't trust you. Who knows? You might just take it and ruin it so you don't have to wear it."

"Yeah right!" I snapped, despite the fact that that was exactly what I was going to do. "Well, see you tomorrow! And watch out, cause I will get you back for tricking me!"

I huffed and stomped out of her room. She would pay for tricking me. And I promised it would be good.

****

I stood around awkwardly at the party. Lights flashed around and the dance floor was packed with people. Maggie had no problem finding a dance partner, but me? No. I am a socially awkward weirdo who can't even walk straight in heels. There was no way anyone would ask a girl with two left feet to dance.

I sighed and put down the cup of punch I was holding. I looked down and bunched the sides of my dress in my hands. I took one step at a time as I made my way towards the exit.