Chapter 6
(Summer's Point of View)
The dress I picked out for dinner was not one I would have worn had I chosen to prepare the outfit before school. It was not that the dress was ugly, far from it. I thought the dress to be beautiful.
It was a cocktail gown. Slim fitting, and tight, it had a narrow skirt of dark gray-greenish taffeta, bunched up in places, and in some cascading down in ruffles, fabric in layers over others.
The bodice was black and short, but not too tight with two wide taffeta straps, and a neckline which caused the top part of the fabric to look like the upper part of a heart; a sweetheart neckline with a tank bodice.
Around the waist a small taffeta ribbon was wrapped, which allowed the dress to be more flattering to what little curves I had, and I couldn't help but think when I saw myself in the mirror this dress was perfect for me so... why hadn't I worn it before?
"Oh yeah..." I mumbled to myself as I peeked at my closest through the wide open door, a closet which had been clearly divided into two sides; the 'Max Approved' side and the 'Everything Else' side. This dress had NOT been on the Max approved side.
After I made the promise to him not break up, Max had just come to my house one day and bought me all this new stuff and made sure to keep away from my old stuff. The stuff that he'd bought was Max approved; in other words that was what I wore on formal dates that included dinner with any of his rich friends or his parents.
At the time, no, even now, I thought it was a huge waste of money. I mean, I had perfectly good fashion sense, but he didn't even give me a chance before he splurged on all these fancy designer dresses and clothes for me. He was somewhat worried I'd embarrass him I could only guess, but I wasn't going to.
Not for him though, for me. I may not care what I look like to other guys, but in front of people who it matters, I did, and I wasn't about to make a fool out of myself just to make a fool out of Max.
I fingered at the dress. I had bought it a year ago, when I had saw it hanging on a clearance rack. It was the only one, and it was a little big at the time, but I had wanted it. It was probably the only spontaneous purchase I had ever made, since I didn't need to go clothes shopping much thanks to Max.
Speaking of Max, I had never shown the dress to him. I hadn't had a reason, since it was to big, the skirt to long, areas filled out in wrong places or left empty in some. So I had put it in the back of my closet and slowly forgot about it... until now, when after frantically searching for a dress I had found it and... I gave a small twirl. The dress fit like a glove. It was perfect, and Max may not like it but...
Screw him. I was going to feel pretty tonight if I died trying.
With a quick flick of my wrist, I snatched up the mascara container, and removed the wand. Letting it dance across my lashes, I made sure there were no clumps that would detract from the overall appearance. I applied a teeny-bit of black eyeliner on my upper lid, than smudged it to give a smoky appearance. Then on the lower lid, I did the same but only took the liner halfway across the edge of the lid, as it made my eyes look more open and fresh.
A dash of blush, a hint of lip-gloss and one pair of heels later, I was done, and I as I turned to look in the mirror I couldn't help but gasp. The girl that stared back at me radiated happiness and girly excitement at getting done up to go out. Was this what Max had stolen from me? This bright cheery girl, with eyes like stars and lips that couldn't stop smiling?
I touched the reflection; my finger resting upon smooth glass, as I checked to make sure this was real. That this girl was there and was me. "I never realized," I whispered, and that's when a small flame of anger began to burn inside of me. A very small flame, actually not even a flame, just a spark.
