True Beauty

Chapter 11: Gala

It was the Friday night and Lindsey has been thinking about the gala all day. Her friends kept giving her tips all week. She has only talked to Damian to make sure that they'd be able to find each other at the gala.

Lindsey was going through her closet looking for an appropriate dress to wear for the gala in two hours. She hadn't thought it wouldn't be too hard to find something to wear. But as she looked at the three formal dresses she owned, she didn't think any of them were good enough to wear to a gala full of rich people.

The first one was a maroon dress that reached her mid-thigh. The neckline went deep between her breasts and the straps were thin. She wore it to a wedding of her Father's co-worker. The second one was lavender and off the shoulder quarter sleeve. It was a high-low dress with sparkle on the bodice. This one was her homecoming dress for last year. The last one was black with no back but had long sleeves. It reached her knees and fit her like a glove. She had bought it over the summer to wear at Homecoming this year with her friends back in New York.

They were all beautiful, but all the rich people in Gotham and surrounding areas were going to be at this gala. They would be judging her the whole night. Also, Damian was going to be there. She couldn't be seen with him looking like a charity case. It would destroy his high-class image. And if they figured out who her grandparents were, she could destroy their image as well. Lindsey could ruin everything in one night.

She could just not go. She could text him and say that she had more homework than she expected. But he would see through the lie, they had half their classes together. She could say that her dog died, but Damian would probably come anyway since he loves animals so much. And she also didn't have a dog.

There was a knock at her door when she was picking up her phone to try to find an excuse to send to Damian.

"Come in," she called out.

In came Grandma Holling carrying a garment bag on her arm. She wore a royal purple gown with three quarter sleeves. There was some sparkle on the bodice, but not an overwhelming amount. It was enough to have people want to look at her. Her hair was up in an elegant up-do. And her make-up was minimal, yet still beautiful.

"Oh, good you haven't picked out a dress yet," she said. She lay the bag on the bed and turned to Lindsey. "Dear, you haven't even started getting ready yet. No make-up, hair isn't even started. Is something that matter?"

"How early was I supposed to get ready?" Lindsey asked. Besides I don't know what to wear. I was going to get dressed before I started on anything else."

"Well, that is perfectly fine," Grandma Holling said. "You see, when I first heard of the gala, I had a dress made for you. This designer makes all of the girl's dresses for events like this. I was lucky enough to catch her before she got too busy with this round of dresses. I showed her all the pictures of you I had and told her that I trusted her. And darling, the dress is stunning."

She unzipped the bag to get the bag out. The dress was a lovely shade of cornflower blue. The neckline plunged down to a modest length, yet showed off a good amount of her chest, and was covered in pearl-like beads that led to the back. Strands were placed where she supposed her shoulders would be. Then she turned the gown around. The strands crossed across the back, where there was no fabric. And the back ended right above where her butt-crack would be.

"You're speechless! I knew you would be. I was too," her grandmother squealed.

"Grandma, I'm not going to pull this off! I don't have the body for it!"

"Pish, posh. You're going to be beautiful. Now let me help you get ready."

Mrs. Holling has always been a well-spoken woman. She spoke her mind and didn't care if others feeling got hurt. Lindsey couldn't help but look up to her Grandmother in that way. And that was probably the only way she looked up to her grandmother.