After Elliot

31: Light Up

She seems hurt by my sentiment, and I quickly cover my faux pas with a jolt of laughter, "Kidding!" I chime and the other three slowly join in. Tiffany claps a hand to her chest, face still red from where I'd insulted her, "Oh my gosh, I thought you were being serious!" "I'd never!" I pat her other hand that's resting on the table.

I meet eyes with Jenna, who seems to be the only one that knows I was serious. She shakes her head at me, but her attention is diverted by Vanessa, who points out a picture of a shimmering dress. "I want to wear gold," Vanessa spills, which causes Tiffany to spout, "I'm thinking orange of some sort." "Maybe a purple," Adds Jenna. All look to me for my idea, and I speak the first color that comes to mind, "Red?" Vanessa gasps and fans herself, "That is the perfect color with your skin tone! I'm so glad we're doing this together!" "Me too. I'm just happy for some normalcy. My senior year hasn't exactly been the greatest," I state with a nonchalant wave of my hand.

"Oh, Ana!" Jenna rubs my arm soothingly, as do the other girls. "It's fine, really. I'm just glad to have made some friends. I can't always just rely on Liam." "We're glad you're our friend! 'The Preps' just wouldn't be the same without you!" "Right, because I'm the D.U.F.F. of the group," I spout jokingly and Vanessa slaps my hand, "No you're not! You're gorgeous!" "Thanks," I smile at her and then pull the thick binder of prom planning towards myself. "Now, let's see what we have here?"

•••

"Hmm, I don't know, Jen. What about the blue one? Did you like that one better?" Vanessa questions as she rotates around full length mirrors plastered in front of her. Jenna scoffs and adjusts the straps of her own purple dress, "The gold looks gorgeous on you, Nessa." "How do I look?" Tiffany pops out of the dressing room in an orange mermaid dress that spills luxuriously onto the hardwood flooring. "Oh my gosh! I love it!" Vanessa spews happily. "Found anything yet, Ana?" Jenna calls to me as I shuffle through the clothes racks. "Not really."

I'm depressed. As soon as we walked into the store, the other three spotted their 'dream dresses,' whilst I've found zilch. "How much is our budget for dresses, again?" Vanessa asks as she smoothes out the shimmering skirt of her dress. I snatch up the Prom binder seated on a nearby chair and flip to the Finance section. I skim down to Dresses and call out the price to her, "Twenty-hundred."

"So five-hundred each," Jenna remarks. "Thanks for that mental math," Tiffany murmurs under her breath as she tries to get the dress to cling to her just right. Jenna sends her a glare but turns around to face me once again. "Mine is four-hundred." "Five-hundred here." "And three-hundred here." "Zero here-for now," I add. "So that leaves around eight-hundred left. So, Ana, if your dress is super expensive, the budget will catch your fall." "If I can find one," I murmur, drop the binder on the chair, and then stalk back out into the store.

I mosey into the more expensive section, knowing that Cher will cover it if I go over-budget. I start to finger through the different designs and find absolutely nothing red. I sigh, decide that it's hopeless, then spin around towards the back of the store. Bam. There it is. It's like a light from heaven is shining down and illuminating it. The red dress on display has a semi-plunged, sweetheart neckline and a subtle mermaid tail with waves of fabric hanging from it.

It's made from what seems to be a silk, and looks as if it would cling perfectly to my body. After realizing that I've been standing there with my mouth open, I call out to a worker, "How much is this one?" I point, still in awe, at the wondrous sight before me. "Six-hundred. You interested?" I nod in response. "I'll put it into one of the dressing rooms for you." I patiently wait for her to gather the dress and then follow her to a nearby changing room.