In A Different Time

Chapter 6

Mr. O'Neal came into the classroom. He greeted us good morning and went on with the lesson.

Before we know it, class was over. Mr. O'Neal gave us homework and the students groaned. He only shrugged and said he has to because he's a teacher. He promised not to judge our answers.

"Ugh, I was hoping we don't have any homework." Taya groaned.

"Me too." Tom agreed. "We still have football practices before prom and having to do math homework sucks."

"I can help you guys if you want." I offered.

"You are a life saver, Grace." Tom praised me.

"Yes, please! I'm so thankful I have a nerd best friend," Taya said.

"Hey!" I pushed her playfully.

"But you're my good nerd best friend."

I playfully rolled my eyes and the three of us laughed. The bell rang signaling next class was about to start. "Okay, I'm going to my next class. See yah!" he winked at Taya and walked off to his next class.

"Oh, my heart. I feel like it's about to burst." Taya giggled.

"Tee, you got a good one here." I nodded.

"How lucky am I? Come on, it's time for my power nap."

"Next class is Chemistry."

"Exactly!"

**************************************************

I called Mrs. Johnson if it was okay for me not to go to work because we're going to shop for our dresses. She said yes without hesitation and even asked me to send pictures once we got our dresses. I parked the car outside the dress shop and saw Greg standing outside as we got out of the car.

"Hey, girls!" Greg happily waved and hugged as when we got close. This guy is a huge ball of energy. "Okay, so I hope you guys are ready because we are going to shop until we drop!"

"Oh, boy..." I groaned. I don't really like shopping.

"I'm ready!" she chirped.

"Okay! Let's go!" he cheered and opened the door. "Okay, so I already have a color in mind. Taya, I'm thinking green. The color suits your gorgeous dark skin like Princess Tiana gorgeous. What do you think?"

"Greg, it's like you read my mind." she grinned.

"And you lovely." he pointed at me. "Royal Blue. I'm thinking a simple royal blue dress because girl you just execute class. Agree?"

"You do what you think it's best. I trust your fashion sense." I told him.

He clapped gleefully and quickly grabbed some dresses and pushed it at us. He took a lot of gowns and shooed us to change in the fitting room. He gave us a lot to try on. Greg would make us do a walk and twirl like we were in a fashion show.

He squealed when he saw Taya wearing a green off shoulder silk dress. It has a slit at the left showcasing her long legs. "That's the one!"

"You look beautiful, Tee." I smiled at her.

"I feel beautiful too." she smiled and did another twirl for Greg.

"Lucky you, I still need to try more."

"Don't worry, honey. We will find the perfect dress. Trust me."

"Maybe, I could help?" Mrs. Shane, the shop's owner, came up to us. "A dress just came in yesterday and I haven't put it on the rack yet. Would you like to see it? It's royal blue and very classy."

"Yes, please," I said to her. She smiled and nodded her head. After a few seconds, she came back with a garment bag. Mrs. Shane opened the bag and a beautiful floor length A line satin dress with thin straps appeared to us. "Would you like to try it on?"

I nodded and my friends pushed me quickly to the fitting room. The fabric felt soft on my skin as I put it on. It fits perfectly. I turned around and gasped when I saw my reflection in the mirror. The front shows a little cleavage and the backless dress adds a little sexiness. The dress compliments my figure and it really look good on me. I look classy and elegant.

"Well, let us see!" Taya called out.

"Yeah, I wanna see how you look!" Greg yelled.

I came out and their jaws dropped except for Mrs. Shane. She had a proud smile on her face. "I knew it would look perfect on you."

"Gray, it's perfect!" she exclaimed. "It looks so beautiful and classy. How do you feel?"

"Beautiful." I giggled.

"We'll take it!"

We bought the dresses and went shoe shopping next. Greg bought a royal blue tie for Ken to match with my dress. It was fun but exhausting. Taya's excitement was rubbing on me. I'm feeling excited as well. It's going to be the night I'll never forget.

After shopping, we decided to go to Ray's Diner because we got hungry. Greg texted Ken to meet us up so we can eat and hang out. We chose a booth and looked at the menu.

A pretty red head right about our age came to our table with a genuine smile on her face. "Hey, there! My name's Lola and I'm your waitress. What'll you guys have?"

I ordered a cheeseburger, large fries and Sprite. Taya ordered a double cheeseburger with bacon, large fries and coke while Greg ordered a chicken sandwich, onion rings and Dr. Pepper. He also ordered Ken's usual. Lola wrote down quickly and run through our orders again. "Okay, anything else you would like to add?" we shook our heads and she tucked away her pen. "Okay! You're order will be ready in a few minutes."

As soon as she left, I saw Ken entered through the diner doors. I waved my hand to get his attention. He immediately saw me and came to our table. "Hey, guys! Babe." he greeted and sat down next to Greg. "You guys ordered already?"

"Yes, and I ordered your usual for you." Greg grinned.

"Thanks, babe." he kissed his cheek and Greg blushed. Taya and I awed at their sweet interaction. He playfully rolled his eyes and flipped us off. We all laughed.

"Awww... you guys having fun?" a familiar annoying female voice said. I turned my attention to Tiffany. She was with her cheerleading squad.

"We were but now is ruined thanks to you." Taya snarked. "What the hell do you want, Tiffany?"

"Just wanted to chat that's all." she glanced our shopping bags. "I see you guys went dress shopping. So, you're going then?"

"Yeah, I am." was all I replied.

Before I could react, Tiffany took my shopping bag. She took out my dress and examined it. "Seriously?! This is your dress?! It's so dull and boring! A little fashion tip, make sure to pick a dress where you won't look fat in it."

"Listen here bitch," Greg began and already fired up to confront her. "First of, I'm gonna stop your body shaming right there. Grace is healthy and gorgeous. Also, dieting to be skinny like Jack Skellington from Nightmare Before Christmas is not so sexy. It's unhealthy. Second, excuse you! Her dress screams class and elegance. Nothing that you know about anyway. So, if you're done bitching, we would like to eat."

"Excuse you! And what do you know about fashion?"

"Much more than you since you chose a top where you look like you have a uniboob."

Tiffany and her gang gaped and was speechless. Taya laughed out loud while Ken looked proud at his boyfriend. It took her a few seconds to recover and a scowl formed on her face. "Whatever." she tossed the bag at me which I thankfully caught. With a flick of her hair, they walked away.

"Thanks, Greg." I thanked gratefully.

He waved it off. "Girl, no problem. I always like to put bitches in their places so you actually made my day."

At that moment, Lola came back to our table with a trolley. She placed our orders on the table and told us to enjoy before serving other tables. We ignored Tiffany's glare at us and enjoyed our food and excitedly talked about prom.