"Really? Turquoise? Isn't that a little... overdone?"
"Fine," I groaned, rolling my eyes, "What about this one?"
"If you want to look like a lemon dipped in glitter then sure, go for it."
"You are the pickiest prom date ever!" I snapped, hanging another dress back up on the rack.
If it wasn't obvious, Cameron was with me while looking for an outfit to wear to the prom. Emma wasn't too thrilled with the idea, but seems happy now that she realised all the bad decisions her date, Derek, was going to make without her.
"What? Is it so bad to want my date to look good?" Cameron asked, glancing around the store.
"I always look good," I countered, returning my attention to the racks of dresses.
Even though he was being somewhat annoying, I still appreciated having Cameron with me. Since I confided in him about the bet two weeks ago, we've spent nearly every day hanging out with each other. He almost made me forget about it all, which was nice. But then I'd see Nash in the hallway or at lunch and it would all come flooding back to me.
"Oh my God, I can't believe you right now!" A familiar voice half-yelled from behind me, and I turned to see Emma stomping towards me with an exasperated Derek standing behind her.
"What's wrong?" I asked, looking between the two.
"Oh, nothing," Emma said, shaking her head, "It's just my date is a total idiot!"
"How am I a total idiot?" Derek asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
"Because you bought your suit before I got my dress!"
"So? I haven't gotten the tie and pocket square yet, those are the parts that match the dress," Derek countered, and Emma shot him a look of pure evil.
"Okay," I said, stepping in between the two of them, "Why don't you both just chill out?"
"I'll chill out once I've strangled him," Emma hissed through her teeth, and Derek took a step back.
I looked at Cam with pleading eyes, silently asking him to do something. He turned to Derek and patted him on the shoulder.
"Hey, why don't we go get some drinks for us and the girls? Leave them look around by themselves for a while?"
"That's a good idea," I forced a smile at Derek and Emma, "You go do that, we'll keep looking here."
As Cam and Derek headed out of the store I mouthed a thank you to Cam then turned back to Emma.
"Em, how many times have we talked about not going psycho on boys you've just started to date?"
"Why would I date him? He's an idiot!" Emma stomped her foot angrily, and I rolled my eyes.
"Shut up, you like him. You just want to control everything."
"So do you!"
"Yes, but everything usually goes my way so I don't have to throw a tantrum," I smirked, "Find any dresses yet?"
"I found a few I'd like to try on," Emma sighed, trying to calm down. I nodded at her and looked at the few I had that Cam hadn't shot down.
"Me too. Let's go see what they look like on us."
We both made our way to the dressing rooms, and stepped in two beside each other. As I tried on the various dresses silently, I could hear Emma groaning next door, obviously frustrated with each dress she had.
I wasn't going to lie though, I wasn't having any luck either. Each dress was either too loose in areas, or too big in others. Nothing seemed to look go on me.
"Any luck with the dresses?" I called next door to Emma, as I slipped off the last dress I had.
"No," She grunted back, "All these dresses look good on the racks but not on me!"
"Tell me about it," I scoffed, "None of mine look good on me either."
"Hey, this might look good on you," Emma spoke, and as she did a pile of green fabric appeared over the wall of the dressing room, "Try it on."
I rolled my eyes, as I had a feeling it would probably look awful, but obliged none the less. When I had finally slipped it on, I turned towards the full-length mirror, expecting to hate it. But I gasped upon seeing myself. I actually looked really good!
The dress was beautiful. It was an emerald green satin, with a cutout halter neckline and a mermaid silhouette. The halter wrapped around my shoulders, rather than my neck, and left my entire back exposed. And right above my butt, there was a delicate ruffle that really made the dress stand out. It was perfect!
"Oh my God, Emma, you're amazing!" I called to her, and quickly stepped out of the dressing room. I looked towards her as she stepped out of hers, and she looked me up and down, smiling.
"I told you it'd look good on you," She grinned, "It hugs you in all the right places, too."
"It's perfect," I beamed, "Thank you!"
"You're welcome, you bitch," She rolled her eyes, "You're lucky you have the butt for it."
"You look great in yours, too," I said, now acknowledging her outfit. She was in a pretty, champagne A-line with a sweetheart neck. It was really lovely.
"Yeah, I like it," She nodded, "Better than anything else I've tried on. I think I'll get it."
"You should," I told her as I stepped back into my dressing room. I took one final look at myself in the dress, before taking it off and carefully hanging it up.
"Great," I spoke aloud to myself, "Now let's just hope Cam won't bitch about it."
***
"Why are prom dresses so expensive?!" Emma quietly whispered to me, as she reluctantly handed over her dad's credit card to the woman behind the cash register.
"It only seems expensive because it's your fifth one," I told her. I had just bought mine and I was waiting for Emma to finish up so we could go find the guys.
"Not my fifth one," She rolled her eyes, "Just my third."
"Just," I snorted, and Emma elbowed me in the ribs.
"Come on," Emma said as she finished paying, "Let's go find our dates."
"They can't have gone far," I said as we exited the store and started looking around the mall. After a few moments, Emma nudged my arm and pointed.
"You were right, there they are."
My eyes followed to where she was pointing, and I spotted Cam and Derek speaking to a group of guys. As I raised my hand to catch their attention, I noticed one of the boys they were speaking to. Nash.
"Jolie, Emma, there you are," Derek smiled to us, making Cam look our way. He glanced between Nash and I before smiling at me. I tried my best to avoid looking at Nash, and looked at the other guys.
"Matt, Carter. Hi," I smiled politely at them, and they said hello back.
"Nash," I muttered, still not looking at him. He didn't respond though, he just carried on the conversation he had been having with Derek. Cam must have noticed how uncomfortable I was, as he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me close to his side to give me a tight squeeze. He'd always done this, for as long as we had been friends. It was comforting.
"Prom dress shopping?" Matt asked, nodding towards the bag in my hand.
"Yep," I told him, and then looked at Cam as he spoke.
"So, you find a nice dress?"
"Yes. One I think you'll definitely approve of," I smirked and Cam chuckled softly.
"So, you're going to prom together?"
Myself and Cam looked towards Nash as he spoke, and I can't deny I was surprised he was addressing me.
"Yeah," Cam announced, "It's like tradition now. It'd be weird if we didn't go together."
Nash nodded slowly, keeping Cam's gaze. He wasn't going to look at me, I knew that. But a small part of me wanted him to.
"Well, I'm starving," Emma chirped up, "We're gonna go for food. But, we'll see you guys in school."
We all said bye to one another - well, minus myself and Nash - and then we all headed in opposite directions.
"That was awkward," Emma muttered after a few moments of silence.
"What was?" Derek asked, but nobody responded.
Cam and Emma began talking about where we should go get food, but I was just focusing on not turning around. It was annoying how much Nash not speaking to me was affecting me. Something like that should only affect you if you care about someone... and I did not want to care about Nash Grier.
But wanting and doing.. well, they're two totally different things.