"My date has a Porsche."
"My date is captain of the lacrosse team."
"Well, mine is captain of the basketball team."
"Lacrosse is more relevant than basketball."
"It's a stick throwing a ball to another stick. Basketball requires skills."
"Who fucking cares, my date lives in mansion."
"Well, my date has three dogs"
"What about yours Autumn?"
I just stared blankly at the four girls, Maria, Heather, Rose, and Shelby Piper. They spent the last ten minutes arguing with each other on who had the best homecoming date. In my opinion, I thought Shelby P. had the best date, I mean he has three dogs. Maria's date sounds like a rich douche and Heather's and Rose's sound exactly the same just different sports team. I like basketball better though, so I'd say Rose wins that argument. The two fight constantly anyway. They're sophomores, so what would you expect anyway. Maria and Shelby P. are juniors in high school, so I'm the oldest. Yet, I'm the most anti-social of the bunch.
"Uh, my date is quarterback of the football team."
"Lame," Maria muttered and dramatically took a sip from her smoothie.
I picked at my frozen yogurt and trailed behind the girls. As soon as my mom found out I had a date, she called all her best friends in their little group to set us up on a shopping trip. Everyone met up at my house because I lived the closest to the large city mall. I had to buy shoes too, and I advocated for flats, but Rose and Heather insisted on buying me high heels, so I'm currently carrying a black pair of three-inch heels in a giant shopping bag.
Shelby P. found her dress first at the only store at the mall that sold southern type clothes. Rose picked out a red dress that had a flowered pattern top, shocker. Maria was being picky at every single dress claiming they all made her look chubby and didn't show enough cleavage. Heather insists on looking for a dress with the exact shade of heather purple. Me, on the other hand, am just looking for a dress that's not too open and revealing.
We barely talked to each other at all. We all knew that this is all just a show for our moms to be out of our hair to hang out together. We only talked when we'd say that we liked a dress or shoe or didn't like it. Sometimes the others would brag about their date. I've only told them that Colt is quarterback and is in my AP Government class. I don't know what type of car Colt used to drive or whether he has any pets, which made me realize I don't know much about him at all, but only the little things. I know his parents fight a lot at home and he's much smarter in class than he makes himself out to be. I know he likes to say jokes, listen to rap, and watch comedy shows. I know he cried when he watched the first few minutes of Up and his favorite movies are Remember the Titans, Saving Private Ryan, and The Godfather. I know when he's nervous he has a habit of tapping his hands on a surface in a rapid manner and when he's happy he can never sit still. I know he prefers mustard over ketchup and prefers to do push-ups rather than sit-ups. I know someday he wants to go to Australia to see a kangaroo up close and he might get a football scholarship from Notre Dame to play football. It's the little things like this that I want to keep to myself and never tell anyone. I always wonder if there are some facts about Colt he has only ever told me and the idea that he would have only shared a part of himself with me is something I'd want to treasure.
"Can you shut your damn phone off?" Maria scowled at Heather.
"Mom is so annoying, I'm sorry," Heather muttered.
"Yea, she sucks," Rose rolled her eyes, "I'm not talking with her right now."
"Why? Thought you loved your flower-obsessed mother," Maria smirked and took another dramatic sip from her drink, finishing it off.
"She got mad at me because I said I didn't want to go to homecoming this year. I, literally, had to ask Preston to ask me to homecoming. Pathetic."
I laughed and figured this is the one conversation I could join.
"My mom told me she'd take my car away if I don't get a date. I had to make a deal with the quarterback that if I gave him rides home from practice because his car got taken away, he'd be my date."
This time, Maria and Shelby P. laughed hysterically. I never seen Maria actually laugh at anything. She always scowled or smirked.
"My date is my neighbor's son," Shelby P. flushed, embarrassed.
"I threatened this rich douche if he didn't ask me to homecoming and drive me around in his Porsche, I'd tell the school how small he is," Maria smirked, again.
"Damn Maria," Heather gasped, "You're so cruel."
"That's life, sweetheart," Maria trashed her cup in the trash can, "Got it from my mom."
"So, I think we found the one thing we all have in common," Rose joked, "We hate our homecoming obsessed mothers."
I laughed at the irony. Our moms practically dragged us to the mall to bond over shoes and dresses- instead, we bond at our annoyance for them. I mean, don't get us wrong, we love our mothers, but they're so materialistic and obsessed with how we look. Don't get me wrong, but I would still never be friends with these girls willingly, but they're ok sometimes.
Another hour passed, Heather found the perfect shade of purple and Maria found a black, scandalous body-con dress. I, still lacked a dress and I can tell Maria was holding herself to slap the fuck out of me. Heather and Rose argued whether I'd look good in a blue or red dress because of my fire-y hair and Shelby P was eating her third Auntie & Anne's pretzel.
"Blue will contrast her hair!" Heather argued.
"A nice red tone will really bring out her skin," Rose protested.
"That makes no fucking sense."
"You don't make fucking sense."
"Red will literally blend in with her hair!"
"Not if it is the right shade dumbass!"
"Who are you calling a dumbass?"
"You, you dumbass!"
"You only want red because your name is fucking Rose."
"That's not true!"
"You know roses can be pink too you dumb fuck. Yellow, orange, white-"
"Blue!" Marie turned to step in between the two twins, "She will look good in fucking pale blue. Now shut the fuck up, you're bleeding my fucking ears out! How old are you guys jesus christ, five years old?"
"No, we're fifteen!" Rose stepped up.
"Then act like one!" Maria stepped forward then turned to me, "We're checking one last store that I know has a nice blue dress, Autumn. If you don't fucking like it we're leaving and you're doing online shopping."
"Yes ma'am," I muttered.
I'm older than Maria by a year, but she sure acts a hell of a lot older than me. We walked into a boutique with decent prices and not super scandalous dresses as it seems to be the trend in fashion these days. Shelby P. grabbed the first blue dress she saw, but Maria put it back saying it was too short for me- which was true. Rose and Heather sat on a chair embarrassed and silent. Maria picked an a-line pale blue dress that cut right above my knee and had thick spaghetti straps and a front that would show no cleavage. It was really plain, but I liked it that way- simple.
Still hesitant, but knowing Maria would fight me, I grabbed the dress and sped to the dressing room. I slipped it on and stared at myself in the mirror. I know putting on a dress doesn't suddenly transform a girl into Cinderella or any other princess, but I felt pretty- you know. I felt like the type of a girl Colt would ask willingly to homecoming. Maria and Heather were right, the blue brought the red of my hair forward. I twirled in the room and couldn't stop smiling. I was actually excited for homecoming and Colt to see me in this dress.
In a rush, I grabbed the shoes from the bag and tried them on with the dress. I felt really confident and pretty. I felt tall and powerful, like I could conquer the world.
"Girl, come out!" Shelby P. pipped in her accent.
I stepped out slowly, a little nervous of what the girls will think.
"Yes!" Heather and Rose jumped at the same time, breaking their silent treatment- not that they would have lasted long anyway.
"Your date is not going to keep his eyes off you. Just straighten your hair, wear a nice gold choker, and put a little makeup, and you'll impress the shit out of him. He'll be glad he asked you, deal or no deal," Maria compliment with a genuine smile. I think this is the first time she complimented me.
I took one last look at myself in the mirror and gave the brightest smile to myself in a while. Maybe Colt will see me as more than a charity case next weekend.
I looked back at the four girls who were chattering to each other on eyeshadow color ideas, and I realized, they're honestly and genuinely not too bad.
Yay, I updated! Next chapter will finally be the homecoming dance! Comment and like (: x