“Oh no. No church dress.” I jump up and run to the back of my closet, where I grab two formal gowns that I wore for dances in California, then march back to Wendy. I hold the dresses out to either side of me. “Just pick the one you like.”
Wendy suddenly has trouble meeting my eyes.
“But what about you?” she stammers.
“I’m not going.”
“I can’t believe somebody hasn’t asked you yet.”
I shrug.
“Well, why don’t you ask someone? I mean, what good is women’s lib if we can’t use it to ask guys to dances? I asked Jason.”
“There’s no one I want to go with.”
“Uh-huh.”
“What?”
“I’m going to let that one slide.”
“Anyway, Jason Lovett’s going to be your Prince Charming on prom night, and you’re totally going to need a Cinderella dress. So pick one.”
She’s already eyeing the pale pink gown in my left hand with hungry eyes.
“I think it would rock on you,” I say, waving it at her.
“Really? You don’t think I’d look ridiculous?”
“Try it on.”
She snatches it out of my hand and runs into the closet to try it.
“You’re too tall,” she whines through the door.
“That’s what heels are for.”
“You have bigger boobs than I do.”
“Impossible.”
The door swings open. She stands there uncertainly, her long, golden brown hair tumbling around her neck and shoulders. The gown sags around her feet, but it’s nothing a hem won’t fix.
“You look amazing.” I rummage around in my jewelry box for the matching sparkly necklace. “We should go into Jackson tomorrow and find you some earrings. Too bad the nearest mall is all the way in Idaho Falls. Claire’s has the best prom stuff.
What is that, like two hours away?”
“Two and a half,” she answers. “But I don’t have pierced ears.”
“I think I can find a potato and a sharp needle.”
She gasps and puts her hands up to cover her earlobes.
“What did you ever do for fun before I came along?” I ask.
“Cow tipping.”
There’s a sharp knock on my door and my mom sticks her head in. Wendy instantly flushes to the roots of her hair and starts backing toward the closet door, but Mom charges right in to look at her.
“What? Dress up! How come I wasn’t invited?” she exclaims.
“Prom. Saturday after next. I told you, remember?”
“Oh yes,” she says. “And you’re not going.” She sounds disappointed.
“Did you want something, Mom?”
“Yes, I wanted to remind you that you and I have a date to practice our yoga tonight.”
It takes me a second to catch up. And freak out a little.
“Couldn’t we do it some other time? I’m kind of busy at the—”
“I know you girls are having such fun, but I have to steal you for some mother-daughter time.”
“I need to go, anyway,” mumbles Wendy. “I’ve got to finish this homework.”
“You look lovely, Wendy,” says Mom, beaming at her. “What about shoes?”
“I think my black pumps will work.”
Mom shakes her head. “No black pumps with that dress.”
“We’re going to look for earrings in Jackson tomorrow,” I offer. “We could look for shoes too.”
Wendy starts to squirm unhappily at the suggestion. There aren’t any shoe stores in Jackson that aren’t priced for tourists.
“Or,” Mom says, “we could skip Jackson and bring out the big guns. Road trip to Idaho Falls this weekend?”
