My mom came out and I could see Tori and
Grandma standing by the window watching us.
My mom was quiet while we were driving and luckily Madison’s house wasn’t very far. She had a small smirk on her face the entire time. She parked the car, but I didn’t move. “Get in there already.” She practically shoved me out of the car. “You look nice, Krista. But I want you to remember that this is still just a party. It’s fun and make believe. Don’t take it too seriously.”
I wasn’t really sure what she meant, but nodded anyway.
Walking up to Madison’s house, I felt very self-conscious. I kept pulling at my dress, fidgeting with the fabric, reminding myself to breathe.
I rang the doorbell, and I could already hear voices inside the house.
Madison opened the door. She was wearing a long pink ball gown, and on her head was a very large tiara.
She paused to stare at me for a second before she shrieked, “Krista! Oh my gosh you look sooooooo cool!” She turned around and continued to shriek, “Everybody come look at Krista! She looks awesome!”
I was suddenly surrounded by all these girls from my class, but it didn’t feel real because there was so much taffeta and puffiness.
Can you say awkward? All the girls were staring at me, asking me questions and touching my dress. I heard a lot of “Oh wow!” and “Oh my God!” around me. It felt like a hundred pairs of eyes were on me. They were asking me five thousand questions all at once. But the general feeling of approval in the room meant that they liked my dress. I finally relaxed and went into the house, ready to enjoy myself.
Madison had invited almost all the girls in our class, and everybody came as dressed up as they possibly could manage. Most looked like they had raided their mom’s closets, and my dress sure looked the most unique. In addition to being a “Red Carpet” party, it was also a spa party. We were all getting our nails done. I had already had my hair and makeup done before the party, thanks to Grandma.
I had been so worried about the party and the dress that Tori had designed, but it was okay after all. Maybe even better than okay.
I watched as some of the girls got their nails done before me. It was a nice little setup. Three ladies had on these short white jackets. It reminded me of my dad’s lab coat for work, but more stylish. They had little tables with a bright light and a display of nail polishes and we could all pick a color. There were clean white towels stacked neatly on their tables next to some supplies like scissors and files. All the girls were giddy—there was a lot of nervous and excited laughter in the air.
Madison went first of course, since it was her party. She picked a soft pink color to match her soft pink dress. I was happy to wait to see what the other girls were picking. When it wasn’t your turn for nail polish, Madison’s mom had set up a dancing video game for us to play, but I was not about to get any hotter, so I just stood around watching girls get their nails done.
When it was my turn for my nail polish, I picked a nice bright red and I think I even almost smiled. Madison sat down on a stool next to me. “I’m so glad you came to my party Krista! You look really cool!”
“Thanks,” I replied shyly. She got up to go talk to other people.
Emma walked by and whispered, “Krista, you have the coolest dress here. So amazing. Your dress is even better than Madison’s! Don’t tell her I said that!”
I smiled. “Don’t worry, I won’t.”
“That’s a good color choice,” Emma continued as she pointed down to my nails. “It goes really well with your dress.”
Even though I was used to hanging out with boys, well, actually just one boy, it was surprisingly fun to spend some time with Madison and all the other girls. I had spent years going to school with them, but honestly, couldn’t really say that I knew them very well. I can’t say I was totally involved in a lot of the conversation or dancing, I mostly just watched and listened, but it was a better time than I had thought it was going to be. I was disappointed when it was time to go home.
CHAPTER 9
The next day at school Jason asked me, “So, how was it?”
“How was what?” I said.
“The party.” He slapped my arm. “Stop pretending you don’t know what I’m talking about! That’s all I can hear the girls talking about. Everybody’s dresses. Especially yours. I heard from Emma that it was a real hit.”
I shrugged. “I guess it was okay.”
“I thought it looked nice.”
I stopped cold. “How do you know?”
“Emma showed me a picture.” He flashed his phone at me, and there I was looking at myself.
Marcus, who in addition to being the worst yoga student in our class was also the most obnoxious boy in our class, happened to be looking over our shoulders and said, “Whoa Krista, you wore a dress?! You look kind of nice! I am totally shocked!”
“Get lost, Marcus!” I shouted at him and chased him away.
It was so weird. One party and one dress, and suddenly I felt like people had noticed me for the first time in years.
Madison interrupted us as I was getting rid of Marcus. “Krista, you want to come hang out by the tree with us at lunch?”
The tree. It was a big old cherry tree with a big crack in the trunk. It was far off in the corner of the grassy area near the school. Those girls, Madison and her best friends, protected that tree like it
