But with the dance the following weekend, I had to come up with something. Honestly, I was starting to wish I could get out of going to the dance altogether. Dances up until then, including homecoming a few months before, had been relatively casual. Winter formal not only meant getting really dressed up, but it also had more of a date feeling to it as we were going to be driven in a limo and had reservations at a nice restaurant. I knew my mom was anxious for me to pick out a dress so that she could order Matty’s boutonniere. But the whole thing was stressing me out.
“Okay, this one is really pretty, Leah,” Matty said, showing me a pale blue floor length dress with cap sleeves and sparkles all over it. “Why don’t you at least try this one on?”
“Yes, Leah,” my mom said, coming up behind me and eyeing the dress. “That’s gorgeous! Come on, let’s get you a dressing room.”
Seeing that I was outnumbered, I followed my mom into the dressing room area at the back of the store. After helping me get into the dress, my mom turned me around to look at myself in the mirror, and I had to admit that I looked nice. I wasn’t one to fuss over my looks; in truth, I never felt very pretty, especially compared to my friends. They were all really into clothes and make up and doing their hair, especially putting in highlights and using curling irons. And while I liked nice clothes, I wasn’t into messing with hairstyles or struggling to put on eyeliner correctly. I preferred a no-makeup makeup look to go with my ponytails and braids. I had a youthful looking face with big brown eyes; most people described me as cute, not beautiful. And people usually assumed that I was at least a couple of years younger than I actually was.
But in that blue dress that Matty had chosen for me, I suddenly felt a little more grown up, a bit more womanly. My chest filled out the dress nicely with a just a touch of cleavage showing. I tried tugging the neckline up, but my mom laughed and told me that it was okay, it wasn’t too scandalous, and that it was how the dress was supposed to look.
And Matty had apparently agreed that I looked good as he whistled when I came out of the dressing room. “Knock that off!” I’d scolded as the blush rushed up my neck and spread to my face. But I couldn’t help smiling at his reaction. Of course, that was the dress I ended up getting, with Matty buying a matching tie to go with his rented tuxedo and my mom ordering him a pale blue boutonniere.
The same scenario played out every time thereafter that we went shopping for the dances. I always dragged my feet until the last minute, Matty would show up when my mom and I were leaving for the mall, he would jump in the car to go with us, and then he would pull every blue dress he could find until I agreed to one.
“You look so pretty in blue, Leah, especially with your hair down,” Matty always said.
“As opposed to when I wear other colors and have my hair up? Thanks a lot!” I always replied with a cross look on my face.
“That’s not what I meant and you know it,” Matty would say. “You always look pretty. This is just a special occasion.”
I would always sigh and roll my eyes, but inside I would feel so proud that Matty thought I ever looked pretty. So, for Matty, on those occasions, I relented. I wore the blue dresses and I wore my hair down, just for him. Even though we were not an official couple, he always made me feel like a princess. And I secretly loved getting dressed up just for him, knowing how much he wanted and appreciated it. And sixteen years later, here I was feeling that same excitement to dress up for him again.
Before putting on the dress, I did my makeup; I went a little heavier than in my regular day to day look, but I still kept it simple. A bit of shimmery eye shadow and two coats of mascara, some blush and highlighter, and finally lipstick. By now my hair was completely dry, so I put some smoothing styling cream in it, working it through with my fingers. I pulled two strips of hair from the front and secured them in the back with a jeweled clip; this way my hair was still down but would stay out of my face. Finally, I slipped on my dress. I added my diamond stud earrings, a college graduation gift from my parents, and slid on a pair of strappy silver heels that went well with the shininess of my dress. I transferred some essentials from my every day purse into a silver clutch and examined myself in the mirror. I couldn’t remember the last time I had put so much effort into my appearance, and even I had to admit that the results were worth it. I hoped Matty would think so, too.
I finally headed downstairs, where I let the dogs out one last time. While they could of course go anytime on their own through the doggy door, I always liked to let them out when I was home and watch them run around for a few minutes. I heard the doorbell ring just as Sadie and Jack came back into the house. I glanced one last time in the hallway mirror before taking a deep breath and opening the front door.
“Wow!” Both Matty and I exclaimed at once, before dissolving into giggles. We were both taken aback for a moment at the appearance of the other one; for me, he looked almost
