The Dress
965 Words
The boutique was busier than Ariana remembered. Music drifted softly through the store as girls moved from mirror to mirror, twirling in dresses while mothers stood nearby offering opinions that were rarely requested but always expected.
The excitement in the room felt contagious, yet Ariana couldn’t bring herself to be part of it. She lingered near the entrance, watching the scene unfold with a quiet hesitation that Kemi noticed immediately.
“You’ve been standing there for three minutes,” Kemi said, folding her arms. “Either we’re shopping or we’re leaving.”
“I don’t think I should buy anything.”
“And why not?”
Ariana’s eyes drifted to a girl laughing while her mother adjusted the straps of a pale blue gown. “Because this wasn’t how I imagined it.”
Kemi followed her gaze and understood without another explanation.
“When I was little,” Ariana continued, “my mom used to say she’d be the one helping me choose my prom dress. She always joked she’d reject every dress until I got annoyed enough to pick the first one she liked.” A small smile crossed her face before disappearing just as quickly. “Now I don’t even know if she’d want to come.”
Kemi stepped closer and rested a hand on her shoulder. “You’re letting one fight steal something you’ve been looking forward to for years. If Maya changes her mind tomorrow, she’ll still want to see you in a dress. Don’t wait until it’s too late.”
Ariana looked around the boutique once more before letting out a slow breath. “Fine. One dress.”
“That’s my girl.”
An hour later, after far more dresses than Ariana cared to count, she finally stood in front of the largest mirror wearing a midnight-blue satin gown that skimmed the floor without feeling overdone. It wasn’t the dress Kemi had picked first or even second. It was the one Ariana had quietly reached for herself when Kemi wasn’t looking.
Kemi smiled the moment the fitting-room curtain opened. “See? I knew you’d find one.”
Ariana turned slowly toward the mirror. The dress fit perfectly, elegant without demanding attention. For the first time in weeks, she almost recognized the girl staring back at her.
“I’ll take it,” she said quietly.
The words surprised even her.
The drive home was quieter than usual. The garment bag rested carefully across the back seat, and Ariana caught herself glancing at it through the rearview mirror more than once. Despite everything that had happened between them, a small part of her still believed this could fix something. Maybe Maya wouldn’t apologize. Maybe neither of them would mention Westbridge. But perhaps seeing the dress would remind her of the conversations they’d shared for years, the promises made over movies and fashion shows about how they would spend this day together.
That hope stayed with Ariana until she walked through the front door.
Maya sat at the dining table surrounded by invoices and supplier receipts, a pair of reading glasses resting low on her nose as she typed figures into her laptop. She looked up briefly when Ariana entered before returning her attention to the screen.
“You’re back.”
“Yeah.” Ariana held up the garment bag. “I found my prom dress.”
“That’s good.”
The answer came without interest.
Ariana hesitated. “Do you… want to see it?”
Maya stopped typing. For a brief moment Ariana thought she might say no. Instead, she closed the laptop and leaned back in her chair.
“Go change.”
Relief spread across Ariana’s face as she hurried upstairs. She took more time than necessary slipping into the dress, smoothing the fabric over her waist and fixing her hair with her fingers before looking at herself one last time. She wasn’t hoping for much anymore. Just a smile. Maybe a joke about taking too many pictures.
She walked downstairs slowly.
Maya looked up.
Her eyes lingered on the dress for several seconds before she gave a small nod.
“It suits you.”
Ariana waited.
Nothing else came.
“No complaints?” she asked with an awkward laugh. “You always said you’d hate my first choice.”
Maya offered the faintest smile, but it disappeared almost as quickly as it appeared.
“I think you chose well.”
Then she reached for the laptop again.
The conversation was over.
Ariana stood there a few seconds longer, hoping her mother would look up again, ask her to turn around, comment on the color, anything that sounded like the Maya she had grown up with.
Instead, she heard the soft tapping of keys.
She quietly turned and walked back upstairs.
The moment her bedroom door closed, the silence she had been holding together all day finally broke. She sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the dress spread around her, and felt tears spill before she could stop them. It wasn’t because Maya disliked the dress. It was because she hadn’t cared enough to share the moment. The woman who used to dream about prom with her now felt like someone living on the other side of a wall neither of them knew how to climb.
A knock echoed from downstairs.
Ariana ignored it.
A second knock came, louder this time, followed by the sound of the front door opening.
She heard voices.
One belonged to Maya.
The other…
Jordan.
Ariana quickly wiped her face and moved toward the bedroom door, she hadn’t spoken to him since their argument at school. She certainly hadn’t expected him to show up at her house, whatever he had come to say.
“You need to leave.”
A familiar voice answered.
- Writer
