Frankie

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

At some point I realized this is the first time I’ve been allowed in the mall without mom or dad, and I just decided to take advantage of it. I will pick out the clothes I like, eat at the food court, and I do my best to keep it responsible the entire time so this isn’t the last time they let me out of their sight. Ella and I go for the dresses first.

Ella says dad said the dress for the commencement ceremony should be dress casual and respectable, but the dress for my party on Saturday should be an all out party fancy as I will allow dress. The other outfits should be my choice of everyday, but some dress casual options. I look at Ella as she explains this to me and I know now that my parents are up to something big and I will not stop until I know what it is, and they better not try to surprise me either.

The dress for the ceremony I choose is a champaign color knee length with a cap short sleeve and sweetheart neckline. The material has a pattern that looks like it’s embossed in it for a shimmery look. Next my party dress, I haven’t been told about this party and what they are even talking about, mental note, that is the first thing I find out. Ella and I entered a high-end dress shop and looked at the floor length style party dresses. Ella finds a dark plumb gown, off the shoulder, satin with extra sheen, it’s form fitting to her hips and flairs just slightly with no train.

I’m struggling to find anything I like, I’m ready to give up and go to another shop or look for other outfits and then try again later, when Ella comes to me with an ‘I got you’ smirk. “What’s that look for”? I pin her with a look. She pulls a dress out from her back; no she pulls THE dress out from behind her back. She pushes me into the dressing room with the dress and orders, “put it on and don’t argue”. I get into the dress and look at my reflection in the mirror. Who is that? And wow are the only things I can think. I walked out for Ella to see what she’d done. Ella and the salesgirl both look at me with open mouthed gasps. The dress is dark red with a tight strapless top with stays from the waist up to hold it in place and leave the back open and not require a bra. The bodice has and embroidered pattern over the silk in the same red and the skirt is silk that drapes from slightly below the hip requiring a slit in one side up to the thigh, and it’s just long enough that I will need a shoe with a heel to keep from tripping on it.

“The only thing that scares me is that with the back so open and the . . . well my girls are a little big. If I dance, I may fall out. The only thing holding the dress on me from the waist up is the wire frame in the front and it has to hold tight and balance the girls too.” Ella breaks first into a fit of laughter, followed by the salesgirl. Trying to laugh with them and not feel embarrassed, the movement behind Ella caught my eye and I looked up to see none other than Keyon Blackhawk, staring at me mouth wide open. My face is instantly hot, and I know it has to be a shade somewhere between beat red and all out purple. Trying to look away from Keyon, I see 2 of his best friends crash into the back of him because of his statuesque form. Drew Stroh is first to compose himself and says to me, “that’s the winner. I mean I don’t know what the occasion is Reed, but that’s it.” Clay Breech is next to find his voice, “yeah and let me give you my number in case you date is a total i***t and doesn’t show”.

Keyon instantly recovers from hearing their voices and growls at his friends. Wait did I hear that right he actually growled. Ok odd, crazy much? “Sorry, these guys don’t have any manners. The dress looks nice”, and with that Keyon leads his friends away talking to them animatedly like they shouldn’t have given me a compliment. Still watching them walk away, I feel Ella approach me inspecting the dress and saying “boys are so dumb. Yeah aren’t they thought” I answer her.

The salesgirl shows me the extra neck strap and how it connects if I should feel uncomfortable while dancing and I decide that this is the dress. Then Ella drags me over to the shoes to make sure I’m totally set. We found a pair of 2-inch strappy open toe heels in the same color red with a slight sheen finish, not too flashy. Ella is on her phone texting someone, but she has more friends than I do so I don’t think anything of it. We hit several other stores and I ended up with 3 really cute casual dresses that all end mid to low thigh in different colors and fits with fun flat sandals and one more pair of heels. I then got 2 pairs of shorts and 1 pair of jeans and some tops to go with them and my go to summer white converse. We hit the food court and I think we are done with the shopping and just enjoy a burger and fries.

When we are done with lunch, we gather all of our bags and Ella looks at the phone once more and then hands it to me. I look at the phone and see a text from “Daddy Reed” which reads: make sure you get her the perfect jewelry for that dress too then. I look at Ella, “what is he saying? You’ve been talking to my dad about my dress?” Ella shrugs and says, “yep and he’s right we need to find you the right jewelry for that dress.”

It doesn’t take long, and I’ve decided on the perfect set of pearls including the necklace, bracelet, and earrings. We finally make it to her car and load our finds up and get ready for the trip home. About 20 minutes later we are pulling up to my house. There is a jeep in the drive that I’ve never seen before. “Is this what they were up to? They wanted me gone so they could have someone over and I wouldn’t embarrass them?” Ella looks at me and giggles as my parents come out of the house, alone.