More than Fashion

27

She had each of the team leaders come up one by one and pick a piece of paper from the cauldrons. Derrick and Nika got horror, Molly and Paige got fantasy, Dawn and Trina got fairytale, and Jeff and Tom got sci-fi.

I held my breath as Gavin reached his hand inside, but completely deflated when he read off, “Historical.”

Well, s**t. That was the worst one he could have chosen. I’d have killed for sci-fi or even horror. I’d have even taken fairytale. Gavin and I were so not the designers for historical. We both had more modern styles—his more structured and edgy, and mine more geek chic. How could we possibly translate that into a historical look?

They sent us to our workstations to brainstorm ideas. Gavin pulled up a stool and sat, which put him at about eye level with me for once. He grabbed the sketch pad and a pencil. “All right, we’re doing historical. Any ideas?”

“None. You?”

“Not a single one.”

“We are so fucked.”

“I suppose we should pick a historical period first.” He propped his elbow on the table and idly played with his hair as he thought, flashing his tattooed hand.

“Why a rose?” I blurted out.

“Pardon?”

I touched the back of his hand where the red rose had been inked into his skin. “Your tattoo.”

“Rose is my sister’s name.” He pulled his hand away, resting it on the sketch pad like he didn’t want me touching him. Probably upset about last night. Fine, we’d stick to business. I shouldn’t have asked him anything personal in the first place.

“1920s? 1940s?” I suggested.

“Both too expected.”

I blew out a long breath. “You have any better ideas?”

“Not really.” He sighed. “Why couldn’t we have gotten sci-fi?”

“I know. That would have been perfect for us.”

I looked over at Tom and Jeff on the other side of the room, who were quietly discussing something on their sketch pad. Tom had an elegant, minimalistic aesthetic, while Jeff had an experimental, modern style, so sci-fi was a good fit for them. They’d probably win.

But I wasn’t giving up that easily. I tried to think of what Gavin and I could bring to a historical look. Maybe I could draw upon my cosplay skills here. “Um, I can make a mean corset.”

“That could work. But if we do medieval or Renaissance, it might look too much like what the others are making for the fantasy or fairytale looks.”

True. Gah, if only we’d been given fantasy, I had a ton of ideas for—oh!

“I have an idea!” I grabbed Gavin’s arm before I realized what I was doing. “We could make a steampunk dress!”

“Steampunk?” He didn’t seem nearly as excited as my genius idea warranted.

“It’s like Victorian-era sci-fi, with corsets and clockwork and gritty colors and…”

“I know what it is. But I don’t think that really counts as historical.”

“Why not? They said to do a movie costume. They said it could be over-the-top and dramatic. I even saw some bronze goggles back in the accessory room. And like you said, if we do a generic period piece, it will be too predictable, too expected, too boring. This will make us stand out.”

“We’ll definitely stand out…but I’m not sure if they’ll love it or hate it. They could fault us for not sticking exactly to our genre.”

I threw up my hands. “Then by all means, come up with your own idea. I haven’t heard you offer anything better.”

“No, I like this idea, but I think it’s risky. It could very well get us in the bottom.”

“Well, I’m used to being there. But I’d rather get there making something fun than something that bores me to tears.”

He shook his head. “Fun. Bah. I hate that word. Americans are always using it. You’re all so damn excitable. Why does everything have to be fun?”

I rolled my eyes. “Fine, it won’t be fun at all. It will be very serious because we’re serious artists who make serious clothes. No fun on this team, no sir.”

“All right, love. We’ll have a little fun. Not too much though. Let’s not get carried away here.”

We figured out our design, bouncing ideas off each other, compromising so that the design represented both of us. We decided to give our steampunk look more of a Wild West feel so we could do something sexier and give it more of a movie vibe. Eventually we nailed down a sketch we were both excited about and divided up tasks so we would contribute equally over the next two days.

And for a few minutes, I completely forgot what a total pain in the ass he was.

Once inside the fabric room, we spent far too long arguing over which fabrics to get, then split up once it was finally settled so I could get the boning and buckles. I would be making the corset, which would probably take me both days, so Gavin would make the shirt underneath and the skirt. Tomorrow we would combine the pieces and work on the details and finishing touches.

Back at our workstations, we laid out all our materials and began measuring the fabric. Since Gavin was the team leader, we’d be using his Valkyrie model, which sadly meant another two days without Carla. I needed to talk to her about all of this Gavin mess, but I didn’t have any way to contact her. I was on my own.

I missed my phone so bad. And the Internet, gah. I was going through serious withdrawals. I missed checking up on all my friends on social media, playing silly quizzes, and browsing the latest gossip and news headlines. I had no clue what was going on in the world, with my friends, or with my family.