its low back and flowing layers of floor-length chiffon, screamed, "I'm yours!"
Casey turned to see why my jaw had dropped. "Now that's a nice dress!"
"I love it. Do you mind if I try it on real quick?"
"If you don't, I'll think you're insane."
I crossed my fingers when we went into the store hoping they had my size. I headed straight for the sales clerk by the register.
"How may I help you?" she asked.
"I'd like to see if you have a size four in that black dress." I pointed to the display window.
"Oh, we didn't get many of those dresses in, let me check."
Casey and I anxiously waited while the woman made her way to a rack and flipped through a few black dresses. "I don't see a four, but we have a two. Would you like to try it?"
My heart sank. I'd thought for sure this was my dress. "That's okay."
"No, she'll try it on," Casey blurted. "You never know, sometimes these pricy places run bigger."
"Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to try." I looked at the woman and nodded.
She took the dress to a fancy room and held the door open. Casey waited outside. I slipped the dress over my hips, surprised it slid so easily. The real test, however, would be when I tried to zip it. I squeezed my eyes tight, praying as I pulled up the zipper. It didn't stick. I opened my eyes and looked in the mirror. It fit like a glove. I opened the door and stepped out. Casey eyes bulged.
"That's hot ! If you're trying to be just friends with Lucas, this dress isn't the one you want."
I stepped closer to the three-way mirror and turned to see my back better. I couldn't get over how well it fit, and I'd almost not tried it on—a size two. The size four would have exposed way too many goodies. This dress was—well, it was perfect.
"It looks like it was cut to fit your body." Casey gave me a thumb's up.
"Yeah, I don't think there's another dress to compare with this one. But I don't know what my mom will say about the back being so low."
"Well, get two. If she doesn't like this one, you'll have a back up," Casey suggested.
"That's a good idea. How much is this one anyway?" I looked at the price and gasped. This masterpiece cost a hundred seventy-five dollars. I'd never spent that much on any single piece of clothing in my life. I had second thoughts about the dress. The sales clerk came over to see how we were doing.
"Just so you know, all our formal wear is thirty percent off this weekend. This particular dress will be around one hundred twenty."
I looked at Casey. "I don't know what to do. I need to call my mom."
Casey handed me my phone. I looked at myself from every angle while waiting for her to pick up.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Mom, it's me."
"Hi honey, how is everything going?"
"Well, I need your advice."
"Okay."
"I found my dream dress. It's absolutely, positively gorgeous."
"So, what's the problem?" she laughed
"It's a little revealing in the back and it's about a hundred and twenty dollars."
"That's not a bad price for a prom dress. My only question is, how revealing are we talking about?"
I looked at the back of the dress. "It hits about four or five inches above my tailbone."
Mom was quiet. I assumed she was trying to figure out how high four or five inches were. She finally said, "I don't think that's too bad. If you really like it, get it."
"Well, do you think I should get a second dress just in case you don't like this one?"
"No, don't worry about another dress. If I think it's too revealing, we'll come up with a way to fix it."
"Okay, thanks Mom. Love you"
"Love you too. Call me if you need any thing else."
I hung up and looked at the lady. "I'll take it."
While I was changing, Casey said from outside my dressing room, "That dress was meant to be yours; it couldn't have worked out any better."
"Yeah, this was pure luck."
"More like fate," Casey said seriously.
I paid for my dress—my masterpiece—and we headed for the food court for lunch. We needed to replenish our energy because we still had three more stores
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