Chapter Five: The Dress

Sammy stared at the dresses. She was standing in one of the most expensive dress shops in the Mall. Kendra picked up one of the dresses and held it up to herself, as she looked in the standing mirror.

“Can you believe it? Our last Homecoming Dance is tonight.” Kendra said as she pulled the dress back to look at it.

“Crazy, I know.” Tracy said as she and Tisha tried on a dress in the dressing room.

“Why are you guys buying your dresses at the last minute? I thought you all had dates, long before now.” Sammy asked as she lifted a dress she liked.

“Oh, we have our dresses already.” Tisha said as she walked out of the dressing room. “We just can’t pass up an opportunity to try dresses on, even if we don’t need them.”

“That looks so good on you.” Sarah said as she stepped out of one of the other dressing rooms.

“I like that one on you.” Tisha said as she pointed at Sarah.

Sarah smiled as she spun in a circle.

“That one is not you.” Kendra said when she saw the dress Sammy had picked up.

“No?” Sammy asked as she looked at the dress again. It was a beautiful short-sleeved, low necked, peach dress and the skirt fell just below the knees.

“No.” Kendra said as she pulled the dress from her and handed her a different dress. “Try this one on.”

Sammy stared at the dress and wrinkled her nose. It was an ugly black dress that went all the way up to the neck and had sleeves that went halfway down the arms and a floor-length skirt.

“No, thank you.” Sammy said as she pushed the dress at Kendra.

“Fine, but you’re not getting this one.” Kendra said as she held the peach dress up to look at it.

Sammy could tell Kendra was debating on whether to get it for herself or not. But shouldn’t she already have her dress? And who was she going with anyways?

“Try this one.” Tracy said as she handed Sammy a beautiful white dress, with ruffled sleeves and a v neckline.

“No.” Kendra said with a growl as she snatched the dress from Tracy. “White means pure.”

“And I’m not pure?” Sammy asked as she glared at Kendra.

“Not after what you did last night.” Kendra snapped.

“Kendra.” Nina said as she looked at them from her place at one of the other dress racks.

“What exactly did I do last night?” Sammy asked shocked.

“Well, you know. You were having sex and Boone caught you…”

Sammy took a step back as she looked around at her so-called friends. “Is that what all of you think?”

The other girls slowly nodded their heads.

“And my night in the hospital?” Sammy asked with a hitch to her voice.

“You screamed rape when Boone caught you.” Tracy said as she watched them.

Sammy felt a tear slide down her cheek. Is that what everyone was thinking? Sammy pushed past them as she ran from the shop. Sarah ran out of the shop after her, but the clerk stopped her and asked her to take off the dress.

“Sammy! It’s nothing to be ashamed of, we all have sex!” Kendra hollered.

Sammy felt her cheeks burn as everyone stared at her. She ran faster and pushed past people as she made her way outside. She had come here with Kendra, so she had no way home. She turned right and kept running. She couldn’t get far enough away.

~*~

“Sammy!”

Sammy turned her head when she heard her name called. Her crying was so loud in her ears she hadn’t heard his voice. She stopped running when she saw Boone’s face in the car that was pulling up beside her.

“What happened?” He asked as he watched her.

“As if you didn’t know!” She yelled at him, too angry to care if anyone heard her.

He pulled up to the curb and turned off the motor, then got out of the car and moved around the hood and stood on the sidewalk in front of her.

“What is going on?” He asked as he took her by the shoulders.

She shoved at him and sucked in a shocked breath when he fell back against his car. She hadn’t meant to shove him that hard.

Boone shook his head. For a human, she’s pretty strong. Which just made him even more suspicious. There was something about her that he could smell, hell he could feel it. He stood up from his car and watched her. Tears were still streaming down her cheeks. Something big happened.

“Sammy?” He asked softly.

She took a deep breath as she watched him. He watched her nicely shaped breasts move out then back in as she inhaled and exhaled.

“Nothing.” She said, then turned and started down the sidewalk.

He caught up to her and walked in silence beside her for fifteen minutes. She didn’t look at him as they walked down the sidewalk together. When they got to her street, he finally spoke.

“Ready to talk?”

She shook her head and he sighed. What could have happened that was so bad? When they got to her house, she turned and looked at him.

“Thank you for walking me the rest of the way home.”

He stared at her. Seriously? She can turn that anger of hers on and off, that quickly?

“Uh, yeah. Okay…”

“I’m sorry I shoved you. It was pure instinct, after…”

“I understand.” He said with a nod. “I shouldn’t have grabbed hold of you, after what happened to you last night.”

She shrugged her shoulders.

“Why hadn’t you shoved him?” He asked as he stepped up closer to her.

“I wasn’t angry last night, I was scared.” She said as she looked up into his eyes. “I did stomp on his foot though.”

He couldn’t help it, he laughed. And not a soft, that’s a little funny laugh, a full-on bent at the waist and holding your side laugh. He couldn’t help it, the way her sweet voice had said that it was too funny, yet not funny, he had to laugh. She stared at him for a moment then joined him in the laughter. When they finally got control of their laughter, she smiled that sweet smile he liked so much.

“Thanks again.” She said as she turned to the gate to her house.

“I’ll pick you up around six.” He said as he watched her.

She paused. She doesn’t have a dress for the dance tonight, now. And she’s never going back to that mall again. She looked at him.

“I don’t have a dress.”

He smiled. “Go in jeans, I don’t care. I’ll see you tonight.”

He leaned forward and kissed her cheek, then turned and headed back down the sidewalk, back towards where he’d left his car in town.

She placed her fingers to her cheek. He had left his car with the keys in the ignition, just to walk her home. She shook her head as she pushed the code to open the gates to her house and walked through them. What is she going to do about a dress?

~*~

“Sammy.”

Sammy looked up as her mother entered her suite. She had a large bag in her hand and a smile on her face.

“Boone will be here soon, won’t he?” She asked as she hung the bag on the closet door beside her.

“I don’t have a dress.” Sammy said as she turned back to the book on her coffee table.

“I have a feeling that Boone is one of those who doesn’t really care.” Her mother said with a smile.

“He said that he didn’t care if I went in jeans.” Sammy said with a nod.

“Then what’s the deal?” Her mother asked as she folded her arms over her chest.

Sammy looked up at her mother. “Because I care.”

“You are so much like me.” Her mother said with a crooked smile. “And I knew you would care, so I took the liberty.” She said as she pointed to the bag hanging on the door beside her.

Sammy set her pencil down and got to her feet. Had her mother really gotten her a dress? Would it be one that she would like? Her mother does have excellent taste. She moved over to the door and unzipped the bag and took in a shocked breath.

Inside the bag, was the dress she had wanted to try on at the dress shop. The beautiful peach coloring would go wonderfully with her skin tone. And if she wore the right bra, it would show off her ample breasts…

“How did you know?” Sammy asked without taking her eyes off the dress.

Her mother smiled her biggest and prettiest smile. The one she normally saved for clients.

“Betty called me and told me what had happened at the Mall. I am so sorry dear.”

Sammy shrugged. She had always known her so-called friends were bitches.

“She also showed me the dress you were admiring before Kendra had ripped it out of your hands.”

“I didn’t even get to try it on.” Sammy said in a whisper.

“Doesn’t matter. The minute I saw it, I knew it was meant for you.” Her mother said as she pulled the dress off the hanger and out of the bag, then handed it to Sammy. “Go put it on.”

Sammy didn’t know what to say so she leaned forward and kissed her mother on the cheek then ran to her bedroom. She found her tan strapless bra and pulled it on, then slipped into the dress. She looked at herself in the standing mirror and sucked in a shocked breath. Not only did it look like it had been made for her, the fit was perfect as well. Except she had trouble getting to the zipper…

“Need help?” Her mother asked as she entered the room.

“Yes please.” Sammy said as she straightened so her mother could zip up the back of her new dress.

“It’s perfect.” Her mother said in a whisper.

“Thank you.” Sammy cried as she turned to her mother and wrapped her arms around her neck.

Her mother laughed softly as she patted her back. “Let’s get your hair and makeup done.”

Sammy nodded as she backed away, wiping her eyes dry with her hands. She let her mother do her hair and apply the smallest amount of makeup. When they finished, Sammy stared at herself in the mirror.

“You’re a vision.” Her mother said with a sigh. “My little girl is all grown up.”

Sammy smiled at her mother’s reflection.

She felt like Cinderella, and she was ready for the ball.

~*~

“A young man is here for Sammy.” Lucy said as she knocked on Sammy’s bedroom door.

Sammy looked at her mother, panic in her eyes. Her mother smiled and took hold of her upper arms.

“You are beautiful and strong spirited. Don’t let what anyone says about you, get to you. Do you hear me?”

Sammy nodded numbly. Her mother nodded, then moved out of the way for her daughter to exit her suite and make her way to the stairs. Her mother stayed far enough back she was out of sight. Sammy was glad for that; she would have felt even more nervous if she met Boone at the bottom of the stairs, with her mother on her heels.

“Wow.”

Sammy looked into Boone’s eyes when she heard his voice. He looked good himself, really good. He was in a tux and was holding a box in his hand, which looked like a corsage.

“You look amazing.” He said when she stepped off the last step and stood in front of him.

“Thanks, so do you.” She said with a smile as her eyes traveled over his body again.

“This is for you.” He said as he opened the box and held out the corsage.

She smiled as she held up her arm and he slipped it onto her wrist.

“You two look great.” Her father said as he walked into the hall.

“Thanks, Dad.” Sammy said with a smile without taking her eyes off Boone.

“Turn this way Sammy, I want a picture.”

Sammy sighed as she turned to her father. Boone placed his arm over her shoulders, and she felt like she was going to explode. His arm over her shoulders, was like having a downed electrical wire, smacking her across the back.

“Great.” Her father said with a grin. “You two have fun. I don’t want to see you until 2 am. Do you hear me?” Her dad said with a smile.

Her parents knew she’s been down lately and wanted her to have as much fun as she could.

“I’ll make sure she has fun, sir.” Boone said as he held the door open for her.

Does everyone know that I haven’t been happy lately?