“Which dress looks better on me?” Sydney asked during our dress shopping the next day. She dragged me here right after waking up this morning, forcing me to help her pick out the perfect party dress.
She was holding up a purple knee-length dress that had a low V dip. In her other hand was a tight, black, lacy dress.
I stared at both for a long moment trying to decide. I was no fashion guru, but I knew what looked good on my best friend. How could I not? We’d been around each other for years.
“I like the black one,” I finally decided.
She nodded. “Purple one it is.” She tossed the black one at me.
“Hey! I didn’t pick that one.”
“I know you didn’t. You like the black one, so that’s what you’re going to wear on your date. You’ll look hot in it!” she told me.
I knew I should’ve picked the purple one, should’ve known it was a trick question.
“Don’t you think this is a little too much? I don’t want him to get the wrong idea.” And call me a tease again. I cringe at the memory.
I followed her in defeat, holding the black dress. The lady checking us out was middle-aged with a friendly smile on her face.
“You ladies find everything all right?” she asked as she scanned our dresses.
“Yes,” we replied. She nodded, seeming satisfied with our answer. She placed our dresses in bags and handed them to us. “Have a nice day, ladies.”
“So, what are we going to do until it’s time for us to get ready?” I asked Sydney as we sat in Starbucks.
“Do you want to get our nails done or something? Or we can go to the spa to get massages?”
I cocked an eyebrow at her. Since when did she like getting massages?
“What? I heard there’s a new hot guy working there,” she smirked.
I knew there was something! She was so boy-crazy sometimes.
“There are hot guys everywhere, but yes, I could use a manicure,” I told her, examining my nails. A few were chipped and had definitely seen better days.
Minutes later, we grabbed our drinks and headed out.
I sang loudly with the song; Shawn Mendes was bae and I loved his voice. If he ever sang for me, I’d probably die from cuteness overload.
We pulled up to the spa place, both jumping out of the car. “Do you think we need appointments?” I asked her as we walked up to the doors.
It was pretty packed inside and I was afraid they wouldn’t take us on such short notice.
“I’m sure they won’t mind once they see how much we’re offering,” she answered. Sydney thought money was the answer to everything. In some ways, I guess it was.
“How can I help you two ladies today?” the lady at the front desk asked us as we approached.
“I’m here for a massage, and my friend over here would like a manicure,” Sydney told her.
“Okay, do you girls have appointments or are you walk-ins?” She started typing away on her computer. What could she even be typing? We’ve only said two words to her.
“Walk-ins?”
“Okay, well, lucky for you our new guy just opened up. You can go to him,” she told Sydney. Sydney looked over at me with a huge grin on her face, giving me a thumbs up, and I giggled.
The lady stood up from the desk, walking around to guide her. “Follow me.”
I waited as she and Sydney disappeared around a corner. A few minutes later she returned to the front desk, doing more typing. Seriously?
“I’ll take you to Melinda now.” I assumed Melinda was one of the girls that did nails. I followed her as she began walking around the corner.
We passed two doors before she made a sharp left, stopping us in front of a room filled with chairs. They looked like they came from a barber shop.
She led me past people until we reached who I assumed was Melinda.
Melinda smiled and gestured for me to take a seat. I did as she said, relaxing in the plush chair. She sat across from me and pulled out a container of nail polish, different shades to choose from.
I picked a dark blue one that looked almost black. I closed my eyes, relaxing as she got to work.
“They just let anybody in here these days I see.” I opened one eye to see Crystal and her clones hovering around me, her clones being Ashley and Amanda.
Though they were two separate people, I’m pretty sure they shared one brain.
“I guess so, since you’re here,” I rolled my eyes at her. There goes my relaxation.
She smirked at me, “I guess you can’t have everything to yourself. See you around.” She laughed at some inside joke. I once again closed my eyes, hoping no one else would interrupt my quiet.
“Would you like nails and toes done, ma’am?” Melinda asked me as she filed down my nails.
“Will it cost extra?” I asked her, already knowing the answer.
“Yes.”
“Sure.” May as well splurge while I’m here. Who knows the next time I’ll come back without Sydney forcing me?
I examined my nails as Sydney drove us to my house. “Do you think I should’ve picked a lighter color?” I asked.
She looked over at my nails before shaking her head. “No, that will go good with your dress,” she answered honestly.
I turned toward her. “So how was the massage with Mr. Handsome?” I teased. I decided not to bring up seeing Crystal there. Didn’t want to ruin our good mood.
“Oh my god! His hands were incredible, and his face was to die for. I think I’m in love. I may need to go back for another one after gym class Monday,” she gushed, sighing in happiness.
“You didn’t sexually harass him, did you?” I asked her seriously before laughing. She rolled her eyes.
“I thought about it, but I knew you’d judge me,” she sniffed dramatically. I laughed more as we pulled up to my house.
“Are you sure this isn’t too tight?” I asked, checking myself out in the full-length mirror. The dress showed all my curves perfectly, while my hair rested on my shoulders in soft curls.
Sydney had done my makeup with smoky black eyes and light red lipstick. I thought I looked pretty hot, but I didn’t want to give Duff the wrong idea.
“Of course it’s not! It hugs your body perfectly. I’m so jealous, I wish I had your curves.” I could see her glaring at me through the mirror. I blew her a kiss.
She looked good, too, in the purple dress. She paired it with black heels and straightened her hair.
It was now eight o’clock and that gave me thirty minutes before Duff would arrive. I kept checking to make sure I looked all right.
He hadn’t replied to any of the texts I sent him, so I figured he was still getting ready.
Sydney’s phone chirped on the bedside table. I played with my curls as she went over to check it.
“Right, well, the party is in full swing now, so I’m going to leave before your date gets here. Call me if you change your mind, mama, I won’t be drinking tonight,” she told me.
She grabbed her purse and headed to the door. I knew the drinking part was a lie. That’s the first thing she’s going to do when she gets there. Along with flirting with any cute guy that passes by her.
“Depends on what time Duff and I get back,” I tell her. She nodded before leaving my room. I sat on my bed, sending Duff another text.
I looked over at the clock and saw it was 8:15. I guessed I’d head downstairs. I decided to sit outside and wait since it wouldn’t be long.
“Bye, Marie! I’m leaving now,” I called out, poking my head in the kitchen.
“Okay, be good! Don’t have sex!” was her response. I blushed, running out the door. She didn’t have to worry about me doing that anytime soon.
Sitting on the front porch, I checked my phone to see if Duff sent me a text. The screen showed the time was now 9:00 and I had no new messages.
I hadn’t even realized I’d been waiting that long. I decided to call him, but it went straight to voicemail. Why wasn’t he answering?
After waiting thirty more minutes, I realized I had been stood up, or something awful happened to Duff. I felt tears threaten to spill. I couldn’t believe he’d do this to me.
Maybe he had a good reason for not showing up and I was just being silly. Maybe something happened. I decided to call his house phone.
“Hello?” his mom answered.
“Hi, Ms. Green? It’s me, Isabel. I was wondering if Duff was around?” I asked her.
“Oh, Isabel! How nice to hear from you. You don’t come around anymore,” she said.
I mentally groaned. Why couldn’t she just answer the question? “Yeah, sorry, I’ve been busy with school and stuff. So is Duff around?” I asked again.
“He left hours ago, didn’t say where though. Try calling his cell phone.” I sniffed. I really had been stood up.
“Okay, thank you.” I ended the call. Wiping my tears, I scrolled through my contacts to call Sydney. She picked up on the second ring.
“Isabel? Is that you? Hey, mama!” she screamed into the phone. I laughed, realizing she was drunk. So much for not drinking.
“Yeah, it’s me… Duff didn’t show up so I’m coming to the party,” I tell her.
“What do you mean, he didn’t show up? That jerk stood you up?! Just wait till I see him,” she raged. I could hear loud music in the background and wondered how she was able to hear me.
“Doesn’t matter, I’m on my way,” I said, hanging up. I walked over to the garage to get my car. It wasn’t much seeing as how I don’t like flashing my money.
It was a plain black Jeep and I loved it. And it was shining after being in the shop.
I looked into the rearview mirror, making sure my makeup wasn’t ruined. Thank God for waterproof makeup. I reversed out of the garage and made my way to the party.
