AUTHOR: Jennifer Ransdell
Summery: G/S - Sara is chaperoning a dance and finds a dead body
Rating:PG (PG13 later chapters)
Disclaimer: I own nothing with CSI but I do love me some Grissom & Sara
Feedback: I certainly love a good review!
"Sara, please, I'm begging you. I just looked on the calendar and you have Friday night off."
"Catherine, I don't know. I never went to a school dance, so I'm not really the best person to do this."
Catherine was trying to talk Sara into chaperoning a dance at Lyndsey's school. Catherine was originally signed up to do it but since Ecklie "promoted" her to swing shift supervisor weeks earlier she couldn't get off. She had cornered Sara in the locker room and was all but on her knees begging Sara to take her place. Her initial reaction had been to say no but the look on Catherine's face made her pause. Catherine sensing the hesitation proceeded to state her case.
"All the more reason for you to do this Sara. You know, kinda like reliving your childhood. See what you missed out on."
"Why can't your mom do it?"
"Sara, no 12 year old wants there grandmother at their school dance!" Catherine could tell that Sara still wasn't convinced and decided to go for broke. "Look, Lyndsey and I have been having some issues lately. She's been acting out at home. I've been called to her school 3 times in the last month to talk to her teachers about her attitude and a couple of months ago, during the Perez case, I got a call to come pick her up from the police station for hitchhiking. Hitchhiking, Sara!"
"My god Catherine" Sara said stunned.
"I know, scared me to death, and I freaked on her." Catherine shook her head and grimaced.
"What did you do?" Sara asked, surprised that she was genuinely interested in what Catherine had to say.
"I brought her down to the morgue and showed her one of the dead bodies. Then I asked her if she got it now. Not one of my proudest moments."
Sara's eyes widened in shock.
"Sara, I need somebody that can see through any lies a 12 year old can throw at them, doesn't take things at face value and can watch someone without looking like their watching them. I need an investigator, and since Brass sticks out like a sore thumb, you are my next logical choice. And you're also the only one with Friday night off."
Sara opened her mouth to say no but "Okay" came out instead. Wait a minute, who said that?! Was that me?! Take it back Sidle, take it back! But once Sara saw the look on Catherine's face she knew there was no backing out. The two of them had been getting along a lot better and Sara was actually beginning to consider her a friend. Why not, who's it gonna hurt. "Just let me know when and where and I'll be there."
Catherine was so relieved that she shrieked and pulled Sara into a hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you. You don't know how much I appreciate this."
"You so owe me." Sara smiled.
"I know, I'll get that information for you before I leave tonight, and Sara, I really mean it, thank you."
As Catherine turned to leave a thought struck Sara. "Umm...Catherine...what am I supposed to wear?"
Catherine stopped at the door and turned around. Sara noticed that she had a mischievous glint in her eye. "You just leave everything to me." And with that Catherine walked out of the locker room, leaving Sara standing there.
Sara leaned back and proceeded to beat her head against her locker. How did I get myself into this?
It was Friday and Sara was waiting for Catherine to bring her the dress that she'd picked out for her to wear to Lyndsey's dance. It started at 6:30 and Sara wanted to be ready to go early so she could meet Lyndsey outside when her grandmother dropped her off. Sara was in the kitchen when she heard the knock on her door. She opened it to a smirking Catherine.
"Why do you look like the cat that swallowed the canary?"
"No reason," Catherine said as she handed the bags she was holding over to Sara. "Try it on, now. I want to make sure everything fits." Actually Catherine just wanted to see Sara's reaction to the dress.
"O..kay," a skeptical Sara said. As she made her way to her bedroom she yelled out, "How much do I owe you for all this?"
"Don't worry about it. You're doing me a huge favor by doing this for me tonight. This is my way of saying thanks." This is also my way of getting you in a sexy dress. Too bad Grissom isn't going to see it. Catherine chuckled to herself. Oh well, she'd given strict instructions to her mom to take a picture of Lyndsey and Sara together before the dance. I'll make sure he sees this picture if I have to tape it to my forehead.
"How's it going in there?" Catherine yelled.
Sara was staring at the reflection in her mirror. It had its mouth wide open. What the hell! There's NO WAY I'm wearing this to a junior high dance. The dress was a floor length black silk halter dress that was cut very low. Even by Catherine's standards. And there was a dangerously high slit that showed almost all of Sara's left leg. As she turned to see the back Sara gasped. The front wasn't the only thing low cut. The back of the dress stopped at the end of Sara's spine, revealing a well-toned back. This cannot be what I'm supposed to wear. She must have picked up the wrong dress. Yeah, that's it. I'll go show her and she'll tell me it's a mistake.
"Umm...Catherine..." Sara said as she came out of her bedroom. "I think you brought me the wrong dress."
Catherine, who had been pacing the small living room in Sara's apartment, looked up at the brunette as she walked in, Oh my god. I am a genius! "Sara, you look absolutely beautiful! I can't believe that's you in that dress."
"Catherine, you brought the wrong dress right?"
"No, that's the one I picked out for you."
"But, I can't wear this to a junior high school dance. Hell, I don't think I could wear this to the playboy mansion!"
Catherine ignored her, "Turn around and let me see the back."
"Catherine, there is NO back! I can't wear a bra with this."
"That's the point, where are the shoes?" Catherine asked.
"I left them on my bed, Catherine are you listening to me?" Sara asked as Catherine ran to Sara's room and came back with the shoe box.
"Here, I want to see what these look like with the dress." Catherine said as she handed Sara the black, strappy, open toed, 3 inch heels.
Sara shook her head no, "I'll break my neck in those!"
"Sara, put.them.on" Catherine all but growled.
Sara knew there was no way she was going to get out of this without putting on those shoes. "Fine," she said as she slipped them on.
Catherine stood there admiring her creation. Mom's going to need to take more than one picture and I'll definitely need one of the back. Damn, why don't I have a video camera?
"Yoo Hoo, Catherine," Sara said interrupting Catherine's thoughts. "I can't wear this."
"I disagree Sara. I think you're wearing it surprisingly well, especially since I had to guess at your measurements."
Sara stared wide eyed at her. "You mean you actually bought this dress for me?"
"Oh yeah, I bought it especially for you. And you look magnificent if I do say so myself. Look, I knew you would never buy anything like this for yourself. Every woman needs a dress like this just in case a special occasion arises. Now you do."
Sara walked back to her bedroom to look in the mirror again and Catherine followed her back. She stood in front of the mirror scrutinizing the dress like it was a piece of evidence. Maybe Catherine's right. Maybe I do need to wear something like this out every once in a while. Sara had to admit that the dress was very flattering on her.
Catherine could swear she could hear the wheels turning in Sara's head. When she saw her face soften she knew she had a winner.
"You really think I can pull this off?" Sara asked as she turned around in the dress.
"Most definitely. Now we've got to do something about your makeup and your hair."
Sara groaned as Catherine pulled out another bag full of makeup, hair products and styling aids.
"Now take that off and meet me in your bathroom. I'm going to show you how to apply all this stuff and what you need to do your hair." Catherine noticed Sara hadn't moved from her spot in front of the mirror. She clapped her hands, "Move it!"
Sara jumped and started getting out of the dress. "You know, you would've made a great drill sergeant." Sara mumbled.
It was almost six o'clock and Sara was standing back in front of the mirror. Nobody would ever recognize me if they saw me now. Her hair was straight with a flip to the ends. She had used some of the products that Catherine had left for her and they gave her hair some volume so it wasn't stick straight like she normally wore it. She had used the make up that Catherine said would compliment her features and she had to admit Catherine was right about that too. The smoky colored eye shadow really brought out her eyes and the rose colored lipstick matched her coloring perfectly. Sara almost didn't use the make up but the fear of Catherine made her change her mind. Too bad the boys won't see me like this. They'd never believe it. Wonder what Grissom would think about me in this dress. Sara sighed. Too bad he'll never get to see it. Coward. Sara looked at her clock, it was time to go. She picked up the black clutch bag that Catherine had bought with the dress and made sure she had her makeup and keys as well as her cell phone. As she closed her door and made her way to her Tahoe, she thought about going back in and getting her pepper spray. Don't worry about it Sidle, how rowdy can 12 year olds get.
Sara really wished she'd brought her pepper spray.
"I know your feet must be tired cause you've been walking around in my head all night."
Sara looked down at Leon, the 12 year old boy who had been hitting on her for the last 10 minutes. "Leon..."
"Yeah sweetness," he said as he grabbed Sara's hand.
"If you don't let go of my hand, I'm going to handcuff you to that door over there."
"Oh yeah mama, I like it rough too." Leon said as he wiggled his eyebrows.
"Leon, I'm old enough to be your mother." Sara said pointedly.
"That's alright," Leon said as he moved closer to Sara, "I like my women with a little experience. How 'bout you and me go somewhere a little bit quieter. My mom's not coming to get me till 9:30."
"No! N.O." Sara almost yelled.
"Playing hard to get, I like that." Leon kissed the top of her hand and winked at her before walking away to meet some of his friends.
Sara resisted the urge to wipe her hand on the side of her dress. But, she couldn't stop the eye roll when she saw Leon pointing her out to his friends. Sara looked around the gymnasium and spotted Lyndsey with a group of girl friends. The little girl waved at her and Sara gave a small wave back. Lyndsey looked very pretty in her little pink dress. As Sara kept looking, she noticed that the boys were on one side and the girls were on the other. Every once in a while you'd see a girl point at a boy and then start to giggle or you'd see a boy point at a girl and start to laugh with his buddies. None of the kids had gotten up the nerve to ask the other to dance. Sara thought back to her younger days and wondered if she had ever gone to a dance would she be pointed at. Probably not. Don't forget you were the nerd. Sara noticed a little girl with mousey brown hair and glasses sitting all by herself, looking like she wanted to be anywhere but here. You'd probably be like that poor girl all by herself at the top of the bleachers. At least my mom never made me come to one of these. Sara instantly felt a connection with this girl. She felt sorry for her, knowing exactly what she must be going through. Sara looked to make sure Lyndsey was still where she was supposed to be as she made her way very carefully up the bleachers.
"Is this seat taken?" she asked the little girl.
"No." she mumbled with her head down.
"My name's Sara, what's yours?"
"Melissa." She said shyly.
"Melissa, that's a nice name. Are you having fun?" Sara inquired.
"Not really, it's my first dance." Melissa whispered.
"I know what you mean. This is my first dance too."
"Really?" Melissa asked skeptically.
"Really, I never went to any of my school dances. I was too busy studying." Sara said as she shrugged her shoulders.
"I wish I was at home, but my mom made me come here. She said I needed to make some friends."
"Would you like me to introduce you to my friend?" Sara asked, hoping to bring her out of her shell.
"Which one is she?" Melissa asked curiously.
Sara pointed out Lyndsey, "See that blonde girl in the pink dress. Her names Lyndsey. She's very nice."
"Do you think she'd like me?" She asked hopefully.
"I'm sure she would. Come on, I'll introduce you to her."
Sara and Melissa made there way down to Lyndsey and the group of girls she was hanging out with. "Hey Lyndsey, this is Melissa, would you mind if she hung out with you guys?"
Lyndsey shook her head no, "Of course not, In fact you can be our tie breaker. Who's cuter, Brad Michaels or Seth Fowler?"
Sara saw Melissa smile as she made her way over to the punch bowl. She was about to get her something to drink when she heard...
"Hey hot stuff, you looking for me?"
Leon. Note to self. NEVER leave home without pepper spray again.
It was 9:30 and the dance was over. Sara was walking Lyndsey out to her grandmother's car. "Did you have fun tonight?" Sara asked her.
"Yeah, I did," Lyndsey said excitedly, "I think Brad likes me!"
"Really," Sara asked intrigued, "And which one was Brad?"
Lyndsey rolled her eyes dramatically, "The cute one!"
Sara laughed, "Of course, the cute one. So what did you think of Melissa?"
"She was nice. She left to go to the bathroom and I didn't see her again, but she's going to sit with us at lunch on Monday."
"That's sweet Lyndsey. Well here's your grandmother." Before Sara knew what was happening Lyndsey hugged her.
"Thank you Sara, I'm so glad it was you instead of mom chaperoning tonight. She would have been all over me."
Sara hugged her back. "It was my pleasure Lyndsey, glad you had fun. Tell your mom I'll see her tomorrow."
"Okay," Lyndsey said as she got in the car. "Bye Sara," Lyndsey waved as the car pulled off.
Sara waved back before she went back inside to help the other chaperones clean up. Catherine forgot to mention that.
As Sara walked out of the school she only had one thought...I have got to get out of these shoes! My feet are going to be damaged for life! Sara was opening the door to her Tahoe when a flash of silver caught her eye. She looked to the front of the school and noticed something silver sticking out from one of the bushes. Curious, she walked towards it. What the hell is that? As she moved closer she saw that it was a silver shoe. Sara looked over the bushes and nearly dropped her purse. She quickly got out her cell phone and dialed 911.
'Yes, this is CSI Sara Sidle. I'm at Thurman White Middle School located at 1661 Galleria Drive. I need EMS to this address." Sara carefully leaned over to feel for a pulse. She didn't find one. "Scratch EMS, I need Homicide Detective Jim Brass to meet me here. Thank you."
Dispatch told her that they would send Brass out ASAP and for her to secure the scene. Sara quickly went back to her Tahoe and got out her kit. She put on her gloves and carefully turned the body over so as not to disturb the scene.
Oh Damn!
It was Melissa.
TBC