I arrived at Clare's house before Alli did. Her hair was wet and she had a bottle hair mouse in her hand.

"Liz!" She cried, throwing her arms around me. "Alli's running a little late but she said she'll be here soon. She's going with Adam, unofficially of course, but for the whole group picture thing…you get what I'm saying." She turned on her heal and marched up the steps to her room. Her mother and father went back and forth to the house, taking turns so that Clare wouldn't have two separate households to live in. Clare's room was simple and sweet. The yellow walls were calm and she had her dress on the bed and makeup on the vanity. "Okay, so the shower is down the hall to the left." I grabbed my bathrobe, towel, and toilet kit, and headed down the hallway.

The shower was nice and warm and my thoughts traveled toward Alli. I had never met her and I didn't really have a clear image of what she might look like. I continuously wondered how she would react to me hanging out with her best friend, and me dating her ex-boyfriend. I hoped to God that she didn't think that I was trying to replace her.

I got out of the shower, dried off my legs, torso, and arms and put on my green bathrobe. I put my hair up in the towel and walked back to Clare's room. Clare was still in her room. This time, however, Alli was with her. She was shorter than I had imagined and a bit more innocent looking than I had thought she would be.

"Alli, this is Lizette. Lizette this is Alli. Lizette is Eli's sister." Said Clare. Alli stood up.

"Hi." She said.

"Hey." I replied.

"So, Clare tells me you're dating Drew." She got right to the point. I stopped where I stood.

"Yeah, we're…together."

"Oh my God, this is so awkward. All I can say is…good luck with him." She said, grinning. I felt the tension leave my body; she seemed so calm and nice. There was silence for a few seconds.

"Well…I should go shower. See you in a bit." She said, grabbing her stuff. Clare and I laughed at how awkward it had been for a few seconds. We continued to admire the dresses. Clare's was a black and white dress with black lace sleeves. It hit just at the knee and would look amazing on Clare. I kept my dress in the bag…I wanted it to be a surprise. Alli's dress was laid out. It was long and aqua blue, it was obvious that is was a flowy dress. I would have expected Alli to wear something more revealing, based off of what I'd heard about her.

"She's going for a more conservative look." Said Clare, reading my mind.

"Of course I am." Said Alli, marching into the room. "Last time I was at a Degrassi dance…you know the rest." She said, rolling her eyes.

It took us an hour to get ready. First we gave each other mani-pedis, then makeovers, and then we did each other's hair. We decided we'd do a big reveal sort of thing with the dresses. We wrote down our names and put them in a hat. Clare drew the first name and it was Alli. She shrugged her shoulders, grabbed her dress and accessories, and marched into the walk-in closet. She emerged five minutes later with the dress on, a white fur shawl, a blue clutch purse, and diamonds from head to toe.

"Alli you look great." Said Clare, going over to hug her friend.

"Thanks. Lizette, you pick the next person." She said, casting me a friendly smile. I drew Clare's name out of the hat. She sighed and took her things out into the hall.

"So…you and Drew." She began slowly.

"Yup." I said, nodding.

"Why?" I was hoping she wouldn't ask that question.

"Well when I met him, he was in a bad place. I don't think he could hurt you without hurting himself." She flinched. "I guess I was just there for him. He was there for me, too. When my friend, Natalia, died on Monday, he was amazing. He really seemed to care and we talked and then we just decided to give this a try. So far, everything is perfect."

Alli looked off into space for a moment. "Maybe he has changed." She said. There was a change in her tone, was it regret? I couldn't tell. Clare entered with an out of character model walk. She looked like a shiny new Clare.

"Your turn, Liz." I picked up my things and went to the bathroom. I slipped on my short, flowy, silver dress. I placed the flower barrette in my and delicately placed each see-through silver shoe on my feet. I added my bracelet and necklace and was ready. There was a part of me that wanted Alli to feel a twinge of jealousy, but that's simple girl drama that I would have to avoid.