4. #Dresses&Jobs

There were dozens of them at JLM's in West Hollywood. The prices ranged from "How could I afford that" to "I'm pretty sure that's more than my entire apartment complex is worth" with more than a few "Wow, I didn't know numbers went that high," and she had no idea how she'd pay for any of it. She and Sam made an okay living babysitting but this was way beyond her.

Tori didn't seem shaken by the price tags, but her parents were pretty rich. It probably wasn't as big a deal for her. And Jade was…well, after four years of high school, Cat didn't know much about Jade's family, beyond the fact that her parents were divorced. Cat had gone over to her house a few times and it seemed really nice. But Jade herself was such a weird mix of different people. Sometimes she acted like a spoiled rich kid and sometimes she acted like a crazy person and sometimes she acted like a crazy spoiled rich kid person. But she always had nice clothes and nice things, and she was always able to get really nice gifts for Beck when she needed to, so Cat figured the prices probably weren't a big deal to her either.

Then she saw it, on a rack near the door: the most perfect dress she'd ever seen. It was black, covered in shiny sequins, strapless…it looked like maybe it would reach mid-thigh or a little higher. The dozens of other dresses disappeared completely. Cat inched towards it…reached out…

Ohmigosh this is perfect. Perfect, perfect, perfect!

"Find one, Cat?"

Cat found Tori standing next to her, that effortless smile lighting up her pretty features.

"It's perfect!" Cat said, much louder than she intended to. She didn't care. She was excited. "Look at it." She pulled it off the rack and held it up in front of her. "It's swishy and shiny and it's Sam's favorite color!"

Tori raised an eyebrow. "Sam's favorite color? Sam, your roommate?"

Cat hesitated. "No. No…Sam…the…plumber."

"You've got a plumber named Sam? That's weird."

Jade appeared behind Tori. "Cat, come on. As flawed as Tori is—and she is horribly, horribly flawed—you know you can trust her with this."

Tori stared at Jade for a moment. Cat had no idea what she was thinking. "Thanks, Jade. Really."

The words were nice, but she sounded sarcastic. It didn't really matter though. Jade was right, she could trust Tori. "Okay. Yes, Sam, my roommate. I asked her to come to prom with me."

"And?" Jade seemed genuinely excited.

"She's coming. But I think she thinks it's just a friend thing."

"Why would she think that?"

"Because I got nervous and thought she wouldn't come otherwise so I kind of said that maybe it was sort of a friend thing."

Jade's smile disappeared, but she still seemed optimistic. Which was a weird look for her. "Okay. Well, she's coming. That's half the battle, right?"

Tori looked back and forth between Cat and Jade. "I am so lost right now. Cat, you…you, uh…you like Sam?"

That seemed like a strange question. Cat laughed. "No, silly, I don't like her."

Tori sighed in apparent relief. "Oh. Okay."

"I love her."

Tori paled. "I need to sit down." She staggered over to a nearby bench and took a few moments to collect herself. "Cat, I had no idea. I mean, I think it's great! It's just surprising. I thought you and Robbie were kind of a thing."

Cat sat down next to Tori, holding the most perfect dress close to her. "I do love Robbie. But over the past year, it's changed. I think of him like I think of you and Jade."

Tori chuckled. "As one of the girls? I think he gets that a lot."

"When I think of Sam, I just feel so happy. My heart is smiling and I feel like I can do anything."

Tori seemed to really think about this for a minute. "Wow," she said at last. "Okay. If that's how she makes you feel, then that's great. I'm happy for you."

"Thanks, Tori," Cat said. "You guys…I'm going to miss you when we leave school. Please promise me we'll always keep in touch."

"Of course we'll stay in touch. Though I can't speak for Jade."

"Oh yeah, sure. I'm definitely not planning on running away and never coming back or looking at any of you again." She looked at Cat and winked, letting her know it was one of those sisterly jokes. Cat smiled. She stood up and went back to the mirror, admiring herself with the dress in front of her.

"You gonna try it on?" Tori asked. "It's really pretty."

Cat searched out the tag, which was fastened near the back of the neck.

"Pretty expensive. Uuuugh," she grumbled. "I can't afford this. It's three hundred dollars."

Tori hurried over to her. "Really? That seems cheap for this. Let me see." Tori took the dress and looked at the tag. She frowned and looked back at Cat. "That's three thousand, not three hundred."

Cat whimpered. "That's so much worse. Dang it."

Shoulders drooping, Cat walked her perfect dress back to the rack and hung it up.

Her phone rang. Startled, she checked the number. She didn't recognize it.

"Hello?"

A pleasant female voice greeted her. "Hello. Is this Caterina Valentine?"

"No, this is Caterina Valentine. Who are you?"

The woman hesitated. "Um…right. This is Elizabeth Ashford. I work with Carl Crane here in New York."

Now that name, Cat knew. "Carl Crane, the director? Oh my gosh, I love his work!"

"Oh, you've been out to New York?"

"No, but I've seen a lot of his plays on video at my school."

"Mr. Crane recently received a copy of an audition tape you sent him several months ago. He's had the chance to review it, and he would like to invite you to audition for a role in his next musical. It's off-broadway, but if you do well with it, he does tend to use the same people in multiple productions. Would you be interested in coming out next week for an audition?"

It took Cat a few seconds to really understand what Elizabeth was saying to her. An audition for a Carl Crane musical in New York… an audition for a Carl Crane musical in New York… Cat took a deep breath. She held in her emotions before she exploded. "Why yes, ma'am, I do believe I would be interested in your preposition."

"That's wonderful. I'll forward the details to this number via text message, if that's okay."

"That would be fine. Thank you!"

The call ended. Cat stared at the phone for a minute. An audition for a Carl Crane musical in New York. An audition for…

"Oh my god!" Cat screamed.

Tori and Jade were at her side in seconds. Cat faced them and started bouncing uncontrollably.

"What happened?"

Cat waved the phone at them. "Do you know what this means? Oh my god!"

Jade tried to get a look at Cat's phone, but the pear-shaped device was on a blank screen.

"Nothing there, Cat. Use your words."

"That was Elizabeth….Elizabeth…something…anyway…Carl Crane! You remember when Sikowitz had us do those acting reels a few months ago? He saw mine and he wants me to come to New York and audition for a musical!"

Tori's cheekbones lit up with a huge smile. "That's amazing! Wow!" Cat was pulled into a tight embrace by her friend. "How exciting!"

"Seriously," Jade said. "That's awesome. Not a great as if it were me, but, you know, good job."

"I can't believe it…I'll have to get another new outfit or something…what do you even wear to that? What if I look stupid?"

Tori gently grabbed Cat by the shoulders. "You won't. You're amazing and talented and you're going to knock him dead."

"I don't want to kill him..."

Tori and Jade shared a knowing smile. "Not literally. You'll do great. You'll really impress him. Remember, he asked you . He already knows how talented you are."

That felt good to hear. Tori was right, it was his idea. That should give her some confidence. But what about Sam? Would she go with her? "Guys, wait. What if Sam doesn't want to go to New York?"

"Then it's her loss," Jade said. "But it's just the audition. If you get the role, then you can worry about that."

"I guess so. But there's no way I can go to the prom and afford to get a plane ticket and new outfit, and—"

Jade covered Cat's mouth. "Relax. And don't you dare lick my hand."

Cat immediately closed her mouth. Jade slowly removed her hand.

"Look, this is a big deal. But so is the prom with Sam." Jade sighed. She glared at Tori. "Can you…go somewhere else?"

"Where?"

"Anywhere!" Tori winced as if Jade were going to hit her. Cat didn't blame her. There was always the chance Jade would hit someone. Tori frowned and went back to browsing dresses. She kept a close eye on Cat, though.

"If you ever tell anyone I did this, I'll shave off all your red hair and glue it to your armpits."

Cat whimpered and instinctively touched her hair.

Jade slid her purse off her shoulder and pulled out her wallet. She counted out a wad of bills that was thicker than Cat had ever seen, then thrust a huge stack into Cat's hand.

"Here. Buy the dress."

Cat's trembling hand squeezed the money. She stared at it, then at Jade. Her vision got blurry as a tear slipped out. "Jade, I couldn't…this is…how…?"

"Don't worry about it. Just take it. And don't make a big deal out of it."

"You didn't kill anybody for this, did you?"

Jade laughed, but then her face got very serious for a minute. "No," she said. "Wait." She seemed to think again. "No."

Cat's hand was still shaking. "Why would you be so nice to me?"

"I can take it back if you want."

Cat instinctively pulled the money closer to her. Jade's threatening demeanor vanished for a second.

"You've always been nice to me. Even when I've been terrible to you. I hate people. There aren't many in this world worth knowing and there's even fewer that are good people." Jade stepped a little closer to Cat. "You're good people, Cat. And you're more my family than my actual family. So if their endless piles of money can do some good for a good person…what the hell."

Another tear slipped out as Cat stepped toward Jade.

"Hug me and I'll force-feed you that cash."

Cat stopped in her tracks. "You're good people too."

"Just keep it between us. Now go get that dress already."

Cat noticed that Tori had rejoined them. She wore a smile almost as big as Cat's. "Awww! Jade has a heart after all!"

Jade's head snapped to the side. Her hand shot out and grabbed Tori by the neck. "You saw nothing. Got it!? Nothing!"

Tori's face was turning red. "Right. Not a thing. You're evil and heartless. Honest."

Jade smiled and released her grip on Tori. "Let's get this shopping trip over with. I'm getting hungry."