Chapter 6: Alice and The Prom
Saturday Morning
Alice looked over the rack of clearance formals. With prom season winding down, these dresses would go for summer weddings. At this discount, she was sure a few of her customers would treat themselves to new outfits.
Satisfied they were all in order, she noticed a new dress on the mannequin. It was so similar to the one she'd worn to her junior prom. Spaghetti straps and a bold print–she'd been the only one to wear such a loud dress in bright colors. She wouldn't have been the only non-pastel if her best friend had come that night.
She heard the piano playing from the first floor as she stood in the aisle, fingering the skirt of the dress, recalling the shopping trip over five years ago.
She'd coaxed her to try on the sapphire colored halter, and it was breathtaking on her. The color gave her a glow that all the fashionable pastel gowns had washed out. It was on sale to boot, so convincing Bella to buy it had been a snap.
They had worked so hard on the committee, having to switch locations just two weeks before prom due to a roof leak and water damage to the original venue. Not just the building had been damaged, oh no. The leak had also ruined most of the prom decorations, having just been delivered to the site.
They'd washed 144 souvenir glasses, by hand, in bleach water. They'd found a better location in the end, the newly renovated hotel on Michigan Avenue had just re-opened; and they were the first event in their "Petite Ballroom."
Alice had been standing next to her when Jacob had asked her to prom, and she'd been there later when he'd un-invited her to prom. He said that he just had to take that other girl. He'd felt he had too. He'd even told her he was positive someone else would love to take her.
Alice had pep-talked her every day for the next two weeks, all the way up to the morning of the dance, as they'd checked the set up for the dinner.
Bella didn't even want one of those dammed glasses they'd washed as a memory of all the work she'd put in.
The dress had been worn the next fall, at homecoming. It didn't stand out in the crowd; it made her blend in more. Alice thought that might have been the moment when Bella had begun to put herself into the background, trying to just blend in and not be noticed. Wearing pink in the wedding would be the brightest thing she'd owned since high school.
Recalling that her friend needed a dress for the rehearsal dinner, Alice noticed one of the designer cocktail dresses had been placed on clearance. Upon checking the tag she smiled as she noted it was in her friend's size. She grabbed the hanger and walked back to her register as she pulled out her phone. It only took two rings.
"Hey girlfriend! I found you the perfect dress for the wedding weekend. Remember the one you liked but it was out of the budget?"