"I still can't believe you're doing this," Marty said.
"I told you, if I get to know mom better, I can try to figure out what she's looking for in a boy. No offense, but the only reason mom is in love with you is that grandpa hit you with the car which is also true about dad but still. You two have absolutely nothing in common!"
"Never put the words 'mom' and 'in love with me' in the same sentence ever again," Marty said. That's when Doc came over with some cash in his hand.
"Here. That should be enough to get you a nice dress for the dance," he said.
"What? I wasn't planning on legit buying a dress with mom," I said.
"Of course you are. If you two are going to the dance on Saturday and get your Mom and Pop to 'hook up', then you'll need to look like you're attending a formal dance," Doc said.
"But…I can't take your money," I said.
"Just take it. I've got plenty of money to spare," Doc said. Hesitantly, I took the money and placed it in my pocket. After that, I said my goodbyes, and they wished me good luck before I left for town.
Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break
I arrived at the school just as everyone was walking out the door. I spotted Lorraine, Shelly, and Emma talking by where some of the bikes were parked.
"H-hi guys," I said. "Oh hi Abby," Shelly said.
"Hi Abby, I'm glad you decided to come," Lorraine said.
"Are we ready?" Emma asked.
"I am," Shelly said.
"Let's go!" Lorraine said and all of us started walking further into town.
We arrived at a boutique dress shop named Ruth's and walked in. Inside we saw racks and racks of different styles of dresses both casual and formal.
"Come on!" Lorraine said, grabbing my hand and pulling me forward. Shelly and Emma were right behind us looking at the same dresses we passed by.
"So what kind of dress are you thinking about?" Shelly asked.
"I don't know what to think. I don't wear dresses or skirts too much," I said.
"But you wore one yesterday," Lorraine said. My eyes went wide at my bluff being caught.
"Well…what I mean is like fancy dresses."
"Yeah, I understand. I always have to be so conservative when being around my parents. I wish they would just understand that I'm not their little girl or anything. I like boys, I like more risky outfits, and who cares if I smoke?!"
"Actually it might make you regret it in the future," I said and Lorraine just looked at me. "Y-you know that it does damage to your lungs and stuff," I stuttered.
"Now you're starting to sound exactly like my mother. Come on and lighten up! There's nothing wrong with a little rebelling. Mom and Dad don't even try to understand the changing of times or the things that I like."
"I know that feeling," I muttered.
"You too? What do your parents not like about you?" Lorraine asked.
"O-oh you heard that?" I said.
"It's all right. What do your parents not like?" she asked again.
"Well…my passion for gymnastics. Honestly, it's one of the few things that I can say is my own and not…"
"After Marty?" she said.
"Yeah," I said. Suddenly I froze after I realized who exactly I was talking to.
"I'm the oldest one in my family and Mother always wants me to be the example. I still see how much my parents complain to my younger siblings about how they should act and behave more like me. The last thing I want is for Milton, Sally, Toby, and Joey to be exactly like me or the only part of my identity will be gone.
'How did I even tell her that so easily. Usually, I can't explain one little thing to Mom and have her completely understand my point of view.
"What do you girls think of this?" Shelly asked. She was holding a yellow lace, vintage dress with a small bow around the waist.
"That is so pretty," Lorraine said touching the dress.
"You've got to try it on," Abby said.
"Alright." She said and went back to the dressing room.
"Hey Lorraine, what do you think of this?" Emma said. Emma had a green vintage dress with white lacing on the waist."
"Umm…it's pretty but I don't like it that much." She said and kept looking. Meanwhile, I looked around and tried to at least like one dress on the rack. 'This was the style in the 50s?' She thought in disgust. Just then, Shelly came out in the dress.
"That looks so good on you Shelly," Emma said.
"That really does look nice," I said not lying.
"I like it too. If I don't find another dress, this one will definitely be the one." She said and everyone kept looking.
"So Lorraine, what exactly do you see in my brother just out of curiosity?"
"Well…he's sweet, and when my dad hit him with the car…he just seemed like a little lost puppy."
"Okay, without my brother, what do you want in a guy?"
"I'm not too picky unless it's Biff. But what I really want is someone who's not afraid to stand up for himself. I want to know that no matter what happens, he would protect me even if that means getting physical."
"Good to know," I muttered.
"What about you? What do you hope Benjamin will be like?" Emma asked.
"Stop saying that! I don't have a crush on Benjamin!" I snapped. The girls gave me guilty smiles.
"If you say so, though try not to blush every time his name is mentioned," Lorraine said. The girls all laughed and I bit my lip. "Hey, come on. We're just teasing you," she said putting her arm around my shoulders. "Oooo! Look at this!" she said, pulling out a peach, vintage dress with a lace-like material on the bottom. The other girls started ooing over the dress and urged her to try it on. She took the dress to the dressing room and the rest of us kept looking. Meanwhile, I quickly scanned the rest of the dresses hanging on the rack. I just couldn't get the fact that they all looked the exact same minus the color and…they all just didn't look like they would look good on me.
"So what do you guys think?" Lorraine asked coming out.
"Oh my gosh, Lorraine! If you don't get that you'll regret it forever." Shelly said.
"That is really pretty, Mom," I said.
"What did you say?" Lorraine asked.
"Uh, I said my gosh, Lorraine, that is beautiful," I said.
"Thanks," Lorraine said.
"You should get it," Shelly said.
"I think I might. Do you think Calvin will like it?" she asked me.
"Uh…I guess so," I stated. I've seen some of the stuff that Jennifer wears that Marty likes and it's definitely nothing like this dress. Oh well.
"I'm going to get it," Lorraine announced. "Alright Abby, now we need to find you a dress."
"I don't think there will be a dress for me," I explained.
"Yes, there will. We just haven't been looking hard enough." For the next hour, the girls and I continued looking, but all in vain. Emma found her dress, but nothing for me.
'Okay, Abs. The very next dress you see that the girls like, that'll be it,' I decided.
"Try this one on Abby," Lorraine said. She held up a strapless turquoise, Tea Length gown with beading on the entire top and about halfway down the tulle skirt. Mainly, I was staring at the strapless part.
"I-it's pretty, but I've never worn a strapless dress before," I said.
"Aw come on! Just try it! I think it'll look so good on you," Lorraine insisted.
"Come on Abby," Linda and Emma
"Alright, alright," I said. I took the dress with me and put it on in the fitting room. I quickly looked at myself in the mirror. It wasn't the best-looking dress on me, but it did make me look good. My gloves clashed with the formal dress, but there was no way I could take them off and expose my scars. When I came back out the girls started shrieking.
"That's the one!" Emma said.
"I knew it would look great on you, but if you want to wear gloves, I recommend long white ones. Here," Lorraine said, grabbing some on display and handing me the gloves. I went back to the dressing room and took off my net gloves. I looked at myself in the mirror again and instantly, my stomach dropped and I felt goosebumps go up my back. Without my gloves, it looked much better on me. Even with the red, ugly marks, I saw a reflection of someone more confident in herself and not a little girl stuck in her brother's shadow. True, it was a little old-fashion in my opinion but it was still elegant. I quickly put on the white gloves on that went up to my forearm. It did downgrade my feeling about how I looked, but only by a little. I went back out and the girls started ooing and smiling wide.
"Abby, you have to take that one!" Lorraine said.
"Yeah," I said looking down at myself again. "I can't believe it, but this is the one." The girls started clapping.
"Let's go pay for these," Emma said.
Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break
After we all paid and got out big boxes, Linda went off while Emma, Lorraine, and I started to walk off in the opposite direction.
"Lorraine, show me your dress again!" Emma said. Emma put her box down and held Lorraine's big box so she could open it. She took out the dress and held it up against her. "Oh, it's perfect Lorraine! You're gonna look so good!" All of us started to giggle.
"Well lookie what we have here," a voice said. We all turned around and saw Biff walking up to us. "Hey, nice dress Lorraine, although I think you would look more pretty with nothing on," he continued trying to look under Lorraine's dress.
"Dude, back off!" I said hitting his arm. Biff froze and stood up tall while looking at me threateningly. Instantly, I felt shorter than my 5'1 frame as he towered over me.
"How about you mind your own business you little twerp? I let you off easy last time, but this time I won't be so easy," he said stepping closer. Lorraine meanwhile quickly put her dress back in her box and grabbed by arm.
"Biff? Why don't you take a long walk off a short pier?" Lorraine suggested as we walked away.
"Actually, listen Lorraine. There's that dance at school on Saturday right? Now that my car's all fixed, I thought I'd cut you a break and give you the honor of going with the best-looking guy in school," Biff said following us. He kept pushing me out of the way so he could be right next to Lorraine.
"Yeah, well I'm busy on Saturday," Lorraine said.
"Doing what?"
"Washing my hair," she rebutted and I couldn't help but smile.
"Ha! That's about as funny as a screened door on a submarine," he said.
"Look Biff, someone already asked me to the dance," Lorraine said.
"Who?! That bug, George Mcfly?!"
"I'm going with Calvin Klein, okay?" she taunted. Biff then gave me a hard shove and I lost my balance and fell backward. Fortunately, I never hit the ground.
"Glad I caught you," a familiar voice said. I got my focus back and was staring into beautiful blue eyes.
"Benjamin," I said. He helped me up while I saw Biff had squeezed Lorraine's arms hard and glaring at her.
"You're going with me, not that Calvin Klein guy! You understand?" Biff hissed.
"Get your cooties off of me!" Lorraine ordered.
"When are you gonna get it through your brain Lorraine, you're my girl," Biff said now holding her into a bear hug.
"I wouldn't be your girl even if you had a million dollars!" Lorraine then kicked Biff's groin and then bonked him in the head with her dress box.
"Whoa!" I said. He was about to grab Lorraine again when Benjamin jumped in front of her.
"Whoa whoa, man. I may have just moved here, but that's no way to treat a lady," he said.
"Get out of my way you son of a…" Biff tried to take a swing, but Benjamin leaped gracefully out of the way at the last possible second making Biff lose his balance and fall to the ground. Then all of us ran off into town toward the movie theater.
"It's you and me, Lorraine! IT'S MEANT TO BE! I'm gonna marry you someday, Lorraine! SOMEDAY YOU'LL BE MY WIFE!" he yelled.
"Yeah, like I'd ever do something like that," Lorraine said. All of us ran to a nearby entrance to a suburb just behind the movie theater.
"Thanks for that Benjamin. I'm not sure if we would have been able to get away if it wasn't for you," Lorraine said.
"How do you move like that?" Emma asked.
"It's just a hobby right now, but…" he said and started to show off some of his dance and tap dance moves. He was jumping and spinning around and even started tap dancing though I wasn't paying attention to that. I was more focused on memorizing his face and how much his facial expression glowed as he got more into it. When he finished, all three of us were clapping at him.
"You remind me of Gene Kelly from Singing in the Rain that my brothers and sister and I used to watch," I said.
"Well, I'm glad you think so. Not that he's one of my favorite actors or anything," he said.
"I bet if you two were put on stage together it would be the best show in the world," Lorraine said. Suddenly, I saw some movement coming from a nearby bush. I saw someone sticking their head out
…
"Benjamin Nathaniel Comings!" a sharp voice said. We all looked over and saw a man jumping out of a car wearing a trench coat and matching hat.
"D-dad!" Benjamin said getting stiff.
"So here you are. I recall that we had an understanding this morning. You were supposed to come straight home after school so we could go out to dinner. Yet here you are making a fool of yourself again!"
"I'm not making a fool of myself; I'm doing something I love to do!" Benjamin yelled back.
"For God's sake Benjamin, I thought we were through with this! Dancing isn't going to get you anywhere and has no place in a man's world!"
"Then what is? Going to college and wasting the rest of my life stuck in an office like Rick and you?!" That's when Benjamin's dad grabbed his earlobe and pulled down hard.
"Aw!" Benjamin shrieked and the rest of us froze.
"Pardon us ladies," his dad said, using his other hand to take off his hat and slightly bow his head at us. Then he returned his hat to his head and dragged Benjamin to his car and shoved him inside. Then he got inside himself and drove away.
"Poor Benjamin. He's probably gonna really get it now," Emma said. I instantly felt a deep hole form in my stomach. That's when I heard some leaves rustling behind me.
"Well, I suppose we should get these dresses back home. Thanks for coming with us, Abby. Hey, why don't you come over on Saturday early before Calvin picks us up? We can eat dinner and get ready together," Lorraine said.
"Yeah, sure," I said looking back at where I heard the rustling leaves.
"Great! You can come over at 3:00," she said.
"Sounds good. I'll see you, girls, later. Thanks again," I said. The girls and I walked away from each other, and I heard more rustling leaves behind me. I set my box down on the ground and saw someone duck behind a tree. I sneaked over to it and shoved the person behind the tree.
"Ow." The voice said.
"What the hell are you doing?! Spying on me?!" I yelled. The spy was none other than my brother wearing a weird-looking black outfit with a matching hat.
"Watch your language kid," Marty said.
"Forget that, why are you spying on me?!" I demanded.
"I wasn't trying to, but you forced me to after you went off with that Benjamin guy," Marty said.
"Sure you weren't. Look, I get enough of being always compared to you, but you don't have to make sure I'm being a good little girl and living up to your example!" Marty looked shocked at this and I covered my mouth.
"What are you talking about?" Marty asked. "Is that really what you think?"
"N-no! Look, that's not important! Aren't you supposed to be with George?"
"What? Oh yeah. I was uh…headed there right now."
"Well stop wasting your time spying on me and get back to George," I said. Without another word, I picked up my box and started walking away.
"Hey I'm not finished with you," Marty said grabbing her hand. "Stay away from that Benjamin guy."
"Why?" I asked. "He's not doing anything wrong."
"I'm not stupid Abby. I saw you give him the look. Remember what year we're in Abby," Marty said.
"I don't need you to tell me what to do! By the way, get some better clothes. You look like a spy." I yelled and walked away without another word.
I'm sorry, I know this took forever, but I've been so busy with school and I'm slowly entering the 8-5 pm working world five days a week. I'm working on my stories as much as I can on top of inevitable writer's block. But don't worry, I'm fine. I know when I need to take breaks now and then.
Wishing everyone a happy holiday and I'll see everyone in 2023.
LaurenHardy13