Lost In Purple

Chapter 16: Boreal Findings

The front door clicks shut as I feel a cool breeze push against me. Its only been a few hours since Bruiser and I finished our midterm and I'm already bored. I don't want to go back to my dorm because I know I'll just keep thinking about Faust, but there's nothing else for me to do right now. I find myself walking down the left side of the street and looking at the empty JOX house. A small amount of anger sparks inside me only to feel it change into sorrow. You know, maybe it's for the better that I'm not friends with Faust anymore. It's been infinitely more fun being friends with the RORs anyways.

"Melody!" A voice screams from my left.

I see Carrie waving to me from the PNKs front door. Her red hair glistens in the natural light and her smile makes it seems like she's an angel among demons. She shuts the front door and jogs over to me cheerfully.

"Melody it's a relief to see you again. How are you faring? Johnny told me what happened and I just feel awful," Carrie comforts.

"Um, I could be doing better. I'm pretty embarrassed that you all had to see that," I respond.

"Aww, I'm sorry to hear that. My sisters and I are willing to help you if need it. However, I'm pretty sure Johnny's the only one who's going to have the chance to do that," Carrie smiles.

That comment caught me by surprise. "W-what?"

"Oh Melody, he absolutely adores you. I mean I haven't heard him talk like this about someone since our freshman year!" Carrie squeals.

"He…he adores me?" I blush.

She nods and giggles while putting her hand over her mouth. "Oh yeah. If I had to say anything, he's crushing hard. And trust me when I say that he doesn't do that."

My face feels hot and I get another one of those tingling sensations in my stomach. There's no way someone like him has feelings for me.

"Has he asked you to the Fall Formal yet?" Carrie asks pleadingly.

"Um… y-yeah," I reply wishing I could just run away.

She gasps, most likely because she was expecting me to tell her no. "OH MY GOSH! HAVE YOU GOT A DRESS YET?" She interrogates aggressively.

"N-no. I was going to go a little later this week," I answer while backing away from her so that there's an adequate amount of space in between us.

"Oh no, that won't do Melody! Come with me, Rhonda and I still need to get ours as well so you're going with us!" Carrie screeches in exhilaration.

She takes me by the hand and we both sprint to the HSS house. She knocks on the door and waits patiently for an answer. The monster who opens it is a large grey monster whose skin looks leathery. She must be part lizard.

"Ugh… Carrie…What do you want now?" She unenthusiastically asks.

"Is Rhonda here Rosie? Melody and I would like to go dress shopping with her." Carrie says cutting to the chase.

Rosie scoffs and rolls her eyes. Yeah, this is why I wasn't necessarily wanting to associate with the HSS. They seem to really not care about anyone or anything. "Yes… but I'm not getting her just so you can take her to some dumb pretty girl store."

"Oh no, we're not going there. We're going to Blackburn Dress. You know, that fancy place downtown," Carrie counters.

I almost drop dead when I hear the name Blackburn Dress. That store is know to have the most beautiful dresses within Monstropolis, but they're incredibly expensive. If I remember correctly, my mom had a friend who took her there and they found a dress that was almost 15,000 dollars.

Rosie narrows her eyes. "Hmm… you'd better not be lying Carrie. I'll give her permission to kill you if you are."

"Oh come on, we'd have fun regardless of where we go. I'm being serious though, any other fashion stores won't make the cut. It's gotta be authentic and can't be cheap," Carrie replies while remaining positive.

"Alright. Just know that we can't be too sure when you're around. Now, I know who you and Rhonda are going with to the dance, but who is this diva standing next to you going with?" Rosie questions before pointing at me with her thick, withered looking finger.

"Mr. Worthington," Carrie replies with a smile.

Rosie furrows her brow and looks like she's about to stab me. Great, she probably has a thing for Johnny and now I've indirectly made her jealous. Her anger seems to disappear though.

"I see. I'll tell Rhonda to meet you down here within a minute," Rosie says. She closes the front door and stomps off into the house.

Carrie turns towards me and puts her hand on my shoulder. "I'm so sorry Melanie. I'm sure you noticed she acted weird when I said that."

"…Did they date or something?" I question hesitantly.

"Mmm not really. During all of our sophomore year, Johnny tried to take her out on a date but Rosie declined. It wasn't until he moved on that she realized she had a thing for him," Carrie explains.

I bring my hand up to the side of my arm and look to my side awkwardly. "Oh. Um… would it be possible for you to tell her that I'm sorry someday. I can onyl imagine the amount of pain she felt when you told her that," I request.

"Sure. If it makes you feel any better, she never did a good job hiding it. So nobody can blame you if she childishly gets upset with you," Carrie whispers into my ear.

We wait another minute on the HSS doorstep talking until Rhonda opens the door. She looks at Carrie and scoffs, but when she looks at me she smiles. "Sup Everett."

Oh she remembers me. Cool. I give her a weak wave.

"Come on Rhonda why don't I get a hello like that?" Carrie asks.

"Because your a flamboyant poser who has nothing better to do than annoy the living hell out of me every week," Rhonda bluntly answers.

"You know I only do that cause I worry about you and that I love yoooou," Carrie jokes.

"Ugh… I neglected to say elitist… whatever. Anyways, are we going to Blackburn or do I have to leave you lifeless on our doorsteps?" Rhonda asks with the usual goth accent.

"Yep! We should see what they have before they sell out," Carrie affirms.

Rhonda sighs in relief. "Thank god. Melanie and I would have blown our brains out if you took us to that gross, bubbly place you usually go to. Come on let's go.

Carrie drives us in her small convertible all the way downtown. The skyscrapers line the sky and the sounds of honking cars pollute the air. We were lucky to be able to drive through downtown with no traffic since it's only about two o clock. If we were any earlier or later we probably would've been stuck on the highways for three hours, moving only 5 feet every 30 seconds. After driving down the busy streets of downtown for a few more minutes, Carrie parallel parks onto the side of the road right in front of this large two story building with a Blackburn Dress sign on it.

"I'm assuming your hoping to look drac?" Rhonda asks while sliding out of the car and slamming the door shut.

"Uh… drac?" I say scratching my head.

"You know, cool yet creepy. Your usual vibe." Rhonda clarifies.

"Oh. Yeah. Sorry," I reply nervously.

"Stop being nervous, if you're worried about what I think about you, then I might as well tell you that I think your cool," Rhonda mentions.

Carrie loops her arm around mine. "And undeniably gorgeous!"

I laugh. "Thanks."

Rhonda and Carrie smile while hiking towards the entrance. I'm guessing their just trying to get me to become more comfortable around them. I don't know if it's because they realize I have low self confidence or if they just feel bad for me considering my situation with Faust, but it's nice to finally have what all other girls have during high school.

Once we all enter the building, we stare at the walls lined in beautiful dresses and formal wear. However, Carrie and Rhonda take me to the second floor which is where all the more colorful stuff is. There's all sorts of A-lines, Ball gowns, sheaths, empire waists, mermaids, and trumpets. Many aren't really my cup of tea, so I'm secretly hoping Rhonda will help me out. We start out looking for a couple dresses for Carrie. She obviously wanted a pink dress so we peruse through the endless amount of racks containing pink dresses. She finds a couple and models them all for Rhonda and I. We end up deciding that a tight rose pink sheath dress with jewels placed delicately all over it was the best one for her. She checks the price tag and finds out it's 3000 dollars. Geez that's steep.

I suggest Rhonda to go next since I could tell her impatience was rising rapidly after staring at pink for a while. Her choices were a little thinner than Carries but she finds 4 dresses that she could she herself in. She models them all and we think a black split A-line dress that's backless, and utilizes black patterned lace is her best choice. It's funny because Rhonda literally looks like some sort of corpse bride when wearing it. The price tag makes that true too since its 5000 dollars. You'd might as well buy it and then die since you're not going to be able to afford food or shelter after that.

I go last and there's pretty much nothing that I'm interested in. There's a couple black dresses that look nice but I could tell that I wouldn't be happy wearing them.

"I don't know if we're going to be able to find something to fit your tastes perfectly," Rhonda admits.

"That's ok. I wasn't really expecting to find anything anyways. I usually just settle for a basic Sunday dress for events like these since I could never afford much," I disclose feeling a little disappointed.

I was hoping to find that one dress that would not only make me feel beautiful, but would also impress Johnny. I can only think that he's seen many beautiful dresses over his life, so his expectations must be pretty high.

"Excuse me miss," says a man beside all three of us, "Pardon my nosiness, but I've noticed you pick out certain dresses and I think I might have one that perfect for you."

"Really? Oh please show us," Carrie gasps clearly intrigued.

"Well, I'll be honest with you, it's an experimental dress from the Garuda brand. Based off your tastes I think you'd like it, not to mention it would compliment the color of your scales and compliment your eyes. I will have to fish it out from the back," he explains.

Carrie and Rhonda look over to me. They must be waiting for my opinion. "Um… ok. I'll see if I like it."

The man leaves us near their changing rooms for a minute and comes out with a strapless black and borealis purple ball gown. The torso is borealis purple and has a black floral Victorian pattern on it with a couple black roses stitched into the waistline, and the silhouette utilizes extensive frills that alternate between black and borealis purple all the way around.

Rhonda gasps as he hands me the dress. "Melanie, you're literally going to look like a bride."

The man laughs at her comment. "Again it is an experimental dress. You probably couldn't use it at an actual wedding or funeral or whatnot, but school dances or similar events would be appropriate for this dress."

"Are there any accessories that go along with this? Like are there any matching black rose hair clips?" Rhonda asks.

"Yes, I can go get those for you. If your looking for jewelry though, you're going to have to find those elsewhere," the man responds.

Rhonda keeps asking him all sort of questions while Carrie impatiently pushes me into the dressing room. "Put it on, put it on! You're the only person who could ever look good in that dress!" She squeals.

I shut the door and lock it to make sure nobody messes with me while I'm changing, and take my time sliding into the dress. It doesn't feel constricting or heavy, and it graciously shows off my hourglass figure. I open the door and take a few steps in it to see if it's hard to move, but it's not.

"OH… MY…GOD!" Rhonda exclaims with her mouth open. It must look really good on me if she's stunned by it.

"Here Melanie, let's try this on as well," Carrie says clipping on a black rose hair clip up near my right ear.

I turn around and look into the mirror. With every ounce of being I try to keep myself from getting emotional because I don't ever want to take it off. I've never been able to wear something so pretty before in my life. I was totally expecting to just wear one of my Moms old dresses from 20 years ago.

"Absolutely stunning madam," the male employee proclaims.

Carrie starts jumping up and down while clapping. "You look like a princess!"

"I feel like one," I mumble, "Um… do you know how much this one is sir?"

"We're asking $10,000 since it's one of a kind. As you may know Garuda is one of the more luxurious brands so that's also why it's on the exorbitant side," the man answers.

"Damn it. Might want to find something else then Melody," Carrie groans.

"No, I'm buying it," I respond excitedly.

"What? Where are you going to get ten thousand dollars?" Rhonda questions.

I walk back into the dressing room and find my handbag. I pull out Johnny's golden credit card. "From Johnny."

Carrie, Rhonda, and I take another long drive back to Frat Row. Rhonda and Carrie both hyped up the dance the whole way back, saying how Johnny will be speechless the whole night and that he'll do anything to have as much fun as possible with me. They ogled my dress the whole way back as well, so I'm guessing they're a little jealous that I found the most perfect dress ever.

"I'll drop you off at the RORs Melody," Carrie hollers while swaying on beat to the loud pop music playing on the car radio. Rhonda just rolls her eyes and shakes her head in annoyance.

"Ok. I need to give Johnny his credit card back anyways," I yell from the backseat.

Rhonda turns her head towards the back seat. "He'll be surprised to see you return it so early you know. He might try to coerce you to show him what you bought," Rhonda screams with intensity. After saying that she decided she didn't want to scream anymore and cranks the knob down. "I'm sorry Carrie, but I can't listen to that poser music anymore!"

Carrie remains positive and hums to herself. "That's fine, I'm happy I got to jam for a little bit."

"Ugh…whatever," Rhonda sighs.

Carrie pulls into the main road towards the Business School and floors it. The sudden burst of speed causes the wind to blow my hair horizontal. I make sure to keep my mouth shut so I don't end up swallowing a bug the size of a large coin. We swerve into Frat Row and loop around the cul-de-sac to the front of the PNK house. Carrie and I jump out of the car ready for the night to be over, while Rhonda looks like she's ready for the night to begin. I forget goth people really enjoy the dark.

"See ya at the dance Melanie," Rhonda says giving me a fist bump.

I say goodbye and watch her slide across the street and enter the darkness of the HSS house.

"I have to go check on the girls, will you be alright if I leave you here?" Carrie asks.

I nod in her direction as I try to cautiously squeeze all my items into my backpack. Carrie waves goodbye and I begin my short journey to the ROR house for the second time today. After ringing the doorbell, I wait a couple seconds before looking over to the JOX house. I see the living room light on and I hear several deep voices cheering within. They're all probably watching some football game, living the life of the stereotypical college jock. I feel loneliness overtake my body and pull me into its minacious grasp. It's been difficult for me to come to terms with losing the only friend I ever had. However, it's probably not healthy for me to continue dwelling on it. I take out Johnny's credit card, and hold it with a tight grip because I feel like if I dropped it I would end up owing him a million dollars in damages. Johnny answers the door which gives me a sense of security when I see his smile.

"Hey princess," Johnny greets.

"Hey, I'm just here to return your credit card," I sigh while handing the card over to him.

"You already used it?" He asks with a stunned look.

"Yeah. I'll be honest, the dress I found was a lot of money so I hope you won't be too mad," I confess. My ears lower as I brace for what he'll say next.

Johnny narrows his eyes and takes the card out of my hands. "How much was it exactly?"

"Um… ten thousand," I whimper.

"Oh, pfffft, pocket change," Johnny says wiping this topic off his shoulder.

Ten thousand dollars is 'pocket change' to him? How rich is he and his family? Then again, Johnny did tell me his father works for both Fear Co. and Monsters Inc. in high positions so that's probably why. "Good, I kind of impulsively bought it since I've never had the chance to worry about money before," I nervously chuckle.

"I couldn't care less. Every penny spent on you is worth it," Johnny adds before putting his credit card into his sweater.

I blush and feel that tingling sensation again. My heart skips a beat and I have to stop myself from hugging him out of nowhere again, because for some reason I've been doing that a lot recently. "Now what would it take for you, a damsel in distress, to stick around here for the rest of the night?" Johnny asks with a cocky smile and leaning against the doorframe.

I blush even more. "U-um… I don't…"

Johnny reaches for my hand and grabs it, pulling me close to him. He then takes his other hand and wraps his arm around the bends of my legs and pulls me up to carry me. "Hmm, not much apparently," he growls.

I giggle as I put my arms around his neck to make carrying me easier. "I guess not."

Johnny uses his foot to close to push the door closed and takes me into the main room. He sits down on the couch with me still in his arms and repositions his arms in order to hug me. "I know it's hard to believe, but everything's going to be fine Mel. I'll make sure of it."

I feel myself get unexplainably happy when he closes his eyes and presses his head against mine. I think back to when I first met him and how I found him to be annoying and grotesquely arrogant. While that might still be partially true, I can say that I'm glad to have met him that night, because I wouldn't have had such a heart fluttering night with him where we watched the fire quietly crackle. No words were spoken, just our gentle existences embracing each other. I don't know about him, but I think it's safe to assume that I'm falling in love with him.