
| QUOTE |
| Elise hated geometry. She wasn't especially bad at it. Even with minimal effort, she could still pull a C minus. With the effort she put in, she managed B plusses. Still, she managed to tolerate it on most days. Today, however, it was her last class of the day, which made it unbearable. She stared at the clock, ticking at the pace of a snail. She knew staring at the clock didn't make class go faster, but she couldn't help it. It was like an instinct or something. Just as Elise was beginning to think she couldn't take it anymore, the bell rang. Elise happily shoved her things in her bag and leaped up, hurrying out the door to her locker to get her gymnastics bag. On her way to her locker, Elise's cell phone rang. She looked at it, to see she had a text message from her coach. The text said "Personal emergency. Practice is canceled today. Sorry." Elise's curiosity was briefly piqued, wondering what kind of emergency her coach had, but the thought was brushed away by more important matters- how was she going to spend her afternoon now? She didn't feel like going home. That wasn't an option at all. Maybe chill out in central park. Or go to an arcade. Or put her new debit card to use. Yes, that was always a good option. She decided to call Jenny and see if she wanted to meet at Bendel's. She dialed Jenny's number. Jenny didn't pick up, so she left her a voicemail. "Hey, it's me, Elise. Practice got canceled, so I'm going to Bendel's instead. Wanna meet me there?" A little while later, Elise arrived in Bendel's. Jenny hadn't called yet, but it hadn't been long, anyway. She might as well get started while she waited for Jenny's response. She already had several great pairs of jeans- those were the only fashionable items of clothing her mom had purchased for her before she was allowed to shop for herself. Tops, skirts, dresses, where to begin? She decided to just take in the clothes first, looking around and deciding what she wanted to try on. Her eye was caught by a strapless fitted black Diane von Furstenburg tube dress with a funky print that included big flowers in different colors, a black sash that tied in a bow in front just under the bust, and had a sweetheart neckline. She couldn't resist heading right to the dressing room to try it on. On her way, she grabbed a pair of strappy black heels to try on with them- after all, she'd be wearing heels if she wore that dress, and wanted to see how it would all appear on her. After she had the dress on, she admired her reflection in the mirror. She felt so grown-up in that dress and those heels. She stepped outside the dressing room stall and looked at the larger mirror outside. She had to get that dress. But there were two reasons not to. One, where was she going to wear it? Jenny was her only friend, so it's not like she went to a lot of parties, unless it was one of those functions that the entire family went to, and she couldn't ever let her mom see her in that dress. That was the second reason- her mother wouldn't let her out of the house in it. Oh, but it was so perfect. She bit her lip, mentally debating whether to buy the dress or not. |
