Story #7: THE PARTY
The Party
A teenager getting ready for her first grown-up party gets a surprise.
"Not that one," said Anna, perching herself on the edge of my bed. "It makes you look like you're four months pregnant. Do you want to look like you're four months pregnant?"
I shook my head at my sister. What kind of question was that? "No," I replied, shimmying out of the dress I'd spent three-hundred bucks on.
"Good. What else do you have?"
I bit my bottom lip, standing in the centre of my room in nothing but my bra and panties, shivering. It wasn't because I was cold; it was because I was hit with the sudden realization that nothing I had would be flattering enough, or cool enough, or sexy enough. I had spent my entire purse of babysitting money on this Fashionova dress, only for me to try it on hours before the party and have my big sister tell me I looked fat in it.
I was screwed.
Anna put her cigarette out in the can of Coke she was holding. For the hundredth time that year, I thought about how embarrassing it was that I didn't have the courage to tell her how much I hated it when she smoked in my room. We were only four years apart, but those four years might as well have been a decade. Anna was everything I wasn't: Popular. Athletic. Bubbly. Gorgeous. She was even intelligent and was now in her first year at an Ivy League college, which shot the dumb-blonde cheerleader stereotype right out of the water. Me? I was a bottom-feeder in our high school, struggling to fit in with my one friend whom I'd known since diapers.
That was why it was important that I looked good tonight.
Anna let out a sigh and stood, crossing my room and heading to my closet. "Don't worry, Ally. I've got you."
I breathed a sigh of relief, sitting myself down on my bed. If Anna said she had me, then she had me.
"Nothing in this closet will work," Anna announced, after chucking everything I owned onto the floor. She had her hands on her hips. "You'll have to wear something of mine."
I felt tears prickle my eyes. "Really?"
"Don't make this a big deal, Ally. Be right back."
The thing was, Anna's closet was a big deal. She wore dresses I never could've imagined myself buying with a straight face. Things
"Nothing in this closet will work," Anna announced, after chucking everything I owned onto the floor. She had her hands on her hips. "You'll have to wear something of mine."
I felt tears prickle my eyes. "Really?"
"Don't make this a big deal, Ally. Be right back."
The thing was, Anna's closet was a big deal. She wore dresses I never could've imagined myself buying with a straight face. Things
NEXT WEEK: Short story inspired by the tweet: 'Please be kind to everyone you meet. Your small act of kindness just might save a life'.
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