How did I know there's going to be a catch? "Casey, that's not—" "I don't want to hear it," she shakes her head. "You always choose a safe option. I saw something over there I think you'll like, and it has that wow-factor." She rushes back into the dressing room to change and soon she is running out, setting her dress on the small chair, then she heading towards another rack off to the side. The red monstrous thing just about consumes her as she hands it to me. "What the hell is this?" I ask. It's too poufy and not me. "Trust me, it's going to look great on," she gives me a thumbs-up. I don't want to hurt her feelings. I'm not expecting to find one on our first day of shopping, even though prom is in four days. I figure I can find something on the clearance rack that will do just fine. When I step into the poorly lit dressing room, I glance at myself in the mirror. I've been makeup free since the incident with Xavier. My eyebrows are severely un-plucked, something I'll enlist Casey's help for, and my pale face has practically no dimension. The bun on my head is already loose from walking around as strands are falling in my face. I shift my attention to the dress. I start peeling off my clothes and folding them on the small bench. The dress, which is actually two pieces, is a red satin material. After slipping on the skirt, which is a flared out A-line, I pull on the top. It's a cropped, tank top style with a low neckline. I maneuver the dress so I can see myself in the mirror again. It's a little overpowering, but Casey is right. It's actually really nice on. Coming out of the dressing room is a little difficult. The dress is longer than me and I try not to trip over the skirt. Casey gasps dramatically when she sees me. "Holy shit," she puts her hand over her mouth. "You are literally a Disney princess." I laugh at how ridiculous that sounds. Never in my life have I wanted to look like a princess, but I have to admit the dress is growing on me the more I have it on. "You're crazy if you don't get this one," she says. "If you don't buy it, I'm buying your whole wardrobe for your New York trip." New York City is creeping up and it makes me nervous. Nervous for graduation, nervous for what will come after graduation, and beyond. "As tempting as that is, I don't know. I feel like I'm cheating or something. I haven't even tried on any other dresses." I need to focus on prom and not New York. She leans back in her chair. "By all means, try on other dresses. I don't think they'll be as nice as this one." Trying on a few more won't hurt. After I change out of the red dress, I pull a few more from the racks and take them into the dressing room. Casey doesn't turn them down when I walk out to show them to her, but she doesn't have the same reaction as when she saw the first dress. I take two more dresses into the dressing room and stare at them. The red dress is hanging in the corner and it's staring me down. Not how I pictured my prom dress would look for my senior year. Junior year I wore a strapless black dress. The red is more daring somehow and I'm reminded of what I told myself at the beginning of the year. I told myself I was going to be happier, stronger, and more confident. The red dress it is. ~ Thursday I have a plan. After buying the red prom dress, I decided to follow what I had said on the first day of senior year. I'm not going to let any boy ruin anything for me. I've been stuck on a roller coaster of mixed emotions the whole year and I can't take it any longer. Waiting for someone, specifically Dylan, to express how they're feeling isn't cutting it. If Dylan is truly in love with me as Kay says, then he needs to own up to those feelings instead of avoiding me. And I need to face how I feel about him. After school Dylan always races to his car and leaves before I even get to my car. I need him alone so he won't be able to brush me off. I enlist help from Anthony, who is all for my plan. We skip our last periods and rush to the parking lot just before school ends. He pulls out his wire hanger and says, "Let's do this." He bends the wire so he can stick it inside Dylan's car to unlock it. I keep watch, making sure no security guards catch us. It's a serious crime, breaking into someone's car, but it's not like we're trying to steal it. I only need to get in, hide in the back seat, and wait for the right moment to talk, and possibly scare Dylan. After a few minutes, Anthony gets the door open. He gives me a high-five before I slip into the back seat. I hide on the floor, behind the driver's seat and Anthony says, "Perfect. Dylan won't even see you." "Thanks, Anthony," I smile at him. "I really appreciate it." "Hell yeah," he nods. "Go get your boy." "You'll give my keys to Casey, right?" He gives me a thumbs-up before he shuts the door and I quickly lock it from the inside. I put myself back in position and waited. The bell will ring soon, so I calm myself down and rehearse what I want to say in my head. As I wait, I glance around at Dylan's slightly dirty back seat. It's littered with a couple of water bottles and some receipts. I try not to be nosey, but one receipt catches my eye. It's from a local jewelry store. I move to reach for it, but I hear voices outside of the car. Dylan's and Anthony's voices specifically stand out. Dylan mentions something about going home before I hear the locks moving. The door opens and the car shifts as Dylan sits in the driver's seat. He shuts the door behind him and the sound of the car turning on makes my heart race. Suddenly it's clear that I have to make my move fast. Dylan is a horrible driver when he's by himself. He takes sharp turns out of the parking lot, causing me to be in some uncomfortable positions. I can't jump out while he's driving. He'll probably freak out and crash the car. I wait until I think we're at a red light. We finally come to a stop and I quickly sit up. I crawl up into the backseat and I meet Dylan's eyes in the rearview mirror before I can actually say anything.