All of a sudden Sarah was standing in a luxury store. Women surrounding her, taking her measurements, fiddling with her hair, holding dresses up against her to see how they would look with her skin tone.
Sarah could hardly remember how she had gotten ther. It all had felt like a dream. She had been at Max's house when she was suddenly dragged into a car and dropped off at this expensive store. His mom had just waved at her and smiled, whispering something to a lady holding a measuring tape. Max had just stood there, holding back a laugh at her bewildered expression. Then they just left. Leaving her there by herself.
Now she was in a curtained room, being poked and prodded, hair being pulled every way, lipstick shades being tested against the inside of the wrist.
A tall lady wearing a uniform walked up to her and pointed to a rack of dresses saying, "Mademoiselle, you are to try on each of these dresses. We will be leaving 2 assistants with you to help you change. After each one I will come in and assess the results.
Sarah could just stare and nod. When she did even that she was smacked on the head with a lipstick cap for her movements.
Finally when all the measuring and lipstick-testing was done, all but 2 had left the room. The assistants dragged the rack over to her. She said "Is there any dress you like in particular ma'am?"
Sarah quickly glanced through them until she saw a gorgeous purple dress and stared at it until she shook her head and said "I like that yellow one and this green one."
The assistants grabbed the yellow dress first and helped her change into it.
The dress was sunshine yellow and hugged her body tightly. It was strapless and the rippled in the fabric made it look like a crumple blanket. Sara felt like an encased sausage. She felt trapped inside the dress. It made her self conscious and aware. When she looked in the mirror she immediately shook her head and said "Nope. Take it off. Take it off now."
The assistants complied and eloped her ino the green one.
The green dress was short and had a low v neckline. The bottom of the dress was scalloped and it had short sleeves. It seemed more like a summer dress, not a ball gown. The only thing that seemed sophisticated was the face that they had set a tiny silver tiara onto her head. Sarah shook her head and said "I don't like this one either."
The assistants told her "Well, we have to go show the head designer. we didn't make you go see her in the yellow dress because you obviously seemed uncomfortable in it."
Sarah nodded her head and said "That's fine. I really hated that yellow dress tho."
They led her out of the room to see the head designer who was waiting for them. When she saw Sarah in the dress, her immediate thoughts were "She looks uncomfortable." Instead she said to Sarah, "Looks good, what do you think Sarah?"
Saah shook her head and said "I don't like it. It seems more like a summer or party dress then a ball gown. It makes me uncomfortable because of how low the neck line is and how short the skirt is." The designer stood there and said "I agree that this is not suited as a ball gown. So if you did not like it, then why did you pick it?"
Sarah turned a bit sheepish and said "I kinda just picked 2 random dresses…"
"Of course you did. Would you mind if I chose a dress for you?"
"Sure, why not. I-"
DING…
He doorbell went off in the front of the shop and Sarah turned around to see who it was and saw Max and his mom staring at her. Sarah was suddenly very aware about how short the dress was and how much this neckline was showing of her cleavage, her face reddened.
"Sarah…" Said Max's mom. "You look freaking amazing!" She said with a squeal. "Is this the one you chose? You look lovely in it!"
"Uhhh… no, I don't quite like this one, it's a bit short and the neckline is…"
His mom sighed and just said "Well that's too bad. You look stunning!"
"Umm thanks MS. Fredrickson?" Sarah said
"I have the perfect dress for you!" Said the designer, butting into the conversation and saving Sarah from standing in the dress infront of Max and his mom any longer. She pushed Sarah into the changing room and followed in after her with the clothing rack.
"I am surprised you didn't pick that dress." Said the designer "Max obviously liked it."
Sarah's face heated up "Please don't say that. Max and I aren't in a relationship. Were best friends and I am his date to the ball. That's it."
The designer raised her browns and said "So he's not your boyfriend? If you're telling the truth then you must grab his attention with the green dress! Any other girl would have done just about anything if it meant getting the attention of somebody of his status."
"His status? Why would I care about his status? His status has nothing to do with my opinion of him. He's my best friend, I thought he had the same status as me. A common 16 year old, living in a small town with a normal life."
The stylists exchanged glances and the head designer nodded at them and they scurried over to the dress rack and said "You are pure in heart." Said a shorter girl, she looked child-like, she was beautiful, with long golden hair.
"You are worthy" Said another. She was slightly taller than Sarah and had cropped brown, wavy hair.
"You deserve a happy ending. With this dress we promise that a happy ending will come your way." Said the head designer. Sarah was suddenly struck with the realization that they all looked slime. They all had the same slightly heart-shaped heady, beauty and fragile frames. They must be sisters Sarah thought.
The 2 assistants grabbed the dress that Sarah had been looking at in the beginning and held it up to her. They helped her put it on and they braided Sarah's hair into a braid crown. Applied her makeup and put on a tiny silver tiara, the one she had been wearing with the green dress earlier. When Sarah looked in the mirror she smiled. She had never seen herself look so beautiful before.
The dress was absolutely stunning. It was a beautiful purple, satin dress. It went down from her shoulders to her toes ankles. It had a waist below her chest where the dress suddenly expanded, flowing with beauty and grace, she felt like a princess. Unlike the one she wore to play with Lily, this dress was stunning. Sheerfabric ran across her long, slender arms. Draping across her body. She left the changing room with the assistants prompting and saw Max and his mom take an intake of breath when they saw her.
"Oh Sarah…" Said his mom. "This dress… This dress is the most gorgeous thing I have ever seen. It suits you wonderfully!" Turning to the sales lady she said "We'll take it!"
Sarah turned to Max and said, "Well your mom seems to like it. What do you think?"
"This dress is you."
"The dress is me…?"
"Yes, the green dress looked nice on you but you seemed so uncomfortable in it. When you came out wearing this one, you… you looked more confident. This dress was way prettier too. Honestly, I think that the green one was way too short for a ball gown anyways and didn't seem to be like something you would pick." Max explained.
Sarah smiled and looked into the mirror, saying to herself "The dress is me…"