The Quest for a Dress

 

    Lost in a world of numbers and equations, tuning out everything around that wasn’t her math textbook, Rowan almost didn’t hear the voice talking to her. 

    “Hey Rowan, are you going to homecoming?” Min-Ji asked, turned around in her chair to face Rowan. 
Rowan shook her head, looking up from her textbook momentarily. “No. I’m too busy with homework. And besides, I don’t have a dress.” 

    Min-Ji exchanged glances with Troy, who was standing beside her desk. The two best friends knew that Rowan always seemed to be studying. That’s why it was their secret goal to befriend Rowan and convince her not to put so much pressure on herself academically. Getting her to go to homecoming was just one step in their plan. 

    “Come on, Rowan.” Min-Ji pleaded. “Homecoming is tomorrow night. It’s not like the teachers are going to assign us that much homework the day before.” 

    Rowan considered it for a moment. “I still don’t have a dress.” 

    “How about you go to the mall with Troy and I after school and you can look for a dress there?” 

    “Hmm… I don’t really have an excuse not to go. If you guys don’t mind me tagging along at the mall, that is.” 

    “Of course we don’t mind. We’ll see you after school, then.” 

    At exactly 3 o’clock, the three friends walked to Piney Grove’s indoor mall. If there was one thing that Piney Grove was known for, it was its stores. Troy and Min-Ji practically pushed Rowan into one of the boutiques. 

    “If you’re going to find a dress last minute, you’re going to find it here,” Min-Ji said.

    “You know,” Troy commented, “the flea market has better clothes than this place.” 

    “Oh hush, fashion police,” Min-Ji said to Troy. Rowan was already already looking through a rack of fancy dresses. She occasionally pulled out a dress and looked at it, before returning it to its place on the rack. 
She pulled out a blue dress and stared at it for a moment. “I just don’t know what kind of dress I want.”

“That’s okay. I’m sure you’ll find one,” Min-Ji said encouragingly. 

“Maybe you’ll find one you like if you try some on,” Troy suggested. 

Rowan nodded. “You’re probably on to something. That’s a great idea.” 

So, Rowan took a pile of dresses into the dressing room to try on. 

First, she tried on a short dress covered in gold sequins. 

She tried on a blue satin dress,

a pink gingham dress,

a pink dress with an asymmetrical sleeve,

a black dress with a splatter-paint design,

a dress with gold lace,

a dress made of green velvet,

…but none of the dresses were what Rowan had in mind. 

“Shoot,” Troy said, looking at the time on his phone, “I should probably get home.”

“Yeah, me too,” Min-Ji agreed. 

Rowan nodded. “You guys go ahead. I’m going to keep looking for a dress.”

Min-Ji and Troy wished Rowan good luck in finding a dress and left. Once Rowan was alone, she wasn’t sure what to do. She had looked through every dress in the store, and still hadn’t found one she liked. That’s when she remembered something Troy had said. Ignited with a new sense of determination, Rowan left the boutique and began to walk to the nearest flea market. 

As soon as Rowan pushed open the doors to Retro Haven, she saw it…

*** 

The atmosphere was electric with the energy of a few dozen teenagers screaming along to “Party in the USA” in the dimly-lit gym. The homecoming dance was in full fling, there was no sighting of Rowan yet. Min-Ji and Troy were starting to assume that Rowan wasn’t coming. 

Just then, someone entered the gym. Rowan had made it to the dance after all.

__________________________________________________________

    Someone tell me why this photostory took me three weeks to write. I have honestly been so busy lately, which is great for me, but not great for actually getting blog stuff done. Truthfully, my weekends have lately been dedicated to hanging out with friends and doing other activities, which I've really enjoyed. But of course, I love blogging as well. I'm glad to be back!

    Saturday was my school's homecoming dance. (It's super late in the year, I know. My school doesn't have a football team, so our homecoming aligns with the basketball season.) I'll be honest that I've never been to a school dance before, so it was a first for me. It was totally worth going to hang out with my friends, even if I had to change into the extra pair of flats I brought after attempting the cha-cha slide in high heels. (The highlight of my night was when my friend dance battled the art teacher. It makes it 100 times better when you actually know this kid. It was so on-brand for him and lives forever in my memory and on video.)

    I knew as soon as the date for my school's homecoming was announced that I wanted to do a photostory about my dolls' homecoming. I wasn't sure exactly how I was going to do it at first, but after the struggle I went through to find my dress, it was safe to say I had enough inspiration. I kind of hate the way I wrote this story, but I think the fact that I wrote it and published it anyway still makes it a minor accomplishment. After all, writing is one of those things that gets better with practice, and writing something you're not as proud of is inevitable. I almost posted something else (I know what I'm posting next week, I think!), but once I was in my school's dimly-lit and decorated gym (yes, Party in the USA did in fact play), I knew I wanted to finish this.

    So I hope you guys enjoyed! Have an amazing week and, as always, remember to eat your veggies! Bye! <3