I change into the dress quickly and step out of the room for my mom to see.
“Oh, Grace,” she gasps. “You look beautiful.”
I turn to look at my reflection in the full-length mirror. The skirt on the dress is long and fitted down my hips and thighs. It’s done in gold and pink tone sequins while the top is white with short sleeves. It’s simple but elegant, and totally me.
“I want this one,” I say, fighting a smile. I love the way I look in the dress, but I really can’t wait to see what Bennett thinks of me in it.
“Okay,” she chimes. “Change and we’ll checkout. Then how about we get some lunch? I’m starving.”
“Sounds good. Do you mind if I invite Willow?” I ask, referring to my friend and brother’s girlfriend. “I haven’t had a chance to see her since I’ve been back.”
“Yeah, of course. That’ll be fun.”
I lock myself in the dressing room and change back into my navy skirt and white top and coat. My mom’s waiting for me outside the changing room and she takes the dress from me so she can go checkout. While she does that, I send a text to Willow and browse the shoes and jewelry.
My phone vibrates in my hand with a text from Willow saying she’ll meet us there.
My mom finds me, bag in her hand, and we head out to the car and to the restaurant.
We beat Willow there so we sit in the car to wait for her. She pulls up ten minutes later in her SUV and runs over to the car. I get out and she shrieks in excitement before squeezing me tight. Willow and I went through a rough patch a few months ago, nothing serious but our friendship needed some TLC, and now we’re back on track.
“I’ve missed you.” She smiles widely at me. Willow has the kind of smile that takes over her whole face, and it’s infectious so I find myself smiling in response. Her blond hair is a wild mess of curls, like she forgot to brush it this morning, and her cheeks are flushed with happiness. Willow’s one of those people who’s almost always happy. The minute she’s not smiling or bouncing off the wall, you know something is seriously wrong.
“I’ve missed you too.” I let her go and we just stare at each other for a moment, taking in the small changes that have happened while we were apart. I notice her hair’s gotten a little darker and she’s cut it shorter so it now brushes her shoulders.
“How’s college treating you?” sh
e asks as we walk up the steps into the restaurant.
“Good,” I answer. “I took way too many classes.” I laugh. “But I like it.”
She makes a face. “That makes one of us.”
Willow should’ve been in her second year at NYU but over the summer she decided college wasn’t for her. At, least not right now. Maybe one day she’ll go back, or maybe not, and that’s okay. I know Willow enough to know she’s not going to sit on her ass and do nothing with her life.
“What have you been up to?” I ask her.
“Working on my blog,” she answers. “I’ve been talking to Liam a lot and he’s teaching me the basics of photography,” she says, referring to her cousin who lives all the way on the coast of California. I haven’t seen him in a few years but he’s a professional surfer now.
“That’s cool.” I bump my shoulder with hers playfully as we follow my mom inside the restaurant. Someone immediately appears to take us to our seats.
“I haven’t been here since your graduation dinner,” Willow tells me, looking around with a wistful smile.
“Me either. Is Liam coming home for Christmas this year?” I ask her as we take our seats. I pick up the menu from the table and look it over.
“I think so,” she says. “Mathias and Remy said they’d skin him alive if he didn’t.” She laughs.
“He has a girlfriend now, right?” I ask, trying to remember things she’s told me over the last few months.
“Yeah. She’s nice, but …”
“But what?” I ask.
“I don’t know.” She shrugs. “She dragged him into a whole heap of trouble. It wasn’t pretty.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, confused.
“What rock do you live under?” she asks. “It was all over the news.”