So since that little episode with Mrs. (sorry, Ms.) Smith yesterday, I have felt like maybe I should try being a better student and actually try doing my homework a little more; not only because I need to because its my senior year and I want to graduate, but because I actually feel seriously back for her.
Now I am at Alicia's "working" on my homework with her. Yeah, I guess that old habits don't just dissapear overnight.
"So how have you and Elijah been?" Alicia asks, a small smile playing on her mouth.
I look back up at her, heat rising up my cheeks. "What do you mean?"
"You know exactly what I mean." She smirks. "I heard that you asked him to Sadie's, and he pretty much asked you to ask him. I've seen you too together. You like him." A laughing smile spreads on her face.
"Yeah, a little bit." I say shyly.
"Oh come on. I would say that it is more than a little bit."
"Yeah, maybe." I smile.
"So since the theme is 'Roaring 20's,' what are you planning to wear?"
"Um, I don't know. I haven't really thought about it that much." I admit.
"What? The dance is this Saturday and you don't know what you're going to wear?"
"No." I say feeling embarrassed now. Usually I like to plan my outfits out and wear cute clothes, but I guess that I have just been being distracted lately.
"Okay." She announces. "Put down that homework that you haven't even started. We've got some shopping to do."
"Where are we going?"
"Where else can you find any number of clothes for a cheap price if you know how to shop? We're going to the thrift store of course! Come on, grab your purse."
I do as she says, and we are quickly out the door, in my car, and on our way to Saver's.
***
"What about this?" I say, holding up a royal blue dress with ruffles at the bottom.
"We're looking for something that could have been worn in the twenties, not the eighties."
"Well I don't know what to look for." I say exasperated.
"Don't worry, I think that we'll find something here."
"You think?"
"Yes, I think. Its a common thing for people to do. But I'm just saying that hopefully we'll find something here."
Well that's comforting. I sigh and we continue our pursuit for the dress, keeping a few in mind that could work if we can't find any, but still searching. My hand is brushing past several of the dresses when suddenly I feel something of a smooth but slightly bumpy texture. I push the dresses apart, and there pushed to the very back of the rack is a gorgeous white dress. It has what appears to be a sewn in pattern of little flowers, and intricate lines criss-crossing each other. From the hips down the dress strings out to hang down at, what I'm suspecting, the knees. It's a flapper dress, I actually found a flapper dress, and in a thrift store! These are rare, and I found one here!
"Lici, come here! I found it!"
She stops what she's doing and jogs toward me. She looks at the dress that I am looking at, and a giant smile envelopes her whole face. She picks it off the rack and hands it to me.
"What if its too small." I say, suddenly remembering my weight.
"It wont be. Besides, you're tiny anyways. Here, I want you to try it on and see how it looks on you."
We choose a fitting room, and I take off my clothes and slowly take the beautiful dress off the hanger and put it over my head. I think that it feels a little tight, but maybe that's how its supposed to feel. I sigh, open the door, and walk out to see Alicia's expression.
Her mouth is open in a wide 'o', and she is just staring at me with complete shock.
"Well?" I say. "How do I look?"
"You just have to see for yourself." She grabs my arm and drags me to the full length mirror just a few feet ahead. I look.... well all I can say is that I look beautiful. The dress hangs perfectly on me, fitting at my hips and waist in just the right ways, my legs baring themselves from the knee down, to wear the under part of the dress hits.
"Wow."
"I'll say." Alicia say's. She lets out a whistle. "You are not going to only be getting the attention of Eli, but the attention of all the other guys there."
"Well I don't know about that." I say. "But I do have to admit that I look pretty great in this."
***
Even though I got the dress at Saver's, it was still about fifty bucks, but compared to boutiques, it's pretty cheap. I spent most of my babysitting money on it, along with white heels, a white pearl necklace, and long elbow length classy gloves. Lici said that all of these extra things were important to finish the ensemble. My legs look really good in the heels, although they make me about three inches taller, but that shouldn't make too much of a difference because I am only five-five, and Elijah is six-five, a whole foot taller than me, so I feel like I am able to wear these.
"I wish that my out-fit were as good as yours." Lici sighs once we get back to her house, bags in hand. In the end I spent about seventy-five dollars on the outfit. So worth it.
"Lici, we both know that you look amazing in anything, so I bet that YOU are going to be the one who has all of the other girls dates turning their heads to look at you."
She just smiles at me, but doesn't say anything else.
I look down at my math homework that should be done by now. "I should head home so that I can actually get started on my homework."
"Good plan." She laughs.
"I'll see you tomorrow."
"See ya."
I walk out the door and shut it behind me, my bags in one hand, and my keys and homework being juggled in another. I walk to my car, unlock the doors, throw my stuff in the back and get in, beginning my decent home.
***
Thursday morning and I STILL don't have Ms. Smith's homework done. I am just sitting at one of the benches in the commons staring down at the problems. I know that I felt like I needed to be a better student, but bad habits are just too hard to break, especially when you don't understand what the crap you are supposed to do.
"Need help?" A deep voice startles me. I look up and its Jeremie. He sits down next to me and I feel his leg press against mine.
"Oh no, I just like to fail the class just for the heck of it."
He laughs. "Here, let me see." He picks up my math book and notebook and studies the equations. "Okay, see this one that say's solve for x? So what you're going to do is take 2 and minus it by itself, then cross-multiply...." He looks up at me. "Are you getting it?"
"Not a bit."
"Here, just copy off of me."
"But I've already done that to you before, and I don't really like to."
"It's okay." He's fishing in his backpack, head down. "I really don't mind. Plus, it would be terrible if you were to fail second term."
"Well I barely passed last term, so I think that that is an improvement-"
"Just do it." He hands me his homework. "And I would make it quick. We only have about five minutes till the bell rings."
"Okay, okay." I quickly jot down several answers before the bell rings to tell us that it is time to head to class.
"I think that thirteen answers is enough, don't you?" I say,
"If you only want a D, then yes." Jeremie replies as we walk up the stairs. "But if you copy the rest down than you will most likely get an A."
"Yeah, but I don't exactly want Mrs. Smith to get on my case about being smarter than I really am, and hiding my hidden talents, and all that stuff that I DON'T have with math."
"Yeah, I get your point. But it is Ms. Tyler now, just remember."
"Oh yeah, I guess that I'm just so used to saying Mrs. Smith I just don't even think about it anymore."
He looks down at me. "It was nice what you did for her when you just... let her freak out. She seemed happier when she walked back into our class."
"Yeah, she did."
We walk into class and the first thing I see is Ms. Tyler is wearing a pinstripe gray pencil skirt with a red button-down silk shirt on. Her hair is down, hanging past her shoulders slight curls twisting at the bottom. She has some makeup on, her eye makeup subtle yet dramatic, and her cheeks a rosy pink. She has on a little bit of red lipstick giving her a sophisticated look without being boring. She actually looks beautiful.
Everyone is staring at her with a look of amazement. Could this possibly be our math teacher who has always been uptight and annoying? She is almost unrecognizable.
Jeremie and I take our seats, still staring at her.
"Okay class," she begins. "I thought that maybe we could do something a little different today. I am going to put you all in groups-"
Groups, oh great I hate doing group work.
"-and I want you to all come up with a story line, and then when we are done we will put them all together to see if we can make up our own story problem and see if it works. Okay, go."
Well this could be ammusing.
"Oh yeah, I guess that I'm just so used to saying Mrs. Smith I just don't even think about it anymore."
He looks down at me. "It was nice what you did for her when you just... let her freak out. She seemed happier when she walked back into our class."
"Yeah, she did."
We walk into class and the first thing I see is Ms. Tyler is wearing a pinstripe gray pencil skirt with a red button-down silk shirt on. Her hair is down, hanging past her shoulders slight curls twisting at the bottom. She has some makeup on, her eye makeup subtle yet dramatic, and her cheeks a rosy pink. She has on a little bit of red lipstick giving her a sophisticated look without being boring. She actually looks beautiful.
Everyone is staring at her with a look of amazement. Could this possibly be our math teacher who has always been uptight and annoying? She is almost unrecognizable.
Jeremie and I take our seats, still staring at her.
"Okay class," she begins. "I thought that maybe we could do something a little different today. I am going to put you all in groups-"
Groups, oh great I hate doing group work.
"-and I want you to all come up with a story line, and then when we are done we will put them all together to see if we can make up our own story problem and see if it works. Okay, go."
Well this could be ammusing.
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