“Thanks for coming to my game today. That really meant a lot to me.”
“Your Coach said it was something that I needed to see for myself. I think you’re going to have a great time at Wake Forest,” she said, as she put her hands on my shoulders, pushed me away slightly so that she could look me in the eyes, and then pulled back in for a tighter hug.
“Really?” I said, enveloped in her arms.
“Really. You’ve earned it, and I’m proud of you,” she said. “I’m sorry that I haven’t supported your passion. Sports aren’t something that I can relate to, but it doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t have tried harder to relate to you. I love you, Allie.” And then she let me go and told me to go get ready for the dance.
Even though I heard her words and I appreciated them, I was still hurt by the secret that she had kept from me for my entire life, and it would take time for me to overcome the betrayal that sat deeply within me. Regardless, tonight I would push it aside and have fun with my friends.
At 6:00 exactly, the doorbell rang, and Isabelle came barreling through the door carrying a dress in a clear dry cleaning bag over her shoulder. She sounded like a windstorm as she blew past me.
“Where should we get ready?” she asked.
“Upstairs in my room,” I said, as I led the way up the stairs and shut the door behind me.
“Your room is so adorable!” she said, as she laid her dress on the bed and stood in front of my full-length mirror, admiring herself. “Show me your dress!” Then she spun around and noticed it hanging from the top of my closet door. “Allie! Oh my God! Wait until Chris sees you in that!” she exclaimed. “Can we turn on some music? What do you have?” She kept talking until she finally took a breath, and I was able to answer her.
“A little bit of everything. The CD Book is beside the stereo. Look through it and pick whatever you want,” I said, pointing to the black leather CD book on the white wicker console across from my bed.
“Whoa, you have a lot of Dave Matthews Band, Allie,” she said with wide eyes. Let’s skip that, it’s too sad. How about some No Doubt Tragic Kingdom?” she said, as she pulled it from the plastic sleeve, popped it into the stereo, and Spiderwebs came blasting through the speakers. Isabelle started dancing crazily around the room, singing along to Gwen Stefani.
“Okay, come on, let’s do hair and makeup first,” she said.
“Sounds good,” I replied, as I led the way to the bathroom. When we walked in, Amy and Brooke were in there curling their hair. They were going to have to put up with it.
“Hi,” Isabelle said, trying to be nice.
“Hey,” they replied, trying to be civil, but both of them seemed less than thrilled that we were sharing their space.
We did our best to ignore them, having our own conversation as we applied our makeup and fixed our hair, and then headed back to my room to finish getting ready. Isabelle put her hair into an elaborate updo, and I decided to wear mine down, knowing that Chris loved my unkept wild waves.
“I’m going to apply some lotion. Do you want some, too?” I asked.
“Ooo, yeah! What scents do you have?” Isabelle asked as she made her way to my dresser.
“Well, I raided Bath and Body Works when they were having their sale last week, so I got Sweet Pea, Peony, and Cucumber Melon. Which one do you want to use?”
“I’ll do Peony. Which one are you going to do?” she asked, as she reached for the bottle and popped open the lid.
“I’ll do Peony too, so we aren’t clashing scents in the limo.”
“That’s genius.”
“Okay, it’s dress time. I’ll zip you up if you zip me,” Isabelle said as she reached for her dress on the bed. But first, I have to put on this awful strapless bra. Can you clip the back for me? I can never get it tight enough,” she said, holding it out to me like it was a dead fish.
“Sure. Turn around.”
Isabelle took her shirt off and held her hands over her breasts, then turned around as I snapped the clasps for her.
“You know I’ve seen those a million times in the locker room, Is.” I laughed at her sudden modesty.
“I know,” she replied, but kept her hands covering herself. Then I clipped her bra, walked across the room to my closet, and reached deep into the corner to pull out the pink and white Victoria’s Secret bag, and Isabelle’s eyes lit up.
“Yes, girl! Get some! I love that you’re wearing that sexy lingerie tonight. Wait until Chris sees it! Wait. Are you going to let Chris see it?” she asked eagerly.
“I don’t know. Maybe,” I said, with a sultry look on my face. “Turn around,” I instructed so that I could put it on, and she did as I asked.
I put on the bra and panties, told her I was done, and when she turned back around, her jaw dropped.
