Serenah stared at the pile of dresses. They ranged from short to long and flowing. A myriad of colors and patterns dazzled her eyes. Back home, she was not given choices on what to wear for social functions. Her father always sent Lady Lilian to her to dress her. She hated it. Many times the dresses were unflattering or plain compared to Amanah's.
A thrill of anticipation filled her. Even though she didn't choose the clothes, her faith in Liz and Penelope was absolute. The two girls were great friends and would not try to harm her. With a grunt, she picked up the first dress in the pile. She held it up and admired the cut. It was a mid-length midnight blue spaghetti-strap dress.
She took off her shirt and pants and slid the dress over her head. It fit just right. Not too tight or too loose. It was pretty and she liked the cut. When Lilian dressed her it was always in pastels that clashed with her skin tone and made her look awful. She preferred darker colors, a fact Lilian ignored. Oh well, that was in the past. She needed to pay attention to the present.
"Sera, what's taking so long? Come on out," hollered Liz.
Serenah squared her shoulders and stepped out of the dressing room. She wasn't prepared for the happy gasps from her friends or the surprised look on Alaster's face. She squirmed under her friends' gazes as they critically eyed her.
"Beautiful. Dark colors really do you justice," said Penelope with a grin.
"I agree. Before we pick a dress, you have to try them all on."
"Yes, Ma'am," Serenah joked and gave Liz a mock salute before returning to the dressing room.
She grabbed the next dress. It was a lovely shade of yellow with a fishtail cut for the shimmering fabric that fell from the waist to her ankles. She wasn't sure she liked it. It was…bright. It wasn't something she would choose for herself either. It also had spaghetti straps like the first dress. She took a breath and stepped out.
Liz and Penelope looked her over and frowned.
"It doesn't look bad," hedged Liz.
"I don't like it," Penelope bluntly announced. "Next."
Serenah stifled a laugh at Liz's withering glance in Penelope's direction.
"What?" groused Penelope. "It's too bright. I don't like it on her."
"There are nicer ways to say stuff, young padawan," countered Liz.
Laughing at her friends' antics, Serenah returned for the next dress. She tried on three more dresses: a pink puffy one, a red sequined one, and then a pastel green one that they all, including Alaster, agreed were ugly.
So far, only one of the five was in the revisit pile. She had seven to go. She studied the pile and grabbed two more pastel-colored dresses to try on next. She disliked both and hoped that Liz and Penelope would agree. She put on the yellow one and walked out. She saw the dissatisfaction in her friends' eyes.
"Guess that's a no," she said with a laugh before changing to the next one.
Liz and Penelope had the same reaction to the second pastel.
"If there are any more pastels throw them in the no pile," ordered Penelope.
"Will do." Serenah hurriedly got out of the dress, pulling one last pastel dress out of the pile and hanging it on the reject rack with the others. That left her with four dresses. Two were dark colors, one was white, and one was black.
She put on the white strapless mini-dress and walked out. She froze when Liz whistled. She blushed at Liz's murmured, "not bad."
"I agree." Penelope nodded. "That is a definite keep one."
"Here."
Serenah stared at Alastar's hand. She blinked, smiled, and took the bottle of water. She was a little thirsty. "Thank you, Al."
He grunted and returned to his spot. She drank some and went for the next dress. She rapidly went through the remaining three dresses. She brought out the four to keep choices. After some going back and forth between her friends and with input from Alastar and one of the sales clerks, they finally settled on a dress for homecoming. Her friends convinced her to buy all four dresses while informing her that there was a fall ball, a winter ball, and a prom to consider.
"Sounds like a plan." Serenah was excited to have the clothes.
"Now time to get shoes," Liz sang, taking the lead with a twirl.
Serenah laughed at her friend's antics and happily went to the shoe store. It didn't take as long to find shoes for each outfit. After that, Penelope took the group to a cosmetic store. After consulting with the specialist, they picked out makeup palettes for each dress, discussed hairstyles, and set up appointments for the day before for manicures and pedicures.
Her head was whirling from all the preparations, but Serenah didn't mind. She was having a blast. She wouldn't trade this day for anything. Finally, her friends declared the shopping trip a success. They laughed, sang along to Liz's playlist, and chatted about the amazing day they had.
Serenah noticed that Alaster hadn't spoken since they left the mall, and she worried about his thoughts. What was he going to tell her father? Would he leave out important details about her purchases or would he spill all to her father? Her happiness started to dim. Worry gnawed her gut. She tried to fake being happy, not wanting to alert her friends to her shift in thoughts. It would be a disservice to them for her to be depressed after such an amazing day.
Once they got to Liz's house, she thanked them for the fun day and promised not to tell Romeo about her dress no matter what.
"It's a surprise. Let him imagine what it could be. That way his mind will be blown when he actually sees it."
"Yes, Mother Liz," she joked with a grin.
"You know I'm right," Liz chided with a smirk. "Have a good evening, kids."
Alastar bowed, carried Serenah's bags to the car, and put the bags in. Serenah hugged her friends and got in the car. She smiled all the way home. She would never forget this day. Never. She would worry about her father's reaction later. No need to spoil this perfect day.