This Was Not the Plan (gxg)

Chapter 19

The homecoming dance was four hours away and I still hadn't found a dress. Mom, Tori, and I were out scouring every department store for an aqua dress. Tori and I had gotten our nails and hair done earlier that morning.

I broke and decided to talk to mom. She was so over the moon that Nick and I were going and matching that for a moment I swear she forgot how mad she was at me. She made the appointment for my hair and nails before I even finished telling her about the dance. Mom insisted that I get my nails done before getting a dress so they could match perfectly. The hair technician did an amazing job. She gave me large curls and pulled my hair into a half up – half down do. She also dumped a pound of glitter in there for extra measure.

It felt a little over the top, but I liked the idea of getting dressed up. Although the nagging voice in the back of my head told me it wasn't for Nick, but the girl I couldn't get out of my mind.

Mom pulled into the parking lot of the fourth Kohl's we had been to that day.

"Hopefully they have better aqua selections here," she said, looking at me through the rearview mirror.

"If not, we could always get her something from Walmart." Tori teased.

I rolled my eyes as I stepped out of the car, "Remind me again why you brought her?" I asked mom.

"Victoria has a great fashion sense. Plus, I didn't have time to run her home after your hair and nail appointments." mom said casually, not acknowledging my irritation.

I sighed as I followed them into the store. We made our way to the junior formal wear section.

"Were you wanting a floor length or knee length?" mom asked for the thousandth time.

I swear she had short term memory loss sometimes.

"I don't care at this point. Honestly any aqua dress would be great." I said, sifting through a rack of dresses.

"Well in that case I saw some aqua colored trash bags at the last store." Tori smirked.

"Victoria, if you are going to belittle your sister you can wait in the car." Mom scolded.

I smirked at Tori who narrowed her eyes at me. After a few minutes of perusing, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned to see Tori, holding a dress out at me.

"Here. This is the one." She said firmly.

I raised one eyebrow as I cautiously took the dress from her. I prepared to hold up the ugliest dress I had ever witnessed, but – to my surprise – it wasn't half bad. Actually, it was pretty cute for a dress. It was the perfect aqua blue. It was strapless, the top half a lace. It was modest and didn't require a lot of cleavage to fill. The midsection had a silver sash that could be tied into a bow in the back. It was half short, half floor length. A mullet dress if you will. The fabric on the bottom was a flowing chiffon.

"Not bad, I'll go try it on." I said, looking up and down the dress.

"I'll go wrangle mom; she will definitely want to see." Tori said, walking away.

I wandered over to the fitting rooms, entering the first empty one I found. I closed the door behind me and hung the dress on the hook as I started to strip. I looked into the mirror for a moment, examining my body. I never enjoyed looking in the mirror. I often saw a stranger staring back at me.

I shook my head before taking the dress off the hanger and sliding it onto my body. I struggled with the zipper for a moment but eventually got it up. I turned to look in the mirror once more, and I had to admit: I looked good. The sparkles in my hair complimented the sparkles on the dress. My dark brown locks draped effortlessly over my shoulders. I held my breath taking in my appearance. It seemed silly how a dress could change how I looked at myself in the mirror. I knew Nick would love it. I wondered if Kendall would like it too.