That Last Little Spark

"So Jess..." Chloe said from a dressing room across from mine. I was staring at the dress I held, still dressed in my street clothes. The dress looked almost too pretty to wear. Not only that, but it was making me uncomfortable, trying on a wedding dress.

"What, Chloe?" I sighed and looked at the dress once more before shrugging out of my jacket.

"Are you inviting Bam to the wedding?" she asked.

"Um...I kind of think that's up to Erica who I can invite." I raised my eyebrows even though she couldn't see me.

"Oh please. You can tell she wants you to invite him!" Kelsey replied from the dressing room next to mine.

"I don't even know if he's planned anything!" I exclaimed.

"You know he would drop anything for you." she giggled back.

"Yeah, you know...a night of dancing...get him drunk...get a room for the night..." I could almost hear Ashleigh smirking.

"Is that all you girls think about is sex?" I laughed until my stomach hurt.

"Oh come on! You know you've thought about it!" Chloe burst out. The four of us laughed together.

"How's it coming?" Erica's voice asked from outside.

"This train is pissing me off!" Kelsey huffed.

"Which one are you trying on?" Ashleigh asked.

"One of the really poofy ones!" she groaned.

"Which one?" I asked.

"The one with the crisscross of satin at the waist." she said after a few moments.

"Ashleigh? What about you?" Chloe asked.

"The other poofy one. With the corset-looking top." Ashleigh sighed.

"Chloe?" Erica asked.

"The one that's like, straight all the way to the floor." Chloe replied.

"Jess?" Erica called to me.

"The one that's straight to my thighs and then poofs out a little bit into all that lace. I'm about to try it on." I called.

"Damn, what's taking you so long?" Kelsey asked.

"I don't know...it's just...surreal...I guess. Trying on wedding dresses." I shrugged again, sliding the dress up over my hips.

"Just wait a few more months." Chloe snickered.

"Jess! You should totally take a picture of the dress you're in and send it to Bam!" Erica burst out. I finally popped the last button into place and slid the curtain aside. I noticed that I was the last one

"HOT. DAMN." Kelsey wolf whistled.

"Wait! Fix your makeup!" Ashleigh hurried, as fast as she could, into my dressing room and grabbed her bag, pulling out a dark red lipstick and mascara. Kelsey pulled the clip out of my hair so that it tumbled onto my shoulders in smooth waves.

"Fix the train." Erica commanded, grabbing my phone. Chloe moved it so it flowed behind me.

"Pose." Erica told me.

"How?" I asked.

"Here!" a woman shoved a silk bouquet of blood red roses into my hands.

"Look down at the roses a little bit...there!" I heard the click of the camera on my phone.

"Happy? Sheesh, I felt like a bride for a moment there." I rolled my eyes.

"I love that dress." Ashleigh looked at me. I turned around to look in the floor length mirror and my breath caught in my throat.

"Oh..." was the only word that could break free from my lips. My lips and the roses stood out against the brilliant white of the dress, contrasting with my black hair. Even my pale skin worked with the gown. I didn't feel as awkward as I usually did in a dress. I felt like a model.

"If Bam doesn't marry you within the next year, I'm going to kill him." Kelsey whispered, her eyes glistening.

"I think we found a winner." Erica put her hands on my shoulders.

"But I'm not the one getting married!" I spun around, the layers of lace flaring up when I did so.

"For me, Jess. I think you found my dream dress." she smiled.

"It's gorgeous." Ashleigh wiped her eyes.

"Oh come on, do we have to get all teary now?" Erica asked, sniffling.

"Well, get me out of this thing so we can go try on our dresses!" I turned around so someone could undo the row of buttons.

"I don't know, Jess. I think you look better in that." Chloe teased, helping with the buttons I couldn't reach. I reached around and held the dress closed before I took my phone from Erica. Staring down at it, I walked back into the dressing room and slid the curtain back.

There it was on my phone...me in a fabulous wedding dress, my cheeks flushed and a shy smile on my face as I looked down at the roses in my hands.

Taking a deep breath, I put it in a message to Bam's cell phone. Then I looked back up in the mirror that I had failed to notice the first time I was in here. I smiled to myself, admiring the dress that Erica would walk down the aisle in.

Then I smirked down at the message box. Instead of typing something like 'Erica's wedding dress!' or 'Don't worry, the dress isn't for me!' I sent 'Isn't it gorgeous?' and I laughed to myself as I imagined his face when he opened it.