Windows of the Soul

Thursday night Penny and I went to the mall to find something for me to wear. I didn’t want to wear anything in my closet because I didn’t own too many dresses, and most of them I had already worn. I wanted to surprise Jace. Don’t confuse me for one of those girls who can only wear something once or twice; I wear the same type of shirt each week. No, I wanted to impress Jace and show him something he’s never seen before.

“Do you want to check out Macy’s first?” Penny asked as she parked the car. I looked up at the large store in dread. I was and wasn’t looking forward to this.

“Sure.” I said, climbing out of the car. Penny had snagged a front spot, so we quickly walked into the store and towards the junior section. Penny and I passed several guys are age; they winked. I ignored them, but Penny smiled flirtatiously. I playfully swatted her on the arm and she winked at me. We finally got to the dress section, but nothing was there but formal, silk-type dresses. I wanted a sweet, casual, maybe cotton dress. We left Macy’s and wandered through the mall.

“Do you want to look somewhere?” I asked Penny since we weren’t getting anywhere. Aeropostale and Charlotte Russe didn’t have anything.

“Can we grab a pretzel? I’m kinda hungry,” Penny admitted. We climbed the steps and got an Auntie Ann pretzel. I loved their pretzels; they were perfect.

After pretzels we wandered around a little more and were on our way out when Penny stopped me and pointed at Wet Seal. “We didn’t check them out.” Wet Seal wasn’t really my style, but I consented and went in after her.

Immediately Penny picked out several dresses, but none of them I liked. I wandered over to the clearance section and saw a dress that fit my needs. It was strapped and white, with colorful flowers on the bottom and bust. It had a V-neck, and a tighter, cinched waist. I picked it up and walked back over to Penny.

“What about this?” I asked, holding the dress up. Penny nodded and motioned towards the fitting room. Luckily it was in my size. I put it on and stepped out, and Penny squealed, jumping up and down. I looked in the mirror; the dress fit me perfectly.

“Perfect.” I said. I looked down at the prize tag; it was two bucks! I laughed and danced around with Penny until some of the other customers gave us dirty looks. After changing out of the dress and paying for it, we left the mall. I was so excited for the date tomorrow night.



The next night came, and I was thrilled. Penny had already come over, and I had slipped the dress on. She was looking at me with a bit of eye shadow on her cheek. I laughed and wiped it off. She demanded to do my makeup, though I could’ve easily done it myself. My hair was pinned back from my face but still fell in curls down my back. I was going all-natural, with a little bit of eye shadow, mascara, and lip gloss.

“There,” Penny said, capping the eye shadow. I turned in my seat and looked at myself. I looked really pretty. Hopefully Jace would think the same thing.

“Thanks, Coin.” I said, standing up and hugging her. She grasped me firmly and let me go, looking at me. “Have fun tonight,” she said.

“I will!” I grabbed my clutch, slipped on my blue pumps, and flew down the steps. He wasn’t here yet, but I was ready ten minutes early. I looked around, and Tessa came rushing around the corner. Her blond hair was piled on top of her head, and she had makeup coating her face.

“Tess, come back here!” My mom called from her bedroom. She came out after Tessa, with a blush brush in her hand. “She wanted to try on some makeup,” my mom said in explanation. She didn’t have a job tonight. Saturday night, though, a wedding was taking place with over two-hundred guests, so she would be very busy and gone late. She was giving me tonight off from watching Tessa.

“Ali, you look so pretty!” Tessa gushed. Her eyes popped from her head with the eye shadow that was coated onto her eyelids.

“Thanks, Tess.” I said, scooping her into a hug. I made sure her face didn’t touch my dress.

Suddenly the doorbell rang. My mom smiled at me, Penny gave my hand a squeeze. I felt a hot blush creep onto my cheeks. With a hesitant breath, I opened the door.