Windows of the Soul

The next morning I walked through the halls, a swing in my step. I was still ecstatic from my date with Jace, and it didn’t even matter to me that I didn’t finish my math homework.

This coming weekend was Homecoming, and the next Thanksgiving break, what I’ve been yearning for. I’m not the kind of girl to fantasize about Homecoming, or my “Prince Charming”, though I think I may of found him. Talk sped through the hallway, and I heard everything from “What are you wearing?” to “He didn’t ask me yet!”

I smiled a little to myself. Jace hadn’t asked me, but I wasn’t upset about it. I wasn’t too keen on going, though I wouldn’t mind going.

I met Penny at her locker. She was hastily cramming books into her backpack, and her face had a red tinge to it.

“Are you okay?” I asked her. She looked up, as if startled that I was there. Then her face broke into a huge grin and she dropped her bag, pulling me into a hug.

“Guess who just asked me to Homecoming?!” She screamed. A couple of kids looked at her, but that was the cool thing about Penny: she was so outgoing that it wasn’t weird for her to be dancing through the hallways.

“Who?” I asked, though I had already guessed. Penny had pining after Ryan Adams, a senior on the football team with Drew. I didn’t really know Ryan, so I wasn’t sure how well this would work out for Penny.

“Ryan Adams!” She exclaimed like I knew she would. We jumped around her locker together until we both erupted into a fit of giggles when a teacher walked by and frowned at us. Penny scooped up her bag and slammed her locker, and we fell into step together. “I’m actually kind-of nervous,” Penny admitted. To any other person, this would seem like an obvious feeling. With Penny as the context, though, it was a show-stopper.

Penny was never nervous about a date; she always acted like her normal, outgoing, witty self. This must be serious, I thought. “You, nervous?” I asked. Penny smiled, giggly, but said nothing.

“Can you come with me to help me find a dress?” Penny asked. I nodded, though a twinge of jealousy wiggled it’s way into my interior. Why hadn’t Jace asked me yet?

“Of course!”

“Has Jace asked you yet?” It was like Penny read my mind. I shook my head and looked away. “I’m sure he will,” Penny said reassuringly. I nodded but wondered.



Jace hadn’t asked me to Homecoming all day, even when we walked to class together, held hands, or kissed. I understood that he was new and all, and that he may not know about Homecoming. Not wanting to be the desperate girlfriend, but deciding to try anyway, I hinted at it when we were on our way to lunch. A student-made poster hung on the wall. It had a picture of a phone with the text reading, H-C?. I acted really interested in the poster while we pasted, and Jace glanced at it, but said nothing. I sighed. We probably wouldn’t be going anyway.



“No.” I said, shaking my head. The dress was too puffy, and it made Penny look like a muffin top. She debated, looking at her reflection in the mirror, then agreed and took it off. I went back out into the boutique while she changed and grabbed a few more dresses. The sales-attendant looked at me like I was an annoying mosquito that just bit her arm. I ignored her and decided to leave a couple of dresses in the dressing room for her to pick up.

When I came back in with three more dresses in my arm, I surveyed the damage. Dresses were strewn everywhere, of all different colors and shapes. I flung the dresses over the side and said, “Try those on. Though I still like the yellow one.”

“I don’t like how that one felt,” Penny said. I scooped up a couple of the dresses and put them on hangers, categorizing them by “maybes” and “no’s.” I took the no pile back out to the store and hung them back up. When I came in Penny was wearing a pearl-pink dress that had a sweetheart neckline and a knee-length that complemented her long legs.

“That’s not bad,” I said. Penny shrugged. She turned this way and that, studying her reflection.

“Eh,” She said. She tossed it to the side and contemplated the three I bought her. I pulled out a baby-blue one, and said, “Try this one on. It’ll be the keeper.” Penny looked at me strangely, as if reluctant, but put it on.

She emerged and I gasped. It fit her snuggly, but not tightly like I expected Bel’s dress to be. It was an empire-waist, floor-length dress with a leg slit all the way up to the thigh. It was strapless with a sweetheart neckline. Penny’s hair was free from it’s bun, and it flowed down over her shoulders and made her look like a goddess. She looked in the mirror and gasped herself. I smiled as she turned and said, “You were right!”

“Of course I was!” I feigned shock, as if it was the most surprising thing for me to not me right.

“Thank you!” Penny exclaimed, hugging me and dancing around in the gorgeous dress. After a couple more minutes of staring at herself in the mirror, she reluctantly pulled it off and paid for it at the front. I left the “maybe” dresses in the dressing room.

Now if I would get the chance to find one myself.