Elodie and Heloise (18 page)

"That one would be nice if it weren't for the bare back," she said to herself, holding up a sleeveless, thick-strapped robin's egg blue dress with a scooped neckline. The back straps stopped in the lower back, far too low for Heloise's liking.

Rack after rack led to disappointment. Finally, she saw it.

Hidden at the back of one of the racks was a one-shouldered ocean blue chiffon dress that had Heloise's name all over it. The only decorations on it were a sheer flounce going from the bottom of the bodice to the skirt and a decorative silver buckle at the shoulder. Simple and beautiful.

It was even the right size too.

She could hardly contain her excitement. She pulled the dress off the rack and folded it over her arms and continued looking through the dresses for others she might like. I'll look for at least two more dresses before I go hit the fitting rooms. 

Fifteen minutes later, she had three dresses on her arms: a charmeuse light pink number with cap sleeves and skirt gathered at the side tied with a matching pink bow, and a soft purple ensemble with an empire waist, fitted bodice, and shirred overlay with straps that crossed high in the back, and the one-shouldered dress that was her first choice. She rushed to the dressing rooms as fast as she could, since she could see that there would be quite a wait ahead of her.

While she waited, she heard a piercing giggle from off to her left. Could that be Elodie? Heloise turned around to see where the noise was coming from, and sure enough, there was her twin sister approaching the dress department at the head of a large group of girls. Elodie and her friends were joking about something that Heloise could not hear and did not seem to notice Heloise standing in line for the fitting rooms. Heloise quickly turned back to face the backs of the girls standing in front of her, pretending to not notice her sister.

Finally it was Heloise's turn for the fitting rooms. She walked into the stall and placed her dresses on the hooks to her left. The first dress she tried on was the pink charmeuse. Unfortunately, it looked better on the hanger than it did on her body. Quite a shame since she really liked that one. As for the purple dress, it looked ok but felt way too tight in the bodice. That dress was the only one she found, so no doubt the other sizes just weren't available.

Better hope this one works. Heloise took the one-shouldered dress off the hanger and unzipped the side zipper and slipped it over her head. She reveled in the sleek fabric against her skin as she adjusted it over her chest. Throughout the fitting process, she had turned away from the mirror while putting on her dress and only turned around to look at herself in the mirror when the dress was completely on and zipped up. She pulled up the zipper, made sure the shoulder sat as it should, and turned around to face the mirror.

Seeing herself in such a simple but fancy dress made Heloise gasp. The dress was absolutely perfect, from the way it fit her like a glove to the way the dress showed off her shoulders. She'd never thought of herself as pretty or even beautiful, but looking at her reflection in the mirror made Heloise realize just how pretty she really was. No, beautiful. 

Heloise reluctantly removed the dress and put it back on the hanger to buy. She inspected the price tag and was delighted to see that it was only $75 and on sale for half off. Papa had let her borrow his credit card for the trip and told her to buy whatever she wanted, but she didn't want to spend too much of someone else's money. After putting her street clothes back on, she took the blue dress and left the dressing room and headed toward the cashier. As she walked to the register, she heard her sister's voice from behind her calling out her name.

She froze and couldn't decide whether to keep walking or acknowledge her sister's existence. Heloise turned around and saw her sister standing in line with at least five dresses on her left arm, none of her friends in sight.

"Looks like we're both here for the same reasons."

"So it would seem."

Elodie peered over at the one-shouldered dress hanging over Heloise's arm. "That's a really pretty dress. Kyle will really like that one."

"Thanks. Why are you being so nice to me anyway?"

"People can change, you know."

Heloise scoffed. "You don't have to tell me that. Look what happened to you when you hit puberty."

"Are you finished? I'm just being friendly but I guess I can't even do that, can I?"

"Not with the history we have."

With that, Heloise turned on her heels and slipped away toward the registers without even bothering to see her sister's reaction. 

In the twenty-four hours that followed Thursday, the day before the prom, to Friday, it was like the entire high school had been turned upside down. Even though they weren’t allowed to do it, it was a tradition at Shady Valley High School for most seniors to skip school that Friday so they could get ready for the prom that night: girls spending most of the day at the hair salon while guys shopped for last minute tuxedos and corsages for their dates.

As soon as school let out for the day, Elodie and her friends headed down to the hair salon to get their hair done. Quentin was coming to pick her up at the house at 5:30, so with school letting out at 2:15, there was more than enough time for her to get ready. After getting her hair done, Elodie planned on going back home to put on her makeup and dress before Quentin’s arrival.

While her friends giggled about their dates and plans for after the prom, Elodie sat in her hairdresser’s chair in silence, contemplating how this evening was going to go. This was the moment she’d been waiting four long years for. She’d dreamt about the day she would get to attend the prom. However, she was anything but happy.

What really brought her mood down was thinking about Duncan. It seemed these days that he was everywhere she’d look and his face never left her thoughts. She hadn’t seen him since their disastrous date, though she desperately wanted to call him and at least hear his voice. She wanted to show him that she could change, but he sounded so definite that night that she wasn’t sure he would even listen. She remembered him being very stubborn at times as a child, and she was sure that hadn’t changed much since then.  Every afternoon for the last few weeks she would purposely stop in the park on her way home from school in hopes that she would catch a glimpse of him walking Sprocket. But she never did and she would walk home with her head hung in disappointment.

He was the one she wanted to be with, not Quentin. Deep down, she knew that she really didn’t want to go to the prom with Quentin. He had never liked her for who she really was. And he didn’t treat her with the kindness that Duncan did. She couldn’t be as open with Quentin as she could be with Duncan, and more than ever, Elodie just wanted the freedom to be herself.

The afternoon passed in a blur. Elodie felt like she was on auto-pilot for most of it. The same gossip and jokes with her friends as they all sat together in the hairdresser’s chairs, the same conversations about fashion and friends, the same light giggles placed just so. By the time Elodie came back home to put on her dress and makeup, she was already exhausted and it wasn’t even four-thirty yet.

At least she had bought herself a beautiful dress. Elodie had placed it in the back of her closet when she bought it that day at Dillard’s and had been eager to wear it ever since. As she opened her closet, Elodie held out the dress and examined it. The dress was a stunning sheath and column draped neck sleeveless georgette floral dress with a creamy background that became more pink as it reached the skirt hem. It was a simply amazing print and style that Elodie just had to have, despite the over one hundred dollar price tag.

Even if I dislike going to the prom with Quentin, at least I get a nice dress out of it. She removed the dress from its zippered bag and put it on, watching herself in the mirror as she adjusted it over herself. With her curly updo, she was absolutely gorgeous.

As Elodie walked out of her bedroom toward the bathroom, she saw her sister coming through the door with her hair all done up too. Where Elodie had chosen a free-falling style with some strands of hair curled around her face,  Heloise had her hair done in a simple side chignon style that framed her face well. Elodie was impressed with how beautiful her sister looked.

Both sisters locked eyes for a moment, at which point Elodie muttered something to her about how pretty she looked. In response, Heloise turned away and made a beeline for their bedroom without saying a word. Elodie tried not to think anything of it, and instead went for the bathroom to put on her makeup.

Right on the dot at 5:30, the doorbell rang. Elodie had been finished with her preparations for at least fifteen minutes, her face glowing with freshly applied rouge, her eyes accentuated with the usual eyeliner, mascara and eyeshadow and her lips a rosy pink to match the floral patterns of her dress. She knew that she looked absolutely gorgeous, even if she felt anything but on the inside.

“Just get through this evening,” was all she kept saying and thinking to herself.

“Elodie, it’s Quentin!” Shannon called.

Elodie stepped out of the bedroom and walked out into the house, her heart fluttering in nervousness and her high-heeled pink shoes clanking on the hardwood floor. There he stood in the front entryway, looking like something out of Saturday Night Fever with his dark hair slicked back and his white tuxedo. Even if she didn’t feel anything for him anymore, Elodie had to admit that he looked very handsome and cleaned up very well.

“Wow,” was all he managed to say as he looked her up and down.

“Oh you look so beautiful!” Shannon gushed. “Oh it feels like only yesterday I went to my prom. That was before I met your Papa, of course. Oh, wait a moment while I go get the camera.”

As Shannon rushed into the study room to grab the camera, Elodie looked over at Quentin with his hands in his pockets. “You look amazing, Elodie. Really, you do.”

“Thanks.” 

“Hey, um, I do have something for you.” He fumbled around in his pants pockets and drew out a small box with a single pink rose in it. “You told me you’d be wearing pink, so I got you this.” He held it out for Elodie to examine.

“Thanks, it’s really pretty.”

“Here I’ll put it on for you.”

Just as Quentin pinned the flower on Elodie’s dress, her mother came out with the camera. Suddenly the doorbell rang again and Shannon set the camera down on the nearby dining room table. Meanwhile, Elodie and Quentin stood in awkward silence, Elodie unsure of what exactly to say. A million thoughts all came at once, some of them happy, but most of them not. 

It was Kyle at the door. He stepped into the house looking just as distinguished and handsome as Quentin, his hair glistening with hair gel and his black tuxedo neatly pressed. As he walked in, Heloise strode out of the bathroom, having only applied a little bit of makeup in her usual manner. Elodie never thought she had to use much makeup to look beautiful.

Elodie watched her sister and Kyle embrace as he told her how lovely she looked and that he was lucky to be taking such a beauty to the prom. She laughed in a way that Elodie hadn’t heard from her sister before and they fell into each other’s arms with kisses and hugs. It was a sweet sight to see, a contrast to the awkwardness that Elodie felt standing next to her date.

Shannon grabbed the camera and told them all to pose for pictures before they left. As she turned on the camera, Heloise asked, “Mom, would you mind just taking a picture of only Kyle and I? I don’t really want to do one with all four of us. If you don’t mind.”

“If you’re sure. I’ll get you two first then.”

At that moment, Francis came walking out of his bedroom. He went to stand next to his wife and gazed out at his girls. He looked very proud to see them all standing there looking so happy, and Elodie thought she saw a lump forming in his throat.

Elodie stood off to the side with Quentin so that her mom could get her sister and Kyle’s pictures first. She wished nothing more than to have someone she could be so free with, like her sister was with Kyle. They both looked so happy standing there in the entryway as Shannon snapped serious and silly pictures of them together. Heloise had never had to pretend to be someone she wasn’t. Kyle loved her for who she really was. 

“All right, Elodie and Quentin. You’re up.”

As Elodie and Quentin stood together, Heloise and Kyle went on their merry way, giggling together as they walked through the front door and down the steps. 

Shannon took a few pictures before handing over the camera to Francis. He gladly took the camera to take a few pictures himself. For a few of the pictures, he even asked them to say, “Fromage,” instead of “Cheese,” just to be a little silly.

“Make sure you don’t come back too late. If you stroll in at dawn, I won’t be surprised, but don’t make it any later than that. Have fun and enjoy yourselves,” Shannon admonished her daughter as they walked toward the door after picture taking.

“We will. Don’t worry, Mom.” She gave her parents both a hug and then turned back to Quentin.

“Shall we go then?” Quentin held out his arm to Elodie, a nervous smile on his face.

“Let’s go.” 

Heloise leaned back against the seat of the limo and rested her head on Kyle’s shoulders, content at being so close to him. Kyle had ordered a limo to take them to Machiavelli’s, the more upscale Italian restaurant in town, for dinner and then to the prom, which was going to be held at the local Holiday Inn.

It had been a wonderful evening so far. She and Kyle chatted eagerly about their upcoming summer plans and anything else that came to mind, and he had been the perfect gentleman throughout. He’s open all the doors for her, pull out his chair for her at dinner, and held her hand whenever he could.

The prom was just beginning as their limo pulled up to the hotel. Streams of well-dressed high schoolers poured into the hotel all dressed in their finest dresses and suits. The limo driver got out of the car and opened the door for everyone