Southern Attraction (16 page)

             
After Heather picked out a long gold sequin dress featuring a low cut V-neckline, Stephanie said she wanted a silver one that looked identical to hers.

             
“Stephanie that’s a little weird having the same dress.  We don’t want to look like twins,” Heather said.

             
“Oh o.k. I’ll try on that one then,” pointing to another gold colored dress that had sequins.

             
“No, it’s the same color.  Why don’t you pick this silver one, since you like silver.  It will look really good on you.  Go try it on and see if it fits you right,” Heather replied.

             
As Stephanie walked into the dressing room Heather thought to herself,
Is she crazy or what?  Surely she is not trying to copy me.

             
After a couple of minutes, Stephanie came out of the dressing room wearing the silver dress that Heather told her to try on.

             
“How does it look?” Stephanie asked.

             
“Perfect.  How does it feel on you?” Heather asked.

             
“It’s comfortable and I like the way it makes me look.  Thanks for picking it out for me,” Stephanie replied.

             
“No problem.  Go change and we can go pick out some shoes to go with our dresses,” Heather said.

             
After shopping at two other stores and spending too much money they decided to go home for the day.  Stephanie asked Heather to hang out with her the next day but Heather declined. 

             
“Sorry, I have a date with Jake.  Don’t you want to spend some time alone with Shawn?” Heather asked.

             
“Yes, I just thought we could all go on a double date or something,” Stephanie replied.

             
“Maybe some other time, I’ll see you at school Monday,” Heather replied.

             
When Heather made it back to her uncle’s, she called Jake to talk to him.

             
“Hey what cha doing?”

             
“Ah nothing, just watching the basketball game with my dad,” he said.

             
“Who’s playing?” Heather asked.

             
“The Lakers and the Knicks,” Jake replied.

             
“Who’s winning?” she asked.

             
“The Lakers of course.  So what are you doing?” he asked.

             
“I just got finished picking out my prom dress,” she replied.

             
“When do I get to see you in it?” he quizzed.

             
“At prom and not a minute before.  So do you miss me?” she asked.

             
“Nah.  Why would I miss you anyway?  You are only my girlfriend.  Do you want to come over and watch the game with us?” Jake asked.

             
“I thought you would never ask.  I’ll see you in a few minutes,” Heather said.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

             
The day of prom was a hectic day for Heather.  She made plans to get her hair done by the local hairdresser.  Millie was the only hairdresser that had a shop in town.  She was booked up for weeks in advance because there was no one else around to take business away from her.

             
Heather had made an appointment with her a couple of months prior in preparation for the big day.  She was determined that nothing was going to keep her away from prom even if she had to go to it all alone.

             
After getting her hair styled and her nails manicured, she hurried home to put on her dress for the night.  The dance didn’t start until six but Jake and Shawn had made plans to pick the girls up for a dinner date at John Boys’ before prom started. 

             
Heather had just finished putting on her dress when she heard a knock at the door.  Jake arrived at the house at four thirty sharp.

             
“Are you ready?” he asked.

             
“Yes.  Are we going to pick up Shawn and Stephanie now?” she asked.

             
“No they’re in the car.  Hello Mr. Brandon,” Jake said when he saw Mick walking toward him.

             
“Don’t stay out too long and be careful,” Mick said.

             
“We won’t and don’t worry about me,” Heather replied.

             
“I’m always going to worry about ya.  You’re all I’ve got,” Mick replied.

             
Heather gave her uncle a hug and kiss on the cheek as she turned and walked away.  As she got closer to the car she was stunned at what she saw.  Stephanie was sitting in the back seat of the limo with a gold colored dress on.

             
“Are you kidding me?  Why are you wearing that?” Heather asked Stephanie.

             
“I had to exchange the other dress because it had a small rip in the side,” Stephanie replied.

             
“It didn’t have one when you tried it on,” Heather replied.

             
“It ripped when I went to bend over to get my shoes on.  Luckily the shop was still open.  She told me that I could exchange it, so I did,” Stephanie replied.

             
“That sounds a little too convenient.  Why didn’t you pick out another color?” Heather shouted.

             
“Whoa, what’s going on?” Shawn interrupted.

             
“Your girlfriend is trying to ruin my day,” Heather said.

             
“I’m not trying to ruin anything.  Your being paranoid,” Stephanie replied.

             
“Why do you think she is trying to ruin your day?” Jake asked.

             
“We tried on dresses last Saturday and I specifically told her not to wear the same color.  She said she wouldn’t and now look what she has on,” Heather replied.

             
“Maybe she’s telling the truth.  Maybe she had to pick out another dress quickly,” Shawn replied.

             
“I knew you would take her side,” Heather replied.

             
“I’m not taking anyone’s side here.  I just think you are jumping to the wrong conclusion,” Shawn replied.

             
“Heather, if you want to we can go by ourselves,” Jake responded.

             
“Yes I think that would be best,” Heather said as she walked toward her car.

             
“Wait a minute.  Don’t do that,” Shawn insisted.

             
“Look Shawn.  For some reason Heather is pretty upset right now.  She might be imagining something that’s not there, but I think we just need to go to prom separately.  It will give her some time to cool off,” Jake replied.

             
“Whatever,” Shawn said as he got back into the limo.

             
Jake walked over to Heather’s car and got in. 

             
“Can you tell me what is going on?” Jake asked.

             
“I wasn’t going to say anything at first because I thought maybe I was presuming something about Stephanie that wasn’t true.  Now this confirms it,” Heather replied.

             
“What? Her wearing the same color dress as you?  What does that confirm?” Jake asked.

             
“You are still siding with her, aren’t you?” Heather asked.

             
“I’m not siding with anyone.  Just tell me why you are so upset,” Jake said.

             
“Stephanie has been acting kind of strange for a while now.  She has become clingy, needy, and copies everything I do.  I can’t even change my clothes or hair without her wanting to change hers.  Tell me is that normal?  Now look at what she has done with her dress.  Girls don’t normally wear the same dress to prom as their friend.  They usually want something different,” Heather replied.

             
“Maybe your right.  I don’t know.  I don’t know how girls think about their clothes.  Why don’t we just go to prom.  We can all get together later on and talk about all of this,” Jake replied.

             
Heather wasn’t happy by Jake’s response.  She expected him to be more supportive, but realized that guys usually don’t care about their clothes like girls did.  Maybe Stephanie was clueless about it too.  She wasn’t sure, but she knew that she was going to keep a closer eye on her. 

             
After dinner they arrived at the school and saw that the parking lot was full of girls with different colors and styles of dresses on.  Heather was happy that no one else had on gold.  Some were short with puffy sleeves.  Some were longer and some were strapless.  Heather was happy that she picked out the one she had on, because it was definitely a one of a kind dress.  Jake had on a black tux with a gold colored bowtie and cummerbund.  Heather could tell his hair was freshly cut and perhaps had a little mousse applied to it.  As they stood outside looking and observing everyone around them, Heather looked over at Jake and inspected his attire.   

             
“You look really nice tonight.  What kind of cologne do you have on?” Heather asked while taking in a deep whiff.

             
“It’s Polo.  Do you like it?” Jake asked.

             
“I love it.  What about me?  You haven’t commented on how I look,” Heather asked.

             
“I’m sorry.  You are exquisite.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look this good before.  I’m sorry I haven’t said anything about how you look before.  I guess I was thinking about what you said about Stephanie.  I hope you are wrong about her.  I’ll try to keep a closer look on what she is doing,” Jake replied.

             
“Maybe I’m the one being irrational.  She has been a good friend to me.  Maybe I misjudged her.  I think I will apologize to her when we get inside,” Heather replied.

             
“That would be very nice of you.  At least until something else happens we need to try to stay on good terms with them.  They have been good to both of us,  especially Shawn.  I thought he would have tried to kill me or something, since I took you away from him,” Jake said.

             
“Ha Ha.  No he has been  wonderful about all of this and he deserves someone that will be good to him.  I hope it is Stephanie, but if she tries something else crazy, I don’t know what I would do,” Heather said.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

              As Heather, Jake, Stephanie and Shawn enjoyed small talk, the principal approached the stage. 

             
“You have all put in your vote for this year’s king and queen. Now, it’s time to announce the winners.   Can I have a drum roll please?”  The drummer in the
Michaels
band began to play a drum roll for a few seconds and then quickly stopped.

             
“Your new king and queen is Jake Parker and Heather Brandon,” Principal Thomas announced into the microphone.  As Heather and Jake began to rise from their chairs, Stephanie jumped up quickly and ran toward the stage.  Heather looked at Jake and Shawn.  She wondered what Stephanie was doing.  Stephanie jumped onto the stage and began to speak.

             
“I want to thank all of you who voted for me.  I really appreciate my fans and my friends.  This means so much to me,” she said as she began to sob. 

             
Heather looked at Shawn and said, “You need to do something.  She is embarrassing herself.”

             
Shawn walked toward the stage as Jake and Heather stood dead in their tracks. 

             
“Stephanie come here.  Let’s go outside and talk,” Shawn insisted as he grabbed her hand and pull her from the stage.  As everyone stared, Shawn hurried toward the closest exit pulling Stephanie behind.  Heather was shocked by what had just happened and wanted to keep Stephanie from becoming the laughing stock of the school.  She hurried to the stage as Jake followed her.

             
“Now that our little skit is over, I thought you would get a kick out of that.  Anyway, I want to thank everyone for this honor,” Heather said as principal Thomas put a crown on her head.