Page 26 of Our Big White Lie
“Sure, we can do that.” She smiled. “Those are always the best photos.”
“They really are,” Lynnette agreed.
“Is that doable?” I grimaced. “I mean, maybe we should’ve come separately for?—”
“Oh, we can make it work, don’t worry!” Lynnette folded her hands on the desk. “We have a screen we can set up so you can both come out of the dressing rooms without worrying about running into each other. You’ll be in full view of your entourage, but nobody here is getting any sneak peeks. Does that work?”
“That sounds great,” Ava said.
“Yeah, perfect.” I grinned. “Let’s do this!”
I was a lot more curious than I thought I would be about what Tori was trying on. I’d been so far up in my own head while she’d gone over ideas with Lynnette, I hadn’t even paid attention to what she was thinking about getting.
But every time she came out of the dressing room, the reactions from everyone—our entourage, as Lynnette had dubbed them—made me want to peer around the end of the screen. I was so curious!
Maybe it was because I’d always assumed—even if I’d never really thought about it—that when Tori bought a wedding dress, I’d be in her entourage. That was probably along the lines of why I kept wanting to ask her opinion of different dresses I tried on—it had always been a foregone conclusion that if I were ever in the market for a wedding dress, Tori would be sitting on that ornate couch, glass in hand, giving her two cents along with my mom.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about doing it like this. Like I was still onboard with our plan, but I couldn’t lie—I was kind of sad that we weren’t doing that for each other this time.
This time, Ava. When you get married for real, then you can shop together.
That would probably turn some heads—taking my “ex-wife” to shopping for a wedding dress—but I’d cross that bridge when I came to it.
I came out in a somewhat plain and not terribly comfortable dress my mom had picked out. I thought the straps were too wide and the bodice made my waist look… I don’t know. Weird.
“You’re right,” Mom agreed with a nod. “It doesn’t suit you.”
“See? Told you!”
She rolled her eyes. “Sometimes you have to see how they look before you reject them! You know your grandma convinced me to try on one that I hated, and I ended up buying it. Once I put it on, I loved it!”
“Yeah. Well.” I scowled at what I was wearing. “I definitely don’t love this one.”
I started back toward the dressing room when Tori’s dressing room door squeaked.
“Okay, okay,” she said. “I’m not going to wear this one for real, but Avahasto see it before I take it off.”
I peered at the screen between us, my curiosity definitely piqued. There was some rustling on the other side along with some fast but soft footsteps, like someone hurrying past barefoot.
She stopped suddenly. “Wait—Ava, are you wearing the dress you’re going to buy?”
I looked down at the one I had on. “Nope. Definitely not.”
“Okay, good!” A second later, Tori came around the end of the screen, let go of the mountains of tulle she’d apparently been holding up in order to walk, and struck a pose as the skirt fell into place.
I was instantly overcome with giggles, as we were our moms. “Oh my God!” I said through my laughter. “I’ve never seen that much tulle in my life!”
“I know, right?” Tori fluffed it a little and cackled. “Can you imagine if I had to use the bathroom in this?” She made a hilariously panicked face and started gathering up the skirt again as she did a rendition of a child’s peepee dance. “Oh my God! Oh my God! Where’s the bathroom? I’m not going to make it!”
Mom almost fell out of her chair. Tori’s mom was wheezing. I had to lean against the wall.
Tori, of course, started giggling as she let the skirts drop. She spun around. “Look at this! It’s huge!”
It was, and I was amazed she didn’t knock something over when she twirled like that. The ladies helping us didn’t seem worried, and in fact they were laughing, too. All good, then.
Watching Tori strike poses reminded me of all the time we’d spent drawing pictures of princesses when we were little. We would both draw ourselves wearing enormous skirts, ornate bodices, and tiaras or crowns that would probably break our necks in real life. It was ridiculous, and it was adorable, and it took me back to our childhood, and prom night, and…
All those memories of my best friend. Silly drawings. Dreams about wearing princess dresses. Shopping for evening gowns for those formal dances in high school.
