Page 112 of Sad Girl Hours
“I love it,” Jenna corroborates.
Casper squeezes her shoulder. “Oh, bloody good job, Vivs. It’s a stunner.”
Vivvie circles the dress, trying to find something to scrutinise. After a moment or two, she steps back. “Would you mind turning away again so I can have a little cry?”
“Good or bad?”
“Good, obviously,” she says. “Look at it. Thank God it was worth giving myself repetitive strain injury.”
We all gather for a group hug. I’m so proud of her. She cares about this so much, she wants to do well, and wow, has she pulled it off.
A very tiny old woman with a giant bow on her head that Vivvie pointed out as Rosa, the unofficial course grandma, calls out in a deep voice that scratches at you like a scourer, “TEN MINUTES TO GO. I REPEAT, TEN MINUTES, MY DARLINGS.”
“Right, you guys need to leave,” Vivvie says, all trace of tears gone, back in business mode. “Go and take your seats. I need to circle some more and make sure not a single thing is out of place.”
“Good luck,” I say, giving her one last squeeze.
“You’re going to smash it,” Jenna says.
Casper nods. “Don’t tell the others but yours is the best by far. And I’m not saying that because I’m biased and you keep me fed with your magnificent flan. It’s objectively the truth.”
“Shut up about flan and get gone, please,” Vivvie says but I know she’s pleased.
We settle in downstairs. There are quite a few people here. It’s fully dark outside now and the lights inside are beams of warm white crossing the room.
“Is anyone else nervous?” Casper is perched on his seat rather than reclining as he usually does in haphazard bisexual fashion.
Jenna flicks him a warning eye. “No. Vivvie’s got this in the bag. Her hard work always pays off.”
“I just wish we could get her to chill sometimes,” I say. “Maybe work a little less hard.”
“I think that’d be like telling me not to worry about climate change,” Casper notes. “Useless and disappointing.”
“Oh, so you’ve recovered from your nerves enough to quoteA Cinderella Storythen?”
I listen to Jenna and Casp bickering until the lights dim, all of the chatter dulling into silence.
I wish Saffron was here.
Even if I can’t have her here with her hand on my leg and her cheek for me to lean in and kiss, I want her here as my friend. Our friend. An integral member of the group.
All the outfits are amazing. First, we have a jumpsuit with a sort of corset effect and feathers around the neckline and each leg. Then there are some trousers with a kind of scale design like they’re made from a mermaid and the biggest flares I’ve ever seen. There are dresses, all stunning, and they just keep coming.
Jenna keeps checking her phone. I ask her if she’s waiting on a message from someone but she just gives me a vague non-answer and tells me to keep watching the show. She’s been kind of weird this whole evening actually. Her and Casper. They were both very insistent that we had to sit at the edge of the room. It’s slightly disconcerting.
The show continues – still with no sign of Vivvie’s dress.
Jenna checks her phone again, nudges Casper and then turns to me. “It’s quite hot in here. Maybe you should go and get some fresh air.”
“MaybeIshould go and get some fresh air? Um, no, I’m good, thanks, but you go and get some if you need it.”
“Oh, I’m fine. You look really warm, though. I think you should go outside. Just for a minute.”
“No way,” I whisper-shout over the music. “I’m not risking missing Vivvie’s dress.”
“What if there’s … a bear … outside?” Casper says. “And if you don’t go outside, you’ll miss it.”
I take a beat to just look at him. “Are you seriously telling me I should go outside, not support our friend with their huge event,and also risk getting mauled by a very lost bear? Is that really the story you want to stick to?”
