Bonnie's Outfit
Ep. 12 of The Bells of St. Anthony's
This one was for a wedding. These three were for funerals. These two for church. And I hadn't worn this one since fourth grade! Everything else was a blouse and skirt for school or the most casual clothes imaginable. All my jeans were ripped, all my t-shirts had anime characters on them, and the tank top was out of the question. Homecoming was tomorrow, and I didn't have a thing to wear.
I dialed up Theresa.
"What's up, Bonnie?" she sounded like she'd hiked a mile. She must have been pretty busy with her project for the Maker club.
"Hey, so, you know how Zeke and I weren't going to go to the dance? Well, we flip-flopped on that, and I need to figure out what to wear."
"Well, surely you've got something. What about that cute outfit you wore to Six Flags?"
"I borrowed that from my cousin. Everything else is too formal, or not formal enough. I'm serious, my nicest pants are pajama pants. It's these stupid uniforms. I've been wearing them so long, it's killed my fashion sense. Can you help?"
"What makes you think I know what to wear to a dance? I'm just as big a nerd as you."
"I know, but your mom makes you all these really nice dresses from scratch. I'm sure you've gotta have one that'll look good on me."
"You sure they'll fit?"
"You've gotta have something." I pulled out one nice dress I used to like, that would have been perfect... if Theresa hadn't burned a hole in it with one of her inventions! "Anything."
"So go out tomorrow and buy something."
"I can't. My mom already bought me a hardback this week, and you know how stingy she is." What I really needed was some kind of machine that could design, cut, and sew a perfect dress right away. If only Theresa could invent one.
Or maybe she had one right within reach!
"Maybe your mom could help?"
Theresa went silent. It was just an innocent question, so I didn't expect her to have a problem with it or anything. But Mrs. Long hand-makes clothes all the time. She even runs an Etsy shop on the side. She was my last hope.
"Are you suggesting my mom make you an entire outfit in... what, twenty-four hours?"
"You think she could?"
"You realize that's, like, her job, right? Do you have the money to pay for it?"
"No..." I could save up my allowance, but... "She makes clothes for you all the time, though."
"Sure, but that's different. I mean, she might do it for you for free, but still. She's got enough Etsy orders to work through as it is."
"It doesn't have to be anything too complicated. Just a simple dress that can help me look nice for my boyfriend." Not that Zeke usually cares what I wear--these ripped jeans and anime t-shirts are usually enough. But this wasn't a movie in the living room or dinner at Taco Bell. This was a school dance--the whole point was to be romantic. "Could you just ask? Couldn't hurt to ask."
I could almost hear her rolling her eyes. "Fine. Be right back."
As I waited, I rifled through my closet to make sure I didn't miss anything. I even still had one of the green uniform jumpers from grade school. Mrs. Long could wrap me in a blanket for all I cared. Anything was better than this.
Theresa came back to the line in no time. "She'll do it."
"She will?"
"If you send your measurements now, she can have it ready tomorrow. Just needs to know what kind of dress you want."
"What kind?"
"Yeah, you know, peplum, empire, blouson?"
As if I were the type of girl who knew what those even were! I reiterate: dead fashion sense. "Huh?"
I heard a slap on the other end. Must have been Theresa's hand on her forehead. "I'll tell her you said 'Surprise me.'"
That is not a typo in the subhead, I just decided to go with a different spelling.
I’m on vacation right now, so I’m going to hold off on updating for a few weeks. In the meantime, please share to anybody you think might be interested!