"I can't go in there."

We sat outside East Chapel, and every time I moved my hand to open the door something stopped me.

"What do you mean you can't go in? You have to go in or you're going to be late," said Maya.

I shook my head. "I can't."

She sighed pinching the bridge of her nose. "I feel like I'm having déjà vu. Why not?"

"Everyone thinks I'm a slut, and they won't stop staring and whispering." It wasn't so bad when they were talking about other stuff, but what they're saying now isn't true.

"Fuck those people, Nia," Maya said. "Ignore them. They have no idea what they're talking about."

"That's easier said than done, Maya, and you know it," Tasha said from the backseat. "It's hard to pretend like you don't hear people talking shit about you. Maybe you should just skip."

"I can't do that."

"Okay. Okay. Don't think about it as skipping," she said, "Think of it as taking a mental health day. You know, a self-care day. We could do some retail therapy, maybe get our nails done it'll be fun."

"Why do all your solutions involve shopping?" asked Maya, looking at her through her rearview mirror.

"I'm just trying to be helpful. We don't have to shop if she doesn't want to, we can just get ice cream or something."

"Okay," I breathed. "Okay, we should do it. I want to leave." I can't do this today, I just got here and I already have a reputation based off of something that I didn't even do.

The school day hasn't started yet, and if we leave now I won't be caught.  "Alright, I guess that's it then," Maya said preparing to pull out of the parking lot. Suddenly, a loud knock rapped on her window.

"Ah!" We collectively yelled. Fuck, we've been caught.

"Don't confess to anything," Maya said keeping her eyes forward.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," Lavender said from outside the car, a pair of large black heart shaped sunglasses perched on her nose and an iced coffee in her hand.

"Oh, thank God," Maya sighed relieved. "Tasha, let her in." Tasha leaned across the back seat and unlocked the car door so Lavender could get in.

"What are you guys doing?" she asked slipping in the back seat.

"We're skipping," Tasha said joyfully.

"I thought you said it was a mental health day?" Maya asked.

"Oh, you know what I meant," she waved her off.

"What I want to come," Lavender said, "I can't believe you guys were going to leave without me."

"Really?" I asked turning to face her. "Are you sure?"

"Hell, yeah! I don't want to hang around those losers while you're out having fun. Of course, I'm coming."

"Okay, you guys this discussion is great but if we're going to go we need to go now." Maya stressed.

"To the mall, we go!' Tasha yelled buckling her seat belt.

***

     Turns out this mental health day is exactly what I needed. Allowing myself to go through the motions of sadness and have fun with my friends has made me realize some things.

.It was also nice to be away from all the drama and commotion that was happening at school, it just gave me enough time to breath. It's given me time to think about my break with Marcus, and Whitney. I've come to the conclusion that she's just a bitch.            

            I'm not even sure if she can help it. I've never met someone so intentionally hurtful before. She's so entitled to everything, East Chapel, and Marcus, alike. She thinks she's this picture-perfect person, and she's not. But really, she's just a snake, in a cheerleader's body. Ugh, I've never felt so much hate for someone in my life.

            But I'm not going to let her ruin my time at East Chapel. I'm not going to let this—this—distraction ruin me. I came to East Chapel Academy to better myself and get into an Ivy League college. If Whitney thinks that I'm going to quit and go back to my shitty public school, over a boy, then she's got the wrong girl.  

            "Just say the word and I can poison her, Nia," Lavender said licking the dripping mint chocolate chip ice cream from the side of her ice cream cone.        

    "Don't do that, Lavender," I replied. We had picked a table in the back so we could have some privacy.

            "It's not like anyone would be sad," she said trying to convince me. "She's wretched."

            "No poison." I don't want her blood on my hands. I just want her to go away and never come back.

            "I personally think it's a great idea," Maya chimed in. "I mean if she was going to call you out like that the least she could have done is tagged you."

    "But, seriously, I can fight her," Tasha said eating her honey lavender ice cream. The light purple ice cream began to melt into a soupy mixture as she stirred her spoon around looking for bits of waffle cone. "I don't go there, she doesn't know me. She would never see it coming."

    "Then we would have to bail you out of jail." Whitney definitely seemed like the type to press charges, and Tasha does not need to get a record. She's not worth it.

        She huffed disappointed. "Nobody ever lets me fight."

            "Well, just let me know about the poison," Lavender said. "I have to gather the supplies."

            "What are you going to do about prom?" Tasha asked.

            "I'm not going."

            "What do you mean you're not going?" she said shocked.

            "I don't have anyone to go with." Marcus and I were supposed to go, but that's not happening. I really wanted to go, but I guess there's always next year. "And I don't have a ticket."

    "If you wouldn't have broken up with Marcus you would have a date," said Tasha.

    "Shut up, Tasha," Maya chastised her. "She did what she thought was best."

    She hummed, "It's true, though." I was already having some regrets about taking a break with Marcus, because the thought of not being able to hang out with him makes me sad. I wanted to text him when I didn't show up to school today just so he wouldn't worry, but I didn't want to send him mixed signals.

    "Anyway," Maya said changing the subject. "If you want to go, you should go."

            "I'll go with you," Lavender offered. "I'll be your date, and I can even get us tickets."

            "You don't have to do that, Lavender. I know you don't want to go." She was adamant about not seeing her classmates in formal wear.

            "I changed my mind," she insisted. "I do want to go."

            "Okay...but I don't have a dress," I replied. "And neither do you."

            "We'll go shopping," Maya said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

            "Prom is tomorrow night." We'll never find a dress in time. All the good ones will be picked over. "All the good dresses have already been taken."

            "No they won't," Tasha smiled, standing up. "I know exactly where to go."

    While we remained seated she left the table to throw her trash away. Turning back towards us, she said, "Come on ladies, lunch time is over!"

    "Are you as nervous as I am?" Lavender whispered to me as we walked to the basement of this empty store. Tasha said she had the perfect spot for us to find a dress, but she dragged us to what looked to be an abandoned antique shop in the middle of an old shopping center.

    "Absolutely," I replied, walking down the creaking stairs. It smelled like incenses and strangely, perfume. I didn't know what to expect but Tasha was excited.

    "I just know you guys will find your dress here," she raved. "Maggie always has the best stuff."

    "Who the hell is Maggie?" Maya asked as we descended the stairs.

    "I'm Maggie," an older woman with short multicolored hair and bangs said appearing abruptly from behind a rack of clothes.

    Lavender, Maya and I screamed. She just appeared out of nowhere. But by looking at her I could see why it was so easy for us to miss her. She was a small woman, even shorter than Maya, who is already 5'3. She wore a cow printed denim jacket and a dark denim jeans. She looked like a spunky grandma. 

    "Maggie!" Tasha exclaimed bending down to hug the woman.

    "Oh, Tasha it's so good to see you, honey," Maggie smiled. "And I see you finally brought your friends. She's told me so much about you."

"Well, she hasn't told us anything about you," Maya said under her breath.

    "Maggie, this is Nia, Maya, and Lavender," Tasha introduced us.

Maggie grinned at us. "What can I help you ladies find today?"

"They need to find dresses for prom," Tasha said pointing at Lavender and I. "We're a little short on time."

"Okay, when's the big event?"

"Tomorrow." Maggie's eyes widened, but she nodded regardless. "Okay," she exhaled. "We better get to work then. Come on, girls, I'll show you some dresses in your size."

"Oh, I'm so excited," Tasha squealed.

"Calm yourself," Maya said calmly. It was a little hot in the basement, so she wrapped her leather jacket around her waist. 

Maggie drug Lavender and I to the back of the room where racks on racks of dresses lined the walls. I've never seen so much silk, sequins, and beads all in one place. There were so many dresses to choose from I wasn't sure where to look first. It got to the point where Tasha just pushed me into the dressing room and began pulling things for me to try on. I wasn't surprised she'd been itching to find me a dress since we started looking complaining of me, "passing up all the good dresses," and "not knowing the right cut and color." She was fed up with me to say the least.

"I don't like this one," I said turning in the mirror watching the puffy orange skirt twirl around my legs. The tulle was itchy and I looked like a pumpkin. This was not the one.

"Well, take it off then," Tasha said, she pushed another dress in my arms. "Try this one."

I took the aqua blue dress into the dressing room. This one seemed to be a much better fit than the orange one. I slipped down to my underwear, having to take off my bra to accommodate the off the shoulder dress. Slipping on the dress, I zipped up the side.

It was fate.

The silky fabric fit perfectly against my body, accentuating my minimal curves. Fitted down my torso and hips,  it flared in a mermaid style at my knees.

"I've found the one," I announced pulling back the curtain to the dressing room. "Don't you love it!" I twist and turned for them letting them hype me up.

"Oh, darling, you look gorgeous," Maggie complimented. She was helping Maya with a jacket, I think Maya was really taken with her, because they've been chatting since Tasha started her tirade on the clothing racks.

"Little Mermaid, who? I've never heard of her," Maya said trying on a leather jacket with fringe hanging from the sleeves.

Tasha came up to me, adjusting the dress here and there. "Damn, girl, you look hot. I love this color on you. "

"Thanks," I grinned, turning side to side. "How much is this, Maggie?"

"For you, honey, twenty dollars," she said.

"Really?" I gasped. That's so cheap.

She shrugged, "Sure. As you can see we don't get much business around here."

I don't see why not, Maggie has some cool stuff, it's too bad she's hidden down here.

"I'll take it." I went to get my wallet and handed Maggie a twenty dollar bill.

"Thank you," she smiled taking it from me.

Lavender stepped out of her dressing room in a black tea length dress the top fit close to her chest and tulle flared from her waist down to her feet. "I am feeling this dress!"

"Very Black Swan," Maya nodded looking at it. She did look like a dark ballerina.

"Ugh, I could wear this everyday for the rest of my life," sighed Lavender. "So this is what being in love feels like, I'm into it." She looked at me. "Wow, I'm going to have the hottest date at prom."

"Oh, stop you're going to make me blush."

Maya ran her hands through my braids frowning. "Girl, what are we going to do about this hair. It's time for us to take these down." My braids were getting quite old and had started to become frizzy. I was starting to get tired of them.

"Do you think I have time to take them down?" I asked her. Taking down braids is a task that can take hours and not to mention the washing and styling that follows, I don't know if we'll be done in time for prom tomorrow.

"You'll have enough time," Maya said with confidence. "We'll be here to help you. In this situation, six hands are always better than two."

"You guys should come over tonight," Lavender suggested. "We can prepare. You know my parents have tons of skincare and we can use my moms facial steamer."

"You had me at facial steamer," Tasha replied.

"I don't know what that is, but I'll be there," Maya said shrugging her arms out of the jacket. "I just have to tell Roxanne, she should be okay with it she's always looking for an excuse to get rid of us."

"I didn't know you had siblings, Maya," Lavender said to her.

"They're foster siblings and they change like the wind, so I don't get attached," she said nonchalantly.

"Oh."

Maya squealed jumping up and down with excitement making her big hair bounce. "I'm so excited, there's so much to be done. There's no time for distractions, we still need accessories and we have to start taking down this mess ASAP," she said referring to my hair. I wouldn't call it a mess, but okay. "Maya we have to stop by the closest Walmart, not only am I going to need hair care products but I'm going to need snacks. I can't work on an empty stomach."

"And suddenly I'm an Uber driver," Maya said mumbled.

Tasha waved her longed nailed hand at her. "Stop complaining, and be helpful. We have too much work to do." She patted the packets of her overalls, finding a small sewing kit in one of the many pockets. "Great, I knew I had this in here somewhere."

Tasha was in full stylist mode. There were several times that I thought Maya was going to smack her in the face while we picked out shoes and accessories. Thankfully, Maggie was there to talk her down. While we were shopping I got a text from Thomas asking where I was and how I was.

Obviously, I lied, telling him that I was fine and that I just wasn't feeling well. I was almost ninety percent sure he didn't believe me. I couldn't help but wonder what Marcus was doing and what he was thinking about.

Unlike  the coward I am, he probably went to school and faced what people were saying about him head on. Maybe I shouldn't have cared about what people thought about me so much, especially when their opinions are solely based on a lie. I'm not a slut, and I didn't steal Marcus from anyone. And I'm not going to act like I'm guilty, when I haven't done anything.

And I'm going to prom to prove it.