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He took out his obnoxiously large biology book, and I spent the next hour helping him with his homework. I didn’t mind it, though. I was glad to help him, and he seemed to understand it by the time I was done.
“Thanks, you’re the best. I was prepared to fail this class.” He shook his head. “But Sasha wouldn’t have liked that very much.” He chuckled.
“Yeah, what about your parents?” I noticed he never really talked about them, and maybe I was overstepping. But my curiosity was getting the better of me.
“They work a lot. It’s my grandparents that I live with, actually. It was that or boarding school.” He slung his backpack over his shoulder, signaling he had to get going.
“Oh, okay. Well just let me know if you ever need help in that class.”
“I will, see you!” He called over his shoulder, and then the door shut behind him.
I never noticed his parents weren’t around. I mean, it must be sad. My dad worked all the way over in Barbados, on a botany research project. Something about the water retention in tropical plants. He seemed to be having a lot of fun whenever we talked. We would skype about once a week or whenever he had service.
I missed my dad too, but that was a situation I couldn’t change. And after mom had died, he was so different. More distant, enjoyed things less. I think it’s why he decided to go on this course when I left for school, that’s how long he has been gone. Ten years.
I placed the order for everything I needed, and the labor required. I managed to find a company that handled all of that. I was to drop off the check at the time of service, that way I could make sure everything got put in correctly. When I left for my apartment, I actually felt like I had a pretty productive day. Then I remembered the last part of Sasha’s email.
I was lucky my best friend was a designer. I didn’t expect her to make me anything in twenty-four hours, but maybe she had a massive discount to some stores, or I could borrow something.
“Hey, Ivy. Are you busy?” I skipped the formalities.
I was on my couch, just about freaking out with every breath. I couldn’t exactly show up looking like the flower girl, I had to blend in. Otherwise, I would rather not stay.
“Not in theory. Are you okay? Did something happen at work?”
“No, not really. It’s just I realized I don’t have anything to wear to this gala. Sasha said, I quote, wear your best gown or something like that. I have nothing!” I shrieked.
Ivy just laughed, how could she be laughing?
“Don’t worry, Emilia. I actually just finished a show with my boss, and I think one of the dresses would be perfect. You can wear it and he would never know.”
I gasped. “Really?”
“Yeah, I can bring it by later. Just let me finish this up. Deep breaths, girl.” She laughed and then hung up.
I supposed I could relax more now that I had a prospective dress. I decided to let the rest of my frustration out and then go for a run. I laced up my shoes, and went a few blocks and back. By the time I was back and showered, I had missed a few calls from Ivy.
“Hey, sorry I missed you.” I called her back.
“No worries, I was just on my way but I’m literally outside your door now.” On cue, there were four knocks.
I hung up and opened up the door to Ivy being swallowed up by a black dress bag.
“Oh, my goodness, there really is a dress!” I exclaimed.
She rushed in and set the dress on my bed, just a few paces from the door.
“Go ahead, open it.” She pressed. I looked the large bag over and then turned my attention to her.
“You look fancy.” She was in a tight skirt and pink blouse. She actually managed to get her hair in a bun.
“Yeah, it’s from the reveal we had. Open it up, I can’t wait for you to see it!”
Gently, I unzipped the bag as if I would break it or something. “You’re sure I can wear this?” I double checked before I looked even more.
“Yes. He won’t know it’s missing. I was supposed to bring it home anyway. Besides, he doesn’t remember half of the designs he has anyway.” She laughed, dropping herself onto my nicely dressed bed.
“Okay.”
