Page 128 of Gabriel's Salvation

I quickly brush my teeth and jump in the shower before there's a knock at the door. “What?” I shout back, refusing to get out of the nice steamy stream.

“Don't wash your hair, as we ain't got time,” Ava shouts.

“Fine!” I snap back. Seriously, why am I even friends with her?

I jump out of the shower, quickly throw my hair in a messy bun, and put on just enough makeup so I no longer resemble the half dead. That done, I throw on a pair of jeans and a shirt, then make my way upstairs to find the girls waiting in the kitchen talking to my mom.

“Ready!”

“Eighteen minutes and…forty-five seconds,” Ava says looking at her watch. “I'm impressed.”

“It's a miracle!” my mom teases.

I just fire her a playful frown in response. “Hey you’re supposed to be on my side; I'm your daughter not her.”

“She brought cupcakes,” my mom shrugs as she uses her finger to lap up the frosting.

We head into town and spend the next four hours going from shop to shop looking for something, anything that vaguely resembles a prom dress but unsurprisingly we have absolutely no luck.

“Arggggh!” Ava screams as yet again we walk out of another store empty handed.

“This is impossible,” Harper huffs as she slumps against a nearby wall.

“I’ve got an idea,” Izzy says reluctantly. “I’m going into the city next weekend. I'm supposed to be meeting my parents…”

“Okay?” I interrupt, not really understanding what she's getting at.

“Well, they'll probably only see me for like ten minutes before they get bored of me, that's if they don't cancel altogether, of course. So, if you girls come with me, we can do some shopping there for dresses,” she adds, a hint of sadness evident in her voice.

Ava gives her a reassuring squeeze. We all know Izzy's parents are pretty shitty. They cancel on her and ignore her constantly. She pretends it doesn't bother her, but it's clear to see how upset it makes her.

“It's fine. They're just really busy with work,” Izzy makes her usual excuses for them. “Anyway, why don't we make it a whole day thing? We could meet my parents early. I would love it if they both got to meet you all, especially since you're such a huge part of my life now. Then when that's done, we could head into the city and check out some boutiques. There's bound to be tons of elegant dresses for all occasions.”

“That's perfect!” Ava squeals. “Let's do it!”

Izzy’s phone rings and she retrieves it from her bag. Her giddy tone lets us know it's Nate on the other end of the phone.

“Nate wants to know if I want to meet him after work, do you mind?” Izzy whispers as she places her hand over the speaker of her phone.

“Go,” Ava replies as she ushers her away with her hand.

Izzy finishes her conversation and hangs up the phone telling us that Nate is finishing work at six so we can leave and she’ll see us tomorrow.

“You sure? You've got almost an hour. We can wait with you if you want.” Harper offers.

“No, it's fine. I need to get a few items anyway - some more makeup, some conditioner, and a few other small items. By the time I'm done and I've walked over it will be almost six.”

“We can wait and drive you over there,” Ava offers, but again Izzy refuses, saying she’d like a walk since it's still pretty nice out.

“If you're sure,” Ava confirms before we all make our way towards where the car is parked, leaving Izzy alone.

Isabella

I'm just about to leave the store when I spot it, a photo printing machine. This is perfect!

It’s mine and Nate’s anniversary next month and I want to make him a scrapbook of our time together.

I've already sorted out the pictures I want. It's just a case of printing them and buying the stickers and things to make it perfect.

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