Page 16 of When Ellie Falls in Love

The dress looked amazing on her. Sadie wasn’t too proud to admit that. It was like she’d had the dress custom-made. With the right pair of heels, Sadie knew the dress would be perfect for prom—not that the idea of heels excited her. Taking a deep breath, Sadie prepared herself for her mother’s reaction and opened the door.

“Sadie,” Delaney gasped, placing her hand over her heart, “it’s so beautiful on you.”

“You think so?”

Stepping out of the dressing room, Sadie stood in front of the three full-length mirrors between the two fitting rooms. Delaney reached up, taking Sadie’s hair out of the ponytail. She adjusted her usually unruly auburn hair over her shoulders, covering the small straps. Sadie couldn’t stop her smile from spreading wide as she twirled slightly in the dress.

“I think it’s perfect.”

“It’sreallypretty.”

Sadie whipped around toward the voice.

Ellie.

She was walking toward them, with Vera trailing behind her. Their eyes locked, and Sadie savored the way Ellie’s smile made her feel. Ellie was wearing a fitted sweater, yoga pants, and a beanie. Sadie wondered how she could effortlessly pull off such a casual look.

“Hey!” Delaney greeted Vera with a hug, before turning to Ellie. “It’s good to see you.”

“You, too.” Vera turned her attention to Sadie. “Sadie, that dress looksamazingon you. Are you getting it for prom?”

“Um, yeah.” Sadie turned back around, looking at herself in the mirror. But her eyes quickly found Ellie over her shoulder. She winked at her, doing little to ease Sadie’s already confused mind. “I think so.”

“You should,” Ellie stated. “You look amazing in it.”

Her eyes stayed locked with Sadie’s in the mirror as her smile widened. Sadie nervously bit her lower lip, trying to hide the smile that wanted to spread across her face. Forcing herself to snap out of the moment, Sadie cleared her throat.

“I’m going to change.”

Sadie all but bolted into the fitting room. She locked the door quickly, finally letting herself take in a full breath since she’d seen Ellie.What is wrong with me, she wondered as she listened to Delaney, Vera, and Ellie talk about prom.

Of course, Ellie had plans with her friends for photos and dinner before prom. Sadie had neither of those. Fishing her phone out of her bag, Sadie quickly snapped a picture of the dress hanging back on its hanger and sent it to Trevor on Snapchat. She added the caption,prom dress found.

Maybe he would get the hint that she wanted to talk about prom with him.

Or maybe not.

He wasn’t the smartest, and Sadie wasn’t the best at asking for what she needed or wanted.

Sadie waited until Vera and Ellie walked away before exiting the fitting room. As Delaney was paying for the dress, Sadie looked around the store for Ellie.

No. NotforEllie. Just seeing where they went.

She found them at the end of an aisle, flipping through a box of comic books as they laughed. Ellie excitedly held one up to Vera as she jumped up and down. Sadie smiled at the sight; Ellie looked even more beautiful when she was laughing.

“You ready?” Delaney put her hand on her lower back as Sadie turned to face her.

“Yeah.”

Heading to the front door, Sadie glanced over her shoulder before walking outside. She caught Ellie’s gaze and waved shyly. Ellie and Vera did the same back.

“How does pizza sound?”

“Just no pineapples,” Sadie teased.

After grabbing a to-go pizza, Delaney and Sadie headed home for dinner with Charlie. Sadie tried on her dress for Charlie, who agreed it was perfect. They watched a few episodes of a TV show before Sadie headed upstairs to her bedroom. Closing the door behind her, Sadie hung up the dress on the back of the door and stared at it. It really was perfect.

Sadie took out her phone, reading Trevor's message. They had been talking on and off on Snapchat since Sadie had sent him the picture of the dress. He had asked for a picture of her wearing it, but Sadie hadn’t sent one yet. Nor had she made up her mind whether she was going to.

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