Page 37 of My Fake Date With My Childhood Friend
“You’ve read Macbeth?”
“I did it last year,” I said. I tossed my notebook onto his lap and grabbed the book. “Come on, everyone wins.”
Alexander sighed, but he handed over his open laptop. I took it happily, willing to do anything to avoid my French homework. Luckily, Alexander already had his whole essay planned out, so all I had to do was actually write it out. It took me no time to get into it.
Unfortunately, our assignments weren’t evenly matched. While Alexander finished my work in no time, it was taking a while for me to do his essay, and he wasn’t helping by tapping his foot against mine every two seconds.
“Do you need something?” I asked finally.
“I do, actually,” he said with a grin. He moved to sit beside me instead of facing me. “Do you want to go out after school?”
“I have to buy a dress for the formal,” I said. I wasn’t in the best mood about it. Nikki and I had planned to go dress shopping together, but we hadn’t gotten the chance before everything had fallen apart between us. I’d been putting off going after that, especially since I hadn’t known if I was going to go before making this deal with Alexander, but it was getting to the point that I didn’t really have a choice now. “Why?”
“I was wondering if you wanted to do something together,” he said. “But, um… I could go dress shopping with you if you want.”
I was surprised by the offer. Hanging out outside of school wasn’t really part of our deal since nobody would ever see us. But it wasn’t like I had many other friends to go with. I supposed I could ask Liv to come with me, but it wasn’t like she and I were extremely close friends — I was sure that once Alexander and I “broke up,” she would go back to just being the person who silently sat next to me in class. Still, I didn’t want Alexander to feel obligated to come with me.
“You don’t have to do that,” I said awkwardly. “Most boyfriends don’t help their girlfriends pick out dresses for the formal.”
Fake boyfriends definitely didn’t.
“No, I want to,” Alexander said. He grazed my shoulder with his fingers, brushing my hair back. “You’re not going with anyone else, right?”
It was easy for me to read between the lines of that comment and see that he meant that he knew I didn’t have any friends other than me. I felt like I should have been offended — I would have been offended if anyone else said it — but I was mostly just grateful that Alexander was concerned enough about me being alone while dress shopping that he was offering this. He was a genuinely nice person, and I knew he meant well.
“No, I’m not,” I admitted. “And I guess having a second opinion would be nice.”
“Perfect,” he said with a wide smile. “Meet me by the front doors after school.”
The shop was tall and elegant, decorated with the black and white colour scheme of the style. It was more than the usual small boutique; it was a fashionista’s dream made real. The air in the store was tinted with the sweetness of lavender and the essence of vanilla. The scent of flowers formed a bouquet of recognition, a confection of happiness, a familiar perfume. I wasn't surprised it was so nice; there were only a few dress shops in our entire town, but this was the one that I'd been recommended time and time again.
There were quite a number of girls in the shop, some with their moms, teenagers with their friends, and young women with their friends. A group of teenage girls were ogling Alexander. They kept looking at him and whispering among themselves. I was annoyed that they were being so blatant about it. It didn't matter if Alexander and I weren't actually together, because as far as they knew we were, and they were smiling flirtatiously at him anyway.
Surprisingly, though, Alexander seemed oblivious to them. From the moment we stepped inside the shop, his attention was entirely on the dresses. He walked around, looking at each one closely, and I could tell that he was considering each one.
“Penny, come look at these,” he said. I followed his gaze, and my eyes widened. The dresses were amazing. They were all different cool coloured shades, and they all had a beautiful lace overlay. I could see myself wearing one of them. “Do you like any of these?”
I looked at the dresses and then back at him. I couldn't believe it when I finally found my voice.
“Yes,” I said breathlessly, “I absolutely love them.”
“You should try them on,” he said.
As if on cue, a worker appeared beside us.
“Can I start a dressing room for you?” She asked brightly.
“Yes, please,” Alexander answered for me. He gestured to two of the dresses. “I think these would be good, right Penny?”
“Yeah,” I said. “They're great.”
“Perfect.” She took the dresses off of the rack. “I'll go put them in a dressing room for you. Feel free to keep looking around and come over when ready to try them on.”
Within fifteen minutes, I had a pile of dresses in my dressing room. Alexander was taking the whole thing more seriously than I anticipated. I figured I would pick the first dress that I liked and be done with it, but Alexander was insistent that we find the perfect dress.
“What do you think about this dress?” I said, coming out with the third one. We had already vetoed a loose blue dress and a purple dress that I liked, but Alexander thought it wasn't quite right for this formal. This one was a tight red dress that landed just above my knees. I stared at the mirror, and it seemed okay to me.
“I don't think it's right,” he said, shaking his head.
