one.

Prom: 2 months 2 weeks away

"I don't think so" I said, staring at the bright pink suit in my friends hands. " Absolutely not. I am not wearing pink."

"Come on Taylor, it's only a colour" Shannon said. I stared at her, a look of complete shock on my face. "Are you scared people will think that you're gay?"

"No! I just don't look good in bright colours" I replied. I've never had an issue with gays or lesbians, I just didn't understand why it had to be shoved down my throat everywhere I went. Yeah, I get that they get crap and sometimes attacked by people who don't agree with it. But did they really need their own festival or parades? Or need their own categories or even toilets. It just seemed over the top to me. Overdramatic. "Anyway, I already have my prom suit."

"I don't know if I can let you wear that horrible, black, monstrosity of a suit" she said hanging the suit back onto the rail "you're going to prom not a funeral."

""I look better in dark colours" i defended.

"At least try the blue one on, or have a look at the rail." She begged. I sighed and stood up, moving to the rail. Blue, pink, red, green, blue. I pulled the blue one out and looked it up and down.

"Fine. I'll try this one on" I said, giving into Shannon's puppy dog eyes.

"Thank you" she laughed, as I walked into the booth. After fighting the buttons on the white suit shirt, I finally looked into the mirror. The tight fitting fabric hugged the slight curve in my waist. I turned to the side and appreciated how slimming it made me look. I wasn't exactly fat, but I definitely wasn't skinny. I had what my mum described as 'puppy fat', and she always told me that I'd grow out of it. So far, no dice.

"Hurry up. I wanna see." Shannon's impatient voice said from beyond the booth. I swung the curtain aside and stepped out. At the sight. Of me, she broke out into a wide smile. "Well. Give me a twirl." I slowly spun showing her all angles not the suit. "You look amazing."

"Admittedly, I feel amazing." I said, finding myself smirking softly "it makes me look quite skinny." I looked up at her, and she shot me a savage look.

"You. Are. Not. Fat." She hissed at me "how many times do I have to tell you. Now, take it off and let's go buy it."

"But I already have-" I started, but with the look Shannon gave me, quickly ammended my previous thought. "-the money to buy it. I already have the money." I stepped back into the booth and changed back into my clothes, thinking how easily Shannon could manipulate me. "Alright, let's go." I shrugged my jacket on over my shoulders and walked through the store. More than once I have to pull Shannon away from various racks of clothes, much to her protestations. 

"No, I need a second blue shirt." She whined. "Ugh fine. Let's go."

"Thank god, places like this give me hives." I laughed. We joined the que and I realised that Shannon had accumulated a large pile of outfits. Jeans, shirts, jumpers, skirts. "How do you do that, I looked away for like two seconds."

"Shopping I my superpower." She reasoned

"Fighting crime whilst looking good in this season's styles." I joked. "Maybe you should buy a new wardrobe before you start buying more clothes." The cashier called for the next customer.

"I haven't got room for a third one." She laughed. "I'll look into getting one of those beds with the storage space."

"Probably the best idea you've had all day" I teased "just this please." I passed the suit across the counter to the guy. He took it and scanned the tag, the machine making the annoying beep sound.

"£75 please buddy." He said. I lifted my debit card and he tapped on the screen and looked away. I paid for the suit and the guy bagged it and slid it across the counter towards me. "Enjoy your prom guys, hope its a good one."

"Thanks." I said as Shannon started to pile her clothes onto the surface. I could tell by the look on the guys face that Shannon wasn't the first clothes hoarder he had encountered during his shift. "I'll wait for you outside." I quickly made my way through the maze of shirts, dresses and jeans to the door. Once outside, I took a deep breath. I was always bed with densely populated areas. When i was eleven, mum took me to Disney land Paris while dad was once business trip. I had a huge panic attack in the line for space mountain and needed to be removed by the security because I couldn't move. Not my proudest moment. I checked my phone to see what the time was. As I slowly walked across to a bench, I followed with someone and dropped my bag. I should of been looking at where i was going. Something the person felt inclined to point out.

"Look where you're going." They said. I looked down at my suit that had fallen out of the bag and into a brown puddle.

"I'm so sorry, my mind's on-" I broke off as i looked at who i had walked into. "Great you. Hi Ethan" since we were in year eight, we had been described as prodigies. He was a maths prodigy, I was science - which is harder than maths because you need to know maths to do science. We had always competed to represented our school at competitions that were mentally based, not physical. I'm pretty sure we're both allergic to sport. Maybe except tennis.

"Oh Taylor" he said monotonously "you may want to pick your suit out of the dirty puddle. It's bad enough already." I pulled my suit up from the soaked ground and slid it back into the bag.

"I don't need you to give me any grief today, Ethan." I said "please just leave me alone, I haven't got time for this"

"You never do have time for things. Thats why you lost the physics final last term." He sneered. 

"No. I lost because the person who won was better than I was." I said, not losing any dignity jn admitting my defeat. "That's the difference between you and me-"

"You and I" Ethan cut in

"-i can admit when someone is better than me." I finished. He gave me a scowl nd pushed past me. I watched him walk off, the superior strut that made his entire body away with each step. I turned away from him to see Shannon bouncing down the stairs from the store. 

"What did you do?" She asked staring at the soaked bag in my hands. I sighed deeply. "If you didn't like it, you didn't have to buy it."

"It's not my fault. I had a run in a Ethan." I said and shannon rolled her eyes.

"How'd it go?" She asked

"All sunshine and rainbows with butterflies and bunny rabbits running around our feet" I said "oh and the he shot the physics final at me. It took everything I had to not pay myself at him."

"Well, I'm proud of you" she said, not hiding the sarcasm in her voice "now let's go get this washed."

-------

"I'm home" I called as I shut the door behind me. "Anyone here?" I was answered by the sound of plates clacking together. I hung my coat on the banister and made my way to the kitchen. Mum was bustling around after finishing the dishes.

"Did you have a good day?" She asked. Like usual, she was wearing a pair of jeans and a white blouse. "What have you got there?" I lifted the bag and put I on the table.

"Oh Shannon made me buy a new suit for prom" I said " her exact words were 'you're going to prom, not a funeral'" I opened the bag and showed her the suit. I had stopped at a launderette and washed it on my way home. She it out and held it out Infront of her.

"This is lovely" she said "how much did it cost?"

"Seventy-five quid, don't worry though, I'll work an extra shift at the bakery to make up the difference." I told her

"I like Shannon, she was right. You aren't going to a funeral, you need some kind of colour." Mum said. " Now go hang that up up, you don't want it creasing. Dinner is almost ready." I put the suit back in the bag and made my way back upstairs. The steps creaking in protest. I pushed my door open and kicked my shoes off. My room was my sanctum, my personal temple. Since I was thirteen, i had been collecting star constellations, a whole wall was coated in posts like Orion and Cassiopeia and the big dipper. I smiled at my collection and walked to my wardrobe. I swung the doors and a few shifts fell off the shelf and landed on my shoulders. I shrugged them off with a sigh, I'd clear them up later, and Hun my new suit beside my old one. I took the black one from its hanger and looked at it thoughtfully. I had worn it at dad's funeral, beside of lung cancer. I felt that if I wore it to prom, I'd have dad there with me, he coukd see his son on one of the milestones he would now miss. I hung the suit back on the rail and tried to swallow the lump in my throat as I closed the wardrobe doors, the mirror on the door reflecting back at me the tired shadows beneath my eyes. I rubbed my face and sat on the edge of my bed, I was still angry about my earlier confrontation with Ethan. He infuriated me, the way he pranced around with his superior attitude, acting like he was god. Just because he was intelligent and a school prodigy.

"Taylor! Dinners ready" mum called " hurry up, before it gets cold."

"Alright, coming." I said, returning her call. I pulled off my jumper and slung I over my desk chair and let the room, my anger gently ebbing away.