The Black Dress

"Well, that's the last of it."

I huffed as I placed the last of Steven's things in the trunk if his car. I had to shuffle the box around a bit before shoving the door down on it, trying to make it all fit. Finally, after pulling out a stray t-shirt, I got the door to close. I chuckled as I handed it to Steven.

"I think this is yours."

"Keep it. You know I have a surplus of those things."

"You don't have to tell me twice."

I shrugged, stuck it in my back pocket, even though I knew darn well I already had a handful of his t-shirts in my closet. I looked back up at him and started to cry.

"Hey, hey, none of that now. I'll be back for Christmas, and I'm only going to be a couple of hours away."

That would be helpful if I could drive. I rolled my eyes.

"Well you better be back to visit before then."

"I'll see what I can do. I may be too busy partying."

I scoffed and nudged him. My brother was never the party type. He was popular, so he always got invited, but he never stayed at one more than 30 minutes.

I gave him one last hug, and stepped aside so he could get in the car.

"Drive safe, please. I love you."

"I will. I love you too, Bells."

The engine turned over, and he stuck his hand out the window to wave as he drove down the street. We had lived in this house since I was 6, and I had dreaded the day Steven would leave for college. Now I was stuck alone with my younger sister, Emily, who had no choice but to drive me nuts now that Steven wasn't around.

I sat down on the front lawn and looked up at the sky. Steven and I always sat outside to watch the clouds when I was upset. We would talk for hours. Though, even when we had nothing to say to each other, the silence never felt this lonely.

I laid back to feel the sun against my face, and after a few minutes, drifted off to sleep.

I woke up about 20 minutes later to two voices I have heard many times before.

"Bella!"

I opened my eyes to see my best friends, Ashleigh and Makaylah standing over me. They were identical twins, and lived right up the street. Before I could say hello, Ashleigh practically yelled at me,

"Did we miss him!?"

"Yeah, he left about half an hour ago."

They looked upset. They loved to joke around with Steven just as much as I did. They sat down next to me and hung their heads.

"He said he'll be back for Christmas, though."

"He better come back before that!" Exclaimed Ashleigh.

I'm pretty sure she had a crush on him, but I knew better than to say anything about it.

"You guys should stay over tonight." I looked at them with my best puppy dog eyes. I had already asked my mom, as I knew they'd be over to see Steven before he left. Makaylah jumped up and started running back towards their house.

"I'll go ask mom! I'll be right back!"

"She does know she could have just texted her, right?" I chuckled. Ashleigh just rolled her eyes and shrugged. They may have been identical twins, but their personalities could not have been any more different. I loved them both, but Ashleigh and I were inseparable. Whenever either of them needed to run off for a minute, Ashleigh was always the one to stick behind with me. A few minutes later, we got a text from Makaylah in the group chat.

Packing the bags! Be there soon!

Sweet! I thought. I definitely didn't want to be alone tonight. Ashleigh and I got up and went inside. We knew Makaylah would take awhile packing their bags. She was a picky traveler.

Ashleigh and I started laying out snacks. Any junk food we could find got thrown out on the counter. M&Ms, Cheetos, Reese's, pizza, and a handful of Emily's leftover Halloween candy from last year. She always whined that she never got enough, yet never managed to eat it all. The twins and I, on the other hand, had absolutely no problem taking it off of her hands. I scooped all of the candy and chips into a bag that was hanging around and Ashleigh grabbed the pizza. We snuck up the stairs as quietly as possible to avoid setting off Emily in the living room.

I set all the snacks on my desk when we got up to my room. Ashleigh gasped and I turned around to see what set her off.

"Where did you get this? It's gorgeous!" She shouted. My eyes widened as I turned around and saw the most elegant gown I had ever laid my eyes on. It looked like something straight out of a movie, or right off the red carpet at an awards show.

"I have no idea where that came from." I shook my head in disbelief.

"Maybe your mom gave it to you? Didn't Jack ask you to the summer fling a couple of weeks ago?"

"Maybe. It would be weird for her to go shopping without me. She knows I usually hate her taste."

"I mean, yeah, she usually picks out awful things. But Bells, LOOK AT THIS!"

It really was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. It was my favorite style of formal dress, black like I had talked about for ages, and had just the perfect amount of sparkle.

"You have to try it on!" Makaylah looked at me anxiously. "If you don't, I will." She excitedly reached for the dress.

"Okay, okay. I guess it's better to try it on now before we stuff ourselves full and it doesn't fit."

"I don't think that's how that works... but I don't care. I'm excited to see it on you!"

I picked up the dress and slipped into it. Of course it fit like a glove. I turned around so Ashleigh could help me zip it. She looked at me in awe.

"You look like a freakin' princess."

"I feel like one." I twirled around and sat on the bed. "It's perfect."