That Little Black Dress

In high school, clothes were my enemy--nothing fit, I hated how I looked in everything and my parents had...other bills to pay, so my school wardrobe every year came from Goodwill. Or The Salvation Army. And once I got a dress from a consignment shop that had me dancing in my seat on the bus until Rocky McGreeves, who sat behind me, smacked me on the head and called me a retard. But mostly my clothes came from Goodwill. Once Mimi Young saw me wearing her old Nirvana T-shirt. She stood on the table in the lunch room and announced it to the whole school. I'm pretty sure I actually died of shame that day.

Yeah, clothes and I--I mean, my weight was in a continual state of flux, so nothing ever actually fit, but there was this one dress: a little black dress that--I could've gained 50 lbs and it still would've looked fabulous. (And I know because I did.) Nina was so jealous...Emily really never wore black, she was more of a wear-the-entire-rainbow-at-once kind of girl. But deep, deep down, I know she wanted it, too. She'd come over some days after school, and we'd dress up and pretend we were going to the prom. She told me black was a stupid color to wear to the prom, but I didn't care.

I loved that dress. I'd put it on at night and twirl in front of the mirror. I never got to wear it out though...