Lily appeared at the top of the stairs, drawn by the voices. “Oh, hey Cassandra. What’s up?”
“Come down here, sweetie,” Cassandra called, her voice suddenly sugary. “I have something that’s going to make your prom absolutely perfect.”
Lily descended slowly, curiosity written across her face. Cassandra unzipped the garment bag with theatrical flair, revealing the exact dress Lily had shown me weeks ago — the $1,000 satin gown with the star-like beading.
“Surprise!” Cassandra announced, holding the dress up like she’d just solved world hunger. “Now you can go to prom in style instead of wearing whatever your mom cobbled together.”
The words hit me like a slap. I felt my face burn, but Lily’s reaction surprised me. Instead of jumping up and down with excitement, she went very still. “Wow! That’s… that’s the dress I showed Mom.”
“I know!” Cassandra beamed. “Your friend Jessica mentioned you’d been talking about it at school. She also mentioned your mom was trying to make you something homemade.” The way she said “homemade” made it sound like a dirty word.
“I thought you deserved better than some amateur sewing project,” Cassandra continued, looking directly at me now. “Lily should have the best, don’t you think? Not some knockoff!”
Lily took the dress from Cassandra’s hands, running her fingers over the beading I’d spent weeks trying to replicate with sequins and patience. “It’s beautiful. Really beautiful. Thank you.”
Cassandra’s smile widened. “I knew you’d love it. Mark transferred the money this morning… he wanted to make sure his daughter had everything she needed for such an important night.”
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