The Book of Firsts

Sixty-Eight

"There’s a lot of possibilities on their website, but whether any look good on me is another question," Lania said, as we headed toward the southern suburbs and Helios' largest formal wear store. "Too many dresses make me look like a pigeon."

"This is definitely not something to be left to online shopping," I said, enjoying an outing that didn’t involve a bus. Lania had borrowed her mother’s car, and was driving with a tight frown of concentration. "Are you stressed about the dress or the weird turns needed to get over the tram tracks?"

"Both. I really should drive more. I haven’t done more than go to the supermarket since I got my full licence."

"I’ve never driven anywhere with trams."

"Do you have a licence already? I was wondering if you’d like lessons."

"No licence. Some fooling around with cars. I’m not sure whether it will be worth getting a licence, since I’ll look for a place near the tram line, or somehow within walking distance. A car would only be worth it for me if I ended somewhere out of reach of public transport." I stretched in my seat lazily. "There’s still a lot to be settled."

"You’ll get into your course," Lania said, firmly. "Even if you only get an hour’s sleep, you’re more than capable of acing the exams."

"I’m certainly going to try to," I said, finding myself oddly relaxed about the most important test of my life. Whether it was psychological or chemical, I’d greatly increased my chance of getting sleep during the exam week, and felt that I very likely would manage to be functional. This didn’t change the possibility that I’d simply be outclassed, but I’d reached the stage of accepting I could only do my absolute best.

Sunglow Plaza was a massive creamy block of a shopping centre, a major hub for the sprawl of residential suburbs that sat south of Helios' city centre. I stayed considerately quiet while Lania negotiated the complex parking lots, searching for a space, and thought idly about the design of this kind of building. It wasn’t something that drew me, but I’d seen some I liked, particularly those with big atrium ceilings to let in some light. Sunglow, sadly, didn’t live up to its name, being almost entirely artificially lit.

"Lunch and then dresses, or dresses and then lunch?" I asked.

"Dresses first. Then we’ll be able to hit the food court without worrying about fit."

"Good plan."

There were a wide range of dress stores offering formal wear, but Lania and I headed straight to the budget warehouse. It was the time of year for exams and goodbyes, and Corascur far from the only school in Helios, so the first thing we saw was the line for the dressing rooms.

"This…" Lania began.

"Let’s do a quick browse, see if there’s anything we’re in love with, and then decide whether the line is worth it."

"Okay."

Looking for green, backless dresses was a simple enough task, but the only things that even came close were designed for bustier women. I reviewed non-green backless dresses, and green dresses with backs, and decided I was a little more invested in how I looked at this dance than I’d realised.

It might be the last time I saw them.

"Any progress?" Lania asked, finding me standing gazing dubiously at a lot of gold lamé.

"Only in developing an allergy to sequins. Let’s do lunch and regroup."

The food court was packed, but we found a quieter café and soothed ourselves with cake and milkshakes.

"It’s not that I couldn’t spend more money," Lania said, twirling her straw. "I’ve been saving, and Dad would probably pop for anything not too ludicrous if I looked sad enough. It’s just that…"

"…if I’m going to spend, I’d rather do it on a new computer," I finished. "A dress I’m only going to wear once and then keep in a suitcase…"

"We could probably resell them," Lania said. "I did look into renting something, but that comes with its own set of issues. Much as I try not to care about the Rose Court, I don’t want to go into this event feeling like I’ve painted a target on my back."

"Not my area of expertise either." I paused, then picked up my phone. "My budget might be limited, but one thing I do have is connections."

I sent a text to Millie to get a number, and then another text, since time zones made direct calls potentially very unkind. I was pleased to receive an immediate call back.

"Hi Jojo."

"Hello little girl!" replied a high squeaky voice that did not at all match the big, burly man it belonged to. "Are you coming to be an extra again?"

"No, I’m looking for advice. School formal dance in three weeks, very dressy, overloaded with snobs, and my friend and I have no idea what kind of dresses would suit us, let alone how to find them."

"Not the oddest request I’ve had today. What does your friend look like?"

I sent him a recent photo of Lania that gave a good idea of her proportions, and heard him laugh.

"Have you ever heard of Laurel and Hardy?"

"No. But I have a feeling you’re not being polite."

"Beanpole and dumpling—a classic combination."

"Ouch."

"But I think I can work with it. Let me send you some sketches. Do you have any preferences?"

"Anything that comes close to green and backless would hit my special request quota." I looked across at Lania. "Anything you really want or don’t want?"

"Not baby pink. I don’t mind low cut, but not so people fall into it."

Jojo obviously heard this, laughed again, and promised to get back to me.

"Who was that?" Lania asked, after I’d ended the call.

"Jojo de Court," I said. "Lead costume designer for Sky of Diamond and Sea of Silver."

"Seriously?"

"My mother and I spent a few afternoons sorting his archives for him, and I figure I can call in that favour."

Lania shook her head. "Sometimes I think you’re an elaborate dream, Mika."

"I’ll take that as a compliment. Well, I’ll take credit for my parents knowing a lot of people. Want to go to the movies, now we have free time?"

"Sure."

By the time we were out of the movies, Jojo had sent sketches. For Lania, a fuchsia piece, tight under the breasts, flaring to a skirt of layered gauzes. For me, white and green, with a cowl neck to distract from my lack of chest, and a matching but deeply plunging cowl back. The long, flaring skirt was apparently based on a Ginger Rogers classic gown.

"I’ll get them to you next week," Jojo said. "Find a good local seamstress to take care of any minor adjustments. Mail them back when you’re done."

After profuse thanks, I hung up, then smiled triumphantly at Lania. "He’s going to add them to the costume budget and use them for outfitting some extras, which means we not only get to play Cinderella, we have a bonus game of Spot My Dress when the movie comes out."

Lania worked her mouth silently for a moment, then said: "Help me figure out a good gift to send him in return."

"For Jojo, it’d be brandy. We’d best ask an expert for a good variety. Do you think we should go shoe shopping now, or wait until we have exact fabric to match?"

"Better to wait." Lania recovered a little, then said: "So who requested green and backless? Christophe?"

I laughed. "I did group polling. Want to come back to my place for a while? I admit it’s a box, but I have the newest console."

"Why not? We could check out that underwater battle royale."

We returned to the car, but Lania didn’t start it immediately, looking again at the dress design I’d forwarded her.

"To be honest, I really wasn’t looking forward to this dance," she said, slowly. "Partly because it’s a big goodbye, but also because I figured I’d dance with you and Sean, but spend most of my time feeling like…like, well, the short scholarship kid straying among the expensive gazelles. Instead, I’m going to have an exclusive frock and take Ginger Rogers to the ball. I never thought I’d go in for princess fantasies."

"Should I find us tiaras? That reminds me—when we get these dresses and shoes, we’re really going to need to have a day of practice. It occurs to me we’ve been busy adding a layer of dance difficulty I haven’t negotiated before."

"Backward and in heels," Lania quoted, and started the car.