Page 8 of Finding Us
“Let me guess. A beach wedding?” she asks.
“Yes. How did you know that?”
She doesn’t answer. “And you’re what? 19? 20?”
“Nineteen. I’ll be 20 in October.”
“I’ll be right back.” She takes off down a hallway toward the back of the house.
Harper and I look at each other.
“That was weird,” I say.
“I like her.” Harper makes herself comfortable on the purple velvet couch sitting in the middle of the small living room. “She seems mystical. All knowing. Like one of the psychics my mom used to go to.”
“Your mom went to a psychic?”
“You. Come here.” The old lady is standing in the hallway, motioning me to follow her.
I look at Harper, a little worried about where the old lady is taking me.
Harper waves her hand at me and mouths the word ‘go.’
The lady walks really fast. I follow her down the hallway. We pass a room that’s full of white dresses but she keeps going and stops at the room next to it. She ushers me inside. It looks like a makeshift dressing room. There’s a curtain hanging from a circular wire suspended from the ceiling.
“Your dress is in there, dear.”
“But I didn’t even see it. Shouldn’t I—”
“Go ahead.” She pushes me past an opening in the curtain into the tiny space. “Try it on.”
The curtain closes and I’m left standing there wondering what just happened. I turn around and see a dress hanging there. It’s a long white dress with a halter-style neckline. It tapers in at the waist, then has a slight A-line shape to the floor. The only detail on it is a stitched and beaded design that forms a band that sits just above the waistline. There are no puffy sleeves, no fish-tail bottom, no bows, no lace. Just a sleek, elegant white dress. Even the fabric is simple. It’s not too shiny or stiff like the other dresses I tried on today, but instead is more soft and flowing.
“Do you have it on yet?” The old lady’s voice startles me and I turn back around.
“Um, no. Not yet.” I quickly take off my shorts and tank top and carefully slip on the dress but I can’t zip it up all the way,
I peek my head outside the curtain and see the old lady standing there with a tape measure around her neck.
“Turn around,” she orders. I do as she says and she zips me up. “Now go look in the mirror.”
She leads me over to a small wooden platform in front of a full length mirror.
As soon as I see myself in the mirror, I know this is it. This is the dress. It’s perfect.
Mitzi appears next to me. “You like it.”
She doesn’t say it like she’s asking me. She says it like she already knows I like it. Like she knew I would. Maybe Harper’s right. Maybe sheisa psychic.
“Yeah, I really like it.” I turn a little to see the back of the dress. It’s an open back, which is exactly what I wanted. “The dress is a little long but other than that I wouldn’t change a thing.”
“I’ll fix the length. Now try these on.” She hands me a pair of white sandals. They have just a slight heel and a thin row of sparkly crystals in the center strap.
Mitzi must notice my hesitation when I see the crystals because she catches my eye and says, “Every bride needs a little sparkle on her wedding day.”
I slip the sandals on. I actually like the sparkly accents.
“Can I come back there now?” Harper calls out from the front.
