Hex Education by Maureen Kilmer

Author:Maureen Kilmer [Kilmer, Maureen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2023-09-19T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

I will have to remove both kidneys to fit into this,” I muttered as I struggled to pull the red bodycon dress over my head. My shoulder nearly dislocated as I tried to shimmy it down my waist. Sweating, I looked into the dressing room mirror and frowned. I looked like an overfilled pastry bag. If the pastry bag cost $800.

“No,” I called over the dressing room curtain. I pulled on my black jeans and white long-sleeved T-shirt before I left the torture dress in the dressing room.

Marcy tapped a finger against her cheek as I walked out and then shifted her gaze to the dressing room next to mine, where Nancy was trying on a purple monstrosity that her mother had insisted she model.

A saleswoman with a silver tray of champagne glasses hurried over, and Marcy eagerly grabbed two. I thought she was going to hand one to me, but she quickly downed one and held the other.

I retracted my outstretched hand, desperately wanting an escape.

We were at Eduardo’s Boutique, a small designer dress shop on Michigan Avenue in the Gold Coast of downtown Chicago. Marcy had insisted on a “girls’ day” for us to go shopping for our dresses. She’d wanted Harper to join us, but my daughter was mortified at the idea of going to an “old lady dress shop,” so I had to lie and say she had cheer practice.

I took a seat in a blue velvet armchair next to my mother-in-law.

“Yoo-hoo, Nancy! Let’s see it, honey,” she called. Marcy had already picked out her own dress—a bright green sequined, strapless mermaid gown that she thought would look perfect in the botanic gardens. She said she wanted to look like a living plant, albeit one that was fond of fake eyelashes and pink lipstick.

The heavy white dressing room curtain quivered before it slowly parted and Nancy walked out, frowning.

The dress was a deep violet ball gown with a satin bodice encrusted with black sequins. It looked like a 1980s prom dress, and not in a cool, nostalgic way. In a Glamour Shots-at-the-mall way.

Marcy cooed and clapped her hand against the champagne glass, while I tried to hide my look of horror.

“Absolutely not,” Nancy said as she slouched forward, letting the puffy sleeves frame either side of her lined face.

I gave her a sympathetic look and then slightly rolled my eyes, but she didn’t react. She turned to look at herself in the large mirror behind a small white pedestal, and I caught a glimpse of her back. I swallowed hard as my gaze trailed along the angry red skin.

I saw Marcy’s gaze stop on Nancy’s back, her eyes lingering.

“I think you look beautiful,” Marcy said, too quickly.

A high-pitched whine moved across the room. “What’s wrong with her?” a child’s voice wailed.

A young girl modeling a flower girl dress huddled in the corner with a group of bridesmaids and pointed at Nancy. The women moved around her, trying to block the little girl’s view, keep her out of sight.

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