I wore a beige top just so Jane would feel more at home with me. I had to borrow it out of my mom’s closet because nothing I had was that plain. I was kind of proud of the forethought. Thinking before I did something wasn’t exactly my strong point. That’s how much I wanted to win this competition.
I waited by the classroom door, hunting my prey. It was before school but Jane had to walk by eventually. The entire school would pass by the door before the bell rang. I liked my chances.
Waiting, waiting, and there she was. The moment Jane was in front of the door, I grabbed her arm and pulled her into the room.
Closing the door, I leaned against it so she couldn’t escape. “Hey, Jane.”
“What are you doing? You gave me a heart attack.” She wasn’t entirely pleased about seeing me, apparently.
“I just wanted to see if you’ve had any more thoughts about that competition I told you about?” I hoped she had forgotten the part about never changing her mind. It was a girl’s prerogative, after all.
“I told you I’m too busy.”
“But it’s going to be awesome. Like, seriously awesome.”
She put one hand on her hip, the way my mom did when she was angry with me. “Oh, I didn’t realize it was going to be awesome, in that case…”
I was excited until I realized she was being sarcastic. One win for the smart girl. I needed to change tactics. “Okay, here’s the thing. I really need to win this competition. It’s my dream to be a fashion designer and winning this would help me get there.”
She softened a little. Well, at least she took her hand off her hip. “It’s great that you have a dream and all. It’s very Martin Luther King of you, but it’s not my dream. Why can’t you enter the competition alone anyway? It doesn’t have to be a team thing.”
“Because I’m all sparkly cushion and you’re all straight sewing. I can’t do it on my own and it’s too late to learn how to really sew.” We were actually having a conversation, that was progress.
“Then you should have thought about that earlier,” she said haughtily. Ugh, I was getting nowhere. The problem was I didn’t know Jane well enough to know what would convince her. I had no idea what she lived and breathed for. If I did, I would promise it to her forever. I would have to guess.
“Look, there is a cash prize for the winner. A thousand bucks, you can have it all if that’s what it takes.” I silently hoped my family would forgive me for that – we really needed the money.
“I’m not interested in money,” she replied. Okay, strike one.
“Our dress could be on a real model, in a real fashion shoot. How great would that be? They’re going to wear the winning design at the awards ceremony and everything.”
Something crossed Jane’s face, she completely changed. My heart leaped. “An award ceremony?” I nodded eagerly – that’s what she latched onto? “Can anyone go? Like parents and stuff?”
“Sure.” Why not? They would probably be invited, right? That would be a problem for another day.
“And you only want me to sew? I don’t have to do any of the design or anything?” It sounded like my little fishy was on the hook.
“Leave all that to me.”
Jane stuck out her hand between us. It took a few moments to register that she wanted us to shake on it. I took her hand and we shook three times exactly.
“Deal,” she said, it was my favorite word of the day.
I was so excited I literally wanted to bounce around the classroom like an idiotic two year old. Instead, I managed to contain myself. “Great, I’ll find you at lunch with my designs and we can pick one.”
I was pretty sure Jane rolled her eyes at me at that point. We left the room and hurried off to first period. The entire morning I was itching for lunch to come around. My sketchpad was burning a hole in my locker and I needed to free it from its prison.
The moment the bell rang at noon, I was like a speeding bullet out of there. Jane was in her usual place in the outside courtyard – alone.
I had my sketchpad out before I even sat down beside her. “These are all my designs. I was thinking we need something really unique to stand out in the crowd.”
Jane placed her sandwich beside her, wiped her hands on her pants, and took the book. She carefully flicked through each page. “You have so many drawings in here.”
“I’ve been waiting for something like this my entire life.” It was what I lived for, of course I had so many sketches. I always vowed to be ready when a big designer came knocking on my door and wanted to see my work.
“Have you made any of these before?” Jane asked.
“No.”
“Why not?”
I guessed honesty was probably a pretty big deal in a partnership. Besides, my mind was buzzing too much to make up a convincing lie fast enough. “We don’t have any spare cash in my family. Material is expensive. And I don’t have a sewing machine.”
If Jane was surprised, she didn’t let it show on her face. “So you’ve only ever drawn the dresses?” I nodded, she studied me carefully. I crossed my fingers, hoping she wasn’t going to back out already. “Some of these are almost impossible to sew.”
“You don’t like them?” My heart was starting to shrivel into the size of a raisin.
“It’s not that.” She pursed her lips as she studied one particular sketch – a techno-come-rock themed dress. “We just have to make sure the dress is practical too. If a real model is going to be wearing it all night, she’ll need to be able to move.”
“What do you mean?”
“See this?” She pointed to the sleeve of the dress, it was a triangle of fabric that reached right up to the chin. “If she wore this, she wouldn’t be able to turn her head without getting a sore chin. If we brought it back a little, she would have full movement and it wouldn’t compromise the overall impact of the design.”
I looked at the sketch again, with fresh eyes this time. Jane was right. As much as I didn’t want to admit it. That dress would be a cow to wear.
My lips curled into a grin. That was exactly what I needed, someone to tone down my crazy. I got the feeling we were on the verge of starting a beautiful partnership.
CHAPTER 4