Please Don't Wear That Dress Tonight

If you've read my other high school memories, you may recall that I've mentioned the six other girls that I ran with during my latter years at Livermore High. Well as in any group of close friends there is always one that leaves you sometimes asking yourself, "Wait, why do we hang out with her again?" This friend will remain nameless, though she and the other girls of the group no exactly who I'm referring to. Infact, all they have to do is read the title and they, like me, will know exactly what dress. Let's call her, M.

So it was the month or so leading to our Senior Ball. There were actually only four of us going to Senior Ball. We shopped for dresses, purchased tickets, and booked hotel rooms, all the things seniors do in preparation for senior ball. Now my best friend had a hard time finding the perfect dress. Finally though, she did. And it was indeed, perfect. The color, the size, and the style all fit her tiny frame like a glove. She LOVED this dress. We all gathered at her house to see it after she had found it, and she talked non stop about her perfect dress. You must understand, she LOVED this dress.

As I mentioned only four of us girls (and our respective dates) planned on attending senior ball. The other girls all had different reasons for not going. M, the aforementioned "why do we hang out with her again" girl was not going because her boyfriend (the man she would later marry then divorce) was in the marines. He had told her from the moment that senior ball was announced, that he wouldn't be able to come up that weekend. She had no intention of going with someone else. Basically she was out.

A couple weeks before senior ball, and about a week or so after my best friend had found her perfect dress, M decided for the hell of it to go dress shopping anyway. When asked why she was going dress shopping, M only said she wanted to have something in case her boyfriend was suddenly able to make it. You know, because it's so easy for Marines to get out of work to attend a senior ball. Anyhow, when she returned from dress shopping she wanted us all to come over and see this gorgeous dress she had found. She said she just knew we would all love it. Well of course she knew we would love it, she had seen us all gush over it a not two weeks before when my best friend bought it!

We all stood in her bedroom in silence. My best friend finally said, "Dude! You bought my dress!" M, said, "No I did not. Your is Cranberry, mine is wine colored." She was dead serious. We all looked at her and the dress. Cranberry & wine, at least in this case, were pretty much the same color. M, who was pretty much NOT going to senior ball, had bought the exact same dress as my best friend. My best friend was livid.

That night we (minus M) hung out at my best friends boyfriends house. We all chattered and gossiped and tried to figure out WHY she had executed such a friend & fashion faux pa. No one was as aggravated as my best friend, who could not accept the possibility that she might be wearing the same dress as M. It's not like we would be sitting at different places at the ball. We would be attending together, taking pictures together, and being around each other the WHOLE time. In the same dress. The stress level escalated. Finally as we sat there, out of no where, I began singing Roxanne. Only I changed the name from Roxanne, to M's name.  "Rooooxanne, You don't have to wear that dress tonight..."

My other friends immediately got on board and began singing with me. My best friend broke into hysterical laughter, and began singing as well. M, of course, didn't go to the prom. The rest of us did and had a great time. And when the DJ played Roxanne, nothing could stop the laughter that ensued. My dear best friend (whose pictured in the dress below) was the one who said, "You HAVE to write about the dress!!" when I told her about JamsBio a few short weeks ago. That of course was followed by a quick duet of Roxanne over the phone and then a full five minutes of laughter.