Beautifully Broken

“Well, Jenny,” Mamma T says. “Call me Mamma T. The only time anyone calls me Mrs. Harris is when one of my kids have done something wrong.”

“Alright then. Mamma T it is.” I can practically hear Jenny’s smile. It’s infuriating. Like seriously, who is this happy all the time? This act has to be as fake as her bleach blonde hair. I don’t get it; Rex doesn’t hang out with girls like her at our school. In fact, half the time he seems irritated to be around all the plastic trust fund kids. So why her? What about her sucked him in and earned the best friend title? What am I missing?

“Now, don’t worry about a cent, Jenny. I’m buying.” Mamma T turns down Highway 60. Ten more minutes and we’ll be at the mall. Ten more minutes and this part of the prom fiasco will be that much closer to over.

“Definitely not!” Jenny exclaims. “Rex promised me a no limits shopping trip and I’m going to find the most expensive shit I can.” She giggles. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been spoiled like this and he knows damn well I’m gonna take full advantage of it.”

“Do you even want to go to prom with Cooper or was this just some ploy to get Rex’s money?” I wanted to like Jenny. I really did. Despite my hesitations and inability to separate her from the girls at school, I wanted to find what drew Rex to her. She is after all the only friend he’s ever mentioned, but I can’t play nice if she’s a gold digger.

“Piper!” Mamma T scolds.

Jenny giggles again. Who laughs this much? “Not in the least. This is my birthday-slash-graduation present. Don’t worry, knowing Rexy-Roo he’s got something major planned for you. This shopping trip is going to look like a grain of sand compared to what he’s cooking up.”

I don’t want anything from Rex for graduation. Not his money, his gifts, or his time. The best present he could give me would be for him to find someone else. Our time is up. On Monday Gerald gets released. This is our last weekend together and I think that’s part of why I’m so bitter. I don’t want to run, but I don’t have any other options.

Mamma T pulls into a front row parking space. I jump out of the car, ready to put as much space between Jenny and I as possible. I don’t know if I can do this. Stuck all day and night with a fake gold-digging bitch who is using my boyfriend for his money. I need to keep my earbuds in and my mouth shut to avoid unnecessary drama. I’d never expect Rex to choose me over her and I don’t want to give Jenny a reason to make him choose this weekend. I hurry to the front entrance and sit on the bench. I’ve never seen Mamma T like this, all giggly and school-girl like. If I’m going to endure a whole day of shopping and prepping, I need a minute’s peace.

“This is your mall?” Jenny asks staring at the mostly empty stores around us once inside. “It’s pathetic.”

“Afraid so,” Mamma T says nodding her head. “Unless you want to drive two hours down to West Palm, but we won’t make it back in time for our salon appointments if we do that.”

Jenny reads the mall’s directory board and grimaces. “I’d rather do my own hair than settle for whatever’s inside the crappy stores that are left here.”

“Let’s do it,” Mamma T says fishing her keys out of her purse again. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and we can snag a few walk-in appointments down there.”

Two more hours each way, plus Lord knows how many hours of shopping? Our mall has maybe twenty stores, but only five that would have dresses. That one down there has at least forty in it with prom dresses. This could take all day! I groan. “Seriously? A dress is a dress. Does it really matter where we get it from?”

Jenny gasps. Perfect, manicured nails cover her heart. This girl could win an Oscar for her goody-two-shoes, southern-belle act. “You’ve got to be kidding me, Piper. We cannot just get some dinosaur dress. This is your senior prom and mine for that matter.”

Bitch doesn’t care about prom; she just wants to spend as much money as she can. I cross my arms. “It’s not like it’s your school. What does it matter what you wear?”

“Well it’s yours, and while you might not care about this night, I care about it because Rex does. Which means you should too. He’s doing everything he can to make tonight perfect because he likes you.” She pokes my shoulder. “Rex doesn’t like damn near anyone. So suck it up buttercup. We’re going to West Palm.”

Hours. It’s been hours and Jenny still hasn’t found a dress. Neither have I, but that’s not the point. I will pick any damn thing off the rack. The reason I haven’t yet, I don’t want to carry it from store to store while Jenny takes her sweet time choosing. And while Mamma T isn’t going to prom with us, she has somehow picked out a fancy dress and shoes to match it for herself. Why? No freaking clue, but it’s her money not mine.

“I’ve finally found it!” Jenny squeals. She’s holding a floor length, navy blue dress, so dark it almost looks black. The neckline plunges low to a rhinestone waistband, and the back is a mesh material with a line of buttons going from the top down to where her ass would be. As a whole, it’s a nice dress.

“Are you gonna try it on?” I ask, my eyes on a rack of gowns in front of me. I run my fingers over the hangers looking for a long one in a color I don’t hate. This might be harder than I thought.

Jenny holds the dress out. “Oh, this isn’t for me. It’s for you. I found mine five stores ago.”

My jaw drops. That sneaky bitch tricked me. “But I thought—”

She grins. “I know, but I wasn’t about to let you show up to prom in just anything. Here.” She rattles the hanger, sending a wave through the fabric. “Try it on. This should be your size, but I want to see how it falls on you. Although, with your curves I’m sure it’ll look great. Not to mention, the back will show off your killer sparrow tattoo.”

How does she know I have a tattoo? My mind’s fogging. This whole time I thought Jenny was being a snooty bitch, searching for the perfect dress to wear at a prom that isn’t even hers, and all this time it was for me. What else was I wrong about? “Um, okay.”

I take the gown into the dressing room and slip it on. It has built in pads, so I don’t need my bra, which is nice. I smooth my hands over the fabric, admiring how the material looks black in some angles and blue in others. I was wrong, the silver rhinestones don’t fall at the waist, but at the bra line. The front dip isn’t nearly as dramatic as I expected but is still revealing. My boobs look great in it, so does my ass, but I don’t like seeing my panty lines. This is definitely a dress to go commando in. I hate to admit it, but the damn thing looks amazing.

“Do we get to see?” Mamma T calls. I can hear the excitement in her voice.

My hand shakes against the doorknob. I don’t know why I’m nervous. It’s just Mamma T out there and Jenny. Jenny who I clearly misjudged. I open the door slowly, but once I step out, they both gasp, Mamma T’s hands covering her mouth. “Piper, honey,” she says, a tear running down her cheek. “You look beautiful.”

“Here.” Jenny hands me a strappy silver pair of heels. “Try these on. They’ll go great.”

I kick off my boots and slip the three-inch stilettos on and stumble my way to the mirror. The shoes are sexy, but deadly. “I’m gonna break my neck in these.”

“Hmmm. Okay, be right back.” Jenny disappears to t