by Kerry Sparks
Chapter 5- The Assignment
I was in Home-Ec class chewing gum. I blew a bubble the size of a globe. Lindy burst my bubble. Pink gum covered every inch of my face.
“Thanks a lot,” I said, sarcastically.
“No problem,” she replied.
“Mrs. Oaks? Can I go wash my face?” I asked.
“Not now Jennifer. I’m getting ready to talk about a very important assignment.”
“But…” I started.
“No butts. (Snickering from the classroom) You shouldn’t have been chewing gum,” she scolded in a friendly way.
“Well, she shouldn’t have been popping it!” I protested.
“Not my problem,” Mrs. Oaks sang.
I groaned as I pulled a piece of sticky pink goo off my chin.
“Attention class!”
Mrs. Oaks clapped her hands together.
“I have a very important assignment to talk to you about so get out your pencils and take good notes,” she ordered.
“What about a pen? Can I use a pen?” asked Roger Lenore.
“Yes Roger,” said a frustrated Mrs. Oaks.
“Ok so we are going to do something very exciting in January! We are going to have an eighth grade fashion show!” Mrs. Oaks cheered.
Most of the girls clapped. The few boys we had in the Home-Ec class, roughly four, looked at each other like deer caught in headlights. Most of the boys at our school opted to take Gaming for their elective course. The course allows the boys to come up with their own video game idea. The few boys in our class were “skirt chasers” and just took Home-Ec so they could be with us girls.
“Your assignment is to create a look for the show. You will work in pairs so one person can work on the top, and the other person can work on the bottoms, which may be pants, shorts or a skirt. One of you will have to model the look. If there is an issue on this then I will randomly pick the person who will do the modeling by flipping a coin. We’re not going to have any fights over this. Any questions so far? Yes Roger?”
“Who will be the model heads or tails?” he asked.
“Heads,” said Mrs. Oaks with a sigh, “Any questions about the assignment?”
“What about a dress? Can we do a dress?” Francesca asked.
“Why! That’s quite ambitious of you Francesca! I guess that would be okay. But the assignment requires two pieces so if one person is doing the dress then the other person would have to make something to go with the dress such as a hat or a scarf.”
I rolled my eyes. Good ol’ Francesca Clearwater. Why did she always have to try and outshine everyone? I tried being Francesca’s friend in the past, but she got on my nerves too much. I had her over for a sleepover, and she spent the entire time color coordinating my closet. She went M.I.A. at the sleepover. I thought maybe she went home or something. Two hours later, she jumped out of my closet and yelled, “Surprise!” My closet did look a lot better, but she had totally freaked me out in the process. I wish she would’ve told me where she was. We were about to call a search party. I didn’t really talk to her much after that.
Mrs. Oaks continued.
“The fashion show will take place in mid January so you have a month to create your look. We’re going to be working on these looks every day so a month should be plenty of time. Do your best because this is your grade for the term.”
Lindy’s hand went up.
“Yes?”
“Who is going to see the fashion show?” she asked.
“Good question. The fashion show will be put on for the seventh graders and the faculty. You may invite your parents to the event if they are able to come.”
“No thanks,” mumbled Roger.
“That’s it. Go ahead and pair up. Today is all about brainstorming. We are not using the sewing machines today. Think carefully about how you’d like to create your look. Oh, and I forgot to mention. There’s a prize for the best design. I’m going to award a one hundred dollar mall gift card to the team with the best design!”
The classroom erupted in applause. Roger started talking about the video game he was going to buy. Lindy said she was going to get some highlights for her hair. I decided I would get something fabulous from Hot to Trot. I saw a cashmere sweater there that I’d love to have. I’ve always wanted something cashmere, but it’s so expensive. Even a pair of gloves is like fifty dollars, but cashmere is just so soft! I imagined Scott Parker touching my cashmere sweater.
Lindy squeezed my hand.
“Partners?” she asked.
“Of course!” I said.
Duh? Like, who else would I pick? I moved our desks together so that we were facing each other. I got out my notebook and pencil. I wrote FASHION SHOW at the top of the page.
“Ok so a shirt and a skirt?” I asked.
“Definitely,” she agreed.
“Which one do you want to do?” I asked.
“Shirt,” she said without any hesitation.
“Omigosh! That’s perfect because I so wanted to do the skirt!” I said, excitedly.
I decided that I wanted to do a plaid flannel skirt. Lindy would make a turtleneck. The skirt would be green, navy and black plaid print. The turtleneck was going to be black. Lindy was also going to make a black beret with a small black bow on it. We decided on navy blue knee high socks and black Mary Jane shoes. I nominated Lindy to be the model since she’s so tall and skinny. She already looks like a supermodel. She accepted the nomination.
“Don’t let it go to your head,” I teased.
She laughed.
“You know. I think it would be better if we used forest green knee highs. I think it would look better with the black shoes. The navy won’t be very noticeable,” she remarked.
“Yes, I think you’re right. Green it is,” I agreed.
I crossed off navy blue and wrote green in its place. The bell rang.
“Dance tonight. My house,” I reminded.
“I’m so there!” she said.
We high-fived and parted ways.