The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Dress

by Shani Petroff

  “You can’t give up,” Gabi said, shifting her whole body to face me. “You have to up your game. Don’t let one of Courtney’s groupies win.”

  “I don’t know . . .”

  “Well, I do.” She leaned closer to me. “She might be able to make muffins, but can she send him to outer space? Just think about everything you can do.”

  My eyes followed Cole as he took his seat. Gabi was right. I needed to fight harder. I couldn’t give up on him. He was too cute. Watching him toss a piece of the muffin into his mouth made me angry. Cole wasn’t Jaydin’s. He was mine. I could totally top a muffin. I had powers.

  I leaned down to make it look like I was getting something out of my bag. But what I was really doing was conjuring up a fabulous piece of mud cake. Sure, Lou said he’d punish me if he found out I did something advanced—something he didn’t teach me. But really, how advanced was making a cake? Gabi was churning them out in her Easy-Bake Oven at five years old. This was nothing.

  I molded the air with my hands, concentrated, and, for once, my powers actually did what I wanted.

  Right in my hands, sitting perfectly on a plate was a duplicate of the cake I saw in Cole’s house last night. His favorite dessert. Take that, Jaydin.

  When he was seated, I tapped Cole on the shoulder. He turned around and his eyes instantly went to the cake. My plan was already working.

  “Do you want this?” I asked, offering up the plate, fork included. “I already had a big piece for breakfast and can’t eat any more.”

  “Sure,” Cole said, his eyes totally huge. He didn’t even put up a fuss. I guess when it came to cake he was able to forgive me no problem.

  A little bit of frosting got on my finger as I handed it to him. Once he turned around, I licked it off. But the taste was not exactly what I had envisioned. It was mud cake, all right.

  MADE WITH REAL MUD.

  There was no sugar or chocolate, just wet dirt. I spit it out, and wiped my tongue with my hand. The taste was disgusting. Then I got that all too familiar feeling in the pit of my stomach—the one that felt like a dozen Smurfs having a tug-of-war with my intestines. Because I had done it again. I made an already bad situation with Cole worse. I had to get the cake away from him before he tried it. He would think it was an evil practical joke if I let him dig into a plate of mud.

  “Cole, wait,” I said, while frantically getting out of my chair and moving toward the cake.

  He was about to put the fork to his lips. “Don’t,” I shouted, knocking it from his hand and grabbing the plate.

  “What’s your problem?” he asked.

  “I saw a hair in it,” I said. “You can’t eat it.”

  “If you didn’t want to give me the cake, you shouldn’t have.”

  “That’s not it,” I protested. “I really saw a hair.”

  “Right.” He picked up his pen and began to doodle on his math homework. All of his focus was on it. He wouldn’t look up, not even when I said his name.

  Cole didn’t believe me. He thought I was trying to mess with him. I took my seat. Why couldn’t anything ever go right?

  chapter 35

  “Now we definitely need a spotlight dance for the king and queen,” Courtney said, going on and on about the dance during detention. She was positive she was going to be crowned, and I was pretty sure she was right.

  The dance was going to have Gabi’s Hollywood theme. Courtney decided that after her “dream” the other day, she didn’t want anything to do with underwater or Hawaii. I had to agree.

  “I got the yearbook club to agree to take pictures of us on the red carpet. I want everyone to get really dressed up. Just like an awards ceremony. My mom picked up silver foil paper to make the stars for the walls. We can cut them here, and I’m making my study hall help out, too. I want to see a ton of helium balloons filling the ceiling. But they can’t be a bunch of colors. We need to stick with silver, white, and black. Elegant stuff. Miss Simmons is going to watch over the king and queen voting to make sure there’s no cheating.” Courtney smirked at me. “Unless of course you want to do that, Angel. Since you don’t have anyone to dance with.”

  “Thanks, I’ll pass,” I answered, refusing to let her draw me into a fight.

  “That’s probably for the best,” she said. “I wouldn’t trust you, anyway.” After getting in her jab at me, she went right back to coordinating the dance. “So what about snacks? What should we have?”

  I tuned her out. She could plan whatever she wanted. I didn’t care. There was no way I was ever setting foot in there.

  chapter 36

  Cole made it pretty clear he no longer liked me. Eight whole days went by and he didn’t talk to me once. Not once! And I really tried to get him to. But he refused to utter a sound or, worse, even acknowledge me. Not when I stood behind him in line in the cafeteria and asked him which looked more edible—the hamburger or the lasagna, or when I accidentally-on-purpose dropped my pencil under his desk and asked him to get it for me (I even tapped him on the shoulder hard and still got no answer), or even when I blocked his entrance to homeroom. He just waited for me to move. It was official. I no longer existed in Cole Daniels’s universe.

  And the dance was the next day.

  I couldn’t stop watching Cole’s table during lunch. Everyone seemed so excited. Courtney, Jaydin, and Lana were all smiles. Even Cole, D.L., Reid, and all their guy friends looked happy. It had to be the dance that was making them all so giddy.

  My table, on the other hand, was doom and gloom central. Not even chocolate chip cookies and Twix bars could cheer me up. Seeing Cole give Jaydin that lopsided grin of his (that should have been saved for me) ruined my appetite. Even for sweets.

  “Hey,” Gabi said. “Are you listening to me?”

  “Sorry.” The only thing on my mind was Cole. And Cole and Jaydin. And Cole at the dance. Without me. Basically, all Cole, all the time.

  “Cheer up,” she said, picking at her tofu bologna. “After tomorrow night, it’s all over.”

  That wasn’t true. It was just starting. Cole and Jaydin were making their debut for the whole world to see. After that, everyone would link them together. The whole school would be talking about the dance and how Caydin was the new supercouple. (That even soundedbetterthanCangel—whichjustmademethink of cankles—big, fat ankles.) I’d have to watch them walking hand in hand in the hallways. Maybe even see them steal a kiss during lunch. They’d probably get a page devoted to them in the yearbook. Then it would be there for me to see forever—in black and white.

  “I gotta go,” I said to Gabi. She didn’t need to see me cry. No one did.

  As I rushed toward the exit, I collided right into Cole at the garbage can. “I’m sorry,” I said, looking up at him. “For everything.”

  Then I ran. As fast as I could.

  chapter 37

  “Good news,” Miss Simmons told us. “I’m not going to make you serve detention tomorrow since it’s so close to the dance start time. Today is your last day.”

  We all let out sighs of relief.

  “But you do have to get to the gymnasium early tomorrow night to help set up for the dance,” she said.

  “I’m not going,” I said. There was no way I was going to subject myself to watching Cole on a date with someone else.

  “You have to,” she answered. “It’s part of being on the committee.”

  I started to protest, but she gave me a stern look and left for the teachers’ room.

  Courtney gloated. “No date, Angel? Big surprise there. Just go with your loser friend.” She glared at Gabi. “Or there’s always Max.”

  “Ignore her,” Gabi said.

  But that was hard.

  “Think about something else,” Gabi whispered.

  “We don’t need your powers going all crazy.” I wasn’t too worried. I had been practicing my lessons at home. While I hadn’t mastered the latest one, the first two were simple. Powers weren’t my problem. The dance was.


  “What are you going to wear?” Gabi asked.

  “Huh?”

  “To the dance.”

  “Who cares?” I said. It wasn’t like I had anyone to impress anymore. Besides, I was just going to hang up the decorations and leave. Before Caydin showed up.

  “Well, I think I’m going to wear the dress I wore to my cousin Josh’s bar mitzvah. It’s dark blue . . .”

  I put my head down on my desk as she rattled on about her outfit. But none of that mattered. The only thing on my mind was how to survive middle school without Cole.

  Step one: making it through the dance.

  chapter 38

  Gabi looked like she stepped off the page of some teen magazine’s prom issue. “Your dress is so fancy,” I said, eyeing her dark blue gown. It had an empire waist with a ribbon cutting right underneath her chest, the dress hung to the floor and tied around her neck. “What happened to wearing what you wore to your cousin’s bar mitzvah?”

  “This is what I wore,” she said, yanking at her French braid. “I described the dress to you yesterday. If you had bothered listening, you’d know.”

  I looked at her dress and then at my jumper. It was like a Teen Voguemeets Romper Roomsmackdown. Don’t get me wrong, my outfit was way cute—black jumper, tights, and a white blouse. It was the one I wore on my first date with Cole. I looked fine, but Gabi looked like she was going to the Oscars. Which I guess was the point.

  Not that any of it mattered. Jeans and a T-shirt would have been good enough. I only even put the jumper on because I wanted Miss Simmons to think I was taking my dance committee responsibilities seriously. Otherwise she’d probably give me another week of detention. But I was just there to hang decorations and leave—before Cole and Jaydin showed up.

  “We should go in,” Gabi said.

  “Wait,” I said, putting out my arm to stop her. We were standing at the side of the school, and I could hear Courtney approaching the front entrance. (I’d know her annoying squeal anywhere.) There was no reason to suffer through any more time with her than necessary, so I was going to wait. I carefully peeked my head around the corner to sneak a look at what she was wearing. “NO,” I said in a harsh whisper.

  Not only was it Courtney and D.L., but Cole and Jaydin. They weren’t supposed to be there to set up. They weren’t on the committee. I wanted to spare myself the pain of seeing them on their date. What could be more horrendous? And to make matters worse, they both looked so good.

  Jaydin had on a shift dress that my mother never would have let me wear. It was silvery and crazy short. She had her black hair piled on top of her head in a messy bun and she was even wearing makeup. Black eyeliner that she smudged all around her eyes for a smoky look. She looked at least sixteen. Cole was probably thinking he went temporarily insane for ever wanting to hang out with me instead of her. Even though I didn’t want to admit it, she looked amazing.

  Not as amazing as Cole, though. He was wearing a suit. I had never seen him in one before. He looked so cute. His tie was blue with silver stripes. Probably to match Jaydin’s dress. Gross. I didn’t want to think about that anymore, so my eyes drifted to D.L. He was in a suit, too, and looking pretty good for an absolute jerk. Courtney had her arm linked through his. She was in some black-and-white fitted gown that looked like she stole it straight from the set of Gossip Girl. Her hair was in a side bun, without a bit of frizz to be found anywhere. The dress even brought out her tan which was probably thanks to me and the little Hawaiian field trip I sent her on.

  “I can’t go in,” I told Gabi.

  “You have to,” she said, peering over at Courtney and company as they walked into the school. “It’s part of detention. You don’t want to get in more trouble.”

  I wasn’t so sure about that. More trouble seemed like a good alternative to watching Cole and Jaydin dance together.

  Gabi grabbed my arm. “Let’s get it over with.”

  “Fine,” I conceded. “But not like this. I need a new dress.”

  “We don’t have time for you to go get changed.”

  “Good thing we don’t have to go anywhere,” I said. “I’m going to whip something up right here.”

  “How did I know you were going to say that? Angel,” she said putting her hands in a steeple and pleading with me, “you know something’s going to go wrong. Don’t do it. Lou will find out, and you’ll get in big trouble.”

  That made me pause for a second. Lou warned me that if I used my powers when I wasn’t supposed to, not only would he punish me, but he’d let my mom in on my secret. But Lou wasn’t chaperoning the dance, and he promised he wouldn’t spy on me—so there really wasn’t anything to worry about. I was in the clear. “He’s not going to find out.”

  “Okay, then remember what happened last time you tried to change your outfit? You ended up half-naked.”

  “That’s why I’m going to make sure to word my command very carefully,” I assured her. Gabi shook her head at me. I chose to ignore her. Obviously I knew there was a certain amount of risk when it came to using my “special gift.” But there was also a risk in walking into the dance in the outfit I had on. Courtney and her friends would definitely make fun of me for being underdressed and for having worn the jumper before, and Cole would think I was a handmaiden in comparison to his princess date. How much worse could I make things?

  “Keep lookout,” I told Gabi, and held up my hand before she protested again. It was time to focus. I closed my eyes and envisioned the dress I wanted. Black, tight, and short. Something very Mara’s Daughters. I waved my hands over my body, as if I was molding the dress. I opened one eye. Nothing had changed. Why couldn’t I just wiggle my nose like that witch I saw on some Nick at Nite show? Why did my powers have to be so stubborn?

  “I don’t want to be a mess, so give me the perfect dress,” I chanted as I continued to move my arms around.

  “Oh my God,” Gabi said. “It’s working. It’s changing.”

  She was right. My jumper started to morph. The sleeves disappeared, and the skirt and blouse melded together. It was working! I was going to have a killer dress.

  But then the bottom started to pouf out. What was going on? I didn’t want a pouf. I wanted to look sleek. A lace petticoat started to form underneath the dress, a bow started to form, and to top it off, the whole thing was a putrid orange. This was not what I wanted at all!

  “Oooh, it’s so cute,” Gabi said.

  “I don’t want to be cute.” The spit flew from my mouth as I uttered the word. I was going for sexy rocker, not the marshal of the Easter parade. This had to be fixed.

  With my hands pushing against the bottom of the dress, I declared, “Take away the pouf.”

  “Careful,” Gabi shouted out. “Remember—”

  “Right. But with fabric, lots and lots of fabric. I don’t want the dress to disappear.”

  The material started moving under my fingers, only it wasn’t flattening. It was expanding down and out. I reached out to grab it, hoping to stop the fabric in its tracks. Only it wouldn’t. It kept going. It was like having a gigantic bubble gum bubble wrapped around the bottom half of my body. From the corner of my eye, I could see two matching baby bubbles forming as sleeves.

  “Nooooo,” I cried. “Not that much fabric.” I was wearing the ugliest dress in the history of ugly dresses. I was totally freaking out. “This is not what I wanted. I wanted something hot in black or gray or even red.”

  Gabi’s eyes were like saucers. “You’ve got to calm down. The more worked up you get, the worse you make it.”

  “Not possible.”

  She looked down. “Umm.”

  “What?” I snapped.

  She pointed to my butt. I looked over my shoulder, and wished the ground would swallow me up and send me straight to Hades. Or maybe I was already there, because right on my behind was a little design. Three lightening bolts. One in black. One in gray. And one in red. Mortifying. I didn’t need people staring at my butt. “Lightening b
olts weren’t the kind of hot that I meant,” I moaned. “And I wanted to change the dress to one of those colors!” I slapped my hands against my chest for emphasis. When I moved them away, there were two red handprints in their place.

  “What am I going to do?” I asked, putting my hands on hips.

  “First, relax,” Gabi instructed. “You need to calm down before you try anything else.”

  That made sense. I shook my arms out.

  “Uh-oh,” Gabi said.

  Following her gaze, my eyes dropped to my side. There were two more handprints where my hands had just been. “Enough,” I shouted. “No more handprints.” This was awful. I wanted something Cole would think was cool, not something that would send him into a laughing spasm.

  I lightly touched the fabric on my stomach. It didn’t leave a fingerprint. Nope, I had successfully stopped that. This time it left something else. A drawing of Cole’s face appeared on my dress right over my belly.

  “No. NO. NO. NO. ANYTHING but that,” I yelled. The picture started changing, but it wasn’t an improvement. It morphed to D.L.’s face. “No, I didn’t mean anything. No people.” On command, a big, fluorescent, yellow, smiley face appeared, covering the portrait.

  Gabi had her hand over her mouth. She was probably trying to keep the “I told you so” from escaping her lips.

  “Okay,” I said, taking a deep breath. “I need to get this back to normal. No more crazy changes. I want—”

  “What are you two doing over here,” Miss Simmons said as she headed in our direction. “Get inside and help the others.” I caught her eyeing my dress, as she got closer. “Um, that’s an interesting dress, Angel. Very colorful.”

  That was to say the least. It was a putrid orange gown with a big bell bottom and poufy sleeves with red, gray, and black lightening bolts on my butt; red handprints above my chest and hips; and a big, fluorescent smiley face on my stomach. Interesting obviously translated into the most hideous thing she’s ever laid eyes on.