end, she gave up on the dres

r white t-shirt and paired it with a deep blue denim skirt.

while the white t-shirt hugged Pearl's upper

a glossy lip balm, Pearl adm

baggy clothes looked good on

it! Once she sees how beautiful I look, she

her face. Her heart pounded in her chest like a drum. She w

phone, she m

okay? I have someth

chool and slipped inside, head still bowed. The hallway was mostly emp

as alrea

sunlight. She wore a pale pink dress with lace at the sleeves and a glitt

eerfully, pulling off her

smiling at first ...

ff her face like

of her. "I fixed my own outfit!

. Twice. Then her ey

shirt?" she aske

ded, stil

them! And the skirt was buried under a pile of stuff in

r, then folded her arms. "You se

wavered. "Um

a fake-thinking face. "I mean, it's kinda obvio

yes widen

her like a judge at

t in a good way. And the skirt? It's showing way too muc

ed hard. "But

king a face. "It's way too shiny. Looks li

ing by her sides. "I... I just want

d out. That's not bad! You're like... comfy cute. You should stick to wh

y something differe

hand on Pearl's shoulder. Her smi

, Pearlie. Trust me. People can

ent she'd felt earlier was slipping

I looked pretty today, s

pered, "They'll notice. J

flin

ou would mess up. So I had brought just a dress that will sui

lpha Aiden. She was ready to wear whatever Kaylee gav

rl to the biggest mirror. She opened her ba

with a big smile. "Isn

s was bright orange with giant

there was a weird green ribbon tied right in

softer?"Pearl said slowly, t

the dress up to Pearl's chest. "This screams

ted, but nod

," Kaylee beamed. "No

d. The fabric was scratchy, and the zipper jammed halfway.

wasn't

her hands. "T

inked. "

one." Kaylee pulled out a smal

d bright purple eyeshadow across Pearl's eyelids, not even blending it. The mascara

aled and spun Pearl

l ga