Don't Bet On Love by Sheri Cobb South

heaviness in my heart. “ I’d love to go with you to pick out your gowns. Friday night, or Saturday? ”
    Beth voted for Saturday, so I wouldn’t sit at home brooding all day, but since Jan had a date that afternoon, we settled for Friday. Actually, I had no real desire to go anywhere, especially shopping for prom dresses. Beth was right—it reminded me too much of Gary and Colette, and of Mark’s bet, which was looking more like a winner all the time. In fact, I thought w ryly, probably the only peo ple who could even come close to understanding the way I felt were Eddie and Steve, each of whom would most likely be ten dollars poorer by prom night.
    But I knew Beth and Jan meant well, so on Friday night I pasted on a cheerful smile and crawled into the backseat of Beth’s battered VW. A s we rode to the mall, Jan chat tered away, predicting that I would meet a handsome stranger that very night, a guy who would never fall down the stairs, trip over his own feet, or botch the simplest comments about the weather, and who would never ever forget his wallet and land himself and his date in Jail. But Jan’s fictional dreamboat held no appeal for me at all.
    Once inside th e mall, the three of us wan dered from store to store, alternately admiring and criticizing the dresses we found. Then, as we approached the fountain at the center of the mall, Beth spotted a peacock-blue formal in one of the shop windows.
    “ That’s it! ” she cried, pointing at the dress. “ The prom dress of my dreams! ”
    “ In Lundquist’s? ” Jan asked skeptically. “ Isn’t that a little rich for your blood, not to mention your pocketbook? ”
    “ Probably, ” Beth admitted. “ But I’ll have only one junior prom, you know. At least let’s see how much it costs! ”
    “ You go ahead, ” Jan said, sitting down on the low wall surrounding the fountain. “ I’m going to wait here and rest my tired feet. ”
    “ Tired feet, huh? ” Beth echoed skeptically, eyeing a group of boys who had just seated themselves on the other side of the fountain. “ What about you, Molly? Do you want to come with me, or do you suddenly have tired feet, too? ”
    “ Sure, I’ll come, ” I said without much en thusiasm, and followed Beth into the shop.
    Of course, once we were inside, one thing led to another. Discovering that the dress was twenty-five percent off only made Beth determined to find out if they had it in her size. And when the saleslady brought out one in size seven, nothing would satisfy Beth but to try it on. I waited patiently outside the dressing room, watching in amusement as various articles of Beth ’s clothing were flung over the door of the cubicle.
    At last the door opened, and Beth stuck her head out.
    “ Molly, can you come here a minute? I want your opinion. ”
    I joined her, and Beth shut the door behind me.
    “ Well, what do you think? ” she asked, striking a pose.
    It was hard for me to get very excited about anything concerning the prom, but there was no denying that the dress could have been designed with Beth in mind.
    “ I think you look terrific in it, ” I said, and meant it.
    “ I don’t know, ” Beth said, critically studying her reflection in the mirror. “ I think it looked better on the mannequin. ”
    “ That’s because the mannequin is six feet tall and wears a size five, ” I said. “ Beth, trust me. You look great! That shade really brings out the blue of your eyes, and— ”
    I had been about to tell her that the dress made her tiny waist look even tinier, but something made me pause in mid-sentence. The dressing room door shook slightly as someone entered the cubicle next to ours. Then the sound of a girl’s voice came floating over the dividing wall.
    “ Colette, this must be the fourth dress you’ve tried on tonight, ” the voice complained.
    “ Fifth, ” a second voice corrected her friend. This one I recognized. It belonged to Colette Carroll. I glanced at Beth and raised one