it was a rainy day, me and richie were together at his house and it was pouring down

we were sitting on his couch in the living room while the goonies played on his tv

we weren't paying attention to it though

richie was spread across the sofa, his head in my lap

i was sitting on the corner of the couch and playing with his now-overgrown curls, he hasn't cut it in a while, his thick black curls spilled over my lap as I twirled a few strands at a time

he was looking at me, completely focused and fazed out, while smiling

after a few more minutes, his head shot up and he sat next to me on the couch,'victoria?'

'yeah, rich?' I answered him

the whole house was quiet, we were the only ones there; other than the dog he was pet-sitting for, he stood with his front paws on the edge of the couch while wagging his tail trying to get up to us

'so, there's this dance at the school..' he paused, waiting for my reaction

'the snowball?'

'yeah, I know it's cheesy and all; but do you maybe wanna, go with me?' he asked in suspense, not wanting me to turn down his answer

'of course, but what about steve?' I asked him

ever since we started dating, we've kept it a secret from steve

he would kill us if he found out,

i mean he did ban me from seeing him but that lasted about a day

sometimes it's been hard, with the occasional henry bowers threatening to tell, or even sophie;

but something both of them didn't know was that we actually were dating, and their teasing was useless

it was only me, richie, the losers club, and richie's mom that knew

i'm pretty sure the librarian that worked at derry library has an idea about it, since every monday and wednesday after school me and richie meet there and spend time with each other

richie sighed for a second,'i'm sure my mom could drive you' he smiled

i smiled back at him, and then continued,'I don't have a dress'

he bit the insides of his cheeks, and thought for a second

'i'm sure my mom will gladly go dress shopping with you'

'but I don't have enough money for a fancy dress'

'i'll pay'

'we both know I can't just take your money, but if you insist'

he smiled at me, his arms wrapped around me,'I insist'

he pulled me closer and kissed me, right on the lips

'come on, victoria you have to get up now' steve said as he slowly opened the door to my room,

except I was already up, and was almost ready apart from the fact that I had to figure out what I was wearing for the day

'woah, victoria; you're never up this early. why the sudden change?' he asked me, in major confusion

the truth was that I had to go dress shopping with richie and his mom, but steve wouldn't allow that

'oh, i'm going over to eddie's house, we have to work on a super complicated science project' I blatantly lied

'hmm, about what?' he seemed interested, not even onto the fact that I was lying to his face

'cells' I quickly answered, wanting him to get off my back so I could just go down three blocks and there would be richie's mom's car parked, waiting for me, with richie's mom in the front seat and richie in the back

'have fun, when will you be back?'

'before dinner, bye!' I answered in a hurry, and then ran out of my bedroom door and out the front door; grabbing my winter jacket on the way out and putting it on once I was out the door

'oh hello dear! are you ready to go?' richie's mother asked me as I stepped in the back seat, sitting next to richie as she started to drive away

'yes ma'am' I answered her with a smile

richie and i's hands intertwined so we were holding them, and this put a smile on his face

i rested my head on richie's shoulder for the duration of the ride, and even started to drift off, but then we had arrived at the dress shop and we had to get out of the car

as we walked into the slightly large store, I could hear a little jingle, signalling that someone had entered the store

i looked around, taking in all the dresses and ballgowns that were color coordinated, that lined the entire store

some of them were poofy like a cupcake, while others were as flat as a ruler

some had glitter sewn into them, and some had no glitter at all and were just a solid color

one of the salespersons came up to us and asked politely,'so which one of you needs help today?'

richie's mom stepped aside and gestured that it was me that needed help

'alright sweetie, what are you looking for today?' she was so polite

it was so sad she had to deal with me, I haven't worn a proper gown/dress ever and only wore baggy t-shirt dresses that had no silhouette when I did rarely wear dresses

'well, um. I don't know that much about dresses, but I have to go to a dance with this kid,' I pointed to richie, trying to seem less awkward and worried, then continued,'and I don't really know what I want, other than it has to be comfortable'

she smiled and thought for a second before starting to walk to one of the rows of dresses

originally,I didn't follow her because I didn't know you had to, but when mrs tozier nudged me and richie, we followed after her

she pulled out a purple dress that was floor length and laced with pounds and pounds of ribbon

'so how do you like this one'

'um, she doesn't' richie quickly said, probably hating the dress as much as I did

i smiled with empathy for the lady as she put back the dress,'do you have any color preferences?'

'nope' I smiled in remorse, knowing how hard this must be

'okay, alright let's see. when you get dressed in the morning and open up your closet what specific color do you see the most?'

i thought for a second,'either yellow or black' I answered truthfully

'okay, we're getting closer.. how about long sleeved or short sleeved?'

'long sleeved, obviously' I said with an airy laugh

'this is good; how about-' she paused and thought a little bit

'in the summertime, do you prefer wearing skirts or jeans?'

that was a hard question,'I prefer skirts, I just don't really have any I like to wear that often'

she smiled and started walking again

she went to a section filled with red dresses, and carefully pulled one out

it was really pretty

richie looked at me and smiled in awe

it was a deep red, kind of poofy, had long sleeves which were detailed with lace, and was floor length

pure beauty, I thought

'it's really pretty,' I admitted

'would you like to try it on?'

i looked at richie and he nodded his head to me

'yes' I said as she directed me to the changing rooms and handed me the dress as I walked in and closed the curtain

i slowly started to take off my jacket, shoes, and shirt

once I slipped the dress on, I looked in the mirror

wow, it looked great

i looked great

i walked out of the dressing rooms in the dress and spun around to show richie and mrs tozier

'victoria, you look beautiful,' richie admitted as he stood there in awe

'it's true, victoria. I agree with richard. you look absolutely stunning!' mrs tozier said, almost proud of me as if I was one of her own

richie got a hold of the lady and proudly stated,'we'd like to buy the dress'