BARNES1

Marissa Barnes Mrs. Clesson Creative Writing 12 9/23/09

The Dress By Marissa Barnes

“This is the fifteenth dress, I’ve tried on!” Chelsea Gray exclaimed throwing the other reject dress into the pile under the dressing room floor. She had been at Barneys in New York for the past three hours looking for the perfect dress. Once she put the rest of the dresses away, she walked back to the cold streets of New York City.

Walking around, trying to find another place, Chelsea runs into one of her favorite fashionistas ever. Tim Gunn.

“Um...Mr. Gunn?” Chelsea asked nervously. She had always been outgoing, but she had never gone up to someone famous and talked to them him. Nonetheless,-- let alone someone who would probably make fun of her clothes in a heartbeat.

“Yes?” he asked, putting his glasses toward his nose, “What can I do?”

“Well…I have a problem ... see, my homecoming is in a week…and I came all the way to New York to find a dress, however I can’t.”

“Well honey, you’re lucky…my meeting just got cancelled so I guess that means, we have some shopping to do.”

Tim and Chelsea strutted down the streets of New York City, attempting to find the most stylish store. Then, Tim stopped dead in his tracks.

“You’re taking me to the seventh avenue thrift store?” Chelsea asked giving him an annoyed look.

“Well, why not?” Tim asked. “I bet you could make it work.”

Tim was right. Chelsea found one of the most gorgeous dresses she had ever seen. Tim even helped her pick out shoes and accessories. When she went up to pay, Chelsea had a glow in her eyes that could not be replaced.

“Big dance?” The snooty cashier asked giving Chelsea narrow eyes.

Chelsea shrugged, “Yeah, homecoming.”

“Do you have a date?”

“Yes, I do…his name is-“

“Oh save it, she doesn’t need to know.” Tim said interrupting Chelsea, “Gigi, let her pay.”

Gigi shrugged her shoulders and snatched the dress and shoes out of Chelsea’s hands.

“Your total is four hundred fifty five dollars and ninety six cents.” Gigi had said with a glare.

Chelsea entered her pin number, and she saw the one word she did not want to see at this very moment. **DECLINED.**

“You’ve got to be kidding.” Chelsea said with an exasperated sigh, “I can’t believe this is happening to me.”

“Well sweetheart, believe it…girls like you shouldn’t be on Seventh Avenue.”

“Girls like me?” Chelsea asked getting defensive, “Well excuse me Gigi, but I’m not the one wearing a shirt that’s five sizes too small.”

“Relax,,Chelsea” Tim said with a smile, “I can pay for it.”

Chelsea couldn’t believe what had happened, “Tim…no, it’s fine. I guess I wasn’t meant to have it.”

Tim shook his head, “Honey, you made that dress work, you looked gorgeous.”

Chelsea smiled. She felt rude, she didn’t want some guy she didn’t know paying four hundred fifty dollars for a dress she’d probably only wear once. However, he was famous and it would be an awesome story to tell her friends.

“Do me a favor” She said, “I don’t want you to pay for my dress, I just want a picture.”

Tim smiled and nodded his head. Chelsea brought out her camera, and made Gigi take the picture. Once her shopping trip was over, Tim and Chelsea went their separate ways. She couldn’t wait to tell her friends what had just happened. Too bad she didn’t have a homecoming dress. A few days later, Chelsea had finally returned home after her trip to New York. She lay in her bed for a while thinking about what she was going to do. However, her step dad came with a package.

She opened the box and out came a note.

// Chelsea, // // Make it work // // Tim. // She smiled, when she saw her dress. Now, this was going to be the best homecoming.