Katy's Homecoming (12 page)

A part of Katy longed to let Jewel, as Cora had said, play with her hair. But the longer they stayed up here, the more likely it became that Dad or Mrs. Graber would check on them. “I can’t right now,” she said, regret making her chest feel tight. “I have work to finish, and Dad’ll be upset if I don’t get it done.”

Jewel rolled her eyes. “All right then. Spoil our fun.”

Katy hesitated. Should she disappoint her friends or disappoint Dad? With a sigh, she said,“I’m sorry, but I really have to finish my work.”

“That’s okay, Katy, we did barge in on you.” Shelby began folding the dresses scattered across the bed and stuffing them into the duffel. “Go get changed while we clean up in here.”

Katy scurried off before anyone else voiced a protest. It took a little time to get her hair pinned up again. By the time she returned, the others had put everything away and even smoothed the coverlet on her bed. One magazine lay on her desk, open to a page showing three girls in fancy dresses. Katy pointed to the magazine. “You forgot one.”

“No, I didn’t,” Trisha retorted, grinning. “I left it on purpose. See the girl in the middle?”

Katy leaned forward and peeked.

“I love the way her hair’s done — the swoops on the side and all the curls pulled up in the back. Jewel said your hair is just the right length for that style. What do you think?”

Katy smoothed her finger over the glossy page, admiring the girl’s hair. It did look nice. She also liked the dress, a pink, frothy-looking gown that went all the way to the floor and had a scrunchy, mesh-looking cape covering the girl’s shoulders and upper arms. She pointed to the dress. “This is pretty too. Do you have a dress more like this one that I could borrow?”

Trisha made a face. “You can’t wear something like that to homecoming. That’s a prom dress.”

Katy frowned. “What’s the difference?”

Cora stepped forward and started flipping pages, pointing to dresses similar in style to the pink one. “These are prom dresses, Katy. See how they’re, like, huge and poofy with all the frills and stuff? A homecoming dress is more, I don’t know, simple. Kind of like a cocktail dress.”

Katy had no idea what Cora meant by a cocktail dress, but she could see the difference between the dresses on the page and the one she’d tried on. So she nodded.

Trisha said,“Look at the hairstyles and pick one you like.”

“And I’ll leave the dress you tried on so you can find a hairstyle to match it,” Cora added, grinning. “Besides, you might want to model it for your Schellberg friends. I bet they’ll think it’s to die for!”

Katy doubted she’d let Annika or anyone else see it. But she might put the dress on and look at herself again later—after Mrs. Graber went home and Dad was asleep.

The girls all moved toward the hallway with Shelby leading the way. Katy followed. She wished they weren’t going, but she wouldn’t get the sewing room done if she didn’t get back to work.

In the kitchen, Mrs. Graber sat at the table sorting through a box of sewing notions. She paused and smiled at the girls.

“Leaving already?”

They nodded, and Shelby said,“Yeah, we don’t want to keep Katy from finishing her chores. Thanks for letting us stop by, though. It was nice to meet you. Congratulations on your wedding and everything.”

Cora, always the curious one, stepped close to Mrs. Graber and touched the dress spread across the table top. “Whatcha working on?”

Mrs. Graber’s eyes twinkled. “Kathleen’s dress for our wedding ceremony on Thursday. She’s serving as my attendant.”

Cora giggled. “She’s getting to be the attendant all over the place, isn’t she?”

Trisha bopped Cora on the arm. Cora yelped and glared at her. Rubbing her arm, she hissed,“Whaddid you do that for?”

Trisha just scowled.

Mrs. Graber’s brows pulled down briefly, but then she smiled. “I’m so glad you girls came out and spent some time with Kathleen. As her father told you, you’re welcome anytime.”

“Thanks,” they chorused, then Katy ushered them to the door. She walked them out to Shelby’s car and said her good-byes there. After they drove away, she hurried back into the kitchen.

Mrs. Graber stood waiting, holding the nearly finished dress. “Would you try this on for me so I can pin the hem? I want to be certain the length is right.”

“Sure,” Katy said. She took the dress upstairs and quickly changed. As she turned to leave the room, she glimpsed her reflection in the mirror. She froze, giving herself a thorough examination. Mrs. Graber was an excellent seamstress — the pale orchid sateen dress fit Katy perfectly. So had the emerald green dress, but the effect was very different.

“Are you ready?”

Katy jumped at the sound of Mrs. Graber’s voice outside the bedroom door. She trotted to the door and opened it. Mrs. Graber looked Katy up and down. Her face creased into
a pleased smile. “It looks as if it fits. Does it feel all right on? I know the sateen is a stiffer fabric, so we don’t want it too tight or you won’t be comfortable.” She began gently pulling at the caped shoulders, sleeves, and waist. Katy stood unmoving, allowing Mrs. Graber to check the fit.

Finally Mrs. Graber stepped back. “I don’t think we’ll need to do even a smidgen of altering. All that measuring beforehand paid off.”

Katy smoothed her hands over her hips. The fabric felt cool beneath her palms. “It fits fine.” Suddenly, a sparkle of green caught her attention, and heat filled her face. Cora had left the emerald dress hanging on Katy’s closet door, and Katy had forgotten to put it away!

Mrs. Graber must have seen Katy’s gaze shift, because she turned and looked at the dress too. Her eyebrows rose. “My, that’s very pretty. Does it belong to one of your friends?”

Katy swallowed. “Yes. Cora. It’s her homecoming dress.” She hadn’t lied — it was Cora’s homecoming dress. Yet she felt deceitful anyway. She hurriedly pulled the dress down and opened her closet to hang it out of sight.

Mrs. Graber took the dress from Katy. She held it out, looking it over. Her face remained expressionless, but Katy bit down on her lower lip, wondering what Mrs. Graber was thinking. Finally Mrs. Graber gave it back. “It’s quite exquisite with all the sequins and real satin. A very elegant dress.”

Katy held the dress to her thumping heart, looking into Mrs. Graber’s face. She hadn’t acted shocked or dismayed. So Katy braved a question. “What do you think it would look like … on me?”

Mrs. Graber didn’t even hesitate. “I think a dress like that would look lovely on anyone. It’s very flattering. The real question is, if you wore it, would it be a true reflection of the wearer?”

Katy blinked twice, confused.

“It’s a very lovely, very worldly dress, Kathleen. And you’re a very lovely Mennonite girl. It would be up to you to determine whether the dress is ‘you’ or not.” A tender smile lifted the corners of Mrs. Graber’s lips. “In my experience, one can’t be content unless she’s living in the way God intends her to live. Now —” Her hand stretched out and grazed Katy’s arm, a motherly touch. “Come downstairs so I can get the hem for your attendant dress pinned, hmm?” With another soft smile, she turned and left Katy’s room.

Monday when Katy got off the bus, her knees quivered. All weekend she’d worried about what Bryce would say or do after reading her note. Oh, if only the fellowship would approve the use of telephones! Then she could have called him and eliminated all this worry. But fussing about the lack of phones wouldn’t solve anything.

Cold, damp wind pressed her back, and she scurried across the yard to her usual waiting spot near the front doors. Because the bus dropped her off early, only a few other students mingled in the yard. She wished Trisha, Cora, or Shelby would hurry and arrive so she didn’t have to wait alone. Shelby would probably drive herself and Jewel to school today since she had a car. Katy crinkled her brow, fighting a small wave of jealousy. She was old enough to get her license and drive, but Dad probably wouldn’t buy her a car. If she continued at Salina North, she’d be riding the bus until she graduated.

She hugged herself, shivering, and watched cars turn into the parking lot. When she spotted Shelby’s little yellow Beetle, Katy heaved a sigh of relief. She’d have
company soon. But instead of coming to the doors, Shelby trotted across the yard to join Jayden and his friends, and Jewel made a dash for the group of seniors where Tony Adkins was the center of attention. When Bryce got to school, would he come stand with her, or would he find another group to join? She didn’t want to consider that he might continue to avoid her, so she pushed the thought away.

Soon Cora and Trisha arrived; Cora’s mother dropped them off at the curb. They scurried directly to Katy and huddled close.

“Brr!” Cora shuddered. “It’s so cold this morning. Saturday and Sunday were nice, but now it’s cold again.”

Trisha hunched her shoulders, bringing the furry collar of her jacket around her ears. “Good ol’ Kansas — it never can make up its mind when it comes to weather.”

Cora nudged Trisha and bobbed her head in Jewel’s direction. “She’s still cozying up to him. Think he’ll really ask her to the dance?”

“Nah.” A little cloud puffed around Trisha’s face. “He’s just using her. But she’s too dumb to see it.”

“Yeah.” Cora sounded sad. “You know, she irritates me sometimes.” She snorted. “Actually, she irritates me a
lot,
but I feel kind of sorry for her. She wants to be popular so bad, she’ll do almost anything.”

“Pathetic, isn’t it?” Trisha shook her head.

Katy listened to the other two girls without contributing, her heart thudding. Even though she knew they were talking about Jewel, they could have been talking about Katy. She wanted to be accepted in the school too.

Cora grimaced. “I just hope she doesn’t get so wrapped up with Tony that she ends up, you know, in real trouble.”

Trisha nodded. “Me too. ‘Cause if something bad happens, he’ll make sure she gets the whole blame.”

Cora crinkled her forehead. “You know what I can’t figure out? She’s living with the Nusses. Shelby’s dad is a preacher, so you know Jewel’s getting taught right from wrong. Wouldn’t you think she’d start to, I don’t know, change her ways?”

The buzzer blared, inviting the students to enter the building. Trisha hollered over the sound as the girls turned toward the door,“Yeah, but Jewel spent most of her life with her mom, who didn’t do a very good job of teaching her to make good choices. What you grow up with, that’s usually what you become.”

Katy got separated from Cora and Trisha in the crowded hallway, but during her first-hour class, Katy couldn’t stop thinking about what they’d said about Jewel. And she couldn’t set aside the thought that their words applied to her in some ways. Did she really want to be like Jewel? She also couldn’t stop worrying about second hour when she’d see Bryce. If he’d read her note, he’d know she expected him to either treat her like a friend — or not.

Please let him decide to be friends.
The plea turned into a prayer. She missed his friendliness as much as she missed time with Shelby. It didn’t seem fair that she’d have to lose both of them all at once.

Katy entered the algebra classroom and headed for her familiar desk—second row, the seat closest to the door. But then she moved past the first desk and sat in the next one. Her heart pounded so hard she could hear the thud in her ears. She’d left the desk empty for Bryce, but would he take it? Other students entered the room, talking and laughing.
But she didn’t turn around to watch for Bryce. She faced forward, her hands linked on the desk, her breath coming in little spurts of nervous anticipation. Would he sit by her?

The desks on Katy’s right filled. The one on her left remained open. Then shoes scuffed on the floor. The desk squeaked as someone sat down. Katy squeezed her eyes closed for a moment, her mouth dry.
Please, please let it be Bryce!
Then she peeked sideways. A girl named Liz sat in the seat. The buzzer rang, which meant class would begin. Katy whirled around and searched the room. Bryce sat in the next to the back row, on the opposite side of the classroom. His book was out already, so he’d been there long enough to get settled.

She jerked to face the front. Tears stung. She’d given him an ultimatum, and he’d made his choice. She just wished it didn’t have to hurt so much.

Somehow Katy made it through the day. In her other classes with Bryce, she kept her head down and didn’t try to make eye contact with him. She didn’t hear much of the teachers’ instructions; she was focused on not crying. Why had she given him that note? If she could take it back, she would. At least then she might get to talk to him now and then. Not talking to him at all — not being acknowledged by him at all — was awful.

Last hour — forensics — arrived. Forensics was so different from the other classes. No sitting in desks for lectures. The students mingled in groups, performing for each other. How would she be able to avoid seeing Bryce? She didn’t think she’d be able to enter the classroom. But she had to. She’d signed up for the Saturday meet. Mr. Gorsky was counting on her. She couldn’t skip the class.

Hugging her backpack, she lowered her gaze and scuttled into the room. She shot straight to the corner and sat, cradling her backpack in her lap like a shield. Then she stared at the door, watching the other students enter. When Bryce came in, Marlys was hanging on his arm the way she always did in forensics. Before Katy could witness him ignoring her, she shifted sideways in the seat and pretended to look for something in her backpack.

Mr. Gorsky moved to the front of the classroom and began sharing the assignments for the week, like he did every Monday. Katy heard her teacher’s voice, but she didn’t really listen to the words. So when he said,“And let’s start with Kathleen,” she had no idea what she was supposed to do.

She stared at her teacher, unblinking.

Mr. Gorsky stared back, his head tipped to the side with a slight smile underlining his mustache. He said,“Come on. We need to get going.”

Katy gulped. “Going? Where?”

Someone snickered. Katy didn’t even need to look to know it was Marlys. Katy’s ears burned.