#12
Here Come the Bridesmaids!
by Ann M. Martin

Wedding bells are ringing on both coasts.

The bridemaid's dress was a satiny material with shirred, off-shoulder sleeves, a fitted bodice, and a flared mid-calf skirt. The soft fuchsia color was just right for a wedding on the beach. (Yes, the beach. Isn't that cool?)

I tried it on and emerged from the dressing room to a chorus of oohs and aahs.

"It's gorgeous," said Sunny.

"Stunning," Maggie agreed.

"I was a bridesmaid once," Jill added," with my sister. she picked the dress and it was soooo ugly. The worst thing was that she spent all this money on a dress she never wore again."

"Oh," I replied. Suddenly I wasn't so sure I wanted to buy it.

"But this one's different," Jill said quickly. "You could wear it a lot."

Sunny and Maggie nodded in agreement.

A saleswomen walked over to us and asked, "May I help you?"

I fingered the material. I was falling in love.

"I think she'll take it," Sunny said to the woman.

I wondered what Mary Anne would think. I spotted the same dress in her size on the rack. I wanted so badly to buy one for her. But would that be right? Shouldn't my co-bridesmaid be in on the decision? What if she hated it?

She couldn't.

"It's on sale, twenty percent off," the saleswoman said. "And it's returnable if you're not satisfied."

That did it. I took both dresses off the rack.

Here Come the Bridesmaids!
Published by Scholastic Inc. 1996
ISBN: 0590483080