I had nothing as it was.

It smelled ever so slightly musty, but that didn’t seem like anything that couldn’t be fixed with some deodorant and air freshener.

Air freshener? On my clothing?

Desperate times and all that.

I rifled through the hanging clothes. Maybe there really wasn’t anything in here. I wasn’t exactly known as a partier in high school. There were a few things from college mixed in here, too, and that makes me perk up slightly.

My college style wasn’t quite as bad as the high school one…

I dug in even farther. There was a clothing bag in the very back, and when I grabbed for it, there were several hangers inside.

Hmm.

I pulled it out and laid it on the bed to open it. The first thing that caught my eye was the bright red of my prom dress from my pre-purple hair days, and the next was the black dress that peeked out from beneath it.

Thanks to the bag, these clothes smelled a lot fresher than the other ones. I pulled the black dress out and laid it on top of the prom dress. It was simple but figure-hugging, and I chewed down on my bottom lip.

I had no idea if it would fit.

A glance at my phone told me I had fifty minutes to get ready and another five before Ava got here. That gave me just enough time to try on this dress and, if I looked like a stuffed sausage, nobody would ever know.

I quickly stripped down to my underwear and snatched the dress up. The zipper was at the side, so I undid it and stepped inside to pull it up my body.

It was a little snug, but not uncomfortably so. It took a few good yanks to get it up. In all honesty, I probably should have given up somewhere around my hips.

Reagan Wright was no quitter, though.

Unless it was the gym. Which, according to this dress, I shouldn’t have given up.

How ironic.

With a grunt, I pulled the straps up over my shoulders. It didn’t look too bad, actually, especially not after a tug on the zipper. Sure, I wouldn’t be able to eat or sit down or breathe all night if I wore it, but…

But nothing.

It had to come off.

I couldn’t go to dinner and not eat just because my dress was too tight. I wasn’t living in the nineteenth century, after all.

I reached around to undo the zipper, but it only went a third of the way down. I tugged and yanked and pulled, but it was no good.

The bitch was stuck.

Great.

Just great.

There was no way in hell that I was going to be able to get this thing over my ass without the extra room the zipper provided. This dress was like Spanx, but ten times worse.

I breathed in as much as I could, but it was no good. The thing wouldn’t budge, even when I pulled so hard the metal pressed into my fingertips and pretty much branded me for life.