Free Snow in Love by Claire Ray

matter-of-factly from the rocking chair in the corner of my room. On her lap was the thickest book I’d ever seen anyone attempt to read.
    “Erin!” I said, trying to cut off her bluntness. “I like it. It’s really, um—”
    “Lacy,” Erin stated.
    Abby’s feelings didn’t seem to be hurt. Rather, she seemed to take our comments in stride. She walked around the whole of me, which wasn’t easy. I seemed to be two yards wide, five feet of which was lace. “I guess I went overboard with the skirt.” She giggled softly as she scooped up layers of the white fabric in her hand. “I couldn’t help it. It’s so soft and pretty!” She threw the fistfuls of fabric up, and the layers settled back down around my legs like newly fallen snow.
    “Don’t worry, Jess,” she said. “I’ll fix it. But you like the shape and the fabric and everything?”
    I did. I looked like I belonged in a Disney cartoon. The dress had two-inch-wide strappy sleeves and a tight-fitting bodice that Abby was going to decorate with sparkly sequins. And then the skirt, once it was trimmed a little, would cascade around me. It was exactly what we had envisioned: a dress to make a girl cry. When I walked into the dance wearing this, Sabrina would have absolutely no shot at winning the contest no matter what she showed up in.
    “You do look pretty, Jess,” Erin said. “Even if I need sunglasses to look at you.”
    Abby shook her head and pointed at Erin. “You’re next. I’m making you something white and girly.”
    Erin snorted. “You’ll have to chain me down to get me to wear it.”
    In days gone by, I’d crack a joke about getting Will Parker to chain Erin down. But something kept me from it. I didn’t think it was appropriate now in light of the fact that he was taking me to the dance, and by all appearances, helping me to make Jake jealous. Not that a boy who’d broken up with you could be jealous. I shook my head to clear that thought and peered at myself in the mirror again. “Are we done now?” I asked Abby sadly.
    “Yeah, you can take it off.”
    She unzipped the back of the dress and helped me out of it. I put on my real clothes and then flung myself onto my bed, scooting over to where my headboard met the wall. Stretching my legs out in front of me, I reached for the teddy bear that I’d had since I was three. My father had brought it back for me after one of his flights, and even though I was getting too old for such things, Teddy made me feel calmer when things seemed hard to figure. I was lucky that I had two such good friends who didn’t think I was a baby for having a stuffed animal. If Sabrina ever knew about it, there’d be no end to my torment.
    There was a knock on the door. I shouted, “Go away,” thinking it was Brian. The door opened anyway.
    “You’ve got company, Jessie,” my mother said, holding a tray with four steaming mugs on it. As Abby and Erin looked at me with expressions of joy, I stashed Teddy under my covers fast as lightning, even though Jake had seen Teddy many times. Perhaps it was these babyish trappings that were giving him second thoughts about me. “I brought some hot chocolate for you.”
    “Thanks, Mrs. W,” Will Parker said as he barged in, taking a cup from the tray without missing a step. My heart dropped into my feet. Will Parker, the king of Willow High, was in my bedroom. Will Parker!
    “Erin? Abby?” my mother called to them, and the girls ran for the hot drinks.
    “Will, hey,” I said, making my voice sound as normal as I could. My mother handed me my own cup. She gave me the “no boys are supposed to be in your room” look. Erin picked up on it right away.
    “Mrs. Whitman, did you see the dress that Jessie is wearing to the Northern Lights Ball?” Abby held it up for my mother to see. Will did a double take as he took in the sight of all the skirt.
    “She’s fixing it,” I said a little too loudly.
    “Very pretty, Abby, you have a real gift,” my mother