ojandtostitos commented on blueridgemod's post in blueridgeschool:

One of the best things about not living with her mother and father anymore, one of the only true benefits, was being able to where exactly what she wanted when she wanted to. No one cared to criticize her clothing, no one wanted her to stop dressing like a boy. There was no one who cared anymore about stupid little nitpicky things like that. Her step-mother hadn't sent her a dress for the dance at all, though she knew Sera had gotten one, and that suited her just fine. But the more she had thought about it, she realize that she had sort of wanted to get dressed up a little bit to go to her first Valentines dance with her girlfriend, but that only led to a panic attack as she realized that she had nothing to wear and she also couldn't really dance.

Except for the old dresses her mother had sent over the years, of course, all lurking far in the back of her dormitory closet like frilly pink relics. They were there. She felt more than a little stupid wearing the red and lacy monstrosity that Mack had picked out for her. That she had allowed Mack to convince her looked good. She was sure that it looked awful, that had to be why people were giving her weird looks, but at least she had found good sneakers to go with it. There was that much.

Self-conscious as ever, Tatum was fidgeting with the flower tucked behind her ear as she stood with Jules near the refreshment table, glad to just be against the wall and away from the crowd. Mack had gone to get a drink earlier and she hadn't come back, so Tatum had found Julian on her walk around the hall and decided to stick with him instead. She mostly assumed Mack and Hunter had run off to scheme something, she had seen Michi by herself earlier as well, so it wasn't really a big deal. They would turn up.

"So l-like I was saying," the redhead went on, as there was a momentarily lull in the music. They had poured drinks of punch a few minutes ago, but so far Tatum had just stared into her cup. "I really only wore this s-stupid fucking dress because," she paused for a moment, clearing her throat awkwardly before finally taking a big gulp of her drink. Suddenly, she seemed to forget what she was saying or why she had worn the dress at all. Actually, all of a sudden she did remember why she wore the dress, it was so clear to her now.

"Because I w-wanted you to notice me!" the redhead finished breathlessly, reaching over and grabbing the front of Julian's shirt as she stared up at him. He was so handsome, like really handsome. She had never really noticed it before, but now that she was looking into his eyes.. wow, he was really something. He was even more beautiful than Frankie had ever been. It was no way to think of the dead, but there doubt where the good looks had gone in that family.