"Alyssa! Gemma's here for you!" dad called.
"Coming!" I said, running down the stairs.
Sure enough, Gemma stood at the door, dressed in a bright pink top and flashy golden jeans, smiling from ear to ear.
"Hey! I've got a surprise for you!" she said.
"Surprise? What surprise?" I asked, puzzled.
"You think I'm going to reveal it to you that easily? No can do... You'll have to wait and see for yourself," she said.
Gemma seemed a bit too cheerful this morning. Just last night, she'd been all lion and tiger on her brother. And now, all of a sudden, she seemed like cute little bunnies.
"But you have to change from that..." she said, eyeing my sweats in disgust, "and put on something nice," she said.
"Why? What's wrong with this?" I asked.
"We're going out, for heaven's sake! You can't go to -" she stopped, realizing she was about to give away my surprise, "You can't go out in that! Come on! Let's get you in something more... acceptable," she said.
"Ok, then..." I said, walking up the stairs and into my room with Gemma following behind me.
"So, what do you have?" she asked, browsing through my closet.
I'd finally decided to organize them last night, since I wasn't that tired after my long nap in the afternoon. Now it was much easier to select my clothing. Gemma looked through my shirts, pants, and dresses, trying to find something suitable for me to wear.
"How about this?" she asked, pointing at my maroon button up blouse.
"Sure," I pulled it off the hanger.
"And this pant. It's gorgeous," she took off a flower print jeans.
I took it from her hand and walked into the attached bathroom.
"I'll only be a minute," I called, shutting the door.
"I'll find you some shoes," she said.
"Ok, they're in the cupboard to the left," I told her.
"Found it!"
I took off my sweat pants and my owl jumper and replaced it with the jeans and blouse Gemma had selected for me. Wherever Gemma was planning of taking me required some fine attire. Unlocking the door, I came outside to fine Gemma holding my only pair of heels out for me.
"You have horrible shoes," she said.
"Well, I'm not wearing that," I told her, "I can't walk right in heels. And they hurt!" I complained.
"Well, you'll deal with it today. Hurry up! Put it on!" she said.
"Oh come on! I'll wear anything else, but heels! Please?" I begged.
Gemma gave me the 'Don't-you-argue-with-me' look, crossing her arms and tapping her leg.
"Alright! Alright, fine. I'll wear them. But if I take an hour to walk 10 yards, it's not on me," I said, taking it from her.
"Good," she said, satisfied, "And now for the makeup..."
"No! No makeup!" I said. "What do you mean no makeup? That's the most important part!" she said, looking at me with concern, as though I had some unknown disease.
"I don't use much makeup," I said. "Why not?" she interrogated.
"Uh... 'cuz I'm... allergic." I lied, trying to reason with her.
"You are the most terrible liar in the history of the world's most terrible liars, Alyssa," she said, a small smile creeping up her face.
I chuckled, "Well, I'll do anything... but wear makeup." I told her.
"Alright then. Fine. You win. Let's go," she said, pulling me out the room.
"Where are we going?" I asked again, trying to see if I could crack her now.
"You'll see," she said, stubborn as ever.
~o~O~o~
Continued onto next chapter...