It was a week before the big dance at school and Brittany was lost in her closet. She had been in there for two hours. Jeanette and Eleanor were starting to get worried. Brittany had always been a clothes horse, but this was borderline obsessive.

“Hey, Brittany,” Eleanor called from the door of their closet. “Did you get lost in there?”

She finally emerged, holding a half a dozen dresses in her hands. “No, Ellie, I’m just having a meltdown. Do you mind?”

“What’s wrong this time?” Jeanette asked.

“Are you brain dead, Jeanette? The dance in just a week away, and I don’t have anything to wear.”

“What are you talking about, Britt?” Eleanor said. “You have tons of pretty clothes.”

She threw the dresses on her bed. “That’s true, but he’s seen me in all these. I need something… something new, something… spectacular, and so do the two of you.”

“Well, Brittany,” Eleanor said. “You know we can’t afford new dresses.”

“Yea, we don’t even have enough money for shoes,” Jeanette said.

“Then what are we going to do?” Brittany said. “I want to look sensational.”

“We’ll figure something out,” Jeanette said.

It was getting on to dinnertime and girls helped Brittany clean up the mess of clothes. Before long they heard Alvin yelling from the hallway.

“Hey! We’re dying of starvation out here!” he shouted.

Brittany came sauntering out of the bedroom. She looked Alvin in the eye and said, “I had to make myself presentable.”

“Okay, whatever. Can we eat, now?” he demanded.

She gave him an intense, seductive look, and said, “Whatever you say.” She walked slowly away from him. He was staring at her in a haze and forgotten all about his hunger. Well, that was for food, anyway.

Eleanor and Jeanette both approached him. “Alvin?” Eleanor questioned. “Are you in there?”

“Hey!” he shouted, finally coming out of his trance.

“You said you were hungry,” Jeanette remarked, making her way into the dinning room.

“He is, alright,” Eleanor said, gigging, following closing behind Jeanette. “But only if Brittany is on the menu.” They were both laughing at Alvin’s expense, but he didn’t seem to notice. He followed them into the dining room and sat down next to Brittany.