Panem High: Freshman Year

Chapter 13

There was a knock on the front door. Delly rushed to open it, but her dad beat her to it.

"Hey, Madge," she heard him say, and she thundered down the stairs as quickly as she could.

"Hi," Madge replied politely as Delly jumped over the last two steps and burst into the front entrance. It was a Friday morning, and their school had the day off for maintenance repairs being done in the school.

"Hey," she panted, pulling her friend into a hug. "How are you?" she asked.

"I'm excited to get a dress," Madge smiled.

"Me too," Delly said. "Let's go. Bye, Dad!"

"Bye, Mark," Madge said.

"Bye, girls, have fun!" Mark smiled, kissing the top of Delly's head.

The girls grinned at him and grabbed each other's hands, running out the front door, Mark closing the door behind them with a chuckle.

They clambered into Mrs. Undersee's SUV.

"Good morning, Delly," she said, pulling out of the driveway and into the street.

"Hi, Clara!" Delly answered cheerfully. "How are you?"

"Pretty good, thanks. You?"

"Tired," she laughed. "I don't normally get up before noon on weekends."

"I promise it will be worth it," Madge giggled. "We'll take the whole day with the girls and we'll shop til we drop."

"Don't go overboard," Delly warned jokingly. "We just need dresses for the dance."

"But there's so many dress stores at Panem Central and we have to check even the other stores because they could have dresses too," Madge explained. Delly and Clara laughed.

"It's too bad Annie can't come with you girls," Clara said.

"Yeah, but it's good that she is getting some rest," Delly replied. "She has a dress already, so she was just going to come help us choose, but Johanna will have her on FaceTime the whole time. It won't be the same, but it's close."

"Aw, well at least she'll be able to help you girls out."

"Yeah," Madge said. "And it's nice that most of our moms will be there. Sucks that Marianne is working," she said.

"Yeah, but you know my mom," Delly said. "She is one of the best therapists in the state, and she has a Youth Group meeting today."

"It's really big of her to run something like that," Clara said. "Your mama is a wonderful lady."

"Yeah," Delly said. "And besides," she added, "Amie is coming, and Kayla-"

"That's Johanna's mom, right?"

"Yes, and Clove's mom, Lauren, is coming too, and I think Addilyn, Katniss' mom as well."

"I was speaking to Catherine this morning," Clara said of Finch's mom, "and I think she is coming, but she might have to bring Kiona with her unless she can arrange for her to go to Rue's."

"Oh, okay," Delly said as they pulled into the massive parking lot of Panem Central Shopping Centre. The three got out of the car and walked into the mall.

Delly had been going to this mall her whole life, but the stunning lobby was always more beautiful. The high domed glass ceiling, the magnificent fountain in the centre spouting the bluest water filled with rusted pennies, the tiled floor, the potted plants surrounding the rustic white wood benches, the wide hallways that spidered out from the lobby; it never failed to amaze her, especially now that it wasn't nearly as crowded as usual.