~ Design & Story Contest ~ Suzanna

Instructions

Story: Suzanna woke up early and got dressed, careful not to wake her sister Maya sleeping in the bed next to her. She slipped out of the apartment and into the hallway of her building. Suzanna tiptoed down to the mailboxes and checked in her family's. It wasn't there. The was no package. Instead, there was a letter addressed to her. Suzanna took the envelope and closed the box, leaving the rest of the mail for her dad to get later. Suzanna opened the letter and was almost blinded by the brightness of it's contents. The letter was from some guy in her class inviting her to some party. No one had ever invited Suzanna to a party. Plus, she didn't really want to go. Also, her family couldn't afford a dress or normal clothes. Suzanna sighed, and put the letter back into it's envelope. Suzanna went back into her apartment, hearing other people stirring outside in the hallway. She put the letter on the coffee table just as her sister got up. "What's this?" Maya asked,grabbing the letter before Suzanna could hide it. She read it and her eyes widened. "No way!" She held it up in front of Suzanna's face. "Is this real Suzie?" She pushed Maya away and grabbed the letter. "It doesn't matter, I'm not going." Maya shook her head. "No, you HAVE to go!" She said, "After school, I'm taking you dress shopping!" She was gone before Suzanna could object. After school that day, Suzanna was dragged to the mall by Maya and her friend Julia. They came into a dress shop with a bunch of those fancy expensive ones that Suzanna's family could never buy. The next thing Suzanna knew she was being jammed into a dressing room with a heap of dresses to try on and Maya and Julia waiting outside. The first dress Suzanna put on was so tight she could hardly breath. Then next one was the most pink and fluffy thing she had ever seen and Suzanna could barely get out of the dressing room. The last one was a dark purple dress that was just long enough to cover her knees. It had long sleeves and a ribbon tied around the waist like a belt. "You look so amazing Suzie!" Maya said clapping her hands while Julia smiled encouragingly. "You realize that you have said that for every dress right?" Suzanna said with a faint smile on her lips. "Yeah but this time I mean it!" Maya grinned. "This is the one!" Julia nodded. Suzanna looked at the price tag and sighed. "We could never afford anything like this!" She said. "I just won't go." "You have to go!" Julia said. "I've got an idea." The next day, when Suzanna and Maya where walking to their school, they saw a poster that startled them. Suzanna ripped the poster off of it's wall and stormed away to find Julia. "WHAT IS THIS?" Suzanna yelled when she had found Julia inside her school. The poster had a picture of the dress they had seen at the mall. It said "Help us raise money for Suzanna!" "What are you so mad about?" Julia asked. "We've already raised 250 dollars!" "It was a stupid-- what did you say?" Suzanna asked. "We've raised 250 dollars!" Julia said again. A girl came up to them and asked if they could quiet down. She caught a glimpse of the poster. "Hey! I've seen these posters!" The girl said. She pulled out her wallet and handed fifty dollars to Suzanna. "I hope the party goes well!" Suzanna stood there with her mouth open slightly. "But.. the party's in three days! We couldn't get enough money in that amount of time." Julia shrugged, and put the money in a metal box with all the rest of the cash. In the next three days, Julia and Maya kept raising funds. In the end, they had 3,225 dollars and fifty cents. Suzanna's eyes widened when she saw all the money. "But the dress only costs 2,500 dollars!" She said. "Why is there so much more?" "People gave us more money so our family could afford some nice stuff!" Maya said excitedly. "Come on! We have to get to the mall before the store closes!" That night they bought the dress with a few hours to spare before the party. They went back to their apartment with Julia and gave Suzanna's parents the extra money. Suzanna went over to the mailboxes and smiled when she saw the small package addressed to her. She went back up to the apartment and opened it. With Maya and Julia watching, Suzanna put on the clear headband with a small top hat on it that she had ordered in the mail four weeks ago. Julia and Maya braided her hair and stepped back to admire their work. Suzanna turned around so they could see all of her. She grinned. "Thanks guys," she said. Maya grinned. "Come on! We gotta get you to your party on time!" (Sorry about the inaccurateness)