I was walking through the mall when it happened. Time just stopped; everything froze. The connection between us was the only thing that mattered. That was the only thing I focused on. I stopped in my tracks and made my way to Forever 21 across the way, about to be united with my one true love. My heart was racing, and my palms were sweaty. I knew this was the one. I knew we were meant to be together. The way it hung on the display said everything.
Buy me, you know you want to…

I had to go and hold it. There was something in my heart and the pit of my stomach that was just telling me I had to. I couldn’t ignore the signs. This dress was dangerous, and somewhere in my rational head, a voice told me that. But it was exciting to know that out of all the people in Forever 21 – the dress chose me. As I held the dress in my hands, my heart turned into putty. It was so soft, and the fabric wasn’t constricting. This dress had placed my needs of both style and comfort first. This dress obviously cared about me. How could I just ignore that?

Why not just give me a chance? What’s the harm?

It was right. What was the harm in trying it on? I made my way with it to the change room. As I tried it on, I was scared to look in the mirror. What if my fairytale-love story turned out to be too good to be true? I didn’t want to destroy the perfect image of the dress in my head – but I had to know the truth.

Turn around.

I turned around to a bucket full of gorgeous sexiness. The dress flaunted my best features. It made my legs and butt look amazing. Its strapless, sweetheart neckline was modest, and it fit me so well I didn’t have to constantly pull the dress up to avoid a malfunction. I couldn’t help but smile. This dress was made for me, and I was made for it. We were born to be together. The stars were aligned that day in the mall – fate was on our side. Nothing could stop this amazing love story.

Beautiful.

My world came crashing down in seconds. I couldn’t stop myself from looking at it, I knew I had to if we were going to be together. $58.00. That damn price tag destroyed my love story. Why did I have to look? The better question is: Why did I have to be so poor? I swore right then and there in that change room, I almost cried. I knew I had the money to pay for it, but I still had other things I needed to buy. The idea of spending all of my money for this dress scared me. The commitment was too much; I couldn’t handle it. I took the dress off and placed it gently on the hanger, being careful not to wrinkle it.

Please don’t do this. We’re meant to be together!

As I walked out of the change room holding the dress, my hands were trembling. I didn’t think I could do it. I was half convinced that if I was fast enough, we could just run away together. They would find us though, and then we would never get to be together. I placed the hanger back on the rack. I kept saying to myself, “If you love them, you have to let them go.”

Goodbye, Taiya.

I walked out of that store using every bit of my strength to not run back there and buy it. It was hard. That dress haunts me every single day. I see it everywhere: when I eat, when I sleep, when I sit in class. I could’ve had a beautiful life with that dress. It was the one that got away. I was proud to say that I had the strength to let it go.
But damn, it was a stunning dress.