The night before prom, Gia is ready to lay out her clothes and have an easy night. But as she opens her closet to take out her dress, she finds it missing. Later, she discovers that her stepmother, Cindy, had returned the dress to the store\u2026 What on earth could be the reason?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My mom died when I was ten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was sudden, like the world had just stopped spinning. One minute, she was tucking me into bed, and the next, she was gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ll always be with you, Gia,\u201d she said one day as she tucked me in, her hands shaking wildly. \u201cWhether I\u2019m right next to you or not, I\u2019ll always be here. Do you understand?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I remember nodding sleepily as she kissed my cheek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Losing her crushed my dad and me in ways I still can\u2019t put into words. We were just completely\u2026 lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then, a few years later, Dad married someone new. Cindy. Now, Cindy wasn\u2019t evil or cruel or anything like that. If I\u2019m being honest, she tried. She smiled a lot, bought me gifts, and cooked things that I enjoyed eating. She even waited for me to come home from school, ready to make me a toasted sandwich while asking me about my day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But no matter what Cindy did, she wasn\u2019t my mom. My heart just didn\u2019t seem to let her in. And because of that, we never really clicked on a personal level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fast forward to senior year:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m 17 and waiting for prom. And for the first time in forever, I felt excited about something. Dad gave me a budget for a dress, and I spent weeks scouring the internet for ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I finally found it, a gorgeous deep-blue gown that made me feel like an actual princess, I knew that it was the one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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