Tryst Six Venom by Penelope Douglas

as I can to begging her.
Every other debutante will be wearing white, and while the fabric is
rather pretty on mine—lacy with pearl accents—the design is embarrassing.
All the debutante dresses reek of Stepford.
“That’s kind of the point,” my mom says. “Tradition. Solidarity.
Community. Unity. You’re coming out as a member of society, and a society
functions on standards.” She smooths her hands down the fabric, pressing out
any wrinkles. “You need to learn that rocking the boat puts everyone on
board in danger.”
But that’s what boats are built for.
I sigh, not sure why I decided to let her have this one. I get my way
because my mother picks her battles, and any battle with me that lasts more
than three minutes is too much effort.
I could fight her on it. Maybe I still will.
“Do you need a Valium or something?” she asks.
I laugh under my breath and look away. Gigi Collins, everyone.
Chairwoman, socialite, and school board president.
She puffs my sleeves, and then presses a hand to my stomach. “Hmm.”
“What?”
She purses her lips and walks around me, inspecting. “I was going to have
her take it down to a four, but a six is already a squeeze, isn’t it?”
Heat spreads down my skin, and I clench my jaw.
Her phone rings from her bag on the chair, and she heads for it, waving
me off. “We’ll leave it, I guess.”
Picking up her bag, she digs out her phone and answers it, walking past
me and leaving the room.
I rub my eyes, listening to her chatter out in the waiting area about
whether or not we should have a crêpe station for my school’s Easter brunch
in two months.
Looking up, I stare at my huge skirt in the mirror, bored with this entire
look that’ll live forever and come back to haunt the shit out of me in years to
come.
I don’t want my daughter to laugh when she sees pictures.
I lift up the skirt, cringing at the white stockings and fugly satin heels,
and then I spin, taking in the back of my gown and the obnoxious corset
lacing that should really be buttons instead.
God, I should’ve taken that Valium. Why the hell do I want to make her