STHE DOOR OPENED AND A SMILING KHLOE came into our room. I’d hung up with Taylor moments ago, plugged in my phone, and was finishing a Chatter message.
“Drop everything,” Khloe said. “We are going to do some serious, and I mean serious, birthday party planning!”
I smiled. “That sounds awesome. I can’t wait to see what my official party planner has in mind.”
Khloe hummed “Happy Birthday” as she gathered notebooks, magazines, pens, and her iPad.
I reread my Chatter update and pressed update.
LaurBell: Talked 2 @TFrost until my phone battery died.
@ AnaArtiste & @BrielleisaBeauty, watch out—ur next! 
Khloe motioned for me to join her on the floor. “We need lots of room,” Khloe said.
I got off my bed and carefully stepped over the piles and lowered myself to the carpet. “You didn’t start working on this before the show, did you?” I asked. “Because you promised you wouldn’t.”
Khloe looked around the room, then grabbed an issue of Flirt! “On the most sacred magazine of all that holds celeb gossip, beauty tips, and, everything a girl needs to live.” Khloe placed her hand flat on the magazine. “I’m starting right now. I kept my promise and didn’t begin before the show.”
Her seriousness over swearing on Flirt! made me giggle. “I believe you. You’d never lie while under the oath of that magazine.”
Khloe nodded, flipping her fishtail braid over her right shoulder. “Never.”
“Show me what you’ve got,” I said.
“I may not have written down anything, but I did have a thought. Obvi, tell me if you totes hate it. It’s your birthday, and it has to be everything you want. I promised Becca that I’d throw you the coolest party ever.”
I smiled, thinking back to when Khloe had hijacked a Skype convo I’d been having with my older sister. Khloe and Becca had acted like BFFs and almost started planning my party on the spot!
“Becs is plenty happy that I found such an awesome friend at school,” I said. “She knows no matter what you do—it’ll be amazing. And so do I.”
Khloe lifted her eyes from her notebook. “Thanks, LT. That means a lot.”
“Tell me your idea,” I said.
Khloe opened a blank notebook, holding a purple Bic above it. “This is your thirteenth birthday. It’s one of the most important birthdays ever. Added bonus: Halloween. I know how much you love it, so what if we combine the two? I’m sure you’ve had spooky birthday parties when you were a kid, but I have something a little different in mind for this one.”
“J’adore Halloween, of course! And yes, I’ve had parties with peeled grapes as eyeballs, witch’s brew punch, pumpkin sugar cookies, and all of my friends came dressed in costumes. One year, I think there were at least five people in Spiderman costumes.”
“Oh, my dear Lauren.” Khloe hugged her zebra-print notebook to her chest. “That isn’t even close to the kind of party you’ll be getting.”
I grinned, looking at her. October thirty-first needed to hurry!
“What do you think about throwing a masquerade ball?” Khloe asked. “The girls will be in gorgeous, glam dresses, and the guys will be in collared shirts and pants. Everyone will come with a mask that matches his or her outfit or personality.” She paused, watching my face.
My expression told her everything she needed to know. I was breathy and wide-eyed.
“The masks aren’t going to be silly or typical Halloween masks either. I want ornate, beaded, jewel-toned, feathery, handheld masks.”
Khloe stopped, took a deep breath, and looked at me, waiting for my answer.
“Khloe Kinsella, if you weren’t already such a talented actress, I’d say you should become an event planner. I. Love. This. Omigod! I never would have thought of it! It’s going to be so luxurious and beautiful. It sounds like a Halloween party that celebrities would have on their Manhattan rooftops.”
“Yaaay!” Khloe clapped. “I’m so, so happy you love it!”
“Love it times a million. The masquerade theme incorporates Halloween and turning thirteen. It’s just the grown-up feel that I wanted.” I thought for a minute. “The mask is kind of symbolic in a way. I’ll be hiding the face of tween Lauren all night until it’s time to take off my mask. Then I’m thirteen with nothing to hide behind.”
Khloe scribbled away in her notebook as I talked. “We’re lucky because October thirty-first happens to fall on a Saturday this year. It’ll give us, and by ‘us,’ I do not mean you, lots of extra time to set up and make sure everything’s perfect.”
“I can help,” I said. “You don’t have to do this all by yourself. Khlo, you’ve got a million things going on right now. The play. Riding. School. Zack.”
She waved a dismissive hand at me. “Nope. Sorry. You’re not helping with setup. Only tell me everything you want and envision. Plus, I’ll have Clare, Lex, Jill, and some other people help me set up.”
I eyed her. “Okay, but promise you’ll ask me for help if you need it.”
“Promise. So . . .” Khloe put her iPad on her lap and opened the Internet. “Let’s start with what you’re thinking about dress-wise, so I can get a feel for the glam scale.”
We peered over the iPad as Khloe logged on to Macy’s. Khloe clicked “dresses,” then “junior party dresses.”
“It’s silly,” I said. “But I’ve had an idea of the dress I’ve wanted to wear for my thirteenth birthday since I turned twelve.”
Khloe shook her head. “No way is that silly. That just means we won’t stop looking until we find the dress you’ve imagined. It has to be the one. What does it look like?”
“Hit ‘all’ and then we can see all seventy-two options,” I said. “Macy’s has to have it.”
“While we’re looking, I bet Lex, Jill, and Clare would appreciate it if we e-mailed them links to any gorge dresses that could be options for them.”
“Good idea.”
Khloe took her time scrolling through the dresses on her iPad. She hovered over a tangerine floral appliqué dress. “Lexa,” we both said. Khloe clicked on the dress for details. The sleeveless, fully lined tulle dress had small flowers with pearls in the center on the bodice.
Khloe logged into her Gmail account and pasted the link.
Back on Macy’s, I pointed to a strapless sequin dress. “That screams you,” I said. “It’s black, won’t take away from your hair or any accessories, and the satin tie bow is adorable.”
“I looove it,” Khloe said. “Nice find!” She added the dress to the cart.
We found a dress for Clare—a pleated dress with capped sleeves. The skirt had tulle underlay, and the amethyst color would be striking against her hair. Khloe copied the link and added it to the e-mail.
Khloe continued scrolling slowly through the dresses. We were almost at the bottom of the page, and my heart was sinking. We added a link to a pretty coral dress with a lace mesh tier for Jill. Macy’s had a ton of cute dresses, but none were The Dress. There were other sites, but—
“Stop! There! Click!” I tapped the tablet screen. “That’s it! That’s my dress!”
Khloe clicked, and new page loaded with a larger image of my dream dress.
“That is so beautiful, Lauren! Omigod!” Khloe pulled on my arm.
I didn’t take my eyes off the computer screen. The light pink dress had spaghetti straps and was covered in sequins in random sizes and sprinkled across the dress with no discernible pattern.
“I love how there are more sequins around the waist that look like a belt and how they gather all around the hem of the dress too,” I said.
“There’re such pretty colors, too,” Khloe said. “White, black, gray.”
“I’m so, so happy we found it. Add it to the cart before it disappears!” Khloe selected my size and put the dress in our cart. We found shoes and clutches to match our dresses before placing the order with my emergency credit card. I’d already asked Mom and Dad if I could use it for my party outfit and Khloe’s, and they’d agreed. Khloe, though, had insisted on paying me back.
I let out a giant sigh, happy that my dress was ordered. Khloe sent the e-mail with dress links to Lex, Clare, and, Jill.
“Now we get to pick out masks,” I said.
Khloe wiggled her eyebrows. “I think we should do them on our own computers and not show them to each other until we get dressed on party night.”
“I love that idea! The party is supposed to have mystery, after all.”