HIDE THE PRICE TAG, PLEASE.

Saturday rolled in faster than I expected. Upon Ming's request, my preparation took two days. She said I always look tired because I overworked myself. A spa day was what she recommended. The day before, my body was subjected to a kneading session that felt uncomfortable but gave me the best sleep of my life.

Makeup and hair did. The only thing left was to have the dresses on. But Ming insisted that the dresses be the day's highlight. she saved them for last. At first, I thought she was doing too much. But now I was excited and equally enjoying this moment with her.

"Now, close your eyes." I close my eyes, waiting for the grand reveal.

"One, two, three, open!"

The dress was gorgeous. An off-shoulder moss green princess cut dress. Against my pale skin, it will look as if the moss just grew on my skin. The dress was perfect until I saw the side cut out that rose nearly to my thigh. My whole leg will be exposed. No wonder she told those ladies at the spa to remove any hair from me.

" Where is your dress?"

she quickly reveals a red, equally gorgeous dress but a little more conservative.

" Why didn't you also get me something less revealing? The dress is gorgeous, thank you. But that is just too much skin."

She rolls her eyes, giving, "I can't believe you are that stupid to ask this question." face.

"What?" I say, a bit offended.

"You are on a hunt tonight. You're a lioness prowling in the wilderness of Africa. You are searching for something, so you need to look the part. I, on the other hand, Dan made me promise not to flirt with anyone tonight, so this dress is sort of my promise to him to trust me not to do anything naughty."

She gives me a look that tells me she is technically not going to keep that promise. Even if I were to trade dresses with Ming right now, that wouldn't do. My years of comfort eating in medical school has left me a bit more plump than my best friend. Maybe I could fit, but the zipper will definitely not close. I was no longer a solid B cup.

"OK,"

I walk towards the dress. Inspecting it up close, maybe once I get it on, I can find a trick to ensure that most of my leg is not exposed.

I unzip it from the hanger, about to try it on. Ming screams so loud for me to stop, which has me in a frozen pose, That I literally stop breathing. She quickly moves to my side, softly handling the dress like some fragile glass.

" We need to be careful the tags should be kept on, and nothing can damage this baby or will have to pay for it. "

I was a bit unsettled before, but with this bit of info, I was seconds away from a panic attack.

" How much is it? I hope it's not astronomical." She laughs nervously, about to lie. This gets me curious now. I want to know how much I will lose if this all goes wrong.

"It is better you don't know the price. Leave that bit of info to me."

She helps put the dress on, carefully slipping the price tag so it's out of sight and it isn't probing uncomfortably on my skin.

Now, dressed up and pretty, we take pictures and post them on Weibo. That "Keep the leg in the dress" technique was an epic fail. The cut of the dress was made such that the dress will naturally settle nicely with my leg all revealed. Trying to force the dress close; just made it all weird.

Two things to worry about today: Keep your leg in the dress. Two: nothing must happen to the dress.

As expected, Dan pulled out a fancy car. I'm not a car person, so I couldn't care less about the model. The seats inside the vehicle were cozy and plush, which just spoke more to an exquisite model it is. Dan was our night driver, all dressed in a suit with black tinted glasses. Ming said it was all necessary.

She kept saying, "we can't have an unfinished image."

Upon our arrival, like the ideal "driver" he was, he opened our door and helped us out of the car, all serious and business about his fake role.

"Don't you think this is a bit much?" Seeing how Dan is so invested in his "driver" role. Straight posture and military stance.

"No, he is doing a great job,"

Ming responds, her love-filled eyes all directed to Dan. She blows him a kiss which he catches but quickly goes back to his "driver" act.

Once inside the venue, I could truly appreciate all the work Ming put in. All that talk about "we can't have an incomplete picture" was necessary. We fit right in with this crowd. If I were to pretend I'm the heiress of some company, no one would dispute it.

The hall was decorated nicely with gold decorative statues placed randomly. Just from the room scan, I could recognize most of my former classmates. Even though some have changed a bit, I could clearly see them.

When I received these reunion invitations. I never attended because I believed no one had time to entertain these. But by the look of things, it seems I was the only one who didn't participate. But here or not, no one will be able to notice.

A waiter offers us drinks which we accept.

"This is amazing; look at this place, so expensive." Ming oohs and aahs on my side, taking in the venue. While I randomly spot people in the hall and try to figure out if I still know their names.

"OH o, three o-clock to my right, they are both wearing blue."

I quickly direct my gaze to where she described. And of course, my class wouldn't be complete without these two, Fen and Grace. These two were obsessed with competing with each other. They always wanted to be the main show. Too bad they both seem to be wearing a similar dress this time. The only difference was that one was one-shouldered, and another was not. This was grounds for a mean cat fight. These two must be kept apart.

"Look, they're already steering each other down."

Ming further explains.

" Those two are always like that; they might fight, so let's make sure we are nowhere near when that happens wouldn't want anything to accidentally stain our dresses. "

"Lina!"

A sly voice that I recognized all too well called for my attention. Remember when I said no one would recognize me? That was technically a bit untrue.