My Purple Jacket! - short story

Kate stood by her locker in the hallway, with her head facing the floor. “Where in the world could my pretty purple jacket be?!” she mumbled, stomping the ground with rage. “I showed mum the picture of it on a girl in the magazine and I was overjoyed when it arrived! I was so excited to wear it for the first day of 6th grade. How could it have just disappeared in a week?!” Just then, the new girl walked by… wearing a pretty purple jacket with sparkly white gems on it. She walked by, looking proud, and had a contented smile. Kate’s jaw dropped, not being able to comprehend the fact that she had the jacket. How could it be a coincidence? “Hey there! You must be Kate, am I right?” said the girl, walking towards her. “Hm. That’s right. Are you new? I’m guessing Mr. Brown asked you to find me so I can show you around the campus. What’s your name?” asked Kate. “Sorry, I should’ve started off with that. I’m Juliette!” she said.

A few weeks ago, Kate was going through one of her mum’s magazines out of boredom. While skimming through the pages, she noticed one of them had a golden border around it. She opened that one and saw a picture of a young girl with short brown hair, posing with a beautiful purple jacket. It had pretty white gems on the front. It was the most divine piece of clothing Kate had ever seen. She immediately asked her mum if she could order it and after a long session of negotiating, begging, and crying, she finally gave in.

A week later, Kate was checking the mail excitedly and saw that it finally arrived! The jacket she longed for! She ran to her room while screaming, “Mum! It’s here! The jacket! I’m going to try it now.” She put on denim overalls and the jacket on top. She looked gorgeous. She looked as charming as Aphrodite in that jacket. It was truly meant for her.

After a few days of the jacket arriving, Kate and her parents decided to renovate her new room. It’s been the same for at least the last 8 years now. They got her a new bed, a new desk, and of course a new closet. While Kate was arranging all her books on her new bookshelf, her dad was separating clothes that were to be tossed out, ones to be given away and ones to be kept. But the next day when Kate was going to leave for the mall with her mum, she couldn’t find her jacket in her closet. She tore her whole wardrobe apart trying to find it but all was in vain. She cried her eyes out asking her mom where it was. But neither of them knew where it went.

Back at school, Kate gave Juliette a tour of the school. They ended up becoming friends although Kate had a hint of despise for Juliette at the back of her mind. They shared many interests; they loved the same movies, music artists, and even clothing styles. Once school ended, they decided to walk home together since Kate’s house was on the way to Juliette’s. While walking, Kate finally decided to ask her; “I like that jacket of yours, where did you get it?”

Juliette paused for a moment. “You see, my mum and I live alone together and we aren’t very rich. We can’t afford many clothes like this that are very expensive and pretty so–” she said as Kate cut her off. “So you didn’t buy it?” she asked. “No, but although it’s embarrassing to say, my mum was going through items at a clothes donation center pick-up because I didn’t have any good clothes to wear for school. As soon as she showed it to me I felt like it was love at first sight. I was mesmerized.” As she said that they reached Kate’s house. Kate stood there, puzzled, not able to understand what emotions were going through her head. She pulled Juliette’s hand and started walking to her door. “Uhm, Kate..?” Juliette asked. “Just come with me for a moment,” Kate replied, “I have a really nice pair of overalls that would look amazing with your jacket.”

The End