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still, I wish my skin was like yours. I can’t help but wish I looked more like you, Grandma.”
    “Chil’, don’t ever wish for nothin’ God ain’t gave you. Only the fool wanna be what he ain’t.”
    The girl sat up on her knees. “Only fools want to be free?”
    Stop it. Just stop it.
    “Only fools want to fly away?”
    “Lydia…”
    “Grandma, I want to be free.” The pleading, the yearning in her voice. Lou couldn’t take it. Stop it.
    “I know. Listen to me, Lydia. You don’t got to fly away. Life’s gonna take you on a path all its own if you just stay put.”
    She shook her head. “I don’t understand.”
    “I mean stay put.” Lou rubbed her crooked fingers and tapped her chest. “On the inside. Stay with your heart and listen real close and let life take you where it whispers. And stop that worrying about what you look like. God made each and every one of us different. And you special. You a perfect pearl. Yes, sirree. Lou’s perfect pearl.”

CHAPTER FIVE
    Lydia stepped outside The Room with her latest design, a cream satin weave dress with capped sleeves draped across her arm.
    It was perfect. This one, even before it graced her body, even before it ever had a chance to woo her, reflect to her all she imagined a dress could be, this one was special. Made for her and her alone. Never had gathered cloth and stolen hours resulted in a piece just for her. She would wear it, hide it, dream about a day she could present it to the world. For John.
    In her quarters, she peeked out her bedroom door. Behind it, her fingers rested against the knob as she steadied her breathing.
    Holding the dress up against her, she walked to the mirror, wrapping her arm across the waist of the gown.
    Slowly, she slid out of the old into the new.
    When she pulled the cool graze of satin up over her shoulder, the door creaked open. She shrieked, stumbling over the hemline.
    “Lydia?”
    She turned to see Lizzy standing on the threshold. Her friend’s eyes widened as she glanced over the gown. When her lips parted, Lydia sought to fill them with words, anything, something to say.
    “I was just—”
    “What? You were…”
    “I was just seeing if this would be… I’m sorry. I was— I don’t know what I was thinking.” She wasn’t thinking, had forgotten to block the door with the stool.
    Lizzy walked toward her, her mouth still slightly ajar. Would she tell? Snitch to Mrs. Kelly? Dr. Kelly? Lydia’s fingers trembled. She squeezed them steady, gripped them against wet palms.
    “Lydia.”
    “I know. I know I shouldn’t have. It won’t happen again.” She was panicking. “Please don’t tell your mother or father about it, Lizzy. Please!”
    “Lydia.” Lizzy stepped closer. “Lydia.” It was all she had said in the few minutes she’d walked in. And as much as her name on her friend’s lips had comforted her in the past, it now evoked fear in the same measure, thumped terror through her heart.
    “Have you seen yourself in this?”
    Lydia stared at her.
    “Have you looked at yourself?”
    She was standing in front of the mirror.
    “No, Lydia. I mean, really looked at yourself.”
    Lizzy gently spun her around toward her reflection.
    “Look. Look at yourself.”
    Lydia looked into the mirror. This one, just as she had predicted, fit her perfectly. Unlike the yellow, it gathered under her bust and creased down the front, billowing around her like a queen upon her throne. Her heartbeat slowed. She unclasped her hands.
    “Do you see?”
    She could see Lizzy behind her, her large blue eyes blinking rapidly. “Lydia. You look like…me.”
    She glanced at her blond friend, her own dark hair twisted back in a bun under a scarf. The wide blue eyes, her green ones.
    Lizzy’s round face, her high cheekbones. They looked nothing alike.
    Except for one thing.
    “Take your hair down.”
    Lydia hesitated.
    “Go on. Take it down.”
    She yanked the scarf from her head and raked her braid loose with her