I sat carefully on her bed watching her. To my greatest surprise, she unzipped her skirt and pulled it down. I turned away quickly. I had never beheld the nakedness of anyone.

"How do I look?" Iyanu questioned after some minutes. I turned to look at her. She looked so beautiful with the gown clinging to her lithe figure.

Unlike mine, her gown was fitted and exactly her size. I loved the ribbon sown on the gown. It was just like the dresses my grandma took away from me; dresses my mother purchased for me.

"You look very beautiful, Iyanu. The dress is so beautiful. I like it." I replied truthfully and she smiled.

She walked to her dressing mirror and stood by it,  assessing her figure on the mirror.

"It looks a little big on me. Don't you think so?"

I almost laughed as I stared at her. If something fitted as this was big for her, I wonder what she'd say about my dress.

"It is perfect for you," I told her.

"You think so?"

"Yes, I do."

"Thank you." Iyanu turned away from the mirror and stood before me.

"What are you wearing? Can I see it?"

"It's nothing special. "

"Mmmm. . .I want to see it. When people say their dress is nothing special,  then it's really to die for."

"Not mine. It's really nothing special compared to yours."

"Let me still see it." She insisted.

I sighed as I got up to pick my bag which was lying by the bed. I wasn't used to showing people my clothes or checking out outfits. I simply wore what grandma picked.  I pulled my gown out of my bag and handed t over to her.

"Put it on. The beauty of a dress is seen when it is worn." Iyanu smiled at me, obviously pleased by what she had said.

I sighed heavily. How was I going to dress up with her in the room? I needed a secluded area to put on my dress.

"Could I use your bathroom?" I asked timidly.

Iyanu looked amused but she nodded anyway so I clumsily walked into the bathroom with my dress in my hand. I pulled my clothes off and wore the dress my grandma chose for me.

I walked out of the bathroom after mustering the courage to come out. Seeing Iyanu's dress made me ashamed of mine.

"What in heaven's name is this?" Iyanu fell into fits of giggles. "Don't tell me you're wearing that to the engagement party?"

I felt like melting as I stood fiddling with my fingers.

"Isn't this your grandmother's dress?" She laughed again. "It's so big, like a tarpaulin. You look like you've been thrown into a big sack."

People laughing about my attire wasn't new to me. Grandma bought nothing but oversized clothes for me — my uniform included; it had always been a source of amusement to my classmates.

Grandma had requested for a uniform twice my size: my skirt was almost touching my feet and my shirt was so long, I had to fold it. My wardrobe was filled with oversized clothes of various sort.

I looked funny and I knew it. It was only a  wish to have clothes my size. Once, my mother came visiting with a bag of beautiful clothes and shoes for me. I had been very glad and had expressed my gratitude only for grandma to seize them when my mother left with the guise that those clothes were for sleazes and whores.

"I wonder why your mother bought such for you. Anyway, I'm not surprised." She had said.

Saying I was hurt then was an understatement.  I had reported to my mother using the family landline the next morning but grandma refused to release them to me. 

"Now you see why I said it was nothing special. I'll just go and change." I told her.

"Wait!" She called out to me and I turned to look at her; casting her a 'What now?' look.

"I feel we could both wear this dress together. . .like this dress can fit in both of us. " She walked to me.

"That's impossible!" I shook my head at her.

"Let's  try it."

"You'll tear my dress"

"No. I won't."

Before I could protest, she raised the dress and I gasped. I watched her bend so she could wear the dress with me. 

"Remove your hand so I can put mine." She told me. I reluctantly did as she requested.

Surprisingly, she was right. The dress was so big that we could both fit into it.  Iyanu turned to me; her face filled with amusement. She began to laugh and I joined her; I found it amusing.

I knew the clothes grandma bought for me were twice my size but it never occurred to me that I could wear it with someone else at the same time.

"We need to capture this," Iyanu said. She began to walk to her phone and I tagged along.  We giggled as we walked for we were walking like puppets or penguins of some sort.  She picked her phone and began to take pictures. I smiled. Tonight was different.  Everything I was doing was different.  Life without grandma was so different. 

"We need to show Doyin this," Iyanu said to me. "I wonder if she's asleep. That girl sleeps like a goat." Iyanu whispered to me like Doyin was somewhere in the room.

"Let's just take this off," I said wearily.

Iyanu nodded and pulled my dress off her head.

"You can't wear this. You'll be a clown if you do." She told me.

"I've been wearing this since. It's not new to me." I retorted.

"Why are you wearing an ugly sack for clothing?"

Her choice of words cracked me up. "Sack?"

"Yes. This is a sack. You look like a mother of three."

"Oh seriously." I rolled my eyes.

"This dress covers everything on your body. It makes you shapeless." She began to walk around me.

"Okay. Enough of the insults.  I know my dress is ugly."

"So why do you want to wear such an ugly thing?"

"Because. . ." I  threw my hands in reckless abandon.  Do I have to explain to everyone I meet? "You will not understand," I said at last.

"I will. As far it isn't mathematics. I will." Iyanu sat on her bed.

"Well. . . it's not like I want to wear this dress. It's not a question of what I want to wear or not. It's about what my grandmother wants for me. I'm living under her roof so I abide by her rules. I don't have any choice. " I huffed.

"Why are you even living with your grandma? Why not your  parents?"

"I can't live with them."

"You don't know them?" Iyanu asked quietly. I could see from the expression on her face that it was a genuine question.

"Well, only my dad but my mum lives elsewhere.  I can't be with her." I sighed.

"It's not surprising to see the dress your grandma picked for you. She's an old woman and so her taste would be old fashioned.  I feel if she sees you on something different, she'd  change her mind."

I shook my head at her. How she could be so wrong! She didn't know the entire story and to be honest I didn't have the strength to explain. I really didn't feel good talking about my mother's past and how it was affecting me.

"I don't  think so."

"Yes. She hasn't seen you on any fitted clothing.  Has she?"

"No, but__"

"That explains why she keeps getting you big clothes. Why don't you change her mindset?"

"I really don't know if what you're saying is true but my grandma doesn't like it when her rules are broken. It brings severe punishment."

"What possible punishment could she give?" Iyanu gave a mocking look.

"Try starving for a whole day.  That's how bad it is."

Iyanu gasped. "She'd really go that far?"

"Don't try my grandma." I rubbed my face wearily. I was already tired of this conversation.

"Alright. But just try an outfit out. I want to see how it will look on you. I have something I think would suit you perfectly. It's a black gown I got as a gift for my birthday. Fortunately and unfortunately,  it's too big for me."
"I'm sure it isn't."

"Wait till you see it." Iyanu walked to her wardrobe and began rummaging for the dress.