“Here we are,” my sister Leah said, pushing open the smudged glass door.  The faded sign overhead read ANOTHER PERSON’S TREASURE.  As Leah stepped into the small, poorly lit store, I scanned the street.  Fortunately, I didn’t see anyone from school.  I stepped tentatively inside. 
“I think the grad dresses are over there,” Leah told me, pointing.  As she walked over to our destination, her sleek blonde ponytail bounced on her head.  I followed my older sister towards a rusty clothing rack, on which hung several brightly coloured dresses.  Some were long, some were short, some were strapless, but all of them looked sickeningly second-hand. 
“I like this colour,” I remarked, examining a rose pink dress.  “I don’t know about the style, though.” 
Leah looked the dress over and made a face.  “Yeah, it’s a little frumpy, isn’t it?” she mused.  “Don’t worry, Jane.  We’ll find something.”
I stepped towards the store’s window and peered across the street.  I gazed at the place a few stores down, ASHTON’S FORMAL WEAR, with longing.  I could see a girl about my age emerging, clutching her silver garment bag gleefully. 
“I’m sorry,” Leah said, also looking at the dress store.  “I know how you feel.  My grade 8 grad dress was a hand-me-down from cousin Alyssa who was about 50 pounds heavier than me and obsessed with death and the colour black.”
I giggled.  “I liked your dress,” I replied. 
Leah scoffed.  “Well, let’s keep looking.  There’s got to be something here that you like.”
There were only seven or eight dresses on the rack.  I studied each of the carefully.  The navy blue one had a pretty noticeable stain just above the waistband and enormous, puffy sleeves.  The yellow one looked something typically worn in a strip club.  The emerald green one looked like something typically worn in a convent.  The pale pink one had a tear in the left sleeve. 
“This one is alright,” I said, motioning to a short, lilac coloured dress. 
“Do you want to try it on?” Leah asked. 
“I guess so,” I replied. With the dress in hand, I walked towards the change room. 
The lilac dress had a fitted bodice and a skirt that hit just above the knee.  It had thin spaghetti straps, was made of cheap satin, and had a lilac ribbon waistband. It was pretty, but awfully plain.  And it was fairly obvious that the dress was previously owned by someone else.  The skirt was wrinkled, and the dress lacked the crisp newness that would radiate from all of the other girls’ dresses. 
“While you’re changing into it, I’m going to see if this store will take some of my old stuff,” Leah told me, motioning to the cloth bag in her hand. 
“What’s in it?” I asked. 
Leah opened the bag towards me.  “Just a couple of old shirts and sweaters of mine,” she replied.  “And these four inch heels that I realized are impossible to walk in. There’s also some old jewelry.”
“Is there anything that I would like?” I asked. 
“I doubt it, Janie.  Most of the shirts and sweaters are stuff we took from grandma’s house after she died.”
Taking the bag from my sister, I examined the contents.  I picked up a zip lock baggie of jewelry and carefully rifled through. 
“Where did you get this?” I asked. I held up a thin silver chain that had rhinestones on little loops of thread through several of the chain links.  The rhinestones were attached to the threads with little dabs of hot glue, and one of them had fallen off. 
Leah laughed. “Oh, that’s a necklace that I made for my senior prom.  All of the other girls had gorgeous gold or silver jewelry with real diamonds and amethysts, and I really wanted to as well.  But mom and dad obviously couldn’t afford it, so I took some rhinestones off of this ridiculous Christmas sweater that I had and I made that.  It’s hideous, isn’t it?  Gosh, I can’t believe that I actually wore that to prom!”
I carefully fingered the necklace.  “Can I have it?” I asked Leah. 
“Sure,” Leah said, amused. “I doubt the store would take it, anyway.”
Putting the necklace in my pocket, I stepped into the change room and put on the purple dress.  The top was a little loose, and the skirt needed to be hemmed, but it looked alright.  Old and boring, but alright. 
When I emerged, Leah was waiting for me.  “It looks really nice!” she told me happily. 
“Yeah,” I agreed.  “Do you think mom could alter so that it fits better?”
Leah nodded.  “You look beautiful, Jane,” she told me with a smile.  “You’ll be the prettiest girl there.”
I made a face.  “Sarah Valacari got a five hundred dollar dress, and is having her hair, makeup, and nails done professionally.”
Leah hugged me tightly. “Janie, you don’t need money to be beautiful.  That’s something that comes naturally.  But more importantly, you don’t need money to be happy.  The only difference between you and Sara Valacari is that you won’t grow up to be shallow and materialistic.  If there’s one thing that buying all my clothes at thrift shops has taught me, it’s that money can’t buy the things that really count.”
I smiled. “I guess I know that,” I told my sister.  I turned towards the mirror and studied the dress carefully.  “It’s a nice dress. But I feel like it’s missing something.  Do you think we could replace the purple ribbon with a silver one?  We could tie it in a big bow at the back.”
“Maybe,” Leah said.  “But I have another idea.  After this, what do you say we go to the jeweler down the street and find you a necklace and some earrings to wear with the dress?”
I looked at Leah, startled.  “We can’t afford that!” I exclaimed.  Remember? Mom only gave me…”
“Well, I have a job,” Leah interrupted. “And I want to give you some nice jewelry as a graduation present.  I can’t promise diamonds and rubies, but we can get something really pretty.  I didn’t have any jewelry to wear to my prom, and I don’t want you to go through the same thing at your grade 8 grad.”
“Thank you,” I breathed.  I gave Leah a warm hug.   “You’re the best sister ever.”
“You’re just saying that because I’m the only sister you’ve ever known,” Leah joked. 
I looked in the mirror again. I imagined a sparkling gold necklace around my neck and fabulous earrings hanging from my ears, both adorned with perfectly polished gems.  I frowned. 
“Thanks so much for offering to buy me jewelry,” I said at last.  “But you’ve already given me jewelry today, and I think it would be much better if I wore that.”
“You can’t wear that awful thing! Jane, I promise, it’s not a problem,” Leah assured me.  “If it was, I wouldn’t do it.”
“I know,” I replied.  I went back into the change room, and grabbed Leah’s prom necklace from my sweater pocket.  Then, in front of the mirror outside the change room, I fastened it around my neck.  “But I like this better than anything we could find in a store.”