She loses half the dress

Mackenzie and Aaron took their seats across from each other in the small booth. It was just as the waiter was turning to leave that Mackenzie's eyes caught it. There, on the ground beside her, was a trailing gray thread. Her gaze followed it back to her body, where she saw that her dress was now significantly shorter! Mackenzie's brain quickly switched into panic mode. This wasn't her first time wearing something that was unraveling before her very eyes. Far from it. She yanked the knife out from the neatly wrapped bundle of silverware and pulled it below the table.

"So! Aaron!" she blurted out awkwardly, hoping to mask what she was doing. "Where, uh, where do you work?"

"Oh, it's this big distribution center," he said. As he continued on, explaining more about what he did there, Mackenzie began trying to blindly cut the thread with the serrated blade. She had a (what she hoped was polite looking) smile plastered on her face, trying not to look down. A moment later, she felt it snap and saw the trailing thread get yanked out of sight at an impressive speed. Mackenzie let out an internal sigh of relief. She'd saved her dress from destruction, but how bad was the damage? She tentatively placed a hand on her thigh and felt only the smooth material of her leggings.

"And what about you? What's your major?" Aaron asked before taking a sip of water.

"Oh! Uh, journalism," the redhead supplied, moving her hand up to her hips. Still just leggings. "I've been thinking about focusing on broadcast journalism, specifically." Mackenzie moved her hand up higher. Now she actually felt the bare skin of her stomach! Just how much of her dress was left?! Finally, Mackenzie felt the wool of her dress, now resting just above her belly button.

"Hey, uh, you okay?" Aaron asked. Mackenzie realized that she was blushing deeply, despite her attempts to put on a nonchalant facade.

"Oh, fine! Just peachy fine keen!" Mackenzie hastily placed her obscured hand back on the table. In doing so, she sent her fork skittering across the table. It plummeted off the edge.

"Oh, let me get that!" Aaron immediately volunteered. And, before Mackenzie could even utter a protest, he ducked under the table.

It's fine. M-maybe he won't even notice! Mackenzie thought. Maybe he won't even see that my dress is half as long as it was a minute ago! ...And maybe pigs will fly.

Aaron emerged with the fork in hand, and for a second Mackenzie thought that maybe the boy truly hadn't noticed her changed attire. But those hopes were dashed when he said, "Hey, uh, I couldn't help but notice... well, call me crazy but weren't you wearing a dress when we walked in?"

"Y-yeah..." Mackenzie quickly tried to think of an explanation.

"But now it's like, just a shirt?"

"Yes, well... that's because... it's one of those zip-off dresses!" she lied.

"Zip-off dresses?"

"Yeah, you know how they have pants where you can unzip the bottoms and they become shorts? Well it's like that! A dress that can change into just a shirt! I was just feeling a little hot in here so I took the lower part off."

What the fuck! That's so stupid! Mackenzie cursed. He's never going to believe that!

"Oh... cool! I didn't know they made those!" Aaron said, more than happy to play along with Mackenzie's story. Relief flooded over Mackenzie. The night was salvaged!

Thanks to Mackenzie's save, the next part of the meal proceeded quite well. The two continued getting to know each other as they waited for their food. It was only when they were both eating that disaster struck again. This time, Aaron dropped his fork.

"Oh, let me!" Mackenzie quickly said, eager to repay his earlier favor.

She bent down and leaned under the table. The fork had fallen near Aaron's foot, so she had to reach quite a ways to grab it. As she stretched her right hand out, Mackenzie's left shoulder ground against the rough edge of the wooden table. The sharp edge dug right into the dress's shoulder seam, splitting the crucial threads. Mackenzie winced at the discomfort, but soon grabbed the fork and began retreating from under the table. As her left shoulder moved away, the seam split. Before Mackenzie could even register it, there was a soft SHRIP sound and the seam split around her sleeve entirely. Mackenzie sat upright and was more than a little shocked to see and feel her left sleeve falling from her shoulder and pooling around her elbow. She froze.

"Oh cool!" Aaron said, breaking the silence. "Your sleeves unzip too?"

Mackenzie paused for a moment, mind racing.

"...Yyyyes. Yes they do!" Mackenzie said, running with it. "Like I said, I'm feeling a bit warm in here, so..."

She set the discarded sleeve aside next to her handbag and a few seconds of silence passed.

"Are you going to do the other one too?" he asked.

"I... uh..."

"I mean if you're warm wouldn't unzipping the other one help too?"

"That... is a very good point," Mackenzie said, before getting an idea. "Oh, y'know what? I think the zipper's actually stuck on this one." She grabbed at it and pretended to be trying to unzip the sleeve. "Oh well."

"Want me to take a look?" Aaron asked. He started standing up. "I bet I could unjam it."

"No! I mean, no that's alright, but thank you." Mackenzie couldn't dare let Aaron realize that there weren't actually any zippers on her dress.

"...Alright," Aaron said as he sat back down.

Mackenzie let out a small sigh of relief.

Crisis averted! For now at least...