Chapter Thirty-Eight
Carly
Addie’s grandfather has offered to buy all of us dresses for the school dance!
A few days before the special night, delivery guys roll in racks and racks of dresses into our room, along with a professional dresser.
The four of us spend hours trying on basically all of them, each of us searching for the perfect dress.
With the professional’s help, we’re all satisfied with our choices.
Raven chooses a long lavender dress, Sophie settles on a royal blue poofy one that reaches just above her knees, Addie picks a wine-colored one, and mine is emerald-colored that’s slightly poofy and reaches just below my knees.
We do a group video call with her grandfather and thank him for such wonderful gifts.
He tells us how much he appreciates our friendship with Addie.
I’ve been borrowing Addie’s clothes the second she and I became friends, but I never expected anything like this. We all assumed we would drive into town and shop for dresses at an inexpensive store. But now we’ll actually feel like princesses at the dance.
When the night of the dance finally arrives, we gather in my and Addie’s room to get ready.
We’re all wearing huge smiles, but mine and Addie’s are extra large because we can’t wait to spend the night dancing under the fake stars with our special guys.
Of course we’ll have a blast with Sophie and Raven, too, but nothing can compare to sharing a romantic dance with my amazing boyfriend.
“I love how you matched my eye shadow to my dress,” I tell Sophie as I gush at my reflection in the mirror.
“Thanks! The color looks great on you.”
“Thanks. And you all look stunning, too!”
Sophie sighs. “I just wish I had someone to dance with.”
“Did anyone ask you?” Addie inquires. “Did you ask anyone?”
Sophie snorts. “Sure. There was a line the length of a runway eager to be my date to the dance.”
“Mine was longer,” Raven says as she adds lip gloss to her lips.
“It’s not that I’m dying for a boyfriend,” Sophie informs us as she checks her face in the mirror. “I’m fine being single and enjoying my life. But when there’s a school dance…I guess it hits me how much I’m missing out on.”
“I feel the same,” Raven admits. “If I don’t have a boyfriend before I graduate, I’ll never know what it’s like to experience high school romance.”
“I won’t have the possibility of a second chance romance trope or a high school sweethearts trope,” Sophie says.
Addie’s brows crease. “You want a second chance romance?”
“Not necessarily. But let’s say I do have a boyfriend in high school and we, for whatever reason, have no choice to but break up. There’s always a chance that we could get together one day and see if we still have that spark.”
“Sophie, you can’t live your life hoping for a romance trope,” I tell her.
“I believe that whatever is meant to happen is meant to happen. So while I do think you’ll have a boyfriend before you graduate, it’s totally fine if you don’t.
Maybe you’ll meet your special guy in college or after and will have one of the best love stories in the world. ”
Sophie considers it for a few seconds. “I guess that wouldn’t be so bad. I can totally have an office romance or a boss/employee romance.”
I shake my head and laugh. Sophie’s determined to live out a romance trope, and who am I to get in her way?
“Well, unless a new guy lands in our laps, I don’t think either of us will be getting any boyfriends soon,” Raven says. “Many of the guys here are jerks, and the ones that aren’t are taken.”
“Hey, you never know,” I say. “I mean, I thought Ryder was a total cretin, but he proved to be anything but that. Maybe there’s a guy here who we misjudged.”
We’re all quiet as we think of a possible guy at school who might fit that description. When we all come up blank, we chuckle.
“But it’s good to be hopeful,” Addie concludes. “I never thought I would end up with Caleb. The more we get to know each other, the more I learn how perfect he is for me. He has qualities I didn’t know I needed in a guy. He’s beyond what I thought I needed.”
Sophie sighs. “That’s not helping.”
“Oh, sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Sophie envelops her in her arms. “You know Raven and I are super happy for you and Carly. I can be happy for you and jealous at the same time. Don’t hold back at the dance, okay? Neither of you. I want you guys to have the time of your lives without worrying about us.”
“Yeah, we’ll have loads of fun even without dates,” Raven assures us. “All that matters is that we’re together, right?”
Addie and I smile. “Right.”
I check the time on my phone. “You think the guys are ready?”
“Bet they just started getting ready ten minutes ago,” Sophie says with a laugh.
I text Ryder, and sure enough, he and Caleb have been ready for over ten minutes.
“Boys,” Addie says with an eye roll as we leave our room.
The dorm is buzzing with excited chatter, and some freaking out, too.
I think I hear someone yell that her dress ripped as she tried putting it on and she needs someone to deliver her a new dress pronto .
Another one is crying in the bathroom because her boyfriend broke up with her literally hours before the dance. Ouch, that sucks.
“I didn’t know how intense dances can be,” Sophie says. “I guess it’s different going with a guy or going with friends. We’ve always gone as a group before you guys got awesome boyfriends and we didn’t pay attention to all this drama.”
“Let’s just hope our boyfriends don’t break up with us minutes before the dance,” Addie says with a nervous laugh.
“That will never happen,” Raven assures her. “You guys are too amazing and your boyfriends will never let you slip through their fingers. That would be the biggest mistake of their lives.”
I do a spin. “It certainly would be.”
We chuckle as we continue toward the exit of the dorm, trying to block out the cheers and the cries. Sheesh, Sophie’s right—we never paid attention to all this drama when we went to dances as a group.
“I’m guessing things were calmer at your old school?” I ask Addie.
“We had our fair share of drama, for sure. But nothing like this. Maybe that’s what happens when you have a million girls in one dorm. I have to say, I don’t mind it. It makes me feel like I’m part of the school, you know? I share in their happiness and pain even if they don’t know I exist.”
“I guess that’s true,” I muse. “I might feel invisible in my classes, but I sure as heck go through the same torture they go through when teachers surprise us with a pop quiz. We’re all in the same boat despite where we come from.”
“Until we get out in the real world,” Raven reminds us. “Then we certainly don’t go through the same things they do.”
Addie nearly knocks into someone who’s coming from the opposite direction. She’s about to apologize, but then she realizes that it’s Clarissa and her minions. Clarissa stiffens when she sees who it is and flares her nostrils.
It’s a miracle we’ve managed to avoid running into her these past few weeks. Of course all of us share classes with her, but we thankfully never had a reason to interact with her. Especially Addie. I wouldn’t be surprised if she wants to give her a good slap across the face. I sure as heck do.
She checks out Addie from top to bottom, then does the same to us. She’s wearing a super-fitted black dress that makes her look really pretty. But that doesn’t matter to me. It means nothing if a person is beautiful on the outside but rotten on the inside.
“ Cute dresses,” she says. “Did your mommies pick them out?”
“Actually, my grandfather sent us racks and racks of dresses from the store you always shop at,” Addie tells her. “Should I inform them how much you love them? I’m sure they’ll love to cater to you the next time you drop in for a dress.”
Clarissa purses her lips. “Oh, did you really shop at one of my favorite stores? How cute . My bad. I thought the dresses were ugly, but turns out it’s the people who are wearing them that are ugly.”
“Oh, wow, we’re so hurt,” Raven says. “Getting dissed by a girl who almost committed murder. How will we ever sleep at night?”
“Who’s your date?” Sophie asks. “Them?” She nods to her minions.
“We have dates,” Clarissa says. “Not that it’s any of your business. Do you have dates?” She nods to Raven and Sophie.
“We sure do.” Sophie locks her arm through Raven’s. “And we’re sure to have ten times more fun than you. Evil snake,” she mutters under her breath.
Clarissa rolls her eyes. “Let’s go, girls. These losers are such a waste of time.” They walk away.
“Witch,” Sophie grumbles. “I wish I didn’t have to lay eyes on her for even a second.” She places her hand on Addie’s arm. “You okay?”
She smiles. “I’m great. I don’t feel intimidated by her anymore. It felt good to stand up to her. She has no power over us.”
“We’re a force to be reckoned with!” Sophie says.
“Definitely,” I say. “No one will dare mess with us because we take care of our own.” My phone beeps. “Oh, shoot. The guys are wondering where we are.”
We leave the dorm and find Caleb and Ryder waiting outside, both of them dressed in their suits and looking smokin’ hot.
Ryder’s hair is styled very neatly and his suit fits him perfectly .
When he sees me, his eyes soften with what I can only describe as pure joy, and he races to gather me in his arms. “You look so beautiful, Carly,” he whispers in my ear.
“You look beautiful, too,” I tell him.
“I had the suit tailor-made just for tonight.”
I pull back and look into his face. “Really?”
“Yeah. Addie’s grandfather offered to pay for it. I refused at first, but he insisted. I only gave in because I want tonight to be special for you.”
“It’ll be special because I’m with you,” I tell him as I bury my face in his chest, not caring that I’m ruining my makeup.