CHAPTER THREE
Natalie
“Are you sure I look okay?” I asked nervously. I was standing in Sadie’s room and staring at my reflection in her floor length mirror.
“You look beautiful,” Lynne said, a huge smile on her face. There were tears swimming in her pretty blue eyes, and I had to look away. I knew she was thinking about my mom.
I swallowed hard, doing my best not to think about anything sad. I was wearing more makeup than I’ve ever worn in my life, and I didn’t want to have to sit there while Sadie and Alexis re-did it.
“You look really nice,” Alexis said, which from her is a major compliment.
“Thanks,” I said, hating that my voice was shaky. It was just… so emotional.
I was at the Summers’ house and wearing a gauzy pink dress with a tight bodice and balloon skirt with little crystals sewn into it.
My aunt, my mom’s twin sister, sent it to me from Paris.
I had to admit; it looked like it was made for me.
I kind of wondered if it was. She had asked for my measurements.
Thinking about Aunt Sabine was difficult.
I hadn’t seen her in person since I was ten.
It was at my mother’s funeral. It had been so eerie standing and holding hands with my dad while I watched Aunt Sabine.
She looked exactly like my mother, standing there all in black.
It was like seeing my mom attend her own funeral.
I wasn’t the only one who was freaked out by it. The whole funeral and graveside service was overshadowed by her presence. She’d held her head high and pretended not to notice that everyone’s eyes were glued to her. And for once it wasn’t just because she was beautiful.
She’d hugged me at the funeral, asked my dad if she could come by the next day to take me shopping and do some fun things. He’d said no. Then she went back to Paris.
I begged Dad to invite her to come back at the holidays or in the summer.
Dad had always said no.
I had my suspicions that it was because he couldn’t stand looking at her since he’d lost Mom. I guessed it didn’t help that I was very slowly starting to look almost exactly like my mother as well.
At least in the face. The rest of me? Not so much.
Mom and Sabine were tall with nice curves.
I was… not. I was stick thin and short. In fact, I’d developed so slowly that Lynne had finally taken me to see a doctor about it.
He’d diagnosed me with primary amenorrhea and said he thought it was caused by either being a ‘late bloomer’ or the massive psychological stress from losing my mother and dealing with an emotionally checked-out father.
I wasn’t sure if it was coincidence or not, but I’d actually started my period, finally, a few months later. I’d slowly started to develop a bit, and for the first time I actually needed a bra. I was ridiculously excited about it.
Now I was eighteen and almost a high school graduate.
I was wearing the prettiest dress I’d ever seen, along with pink spiky heels I’d had to learn how to walk in over the past couple of weeks.
I’d practiced with Alexis. Sadie was back and forth from college and didn’t have tons of time.
But she’d made sure to be here tonight to do my makeup while Alexis did my hair.
Tim was taking me to prom. I was pretty sure Lynne had asked him to, considering he’d never offered to do that before. I’d never been to a dance, and he’d been to all of them. But whatever. I didn’t really care. I was just excited to get to go to prom.
Okay. That was a lie. I was half in love with Tim, even though I didn’t want to admit it to myself.
It had happened slowly over the years. But I knew he didn’t feel the same way.
Not at all. Tim had a definite type, and it wasn’t me.
He liked tall, blonde girls with big boobs, a nice ass, and little ambition.
I wanted to be a doctor or a physician’s assistant, had black hair, blue-green eyes, and was skinny as hell.
That was even after I’d gained a little weight over the past few months.
I also wore glasses, had braces, and my activities ran towards the debate team and scholars bowl—not cheerleading or the dance team.
“I wish you’d wear contacts,” Alexis said, wrinkling her nose and breaking me out of my thoughts.
Her golden curls cascaded over her shoulders, and I found myself to be slightly jealous of her.
She was gorgeous in a way that outshone all her other beautiful family members.
She was also semi-famous. She had tons of followers on social media.
She was a nationally ranked tennis player.
She wasn’t in danger of qualifying for Wimbledon or anything, but she’d probably get a college scholarship.
We all knew her fame had more to do with her looks than her prowess on the court, even though that wasn’t fair. She was actually climbing the junior ranks, and I was beginning to wonder if her tennis career might extend past getting a full scholarship to a D1 school.
I rolled my eyes at her. “I’ve told you; I can’t imagine sticking my fingers in my eyes.”
“It’s not like that,” she insisted, not caring that we’d had this fight multiple times before. “Once you get the hang of it, you don’t touch your eyes at all.”
“Maybe one day,” I muttered, even though it would be a cold day in hell before I did what she was asking me to do. Besides, I liked glasses.
“Are you ready? My God, it’s been forever!” Tim yelled from downstairs.
I heard Pete getting onto him.
“Well, I guess I’m ready,” I said. I thought I looked kind of pretty with my hair done and makeup on. And the dress and heels were really flattering.
Lynne kissed the top of my forehead. “You look beautiful, dear. Now let’s get a few pictures.”
I met Tim’s eyes as I walked down the stairs and was surprised to see appreciation there.
“Damn, girl!” His eyes lit up and he grinned at me, his dimples flashing. He looked insanely handsome in his tux. “You look awesome, Nat.”
“Thanks,” I said softly. “You look good, too.”
He smoothed his lapels. “I do, don’t I?”
“God, you’re so arrogant,” I laughed. I came down the rest of the stairs, and he slipped a wrist corsage on me. “Thanks. Your boutonniere is in the fridge. I’m not super comfortable putting that on you…”
“Yeah, that’s a job for Mom,” he agreed.
***
“Why do you have to go so far away?”
I sighed and looked at my plate. We were at one of Indigo Falls’ nicest restaurants, Louisiana Street.
Most couples went to Halliwell or Atlanta to eat before the prom, but we’d decided to stay here where it was less crowded, and we knew the food was good.
I was eating shrimp étouffée, while Tim had red beans and rice.
“We’ve talked about this So. Many. Times. I got a full ride to Brown. It’s my dream school. Why wouldn’t I go?”
He looked uncomfortable. “It’s just… I’m really going to miss you.”
I smiled at him. “I got a full ride to Emory, too. I haven’t fully made up my mind. Besides, whatever I decide I’ll come home for breaks. We’ll still see each other. And we have the whole summer ahead of us.”
“That’s true, I guess,” he said grudgingly.
Tim was going to Georgia Tech to major in civil engineering and minor in geology. He wanted to work at the quarry. He’d always wanted to do that, which I’d kind of thought was odd, but whatever.
We all had our dreams. Mine was to go into healthcare. I’d felt so incredibly helpless while listening to my mother slowly die in the front seat of the car. I just kept thinking that if she’d had a doctor close by, she might’ve made it.
And then my life would’ve been completely different.
I was really leaning towards become a nurse.
The doctors might have saved my physical body after the wreck, but the nurses had started me on the path to saving my soul.
Showing that they cared about me even though my dad hadn’t seemed to, had been crucial for me.
And I wanted to give that to other people.
We ordered beignets for dessert, and I thought it was the best part of the meal.
Later, as we made our way to the dance floor at prom, we danced and laughed our way through several songs. We’d made up several silly dance routines over the years, and it was fun to do them unselfconsciously. I mean, I was going to be out of this town in a few months anyway.
Who cared anymore?
The music changed, and I got ready for whatever would come next. I realized that our principal was talking.
“And now, I’d like to introduce you to your new prom king and queen! After all the votes were tallied, Tim Summers won by a landslide.”
There was loud applause all around as he stooped low so the elderly man could reach him to put the crown on his head. “And the prom queen is… Jayne Myerslie!”
I wanted to gag. Jayne Myerslie was a bitch of epic proportions.
Tim liked her because he said she’d been done wrong by her best friend and boyfriend.
He told me she deserved some slack. I wondered if he really thought that, or if it had a whole lot more to do with her looks.
She was beautiful, with long blonde hair, blue eyes, and a perfect figure. She was exactly his type.
So, I was going for the latter.
“Alright, ladies and gentlemen, the royal couple will now have their first dance.”
I stood off to the side looking and feeling awkward.
Imani sidled over to talk to me. “You okay?”
I glanced at her. She knew how I felt about Tim. Even though I felt like most of Tim’s family had a clue, she was the only person I’d actually told. “Yeah.”
We stood there for a moment, watching Tim and Jayne dancing. They looked perfect together. “She’s the kind of girl he should be at prom with. Not me.”
Imani grabbed my hand and gave it a little squeeze. “You sell yourself short, Nat. You’re very pretty. And…”
“If you say it’s what’s inside that counts, I’m going to step on your foot.”