Chapter Thirteen
L IV : Wake up woman. We’re going dress shopping.
V: Now?
LIV: Now. I’m on my way over.
Ugh, I really hate her sometimes.
But I rolled out of bed anyway.
V : Did you ask Kimmy to come?
LIV : Yeah, she didn’t text me back.
V : Weird, okay.
Before ten a.m., my standards were seriously different for hair and makeup. It only became a necessity to look halfway decent so I could adequately judge dresses.
V : Going dress shopping for homecoming. Any last requests?
ZACK : Yes, that there is no texting before noon on Sunday.
V : Liv woke me up, so you have to be up too.
ZACK : Tell her I hate her. And I already told you my request ;).
I was almost embarrassed to admit I was testing him to see if he still felt the same way.
V : Anything else? What’s your favorite color?
ZACK : Nope, that should do it. I’m not five; I don’t have a favorite color. Can I see you later? I feel like I need to start wooing you.
V : I’m not five, and I have a favorite color. And yes. Woo away.
ZACK : What is it? I feel like it might come in handy with the wooing.
V : Purple .
ZACK : Got it. Have fun.
My heart fluttered at his mood. At least it seemed like he was committed to trying to be more romantic.
* * *
Loudly, Liv let herself into my house, greeted my mother, and ran up the stairs. “Get your ass in those skinny jeans and let’s go.”
“Where does your energy come from?” I grumbled, shimmying into my pants and a black lace tank top.
“Probably ADHD.”
“You’re so odd.”
“If by odd, you mean odd-some. See what I did there?”
“Okay, okay, your excitement is the tiniest bit contagious.” I couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh, did you ever hear back from Kimmy?” I picked up my phone absently to see if she’d called or texted.
“Nope. And honestly? Kim’s been so weird lately. I texted her about today and she never responded, even after making a whole thing about it at lunch the other day. Maybe she’s like, embarrassed that she was too intimidated to come to Zack’s party or something.”
“Hmmmm.” I didn’t like the feeling settling in my stomach. I’d been so preoccupied with being alone in Zack’s house, I kind of forgot to check in with Kim about coming. Maybe she was mad at me. I bit my lip, resolving to call her later and sort it all out.
On our way out the door, my mom reminded me that the whole town showed up for FFC’s homecoming events, and to make sure my attire would not embarrass her. I held in my eye roll, but I was still flying high regardless after Zack’s promise to see me later.
“Judging by the easy-breezy look on your face, I’d say whatever happened between you and your man candy worked out for you,” Livy said once we were settled into the Jeep.
I grinned, satisfied. “Maybe. I think maybe things could be good, with him. Us. Whatever.”
“Excellent. Girl power and all that jazz.”
I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at her less-than-enthusiastic tone, I just wasn’t sure where it was coming from.
“I think Vader is in love with me or something,” Liv continued.
“Oh yeah?” I asked, wondering how it was that she never had any sort of segue between topics.
“Yeah, he went from ‘nice to meet you’ to texting me three times yesterday just to see how I was doing. And then this morning…” She came to a stoplight and showed me her phone.
VADER : Have fun shopping. I know you’ll look pretty in anything.
She sighed. “I mean, it’s nice I guess, but it’s a lot when someone’s that into you, you know? Zack doesn’t blow up your phone like that, does he?”
I felt my mouth settle into a frown without my permission before I fixed my face.
“That’s not really Zack’s style, no. But I think Vader’s text is sweet.” I messed with the volume control on her stereo rather than contemplate how little Zack blew up my phone.
“Sure,” Liv murmured, pulling down her mirror and wiping away an invisible smudge of makeup under her eye.
“Anyway. New topic,” she insisted. “He says he and his friends all do a massive sleepover at his parents’ lake house after homecoming.
It’s like, a tradition leftover from high school or something, which I have feelings about, but also, a lake house sounds awesome. ”
I crossed my eyes at her, annoyed that I didn’t know about the party.
“Under what planetary alignment would my mother allow me to sleep over there? She won’t even let me stay out past midnight. ”
“God, your mom is a buzzkill. But maybe the planetary alignment where she thinks you’re at my house?”
“Not even if you promised me candy and mermaids. The last time you talked me into one of your crazy schemes, my life imploded.”
“That was an unfortunate and isolated incident, that, might I add, has turned out pretty well for you. I just don’t get why your parents are so strict.
Like, you’re in college. Most people our age don’t have to lie to their parents about sleepovers.
It’s kind of…I don’t know, don’t you want more freedom?
And I think it’s going to be like five or ten friends and their dates. It’s not going to be a rave.”
Her tone was exasperated, which had irritation buzzing over my skin.
She wasn’t the one who was driven home by the cops, now was she?
But it was the truth of the statement that got to me the most. I felt like I’d done my penance, but my mother hadn’t yet given me an inch.
I saw the mall coming up in the distance, and I was glad to be getting out of the car and hopefully ending this conversation.
“Plus, Zack mentioned it to Vader yesterday. He’s definitely expecting you to be there.
I think he’d be really disappointed if you couldn’t make it.
Especially after you guys just worked things out.
” She paused, studying my face. “I mean you said things were better, right? But if you are still having issues, maybe the lake house would be good. Like, romantic and private…”
I ground my teeth together until I thought I might crack a tooth.
“Fine. I’ll think about it.”
I did not want to think about it. But I also imagined telling Zack I couldn’t go somewhere, again , because my mom insisted on treating me like I was fourteen, and I reconsidered.
We drove around the mall, searching for the best parking spot, to the tune of some old school Whitney and Mariah. Finally, we waltzed into the largest department store in existence and sighed happily.
“Retail smells so good,” I said.
We put on our game faces and searched the formalwear section. My eyes lit up at one in particular.
Please fit please fit please fit , I chanted as I slid it over my head in the dressing room. I was almost afraid to glance in the mirror, but my fears were unfounded.
Ariel herself would be jealous , I concluded, twirling to see my reflection from all angles.
“Liv!” I called, insisting she come and see this gown.
She shuffled over from her own dressing room.
“Oh my god, V! I love it! It honestly reminds me of this dress I had for Halloween one year when I went as a mermaid—like, in the best way though. It’s so fun to pick something nostalgic like that instead of worrying about what’s trendy right now. Very authentic. Zack’s going to die.”
I felt my smile falter slightly. “Nostalgic” wasn’t exactly the vibe I was going for, but I pushed the thought away. I just couldn’t fathom putting the dress back on the rack and going with something else.
No. It has to be this one .
“Okay, well, now I actually have to find something that can compare to you looking like a literal Disney princess. This could take forever…”
Sadly, forever wasn’t much of an exaggeration. Two hours and eight dresses later, Liv finally settled on two options because she couldn’t choose between navy and emerald when both made her eyes “pop differently.”
* * *
The bed called my name when I finally made it home. I groaned when my phone vibrated but fished it out .
ZACK : You can’t seriously still be shopping.
V : I’m not. I think I’m dying though.
V : Liv is a super-human who’s single-handedly trying to save the economy. And I can no longer feel my feet. Come make me feel better.
ZACK : Done ;).
Must get up and put on makeup , I warned my brain in an attempt to wake up.
“Rise and shine, beautiful,” I heard while someone shook my shoulders. It took about five seconds to realize that I shouldn’t be sleeping, possibly drooling, and that Zack was standing in my bedroom—a bedroom covered in both clean and dirty clothes from my rushed morning.
“Oh my god, you have to get out of my room.”
“Not quite the reception I was hoping for—”
“Let’s go downstairs and start again. Please.” I prayed I looked halfway decent as I pushed him out the door.
“You’re kind of messy,” he commented, looking amused at my humiliation.
Of course he looked like the poster child for Golden Boys of America in his jeans and white button down.
Why did my mother let him up here?!
“Shut up, I’m just… busy,” I huffed as we came down to the main floor. My mother looked positively victorious.
“Maybe now you will find time to keep your floor visible. It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours since you ‘cleaned’ it,” she admonished before disappearing into the kitchen.
Unbelievable.
I led Zack down to the basement because even if it was half torn apart from construction, it was still a better option than sitting in a room under the watchful eyes of Mrs. Crazy Pants.
“Hi!” I began, trying to re-set the whole visit.
“Hi,” he chuckled, smirking adorably as he fell comfortably into our brown suede sofa. I couldn’t wait until my new furniture arrived. “Come here.”
I slinked over to him, still feeling self-conscious at the exposure of my less-than-charming side.
“I’m here,” I announced, standing in front of him more confidently than I felt.
“I can see that,” he joked. His hands reached out and gripped my waist, pulling me onto his lap.
“Hi again,” I breathed, taken aback by our sudden closeness.
“I brought you a present.”
I finally took notice of the small white paper bag sitting next to him.
“I like presents.”
“I thought you might,” he said, and he placed the bag in my open hands. It was heavier than I’d anticipated, and I opened the top of it eagerly. The smell of sugary goodness hit me in the most delightful way before I even realized that everything in the bag was a shade of purple.
“You brought me purple sugar! Like enough to give me diabetes,” I declared, unable to keep a giant grin off of my face.
“I didn’t know what kind of candy you liked, so I just told the lady at Butler’s to put everything purple they had in there.”
“You’re so sweet. Like this candy,” I smiled, the corny nature of my comment intended. I leaned in slightly, so our noses were touching. “Thank you. For the present and for not running away after seeing me drooling on my pillow in my pigsty of a bedroom.”
He snickered slightly at my admission. “You weren’t drooling. You looked kind of cute, actually. And I’ll pretend I didn’t see your room. You can show it to me another time, and I’ll act really surprised.”
He wrapped his arms around me snugly, so I was pressed against his chest. I hoped to god he couldn’t feel my heart pounding.
“Deal,” I murmured before kissing him .
We spent the majority of our afternoon that way. I even convinced him to watch St. Elmo’s Fire . He seemed more relaxed than he had on our previous dates, and I definitely was.
Maybe this can be our normal , I contemplated as he kissed my shoulders lightly during the movie. My body wiggled as close to him as possible, and I enjoyed the way I fit just right under his arm. There may have been happy sighing involved.