Chapter Seventeen
I woke up experiencing the same mood in which I went to sleep—annoyingly excited. After accepting where Zack and I were, there was more room in my brain to be excited about all of it. I grabbed my phone to text him a happy homecoming message but checked my missed ones first.
KIM : Hey! I guess I don’t have to return my dress :). Going to homecoming with Luke. As friends (of course :/) but can I come over later and you do my hair? And maybe makeup? There is zero room in the dorm bathrooms to do anything too glamorous.
V : Of course! That’s perfect. Come over whenever, see you then.
At least he did something right , I thought.
V : Good morning sexy :). I’m so excited for you to see my dress. I think it will meet all of your specifications.
ZACK : I will forgive you this early morning message, only because there are now more exciting things going through my head than there were when I was asleep. I can’t wait to see it either…on you, on the floor, whatever ;). I had fun last night.
My stomach did a flip reading his message. Despite it being my intention to take our conversation down that path, I was unsure about my own boldness.
Nerves are normal , I repeated to myself.
V : Me too. I’ll see you at 6?
ZACK : That you will.
I spent the morning playing with different hairstyles until Kim arrived. I quickly pulled her aside before we entered the house to explain my “sleepover” cover story.
“Seriously? You know I’m an awful liar. Tell them you’re going to Liv’s,” Kim pleaded.
“I can’t. They don’t really trust Liv.”
“They’re not the only ones,” Kim muttered as we headed to my room.
“What do you mean?”
Kim sighed. “She keeps excluding me. The mall thing? I don’t think she just ‘forgot’ to text me. And when I asked for a ride to Zack’s party, she never responded until it was almost over. I guess I could have driven myself, but showing up there alone felt weird, so, I just didn’t.”
“I don’t know if she’s that calculated. She’s always running a million miles a minute.”
“Just…if you guys go out and she says she invited me, could you text me? I feel like I’m missing everything.”
“Of course! I don’t want you to feel left out.”
I focused on making Kim look amazing for the dance, flat ironing her hair until it shone and adding a rhinestone accessory to her side-swept bangs.
“Maybe Luke will change his ‘just friends’ tune when he sees you,” I encouraged.
“Honestly? I think he likes you .”
“What? No way. Plus, I’m with Zack. What makes you think that?”
“He made it pretty clear he thinks you’re too good for Rhodes.”
“He does seem to have a bug up his ass about him, but I don’t know why. I’ll ask Zack tonight.”
I finished my own hair with twists leading to a loose knot, all secured with seashell bobby pins. My makeup was smoky and alluring, or so I hoped. We took selfies, and I showed Kim the basement’s progress before she left .
“Holy crap, it actually looks different down here. Like new walls and…a hallway?”
“It’s supposed to be a guest room. For now. Until I win and move down here myself.”
I couldn’t blame her skeptical look, but I had to hold out hope. This project was going to be incredible, and I deserved to enjoy the fruits of my labor.
Still buzzing with nervous energy once she’d left, I called Courtney. I needed her logical perspective to bring me back to earth.
“Hey friend!” she answered cheerfully.
“Hi hi hi. What are you doing?”
“Re-reading Twilight and eating cereal.”
“You kill me.”
“What are you doing?”
“Getting ready for homecoming.”
“Ohhhh with Zack-attack?”
“Yes, with Zack. I think…things seem to be getting more serious.”
“Serious like…”
“Like we’re staying together tonight,” I whispered, afraid my mother might somehow hear.
“Oh! Serious. Seriously serious. ‘Skin of a killer’ serious.”
“Is there anything that doesn’t relate back to Twilight for you?”
“At this current moment of my obsession? I sincerely doubt it. Well, are you nervous?”
“Yeah,” I admitted—something I’d only ever tell Courtney. “But I think it’s going to be okay?”
I wasn’t sure why it sounded like a question. It would be okay. Better than okay.
“I’m sure it will be. Just…” she paused for several beats. “Be careful and keep me updated. I miss you.”
“I miss you too. I’ll text you tomorrow.”
Courtney’s voice sounded strained, and it was unlike her to rush off of the phone, but I tried not to read too much into it. We were both busy; she was probably studying.
Looking at the time, I realized it was acceptable to get dressed for the dance.
I unzipped the garment bag holding my gown—a true mermaid style covered in blue and green sparkles that hugged my hips before flowing out in chiffon strands of turquoise and sea foam.
I stepped into it carefully, added silver jewelry and heels, then took a deep breath.
I didn’t have long to try to give myself a pep talk because the doorbell rang, and my stomach twisted into knots. I heard my mother chatting with Zack downstairs while my dad emerged from his office. Time to face the music.
“Hey,” I called softly as I reached the entryway. Zack turned, looking impossibly handsome in a charcoal suit with a pale blue button-down that matched his eyes.
“Hey, beautiful. You look amazing,” he said, charming as ever.
“You do look lovely, Vanessa,” my mother commented. I knew it was killing her not to get out her camera, but it was already embarrassing that Zack was picking me up at my parents’ house, and I didn’t want to make it feel any more high school with them asking us to pose for photos.
Zack slipped a dark purple rose corsage over my wrist.
“I love it,” I told him.
He had insisted he wouldn’t wear a boutonniere, declaring men didn’t wear flowers. I’d let that battle go.
After promises to have fun and call when I reached “Kim’s room,” we made it to his car. He stopped me before I got in, his lips against mine immediately, completely trashing my lip gloss.
“You look…so hot,” he murmured between kisses.
“You think so?”
“I know so.”
My skin tingled down to my sparkly toes.
“Are we going to make out in front of my house all night?” I asked when he got carried away .
“I suppose not,” he sighed, flashing his dimples. “Let’s eat, shall we?”
Dinner felt like a 90s movie montage. Zack was attentive, charming, and complimentary. Liv dragged me to the bathroom to touch up our makeup.
“Well, he’s certainly gunning for non-boyfriend of the year, isn’t he?”
“I have no idea what that means,” I said, applying lip gloss.
“He’s being like, aggressively perfect. The purple corsage, pulling out your chair, complimenting your hair every five minutes. It’s like a movie script.”
I paused mid-application. “And this is bad, why?”
“Not bad! You just rarely see guys like him act like that unless they’ve got a reason. Though, I guess he’s got a reason tonight.” She nudged me with her elbow, almost making me poke myself in the eye.
My jaw tightened at her words, though she seemed oblivious to the weight of them.
“He’s just being sweet.” I tried to keep the defensiveness out of my voice, but even I wasn’t buying it.
“Oh totally, totally sweet. Very romantic. Oh! I meant to ask how the thing with your mom went. You went with the whole Kim’s-dorm-sleepover tonight, right?”
The abrupt subject change felt intentional, leaving me with unfinished thoughts about Zack’s behavior hanging in the air.
“Yeah, why?”
“Just wondering. Your mom bought it? That’s so funny that she thinks you’re having like, a wholesome girls’ night with Kim when you’re actually going to get deflowered at a lake house.” Her tone was light and teasing, but something about the way she said it made my stomach twist.
“Ew, Liv. Can you not use that word? It’s gross and medieval,” I demanded, putting everything back into my small makeup bag .
“Sorry, sorry! You know what I mean though. It’s a little bit funny.” She grinned at me in the mirror, but I couldn’t tell from the look in her eyes if she was laughing with me or at me, and that did not help the pretzel-shaped-knot making itself known in my gut.
* * *
Back at the table, Zack kissed me. “Ready to head out?”
“Yes. Are you going to dance the night away with me?”
“Yeah, no. I don’t really dance, but I’ll do slow songs and watch you dance with Liv the rest of the time.”
“Lame.”
“Don’t get pouty,” he said, amused. “I’m quite looking forward to watch you dance with Liv.”
“Ugh, don’t be a perv.”
“A man has to have dreams, Vanessa.” I shoved him off the sidewalk, but he bounced back up and wrapped his arms around me. “I like your sassiness this evening.”
“I don’t know if that’s actually a compliment.”
“I can assure you that it is.”
In the car, I endured sports talk radio while appreciating how the chiffon felt against my legs. Before we went into the dance, Zack pulled a silver flask from his jacket and took a swig.
“Want any liquid fun before we head in?”
“I’m okay…are you planning on having me drive us to Vader’s?”
“Not a chance in hell,” he laughed.
“So, you’re going to get wasted and then drive?”
“Do I look wasted? I’m just making the evening more entertaining.”
I bit my tongue and focused my attention on getting inside.
The venue was decked out in twinkling lights and stars, and there were clear balloons full of glitter covering the ceiling, making light shimmer across the walls. I pulled Zack toward the dance floor, but he resisted.
“If you think you’re going to trick me into dancing to this, you’d be wrong.”
“You’re going to make me dance by myself?”
“I’m not going to make you do anything.”
“Fine, I’ll find someone who does want to dance.”
He didn’t take the bait, just shaking his head at me.
“Do what you’ve gotta do, babe. Come find me when you’re done.”
I searched the crowd, but this wasn’t high school. I didn’t know everyone here. I felt the awkwardness of standing there alone creep up my shoulders, really not wanting to go back to Zack yet without having danced.