Chapter 15
Lily was equally excited and nervous as Kenzie’s mother drove them to the yacht club for the dance.
Lily was staying at Kenzie’s house that night, and Kenzie’s mother was taking them to brunch in the morning at Mimi’s Place.
Lily spent over an hour on her hair, blowing it straight, then curling it into loose waves.
She’d hated how it turned out, started over, and just blew it straight again.
She couldn’t get her curls to look as good as Kenzie’s, which were natural, so she decided to keep it straight.
She felt more comfortable with straight hair, and when she blew it dry, it was nice and shiny.
She took her time with her makeup. She still wasn’t sure of herself with makeup so tended to put it on a little at a time.
But the end result turned out okay. The mascara made her lashes look huge, almost fake.
She was lucky that she’d inherited her dad’s long lashes.
She used a thin brush to swipe a line of dark brown eye shadow along her top and bottom lash lines and smudged it just a bit.
A hint of rose blush and some concealer to hide the red around her nose and under her eyes, and she was done.
She didn’t like lipstick, that felt like too much, but she used one of her mother’s lip liners to outline her lips, then blended it in a little and added a swipe of clear gloss.
She must have done a decent enough job, because when Kenzie knocked on her door to pick her up, she looked her over and gave her the thumbs-up. “Your makeup looks awesome. I’d kill for your lashes. Ready to go?”
Lily grabbed her overnight bag and headed out the door, promising to call Claire the next day when she was ready for a ride home.
“I’ll be back here at eleven sharp,” Kenzie’s mother said as she slowed the car so they could jump out. “Have fun!”
Kenzie said goodbye and shut the door behind her. She led the way into the yacht club. Lily had driven by it a million times but had never been there before. She glanced at Kenzie’s dress, which was different from the one she’d said she was going to wear earlier.
“Yeah, I changed my mind again. This is actually an old dress, but I like it better than the new one I bought off-island. That one is nice too. I was just feeling this one more. You know what I mean?”
Lily nodded. “It’s gorgeous.” It really was. The dress was a similar fabric to Lily’s, a shimmery satin, but it was in an icy blue-green shade with rippling ruffles along the bodice and skirt that, with Kenzie’s blond ringlets, gave almost a mermaid effect.
“Thanks! I feel prettier in this one.”
“Is there anyone you are hoping to impress?” She knew Kenzie said she was taking a break from dating, but Lily couldn’t help wondering if there was anyone she was interested in.
Kenzie shook her head. “Absolutely no one. My life is a blank page, my future unwritten,” she said dramatically.
Lily smiled. “I can relate to that.”
Kenzie linked her arm in Lily’s. “We’re going to have so much fun tonight.”
Kenzie led the way into the yacht club and to the main ballroom, where close to a hundred kids were already gathered.
There was a big punch bowl, bags of popcorn, and platters of assorted cookies.
Kenzie looked around the room, then waved excitedly when she saw Luke and Sarah.
Lily glanced around the room, looking for Teddy, but she didn’t see him.
Maybe he wasn’t there yet, or maybe he wasn’t coming.
He’d said he wasn’t certain, but if Sean was in, he said they’d probably come.
A DJ was playing a good mix of music. Upbeat, energetic songs. But the dance floor was empty. It was early still though. Lily suspected it wouldn’t be long before people were out dancing. It was only a quarter past seven, and people were still arriving.
They made their way over to Luke and Sarah, who looked pretty in a maroon sleeveless dress with a thin gray sweater over it.
Luke offered to get them punch, and Sarah went with him to get popcorn.
They returned a few minutes later with punch and popcorn for everyone.
Lily sipped hers, and it was sweet as expected but a little bubbly too, like it had ginger ale mixed in.
The popcorn was more salty than buttery, but it was good.
Sarah had grabbed a few chocolate chip cookies too, and they broke those into pieces and shared them.
A fun dance song came on, and the first group of people hit the dance floor.
“Let’s go!” Kenzie dragged Lily and Sarah out, and they laughed as they danced. They stayed out for several songs and had a blast laughing and dancing. Finally Kenzie declared that she was parched and needed more punch. Reluctantly they all headed off the dance floor and toward the punch bowl.
Teddy was there. He was filling a cup and broke into a grin when he saw Lily. “I looked around but didn’t see you,” he said. “I looked everywhere except the dance floor.”
“You cut your hair.” Lily couldn’t stop staring at it.
Teddy’s wild tangle of curls was shorter and tamed into a style of sorts.
It was out of his face, and she could see his dark brown eyes fully.
He cleaned up well in a dress shirt and tie instead of his usual oversize T-shirt and jeans. “It looks good,” she added quickly.
“Thanks. My mother wouldn’t let me come unless I agreed to cut it. I guess it was time,” he admitted. Lily suspected he liked to hide behind his long hair and baggy clothes. Like her, he seemed to enjoy being in the background and observing rather than being the center of attention.
“Hey, Lily.” Sean was by Teddy’s side and nodded hello. She knew they’d been best friends since they were eight or nine. Sean was on the football team too.
Lily poured herself a fresh glass of punch.
The DJ played another popular song, and instead of heading to the dance floor, Kenzie swayed in place and sang along.
She had a great voice, which both Lily and Teddy noticed at the same time.
Lily joined in, and her voice blended with Kenzie’s and the music itself.
“Are you sure you don’t want to sing when we do our final song?” Teddy asked her softly.
The thought of singing in front of a crowd was terrifying. “I’m sure.” She glanced at Kenzie. “We could ask her?”
Teddy nodded. “That’s what I was thinking. I just wanted to double-check to make sure you didn’t want to do it.”
Kenzie had stopped singing and was looking at them both curiously. “What do you want to ask me? I didn’t catch everything you said.”
Teddy explained about their extra credit project. “Lily has a good voice, but she’s nervous to sing in public. Would you be interested?”
“Maybe. Tell me more.” They told her everything they knew, and she looked excited. “I’d love to do it. I got robbed with this year’s musical, so this would be great. Count me in.”
A new song came on, one they all loved, and Kenzie grabbed Lily’s arm. Lily grabbed Teddy’s. “Come dance with us!”
Their whole group moved onto the dance floor, and for the next three songs, they all laughed and danced.
Lily noticed that Teddy was a hesitant dancer at first, but then he threw himself into it, and he had some moves!
The music changed to a slow song, and they started walking off, but then suddenly Luke was by Lily’s side. “Want to dance?”
It took Lily so much by surprise that all she could do was nod.
She noticed Kenzie’s double take as Lily walked away with Luke.
He pulled her to him, and she wrapped her arms around his neck.
It was so unexpected to be slow dancing with Luke.
Lily didn’t read too much into it though.
She just relaxed and enjoyed the music. It was one of her favorite songs.
As it ended, she expected to just join the others, but Luke kept hold of her.
“I’ve been wanting to ask you for a while. Would you ever be interested in going out sometime, maybe seeing a movie or something?” The confident, somewhat cocky Luke was gone for a moment, and his voice sounded uncertain.
“Sure, I’d love to.” Lily couldn’t say no to him.
And she was curious to get to know Luke better.
She’d never picked up any kind of vibe before that he was interested in her.
Although she did remember Kenzie saying that Luke had said he thought Lily was pretty.
Still, it didn’t seem real. But it was always nice to be asked out.
Kenzie and Teddy were deep in conversation when the song finished, and Lily walked over to them. Luke went in the opposite direction to where some of the football guys were gathered by the punch bowl.
Kenzie raised her eyebrows when Lily reached them. “So you and Luke?”
Lily felt herself blush. “That was a surprise to me too.”
“Do you like him? Do you think he’s into you?” Kenzie watched her with intense curiosity.
“I don’t know. He’s nice. He asked me to go see a movie sometime.”
“He asked you out? That’s interesting,” Kenzie said.
Something about her tone made Lily hesitate. “I said yes. But if you don’t think it’s a good idea?”
“No, of course it’s a good idea! You must go out with Luke. He’s a great guy, and you’re a great girl. It might be perfect.” She sounded too excited about the idea, which made Lily wonder, but she just smiled. And when another fun fast song came on, she dragged both of them back to the dance floor.
A few songs later, when Kenzie was off chatting with a group of people, Lily stood in comfortable silence with Teddy, watching the crowd.
Finally, he spoke as Luke walked by on his way to get more punch.
“Luke’s a good guy. I wouldn’t have thought he was your type,” he said.
Lily thought about that for a minute. “I don’t know if I have a type. Luke wasn’t really on my radar. But as you said, he’s a great guy. I might as well get to know him, right?”
“Right, sure.”
“What about you, Teddy? Is there anyone you’re interested in?” Lily wondered what his type was.