Chapter 16
Chapter sixteen
They were hopeless romantics
Waiting on fate
That always came too late
April 17, 2016: (PART 1)
It was officially the big night, and we were all going to the prom with the wrong people.
Kayla was going with Marcus McCormick, Lucas was going with Lilly Sanders and Jamie, and I was stuck with two of the worst people in our high school. It felt like a teenage nightmare.
My fingers trembled as I fumbled with the hot rollers tangled in my brown hair.
I was sitting on the floor, my thighs getting a nasty carpet burn, as I looked at my reflection in the floor-length mirror; I barely recognized myself.
My red eyes were hazy and itchy from crying all night, my nose was red, and my cheeks were puffy. This cannot be happening …
Kayla’s laughter boomed through the room as she twirled in her sapphire blue dress, the excitement dripping off her.
“I should never have let you use my makeup. Your moping is ruining my mascara,” Kayla stopped spinning and walked over to the closet, searching through my shoes, which were technically my mom’s shoes that I had taken over the years.
I turned my head back to her, the hot rollers lightly slipping, causing a distinct hot searing to burn my ear.
That’s going to leave a mark. “Would it be such an awful thing if I didn’t go tonight?
The flu is going around anyway. I could call Emmett and tell him I caught that,” I murmured, my voice dropping down to almost a whisper.
Kayla walked over and gently sat on the ground beside me, careful not to wrinkle her skin-tight dress; she reached out to touch my arm in support, yet somehow, it made me feel even more pathetic.
“You can’t let Jamie ruin your night. Look at me; I'm not crying over Lucas going with Lilly. We deserve to have fun with or without those dumb boys tonight.”
“I know.” I sniffled as more tears threatened to ruin my makeup for the third time. “I just wish it were with them.”
I tried to brush the moment off and continued to get ready. Kayla helped me fix my hair and makeup, and I gave her a handful of forced smiles that allowed the minutes to pass by smoother than the previous ones.
I stepped into my dress and zipped up the purple fabric, the silk clinging to my body like a second skin. According to Kayla, this was a good thing, but no matter how much I fiddled with the fabric, everything felt wrong.
I walked over to my closet. “Do you think maybe we should bring jackets?” I asked Kayla as I rummaged through my closet, looking for something to give me more coverage.
“That would defeat the point of wearing a dress you can't breathe in. Have I taught you nothing?” Kayla applied her lipstick, admiring herself in a tiny, purple, rhinestone-covered hand mirror.
“Hurry up! Everyone is going to be here soon.” My brother's voice boomed from downstairs.
“We'll be down in a minute!” Kayla yelled back. She sat on my bed and laced up the straps on her sandals.
I slipped my feet into some silver wedges and then walked up to her. “Why did you let my brother say yes to Lilly? You know he’s hopelessly in love with you.”
Kayla’s face fell as if I slapped her over her blushing cheeks. “Lucas isn't in love with me,” she muttered. “He likes the idea of me, but he doesn't love me.”
My jaw threatened to smack the floor. “Kayla, this is Lucas we're talking about. The same boy who has been following you around like a lost puppy dog since the day he saw you skipping towards him in the cafeteria.”
"Everyone wants to date me until they have to deal with me.” It wasn't a secret that Kayla had some mood issues.
She had extreme highs and extreme lows. One second, she was on top of the world, dancing naked on a table, singing “Party in the USA” at the top of her lungs, and the next, she wouldn't come out of her room for a week, hiding under her covers and wishing that the world would disappear.
Kayla didn't like getting close to people because when she did, she risked watching them leave, and after her mom left, she refused to go through that again.
But I wish Kayla had understood that, in Lucas's eyes, she wasn't some notch upon a belt or a stop along the way to the next fling. She was his destination.
I was ready to support my brother and convince the girl of his dreams that he was the boy of hers, but then he opened his damn mouth again.
“Alex! Kayla! If you're not down here in three minutes, we're leaving without you, and you'll have to walk!” Even when my brother wasn't in the room, he somehow managed to kick himself in the ass.
Kayla chuckled. “And that's what you're trying to set me up with?” she joked before hopping onto her feet. “Let's go before your brother has an aneurysm.”
The earsplitting doorbell announced the arrival of Jamie, Bethany, Lilly, Marcus, and Emmett.
My moronic brother thought it would be an excellent idea if we all went together as one big group.
Dread twisted in my stomach as I followed Kayla down the stairs.
Jamie and Bethany were the first to step inside the front door, her arm looped possessively around his.
Jamie’s gaze met mine briefly—guilt flickering before he quickly looked away, his attention turning toward my parents, who were already snapping pictures with their disposable cameras like it was the Oscars.
Lucas stared up at Kayla, looking like he had just swallowed his tongue.
His eyes flickered over her as if she were some rare artifact he wasn't allowed to touch.
Instead of saying anything meaningful, all he managed to choke out was, “Wow ...” It seemed like the guy had forgotten how to speak English.
Kayla began to say something in response, but before she could, she glanced at Lilly standing beside Lucas.
She was giving both of them a thin-lipped smile, and it was evident that there wasn't a soul in the room who couldn't sense the attraction between Kayla and Lucas.
Except for Marcus. Sweet, clueless Marcus, standing there grinning like he'd hit the jackpot by being Kayla's date.
If he had any idea as to what was going on, it didn't show.
Bethany's voice cut through the air, dripping with her usual fake charm. “Alex,” she said, letting my name hang in the air. Her eyes swept over my dress. “You look so ... purple,” she said in the manner of complimenting a child's finger painting.
“Thanks,” I said, not bothering to mask my sarcasm.
I glanced at the clock on the wall; its swinging hands mocked me.
Emmett was late. He was probably admiring himself in a mirror somewhere, lost in the gleam of his own reflection.
The only thing worse than being stuck in a room full of these people would be being stood up by Emmett in front of Bethany.
My mind was filled with escape plans. Perhaps I could pretend to have food poisoning.
I could make up an excuse to go to the kitchen and hastily gather some leftovers, then spill them all over the floor.
Or maybe something miraculous would happen, like a meteor shower striking my house at that very moment.
Just as I began praying for world destruction, the doorbell rang.
My mother quickly opened the door and snapped a photo of Emmett as soon as he entered. With a sick feeling in my gut, I braced myself for what was to come. The town's football star strutted into the living room with his usual air of arrogance, sending uncomfortable tremors down my spine.
His eyes scanned me from head to toe. “Dang, girl, who knew you had a body like that?” His voice was loud, and his hands slid around my waist as if we were already in some nauseating slow dance.
I tensed, digging my nails into my palms as I tried not to recoil visibly.
Before I could respond or before Julian could remove the boy's head from his body, Jamie's voice sliced through the tension. “Hey, watch it,” he snarled.
Emmett tightened his grip on me. “You don't run with the Donahues anymore. So, what exactly do I have to be afraid of?
Jamie stood there calmly, a subtle smile on his face, and his eyes gleamed with anticipation as if enjoying his chance to fight Emmett.
“Wow, you strung together a whole sentence. Did the principal finally start making you attend classes, or are you just showing off because I’m going to prom with your ex? ”
Julian stepped in before the punching could begin. “All right, boys, let’s calm down,” he said, his voice relaxed but authoritative. “We’re all here to have a good time. Let’s keep things civil tonight, okay?”
Both boys nodded slightly and backed away from each other, but the conflict still lingered in the air like a heavy fog.
Swiftly, my mother gathered us all together, insisting on taking a group photo.
I forced a smile for the camera, even as my insides crawled at feeling Emmett’s hands on my waist. After six more pictures, my parents finally released us, ushering everyone out the door, their voices filled with well-wishes and reminders to have fun.
As the door closed behind them, I couldn’t help but want to run back inside and lock the entry, creating a perfect barrier between me and the rest of our group.
Still, instead, I walked forward to the stretch limo that Lucas had rented for everyone, knowing that the night ahead would be filled with both headache and heartache.