by J. L. Wyer
“You have nine minutes!” Julien shouts at our retreating form and I see him press the timer on his watch and laugh.
Chapter 20
Junior Prom
Elizabeth
Hailey yelps. I think she’s burned her fingers four times already trying to straighten my hair. I have a lot of it, and she’s been at it for an hour. My butt is numb from sitting still for so long. My squirming has gotten worse over the last twenty minutes and Hailey is about to smack me to get me to sit still. Using a hand mirror, I apply the finishing touches to my makeup, painting my lips a blood red, as she glides the straight iron over the last section of hair. Why do girls do this to themselves? We primp and spray, fit our bodies into skinny jeans, and teeter around on four-inch sticks for shoes that blister our feet while guys just pick up some pants and a T-shirt that don’t smell too bad off the floor and they’re done.
“I’m almost finished. When I get through with you, Jayson won’t know what hit him.” She spritzes more glossing serum on my hair and then sprays it with hairspray and stands back to observe her work. “There. Perfect. What do you think?”
Relief is the first thing I feel because I get to stand up and stretch. When I do look in the full-size bathroom mirror, my mouth drops open. “Wow, Hales.”
My long hair is naturally wavy which is why I never take the time to straighten it or do much with it other than a quick dry with the hair dryer. Hailey has turned my wavy hair into a glossy, sleek waterfall of spun gold. I run my hands through the ends, and it feels like I’m touching silk.
“Oh my gosh, it feels so good. It’s gorgeous, Hales.” I swish my hair from side to side and watch as it falls back into place. “You are a master hairstylist.”
“Just one more finishing touch,” she says and goes into her bedroom. When she comes back, she’s holding a square box. “This is from me and Mom. I hope you like it.”
Curious, I remove the lid and pull back pearlescent tissue paper. Sitting on the bottom is a black tiara headband with tiny red flowers. Beside it are five small red clip flowers.
“These are beautiful, Hailey.” I hug her tight and kiss her cheek.
“Here, let me.” She takes the items out one by one. She weaves my hair through the tiara headband to create some volume at the top of my crown and then clips the tiny flowers in various strands throughout. “See, now you do truly look like a princess. A smoking hot sexy princess.” We giggle as we look at my reflection in the mirror. “Let’s get you in that dress and down to your boy, shall we?”
Going shopping for my prom dress was a tad depressing for me. Maria and I always went clothes shopping together. I miss her. She still won’t talk to me, and to make matters worse, she’s gotten chummy with both Jacinda and Samantha. Instead of being my best friend, she’s become my bully. Maria has pushed me into a locker, dumped her soda on me, and tripped me in the girl’s locker room after PE. I haven’t told Jayson, Julien, or Ryder because if they found out she did that stuff to me, they would lose it. So I’ve kept quiet. She doesn’t mess with me when the boys are around, and I’ve gotten very good at making sure one of them walks me to each of my classes in order to avoid her.
I don’t want to think about Maria tonight. Tonight, I want to dance and laugh and have fun. Hailey helps me put on my red spaghetti strap high-low gown. It has a plunging neckline with flower applique beading on the bodice. The high part of the gown is in the front, and I love it because it shows off a lot of leg. Mom let me borrow her ruby drop earrings and matching bracelet. After putting on my black satin heels, I do a turn. Hailey wolf whistles and takes some photos of me with her phone.
I grin at her. “This will be you next year, little sis. And then I can be the one to dress you up.”
"And then you again for senior prom," she reminds me.
While Hailey helps me zip up the dress in the back, a bright light appears outside my bedroom window. Hailey rushes over and peers out, then lifts the window up.
“Lizzie, look. Jayson must have turned on your tree lights. It’s just like that Valentine’s Day.”
My guy is so freaking romantic. I hear male voices outside and know my boys have arrived.
“It’s showtime!” I grab my black clutch purse along with several items off my bed and make my way down the stairs.
I’ve been looking forward to seeing all three of the guys in their tuxedos, but I never expected to be greeted by a wall of utter male hotness. Holy smoking hot guys! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a trio of more drop-dead gorgeous boys in my life.
Jayson’s tux is black with a dark charcoal dress shirt, a black bowtie, and a deep red cummerbund to match my dress. His dark chocolate brown hair has been styled up top and curls around his ears. Ryder is wearing all black, of course. He’s in a classic black satin peak lapel tux, and his hair’s cut short on the sides and longer at the top. Julien has on a light silver-gray tux that matches his eyes and a dark gray bowtie and cummerbund. He’s spiked the front of his hair into a short mohawk.
Several gasps interrupt my lingering perusal of Jayson, Julien, and Ryder. I hadn’t noticed our entryway is filled with our parents all holding cameras. I do notice, however, three sets of male eyes on me in various stages of admiration and appreciation. My belly flips violently and my breath hitches. I may end up in a puddle of goo before I make it to the bottom of the stairs.
Jayson steps up to grab my hand. When I get close enough to him, he leans into my ear and whispers, “You are a goddess,” before giving my cheek a quick kiss. Yep. I’m officially a puddle of goo right now.
“Liz, you look phenomenal,” Julien declares and kisses my other cheek.
My eyes find Ryder’s. “There are no words,” he tells me, a half-tip smile curving his mouth. I understand what he means because right now I’m having trouble finding the right words to say.
“You guys look so handsome. You all make me breathless.”
Of course, seven different cameras have been going off the entire time, the flashes bouncing off the walls reminding me of heat lightning during a summer thunderstorm. Jayson’s dad hands him a small box. He opens it and takes out a delicate red wrist corsage made of red and black satin ribbon and red flowers. Holding my hand, he slides it on, then raises my hand and kisses it. I lift the corsage to sniff it.
“It's perfect. Thank you,” I tell him.
Ryder’s mom hands me three matching boutonnieres. I approach Julien first to pin his boutonniere on. I lean in close so that no one can hear me when I tell him, “I’m so sorry that Elijah isn’t the one doing this for you. But he did give me these to give to you. Put them on after we get into the limo.”
I pull back and place the silver cufflinks into Julien’s hands. Elijah had them specially made with Julien’s initials inlayed in black onyx on each cufflink. He curves his fingers around them and places a chaste kiss directly on my mouth.
Next, I step up to Jayson with his boutonniere. I look into his mesmerizing metallic eyes and say, “You aren’t just a star to me, you are my whole damn sky.” He inhales sharply at the words before taking my lips in a deep, soul-shattering kiss, not caring one bit that we have an audience. I send up a silent thank you to whoever invented smudge-proof lipstick. After pinning his flower with shaky hands, because, holy moly, he just blew my mind with that kiss, I hand him a paper origami star like the ones he gave to me. Inside I have written him a love poem. Hailey helped me with it.
Lastly, I come to Ryder. “Hey you.”
“You look beautiful, Elizabeth.”
My cheeks flush as I pin his flower to his jacket and smooth the lapels down. He gives me a hug and when we pull apart, I hand him a roll of paper tied with ribbon.
“This is for you. It’s not much. You may want to wait to open it tomorrow.”
I wrote him a song. I’ve been working on it and perfecting it for a month. Even Dad hasn’t heard it because I wanted the song to be Ryder’s and no one else’s.
Jayson reaches for me and place
s my arm in his. Mom, Freda, and Faith are all crying. Freda sniffles an “Oh, my boys are all grown up” which makes both Julien and Jayson groan out, “Mom, cut it out” at the same time. The dads laugh, except mine. He’s got unshed tears in his eyes looking at me.
“Come here, puddin’.” He takes me in his arms, and I am engulfed with his scent. My dad smells like clean linen and peppermint. “I love you, sweetheart. Have fun tonight.”
I nod. “I will.”
“You boys take care of my little girl.”
“We will, sir.”
The families walk us out to the awaiting party bus they rented for us. We have to stay for more hugs and pictures until finally we’re able to leave. Our driver, Peter, waits patiently at the bus door and helps us step inside.
“Hell yeah!” Jayson whoops when he climbs in.
I roll my eyes. Of course there’s a stripper pole inside the party bus. “Not in this lifetime and most certainly not in this dress,” I warn Jayson.
“I bet I can persuade you.” Jayson grabs me and pulls me down into his lap. The bus is equipped with long curved leather bench seats that stretch from the front to the back on one side. The other side has a minibar and controls for the overhead video screen and stereo. Bright colorful neon lights glow throughout. As a whole, it’s very tacky but so much fun.
“Let’s get this party started,” Jayson exclaims. Julien turns on the stereo and cranks up the music. Junior prom, here we come.
Ryder
I think my heart stops when I see Elizabeth standing on the staircase, looking absolutely stunning in her red dress. The tiny red flowers in her hair make her look like a forest fairy, and the deep red color of her dress contrasts with her green eyes creating an unusual effect as if she had actual glittering emeralds twinkling like stars in her eyes.
I have to hand it to Jayson. He really stepped up for Elizabeth this time. When he first came to me about all of us taking her to prom, I didn’t know what to say. Julien and I planned to go anyway because we knew he would be taking Elizabeth, of course, and we wanted to be there for her. Jay said all he wanted was for her to be happy and he knew that Jules and I being a part of her prom experience would do that. The thought of getting to hold her close tonight, take her in my arms even if it’s just for one dance, makes all the years of waiting worth it. For one part of one night, I can pretend that she’s mine. Hold her like she’s mine.
The bus pulls up to the hotel where our school prom is being held. Hotel bellmen greet each arriving vehicle to help the passengers out. Since our high school isn't that big, our school holds both junior and seniour proms at the same time, so there are a lot of limos and luxury sedans pulled up under the overhang that leads to the hotel lobby. As soon as we step off the bus, we hear Elizabeth’s name being shouted. Two girls I recognize from school rush over and hug her.
“You look so fab!” one tells her, I think her name is Beth.
Keith and Davis, two of our school’s varsity offensive linemen I know, walk over to stand with the girls. I learn the other girl’s name is Celeste. We walk inside the hotel and check in with the school parent volunteer at a table in the front lobby. After marking off each of our names from a list, our hands are stamped with a dye that will shine under a black light.
“What is he doing here?” Jayson grumbles next to me.
I look in the direction he’s glaring and automatically shift my body in front of Elizabeth’s, my fists clenching in preparation of a fight.
Julien comes to my side. “Chill, man. Not tonight. Tonight’s about Liz.”
Luckily, Elizabeth is still talking with Beth and Celeste and is oblivious to the two people looming our way, cocky smirks plastered on their faces.
“Isn’t this sweet? Elizabeth finally got her wish for a threesome.”
Elizabeth stops talking mid-sentence when she hears Maria’s voice, and I feel her tense up behind me. Her eyes go wide with surprise when she turns around and sees that Maria is plastered against Marshall.
“We aren’t doing this tonight,” I tell Maria.
Marshall is smart enough to realize this time he is way outnumbered and keeps his mouth closed. It’s not only me, Jayson, and Julien, but also Keith and Davis standing with us creating an impenetrable wall of “don’t mess with us” attitude. Marshall mumbles something to Maria and jerks her away but her eyes remain locked on Elizabeth.
“Well, this night just took a turn,” Elizabeth says.
“Nope. Not going to let that happen, princess. This night is about you and we will make darn sure that it’s a night to remember,” Jayson promises, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her neck until she giggles. I guess that’s one way to keep her distracted. “Come on. I want first dance with my gorgeous girlfriend.” Careful of her dress, he lifts her up and carries her into the hotel ballroom.
“Elizabeth is never alone tonight,” I say to Julien.
I have a bad feeling that Maria will try and pull something and I will not let that happen. Her bringing Marshall here as her prom date ups that probability.
“Not for a second,” Julien confirms.
The hotel ballroom is decorated with different replicas of tourist attractions from around the world. A lit up twenty-foot Eiffel Tower stands at one wall, London’s Tower Bridge at another. Mini skyscrapers that represent the New York City skyline span across the third wall. A water wall is set up in the middle of the ballroom that says Niagara Falls next to it. Photographers are stationed at each one ready to take photographs.
“Babe, you guys did such a great job,” Davis says loudly to Celeste so she can hear him over the thumping bass of the music.
“You did this?”
“Not just me, but yeah. I’m on the prom committee along with Beth.”
“Nice!” Julien shouts.
Beth laughs. “You would never believe what Samantha wanted to do — a cowboy theme with a mechanical bull.”
Celeste rolls her eyes, “She wants anything she can ride, if you know what I mean.”
“Celeste!”
“You know I’m right.”
Elizabeth and Jayson leave the dance floor and she rushes over to me and pulls my arms. “Your turn big guy. Want to dance?” she asks me.
Jayson tilts his head in a small nod at me, so I know it’s okay with him. “I’ll go grab us something to drink. Come on, Jules. I can use the extra hands.”
Dancing isn’t my thing, but I’ll suck it up and look like a fool for Elizabeth for one night. She links her pinky with mine and walks us into the middle of the dance floor. As soon as she turns around and I take her into my arms, the lights dim and the DJ plays “Helium” by Sia.
“Ryder?” she inflects, her voice trembling slightly.
And just like that, everything around us stills and falls away. In her heels, Elizabeth and I are almost eye to eye. As the lyrics of the song begin, something shifts between us, some intangible distant storm unfurls wanting to sweep us away in its chaotic, churning energy. Her eyes hold a luminous glaze when she looks into my copper ones. Like opposite magnetic poles, our bodies pull together, inch by slow inch. I bring our linked hand up to press right over my heart. She places her other hand flat against my upper arm where it meets my shoulder as my free hand curves around her hip to hold her in place.
Her sweet breath puffs against the side of my face when she rests her cheek against mine and sighs. My eyelids close of their own accord, every cell in my body electrified and pulsing, reveling in the feel of her in my arms. This moment. This girl. This is everything.
“Do you feel it, Ryder?” she whispers, her words a warm flutter against my cheek. My fingers grip her hip harder.
“I do.”
She shakes her head in confusion. “Will it always be like this between us?”
I don’t know how to answer her. Because for me, the answer is yes. Yes, to the invisible power that seems to inevitably bring us colliding back to one another. Yes, to the love we have for one another but n
ever act on. Yes, to the overwhelming emotions that punch me in the gut every time I see her or hear her voice. Yes to it all.
The music fades and Julien taps me on the shoulder. “My turn,” he says and I reluctantly release Elizabeth and leave her with Julien. Jayson hands me a bottle of water when I reach him.
“She having a good time so far?”
“Yeah.” I look around to see where Maria and Marshall are. I spot them at the Eiffel Tower with Jacinda, Samantha, and their dates.
“Do you mind if I steal Liz later for a bit? Julien’s okay with it,” Jay says to me.
Do I want to know? I mean, we are in a hotel, so of course my mind goes to the obvious conclusion that he’s reserved a room just for the two of them.
Jayson sees the look on my face. “Whatever you're thinking, the answer is no. And if it was, it's none of your business. Besides, I don’t do clichéd.”