“And I’m taking Malachi.” I say as nonchalant as I can.
“That’s not the same.” She whispers through gritted teeth.
“Don’t. I’m dealing with it.” I stare at her.
Val walks out and shows us her dress. It’s above her knee and fits her curves snuggly. The ruffles on the skirt fluff it out and the one strap over her shoulder has a cute flower that matches the ruffles. The entire dress is a powder blue and goes well with her pale skin tone. Once we give her the okay she goes back in to change. Nat grabs the things she’s buying.
“Okay, well I’m getting these, are you getting one of those?” She points at the pile of dresses I have next to me.
“No. I’m not feeling any of them. I don’t know what I want. I just know what I don’t want.” I put the dresses on the discard pile.
“So where to now?” Valerie walks over to us.
“There’s one more place I want to try. I have to find something.” I whine.
“Okay, can we eat after that, I’m starving.” She laughs
“Of course.” Nat smiles.
We pay for their things and head over to one of the other stores. The girls start looking at accessories and I walk over to the rack to find a dress. I’m scanning through, losing hope of finding anything today, when I see something sort of stuffed in between two dresses. I tug at it and pull it out.
“What’d you find?” Nat walks up.
“I don’t know. It was in between these.” I try to straighten it out on the hanger.
“See through?” Nat’s making a face.
“I know. But look.” I show her the size.
“Try it on.” She starts shoving me to where the dressing room is.
“Okay, okay, I’m going.” I shoo at her hands and walk into the dressing room.
I can hear Nat and Val on the other side. “What did she find?” Val asks.
“She may have found the one. But it’s see through.” Nat says.
“Oh that’s silly, it’s sexy and it won’t show anything.” Val brushes it off.
“Yea,” Nat agrees. “You coming out?” She hollers at me over the door.
“Yes. Hold on.” I zip it up as far as I can. “Nat can you zip me?”
“Open the door.” She knocks. I open it and give her my back. She smacks my butt and zips it up. “Baby got back.” She laughs.
“Let me see, Rocky.” Val is trying to squeeze in and look between the door and Nat. I open the door and pose for them. “Turn, turn.” Val’s excited.
I turn slowly lifting my hands. “What do you think?”
“You are so buying that, no question about it.” Nat’s smile says it all.
“It’s not hoochie?” I worry my bottom lip.
“No hoochie, it’s not. It’s sexy!” Val laughs.
“Ahhh I don’t know.” I start tugging at the bottom half lightly, afraid to pull any of the delicate beading off.
“Well, I do. Go change, so we can eat.” Nat pushes me back into the dressing room, unzipping me as I walk.
I look at myself in the mirror. I like the dress, but sheer? Ok so the whole dress isn’t sheer. The empire waist and a-line silhouette are the perfect fit to my shape. It’s sleeveless with a sort of bustier top. It accentuates my breasts nicely. The bra portion is covered in colorful beading. The rest of the black sheer bodice, below my boobs and right above my hips, is also boned or lined with black wiring. At the waist there are more colorful beads that form a sort of belt affect, which comes to a point above the slit. I will have to get used to the idea of the long side slit that runs up to my thigh. The chiffon material flows nicely to the floor, which should make it easy to dance in. I tug it off carefully and change back into my clothes.
“Raquel, you should get these. Look they’re perfect!” Val holds up a pair of heels.
“How much?” I yell to her.
“Too much, but look at them.” She bugs her eyes out at me.
I look at the shoes and she is right, they are perfect for the dress. I grab my size and try them on quickly. A perfect fit. “Okay, I’m done! That is so over the limit my dad set.” I shove all my stuff onto the counter. Nat throws her jewelry and shoes onto the counter and I push them over into my pile.
“What are you doing?” She tries to scoot them back.
“I’m buying you an early birthday present. Don’t worry about it.” I smack her hand playfully.
“Thank you Rocky. You know you don’t have to do that.” She hugs me.
“I want to, shh.” I hug her and pay.
***
We finish up our shopping spree and finally find a good place to eat. Once we are there I text Malachi to let him know the color of my dress. He’s been stressing over ordering my corsage and his tux. He texts me right back to let me know that he got a limo, its big enough for four couples to go together. I let the girls know and they’re so excited. Natalia immediately texts Aiden and Val calls Dante, leaving a message on his phone.
“You think Dante will want to go with us, Val?” I wonder.
“I think so. Has he ever met, Malachi is it?”
“No.” I say.
“Then I don’t see it being an issue.” She smiles.
We finish up our dinner and make our long drive back home.
***
The following week at school, Dante seems nicer. Not in a flirtatious way but in a friendlier way. “Hey Rocky, tell your man thanks for the limo. That should be fun.”
“Thanks, I will. It should be.” I smile as we walk to fifth period. Wow, operation fake boyfriend must be working, at least for him. I can’t believe he’s having a normal conversation with me. So, why does my stomach feel like dropping again?
“So did you find the dress?” He asks.
A small smirk crosses my lips when I think about the dress. “I did. Last minute, poor Malachi. He had to rush order the corsage and his tux.”
“I’m sure he didn’t mind too much, if he’s as nice and easy going as I hear.” There wasn’t any hint of anger to his voice. He seemed genuine.
“He is. And you’re right. He was cool about it.” I say.
“Good. Well, we’re all looking forward to it. Do we meet up or how do we do this?”
“We meet at my house, if you don’t mind. My mom wants us to take pictures.” I look at him. This is weird, but this is how it should be. Friends.
“Yea that’s cool. I’ll pick up Val and bring her over with me.” He smiles.
“Yea that’s perfect.” I smile back, hoping the sadness doesn’t show in my eyes.
We continued walking in silence and it was fine, till it wasn’t. We still had quite a way till class and things got awkward.
“So?” He laughed lightly when the silence grew thick.
“Yea.” I laughed. We kept walking and my hand lightly brushed the back of his, instantly I felt the spark of electricity that always existed between us. He immediately pulled his hand away like I burned him and apologized.
“No, sorry, it was me. I wasn’t paying attention.” I apologized. I watched him swallow hard and he seemed to battle to gather his feelings. “Dante?” I worried. He was being so nice. So friendly. I hope I didn’t mess it up. I miss him so much.
“I’m fine. It’s fine.” He shook his head.
I kept walking along side him, watching my feet. We finally reached our class and much to my surprise he sat in his old seat beside me. During class, as we read, I would get the feeling he was looking at me, but each time I looked up he was busy reading. I felt like he had something he needed to say but he never once said a word. Finally the bell rang and I got up like usual to gather my things.
“Hey, you going home right now?” He asked.
“Well, I was going to stop at the store and grab some stuff for dinner. Why?”
“Can you give me a ride? I rode with Aiden. Nat’s going with him to his house. I wanted to go home.” He explained.
“Uh, yea, sure.” I shrugged.
�
��Thanks, Rock.” He smiled at me.
I turned to leave, hesitating to wait for him. I felt my heart beat increase. I knew he was trying to be friends, but I didn’t know how to feel about being alone with him. I wasn’t exactly over him. But he didn’t know that.
We avoided the usual spot where our friends gathered and headed straight for my car. I wasn’t sure who made that decision. We both kind of walked right passed it without stopping.
“I texted Aiden and told him I got a ride home. You can tell Nat if you want. I didn’t want to say anything, unless you wanted to.” He confessed as he got in the car.
“Oh, okay. Thanks.” I mulled it over in my mind. Of course I would tell her. I just wasn’t sure when I would tell her.
I turned the car on and immediately the song I had been listening to on my way to school blared through the speakers. Hurrying, I reached for the volume at the same time as he did. We grabbed each other’s fingers and both of us pulled back at the same time. I hesitated and then reached again turning it down.
“Sorry.” I forced a nonchalant smile.
“No problem, I do the same thing.” He laughed. I left the parking lot and he looked over at me. “So what are you going to cook?”
“I wasn’t sure. I kind of felt like something homemade.” I explained while glancing at him.
“Not pizza?” He bugged his eyes at me.
I laughed, “No, surprisingly I feel kind of pizza-ed out.”
“I never thought I’d see that day.”
“You and I both, but I did have it the last three nights so that could be it.” I confessed.
“Oh God, that is exactly it. I don’t know how you do that and don’t get sick.” He made a funny face of disgust. I laughed. “I can go to the store with you, if you want to stop before you drop me off?”
“Are you sure?” I felt the butterflies in my stomach take flight.
“Yea. If you want?” He said quieter this time. His voice seemed a little unsure.
“Yea. Okay.” I tried to sound like it was no big deal.
“I don’t.”
The silence grew thick between us again and I needed to cut through the awkwardness that was starting to build. “This is nice, Dante. Being friends.”
“Yea.” His voice was quiet again.
“It’s better like this. Val really likes you.” I kept my gaze forward. I had so much to ask. Instead I bit my tongue trying to prevent my feelings from rising to the surface.
“Yea.” He said flatly.
“Do you like her?” Guess I wasn’t succeeding so much at my attempts.
“She’s a great person. We’ve been friends a long time. She’s always been a great friend.” He said.
“Do you like her?” I asked again.
“Do you like Malachi?” A diversion. Why won’t he answer me?
“I do.” Just not like I like you, but you can’t know that. Oh, God, what am I doing? I’m not good at this. I’m going to mess it up and he’s going to find out what an idiot I am.
“Yea, I like Val, she’s—” His voice trailed.
“A great person?” I finished.
“Yea.” I could tell he was holding back, but why? He seemed to like being friends.
***
We parked and went into the store. I grabbed the cart and made my way to the meat department.
“Beef, chicken, fish?” He points out the different sections of meat.
“I have been to a store before.” I nudge him with my elbow.
“I was just asking which one.” He gives me a snarky face.
“Wa wa wa, wa wa wa.” I mock him with my hand.
He pulls the cart from me, steering it towards the chicken. “You’re better at chicken than beef.”
“Gee, thanks.” I narrow my eyes. I grab a pack with four chicken breasts and throw it into the cart.
He looks at me, “Anything else?”
“Shampoo, I’m almost out.” I steer him towards the aisle.
We walk to the aisle and as I’m looking for the bottle I usually buy, he walks off. The next thing I see, he chucks something into the cart.
“Are you kidding me, Dante?” I reach into the cart.
“I figured it must be about that time with the way you’ve been acting.” He smirks.
“Hardy- har- har, Mr. Comedian!” I snatch the box of tampons out of the cart. How did he even know what brand I used? He clearly was pleased with himself from the way his crooked smile is painted on his face.
“Let’s go, Jerk.” I aim for him with the cart.
“You’re asking for it. Miss Attitude.” He quickly jumps out of the way and flicks my ear.
“Shut up.” I start to roll my eyes and quickly stop myself.
“Aha, you are learning.” He catches me.
“No, I’m not!” I roll my eyes at him.
He’s cracking up as we round the corner to the registers. We both see her at the same time and neither of us moves. Valerie purchased her stuff, but never noticed us before walking out of the store.
“Which aisle do you want to go to?” He asked, like I wouldn’t know why he hesitated.
“Whatever one is fine.” My heart was beating so hard I was sure he could hear it.
“Aisle two it is.” He maneuvered the cart into the aisle. I grabbed my wallet and fiddled with my debit card.
“Do you need anything?” Deciding to be polite and ask.
“Nah. Nothing here.” He said. What did he mean, nothing here? That was weird.
I flicked the card in my hand, suddenly antsy again. This was harder than I thought. Here I stand next to the guy I love so much and we have to be friends. How can we be friends with so much between us, so much left unsaid, left undone? He makes me feel so fragile when I’m near him and I know that no matter how hard we try, a fight is nearly inevitable whenever we are together for too long. Have I even forgiven him? And why did he hesitate around Val? I want so bad to ask, but I decide the fight isn’t worth it. Take him home, drop him off, be done. Friends.
Once the lady handed me my receipt, I grabbed the bag, headed to the car and got in. Figuring I needed to break the ice again, I left the passenger door locked and started the car. Putting the car into reverse, I slowly backed the car out. The look on Dante’s face was priceless! He began smacking the window with his hand, as he scowled at me with his crooked smile I loved so much. My laughter was bordering cackling at the moment, when suddenly his face changed, his eyes grew wide and he folded forward. I threw the car into park and jumped out as fast as I could, running to his side.
“Oh my God, Dante are you okay? What happened?” I worried, as I looked him over.
“You ran over my foot!” He wouldn’t look at me as he hunched over and covered his face with his hands.
“Is it broken? Can you move it? Oh, my God, Dante I’m so sorry. I’m so, so, so, sorry. What can I do? Tell me, I’ll do anything. Do you want me to call your dad? Oh, my God.” I was panicked.
“No, no, wait a second please.” He squeezed out, through the skin of his teeth.
“Here sit down.” I opened the car door, slightly and moved to his side to help him in. He took his time, eventually hopping the few steps over to the seat and sat facing me.
“Can you move it?” I started to reach down.
“Yea, but it hurts like a bitch.” He stopped my hands.
“Do you think it’s broken?” I worried my lip.
“I don’t know. Can you take my shoe off?” He was definitely in pain.
“Yea, of course.” I knelt down, slowly lifting his foot to my lap and began untying his shoe. Once the laces were loose, I began to slowly remove his shoe. His ankle didn’t seem swollen, but he flinched as I removed it. The shoe was finally off and I looked up at him waiting for him to tell me what to do next.
“Bend down, you’ll have to get close.” He instructed me.
“Okay, like this?” I bent forward towards his foot, unsure of what I was looking for.
“Yea. Like that. Now— kiss it!” He pushed his foot into my lips, howling so loud he scared me.
“You asshole! You complete asshole!” I was crying. I really thought he was hurt, I had so many thoughts rushing through me. Did he have insurance, what was going to happen for his community service, what would his parents say? He would have to graduate with a cast on, prom on crutches, all because of me! And all this time he was pranking me! What a jerk!
“It’s not funny, Dante. I really thought you were hurt.” My tears were falling down my cheeks, as he stood looking at me like I lost my mind.
“It’s your fault, you tried to be funny. You really did run over my foot, Rock.” He laughed.
“Jerk! You’re so mean. You scared me half to death.” I smacked him, as I rose to my feet.
“Oh poor baby, come here.” He pouted as he opened his arms to hug me.
“No.” I crossed my arms. “I’m taking you home, you are so mean!”
“Ah come on, it was funny. You totally fell for it. You kissed my foot too.”
“You made me! Gah, you are so mean!”
He quickly walked up, wrapping me in his arms from behind as I tried to get away. My momentum came to a halt as he pulled back on me. “Stop, okay I’m sorry. I was playing with you.” He chuckled into my hair.
“Ok. Fine. You got me, let’s go.” I quickly removed his hands from my waist and hurried to get in the car. I couldn’t be trusted with my actions if I stood in his arms any longer than that.
***
We finally reached his house.
“That was messed up, Dante.” I put the car into park.
“Yea well, you deserved it. Trying to lock me out.” He teased.
“Did not. I was playing with you.” I crossed my arms.
“I said I was sorry. If it would make you happy, I’ll kiss your foot.” He smiled, crooking his head to the side.
“You would not.” I narrowed my eyes at him.
“I would.” He insisted.
“Prove it.” I called his bluff.
“I will. Here give me your foot.”
I scooted my chair back and swung my leg out, landing it in his lap. He immediately pulled off my shoe and removed my sock swiftly, lifting my foot higher to his mouth.
Breaking Down (The Breaking Series) Page 20