by Magan Vernon
She embraced me a tight hug, inhaling a big breath through her nose as if she was trying to make a memory of my scent. “I’ll miss you, little girl.”
I shook my head as I pulled away. “I’m not that little, Mom.”
She smiled. “Well to me you’ll always be my little girl. No matter what.”
***
After a much smoother plane ride, we were back at the New Orleans airport. Blaine’s mom had to work, so Aunt Dee picked us up.
“Ah, back home to sixty-degree weather,” Blaine said, stripping off his coat before climbing into the backseat of Aunt Dee’s car.
“Yeah. This was definitely one of the big things I missed,” I said and got into the front.
“Cold up north?” Aunt Dee asked as she pulled her car away from the curb.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been so cold in my life,” Blaine said with a laugh.
“I guess I just won’t invite you back again for Christmas,” I teased.
He laughed. “Too bad. I think your grandmas would want me, so you can’t get rid of me.”
There was a sudden warmth in my chest. A sense of pride. I knew Blaine was worried about my family. The fact that we came from different worlds, but we both seemed to fit into each other’s quite nicely. The more time I spent in his, the more I didn’t know if I wanted to go back to the old world.
“Britt’s been working at the shop for you while you’ve been gone. She wanted us to stop by when we got back into town,” Aunt Dee said, navigating onto highway.
“Okay. That sounds good.” Random. But good I guess.
We dropped Blaine off at his house. As much as I loved spending time with him, it couldn’t hurt to have a little time not in the same house as him. That, and he was practically falling asleep half of the ride over. I was sure he’d be passed out and not wake up until the next morning for work.
“Now to the shop!” Aunt Dee put her arm in the air like she was charging for war.
“Okay. You seem really excited for me to go and see Britt.”
She smiled. “Well she missed you, and her début is the day after tomorrow, so I’m sure she has all sorts of worries, like getting her hair done and all that.”
“She knows that we have an appointment for Blaine’s mom to do something with her hair, whatever she can do with it, since it’s so short.”
Aunt Dee huffed. “Well. You two will figure something out to talk about. I’m sure of it.”
“Okay,” I agreed, wondering what the hell was going on.
We pulled up to the shop, and Aunt Dee practically bounced out of the car. I’d never seen the woman move so quickly.
I followed her slowly to the front of the shop where she threw the front door open, the bell dinging over head. “We’re here!” Aunt Dee exclaimed.
Britt was behind the counter, beaming like she had a secret. “Hey, Libby. How are you doing?”
“Fine. I think? Aunt Dee said you had something you wanted to talk to me about.”
“I do?” Britt asked, raising an eyebrow at Aunt Dee.
“Yes, the new shipment in the back.” Aunt Dee motioned her head toward her office.
“Oh. Right. The new shipment!” Britt ran around the counter toward Aunt Dee’s small office.
I followed slowly, wondering what I was going to find behind the door.
Britt and Aunt Dee stood on either side of the door, and I gasped when I entered, seeing a long, gold mermaid dress with a plunging neckline and a small black, floral belt around the waist. I’d never seen anything like it before.
“It’s a little past Christmas, but I didn’t have time to make it before you left,” Aunt Dee said.
I lifted up the skirt, feeling the silk material between my fingers. “You made this?”
Aunt Dee nodded. “Yep. Had to stitch the belt by hand, but it was worth it to give you something special to wear for the cotillion.”
I shook my head. “But it’s not my night. It’s Britt’s.”
Aunt Dee put her hand on mine. “Libby, honey, it’s her night to make her debut, but after everything you’ve done for the both of us, you need to feel special, too.”
I tried to hold the tears back. It was one of the nicest things anyone had ever done for me. Standing in the shop that I dreaded going to so much last summer, and now I knew that if there was anywhere I was meant to be, it was right there with my southern family.
***
Cotillion was on the Saturday before New Years. The day before, Blaine and I had exchanged Christmas gifts. He gave me a fleur de lis necklace that was made exclusively by a jeweler in the French quarter. I fastened the gold piece around my neck, smoothing out my dress one more time in the mirror. I let my hair fall loosely around my shoulders and clipped part of it up with a gold hairpin. I didn’t need anything fancy. It wasn’t my night. It was Britt’s, and I’d never seen her look more beautiful.
She tentatively stepped out of her room, staring down at her feet where the gown fell and covered her ballet flats. Finally, she looked up, and I had to hold back a gasp. Blaine’s mom had outdone herself with the natural makeup and small false eyelashes that made her hazel eyes pop like I’d never seen before. Her short hair was combed to a swooping side part with a flower hair pin holding it back. The sparkling crystals on the flower matched the subtle ones in her dress.
“My little girl looks so grown-up. Like a true debutante,” Aunt Dee gushed.
“Grandma!” Britt rolled her eyes, but smiled.
“Now let me just get a few pictures of the two of you before you take off, then I’ll get some more of you and your date.” Aunt Dee held up her camera, already taking shots.
“Grandma, Seth isn’t my date. He’s just my escort for the night. It’s not a big deal.”
“Yeah, and that’s why he’s been texting you so much,” I teased.
“Gawd you two! Do you need to gang up on me?”
“Oh, we’re just teasing!” Aunt Dee waved her hand. “Now come on. Get together for some pictures before you’re late, and Maize has my hide!”
After a few pictures, Britt and I got in my car. She would have her license in January, but there was no way in hell I was going to let her drive, especially not in a dress and not my car.
The country club parking lot was already packed with cars, and the whole building lit up like it was the biggest event of the year. Maybe it was.
I parked toward the back and turned off the engine. “Are you ready for this?” I asked.
Britt let out a deep breath. “I sure as hell hope so.”
“Good.” I nodded. “Because Sawyer and Seth are standing right over there.”
“OH MY GAWD!” Britt ducked.
“What? He’s your escort. What’s the problem?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I’m just. I don’t know.” She sighed. “What if he doesn’t like me like this? What if he thinks I’m just a pig with lipstick on?”
I shook my head. “Britt there is no way in hell that Seth would think that of you. Take it from a former sorority princess, I can tell you that you look drop-dead-hot and there is no way that the boy isn’t going to try and get his hands under that dress tonight.”
I stopped and pointed a finger at her, trying to keep my face as stern as possible. “But you tell him to keep his hands off your lady bits, do you hear me Brittany?”
Britt laughed. “You’re too much, Libby.”
“Yep, and you like it.” I opened the door and got out of the car, walking around to the other side to open Britt’s. I gave her my hand and helped her out.
As soon as we shut the door, I heard footsteps near us and looked up to see Sawyer and Seth approaching with Blaine now in tow.
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Well, if this doesn’t look like trouble.”
Blaine grinned, putting his hands in his suit coat pocket. “I should say the same for you two as well. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Britt look like such a fox, ow ow!” Blaine cupped his hands togethe
r like a megaphone and hollered.
“Stop it!” Britt’s face turned a bright red. It probably didn’t help that she used to have the biggest crush on Blaine, and now he was making comments like that.
“Hey, he’s right,” Seth said, taking a step forward. The guy had looked good when I first met him, but with his hair trimmed and the black tuxedo, he looked like a grown man instead of the boy escorting my little cousin. “I mean, I usually like the girl who plays ball with me, but cleaned up Britt ain’t bad either.”
Britt laughed. “Hey, if you want I can still play a little one-on-one with you after we’re announced.”
Seth raised an eyebrow. “In that dress?”
“If you’re afraid that it’ll make me more aerodynamic to kick your ass, then you’re probably right,” she said, lifting up her skirt slightly.
Seth laughed and put his arm out. She looped her arm through his, and they walked ahead of us toward the building.
Blaine, Sawyer, and I stood by my car watching them.
“Did you ever think they’d get along this well?” I asked Sawyer.
He straightened his bowtie. While most of the guys wore suits, Sawyer stuck to his usual bow tie and button-down. I had told him and Blaine that they didn’t have to come, but they both said they wouldn’t miss it. Sawyer for his brother and Blaine, to support me and Britt. I wouldn’t have had it any other way than to have my two favorite guys with me anytime.
“Well, Libby darlin’, I don’t know much of anything. If you would have told me, at the beginning of this school year, that I’d be at a cotillion with a Chicago debutante and now honor roll student, I would have never believed you.”
“You made the honor roll, and you weren’t going to tell me?” Blaine asked, raising his eyebrows.
“Well, I just found out when we got our grades this morning. My parents actually called me before I even knew...”
Before I could say another word, Blaine picked me up and whirled me around. I squealed, my feet lifting off the ground before they were quickly back down on the pavement.
“That’s awesome, baby! I’m proud of you!” He placed a quick kiss on my lips, then another, and another.
“Okay, you two. Y’all either need to get a room or we should go inside and watch this southern début thing,” Sawyer said with an eye roll.
“Okay, okay, we’re coming,” I said, taking Blaine’s hand as we followed Sawyer into the ballroom.
***
The ballroom was full of families waiting for their daughters and their escorts, who were backstage. We all had to sit at assigned tables, like a wedding. I of course, sat with Aunt Dee, Blaine and Sawyer, but was not expecting to sit with the Cleary family, which included Jackson and his parents...and Sarah’s sponsor, Nikki.
Talk about awkward.
I expected Nikki to wear something super skanky that showed off her curves but the girl surprised me by wearing a simple blue, tea-length dress with a cap sleeve shawl. Definitely more demure than I expected from her.
I’d never met Sarah’s parents until that night, but they were almost exactly what I would have expected. Sarah’s mom had a large mound of blonde curly hair, big false eyelashes, and a very loud cheetah print dress that was a little too tight for the bigger lady. Her father sat quietly next to her, obviously uncomfortable, and slowly slipping from a flask that he seemed to believe no one saw him take out of his suit pocket.
Aunt Dee and Sarah’s parents made small talk, while Blaine, Jackson, and Sawyer talked about LSU football. That left me and Nikki to talk, but I wasn’t ready to do that. Luckily, I didn’t have to, because Maize came up to a small podium on the stage in front of a large red curtain.
“Good evening, honored guests!” she bellowed. She demanded her presence be taken seriously, but it was hard to look at her in the red, white, and black dress that made her look like The Queen of Hearts.
“I’m Maize Thibodaux, and I want to welcome you all and thank you for taking part in this time honored tradition that introduces the newest members of our society.”
Everyone clapped, and Maize started the introductions.
When Sarah’s name was announced, her family stood up and whooped and hollered. Sarah took it as only Sarah could, giving the rocker sign and sticking her tongue out. Her feathered dress, too much makeup, and full updo was definitely all her. You could dress her up, but you couldn’t take her out.
Next up was Britt, and I felt my palms getting sweaty just waiting for it.
“And next we have Brittany Badeaux, escorted by Seth Blanchard of DuPont.” Clapping erupted from the crowd as a smiling Britt strolled onto the stage holding Seth’s arm. She was smiling wider than I’d ever seen her.
“Brittany is a sophomore at Elsbury High School and an All parrish catcher for the softball team. After high school, she plans on attending LSU, hopefully on a softball scholarship. She’s the granddaughter of Deena Badeaux and cousin to her sponsor, Elizabeth Gentry.”
I clapped as loud and as hard as my hands would let me. After all the practicing and bitching from Britt, it was finally here, and she finally looked happy. Happier than I’d ever seen her.
And that made it all worth it.
Chapter 24
After a formal five course dinner, it was time for dancing. The girls and their escorts had the formal dance, and even though Britt and Seth tripped over their own feet, their contagious smiles made it amazing.
As soon as the dance was over, I ran through the crowd and found Britt, embracing her in a big hug.
“You did awesome!” I let go of her and beamed.
“Not really. I think Seth and I both have two left feet.” She laughed.
Seth put his arm around her. “Hey, I’m not that bad.”
“Psh, you’re just glad I have tough feet,” Britt said, elbowing him in the side and smiling.
“Yeah, yeah.” He squeezed her shoulder.
“Hey, Brittany!” A loud, twangy voice called.
I raised an eyebrow, and Britt looked over her shoulder just as Sarah approached.
“Hey, Sarah, long time, no talk,” Britt said.
“Yeah, sorry for being a bitch. Can we be friends again, and you and Seth come dance with me and Shane?” Sarah asked, raising her too-thin eyebrows.
Britt shrugged. “Sure. Why the hell not?”
Sarah squealed, and Britt and Seth followed her toward a group of other girls and their dates who were talking in a circle.
I didn’t question it, and I didn’t need to. Stranger things have happened than two girls fighting and becoming friends again in an instant.
“Hey, Libby.”
I froze, before slowly turning toward the voice. Nikki stood there, her hands together in front of her.
“Hey, Nikki,” I mumbled.
“Saw your name on the honor roll, and I just wanted to say congrats. That’s great.”
“Oh. Yeah. Thank you,” I said, biting my bottom lip. I didn’t think things couldn’t get any more awkward, as they were pretty much at their pinnacle.
“Hey, listen,” Nikki started before taking a deep breath. “I just wanted. Well. I don’t know how else to really say this, but I’m sorry for being such a bitch to you for so long. I shouldn’t have judged you before I got to know you, just because you were dating the guy I happened to have been crushing on since the beginning of time.”
“Oh.” It was all I could muster. I was seriously taken aback.
“Yeah. Now that I’ve seen him with you, I’ve realized that you’re much better for him than I ever could be.” She put her hand out. “I think the best woman won.”
I arched an eyebrow, wondering if I should take her hand, but decided ‘what the hell?’ and shook it. “Thanks, Nikki. I appreciate that.”
I felt something at my side, then Blaine’s arm slipped around my waist. “What are you two girls talking about?”
Nikki smiled. “Nothing at all, Blaine. I’ll see you two later.” She turned and walked in th
e other direction toward a group of sponsors.
“What was that about?” Blaine asked.
“Nothing, just some girl talk,” I said.
He leaned in and whispered in my ear, “You want to go somewhere more quiet and talk about it with me?” His lips vibrated on my earlobe, and I so badly wanted to be somewhere alone with him to find out where else he could take those lips.
“Hell yeah,” I whispered.
He pulled away, taking my hand and leading me off the dance floor and out of the ballroom. I thought we might be going outside and into the magnolia garden, but instead he took a sharp right and headed straight up the stairs. A dark corner maybe?
Once we got to the top of the stairs, he stopped at a small door. He looked left, then right, and the pulled out his keys from his pocket.
“Blaine, what are you doing?” I hissed.
He searched through the keys, until he pulled out a small brass one and stuck it in the door. “Don used to do some caddying here in high school, so he made us all spare keys. We used to come out on the course, get drunk, and would hide the evidence in here afterward.”
He pushed open the door to reveal a small room with a lot of wire shelves stocked with cleaning supplies.
“A janitor’s closet?” I wrinkled my nose.
He quickly pulled me into the small room, shutting the door behind us. I knew there had to be a light switch somewhere, but the only light that came in was from underneath the door, leaving us in the dark.
Blaine’s lips were back to my ear. “Use your imagination.”
I gasped when his hands slid under my dress, and his fingers were on my panties. I couldn’t see where he was going to move next. I couldn’t see anything really. My breath hitched, waiting for his next move.
His lips crushed against mine, while I pressed my back against the closed door. His tongue teased mine while his fingers made the same swirling motion as his tongue, bringing my core to the brink.
I moaned into his lips and reached for his belt. It took me awhile before I could actually find it, but I tugged it off as soon as I did. Blaine moved his hands down below my butt and lifted me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist, never breaking our kiss. He sat me down on something cold and metal, then hiked my dress up. His head dipped down, and before I knew it my panties were off.