by Naomi Niles
She smiled. “I guess I have to let you grow up.”
“I thought you were excited about it. You’re starting something new,” I said.
“It’s bittersweet, Taylor.”
I nodded, understanding. “Now, how do we get Daddy to let Dylan take me to the prom?”
***
My mother and I managed to convince my father to let Dylan take me to the prom. He’d even taken Dylan out to rent a tuxedo. My mother and I had gone shopping, and I ended up with a green dress that didn’t show too much.
It had spaghetti straps, which was a compromise from the strapless one I wanted. I still loved the dress. After my mother helped me with my hair, she stood behind me as we both gazed into the mirror.
“You are no longer a little girl,” she told me.
Guess she wasn’t ready for me to grow up. “Thank you for helping me convince Daddy to let Dylan take me.”
“You’re welcome. Now, he’s waiting downstairs. Nervous. He gets an audience when he sees you.”
I glanced back at my reflection once, happy with how I looked. I almost didn’t recognize myself.
My mother opened the door for me. I grabbed my clutch that matched my dress, then walked down the steps. Dylan was pacing at the bottom. My father leaned on the doorway to the living room a small smile on his face. When he looked up at me, his smile broadened.
I stopped hallway down, and Dylan finally looked my way. His lips were open and I knew he was surprised. His eyes widened as he said, “You look beautiful.”
“Thank you.”
“Oh, kitten. You do look beautiful.”
We took pictures out on the lawn. Dylan was a gentleman and held the door to the limousine that my father had rented for us. He held my hand the whole way to the venue.
“I can’t stop staring at you, Taylor. You look amazing. Awesome.”
“You look pretty handsome, too, Dylan. You clean up well.”
He laughed. “Your father had to help a little.”
Now I laughed. “At least he did. He could have protested.”
“Oh, he let me know that we were to come home after the dance and that if we were going somewhere tomorrow, we weren’t staying over.”
I rested my head against his shoulder. “I don’t need any of that. Just you.”
“That’s sweet, Taylor.”
I shrugged.
The ballroom was full of teenage couples. The tables were decorated with blue and white balloons, our school colors. I couldn’t believe the day had finally come. This was the last big event of our senior year.
After this, it was only a few weeks until graduation.
I held Dylan’s hand as we entered the room. I heard a squeal and was hugged fiercely by Helena. I looked her over. “You look pretty amazing.”
She smiled. “You look beautiful, too. I grabbed your place cards. You’re sitting with us.”
“Cool.”
She wore a dark blue dress that accented her eyes. Cole, her date, wore a matching cummerbund. Those two had met at one point during the drama of Dylan and I, and they’d hit it off. I told Cole that if he didn’t treat her properly, he would have me to answer to.
So far, he’d been a very good boyfriend to her.
“Do we get pictures first?” I said.
“Yeah. Cole and I got ours,” Helena said.
I turned to Dylan. “Let’s get this over with. I don’t know how good I’m going to look after I’m dancing.”
“Dancing?”
I laughed. “Yes. We’ll be dancing.”
“Did I agree to that?”
I laughed and swatted his arm. “It’s implied when you take someone to a prom.”
“Oh, okay. Didn’t know that.”
The smile on his face told me he was teasing me.
We did the pictures, and then there was a slow song. Dylan held me as if I were china. “Why didn’t you run for prom queen?” he asked me.
I shrugged. “Didn’t seem important with all that was going on with you.”
“Do you regret it?”
“Nope. I get to dance with only you all night instead of the prom king.”
“I like that idea.” He nuzzled my neck. “This is kind of nice. Kind of fun.”
“Better than you thought?”
“Much better, but I think that has to do with my date,” he said.
That filled me with such a warm feeling. I wanted to tell him that I loved him, but I didn’t think I was ready to be that vulnerable. Yet. Maybe by the end of the night.
The prom queen was crowned and the fast music started. I dragged Dylan out on the dance floor.
“But they just served dessert,” he said.
“It’ll be there when you get back,” I said. “I want to see you dance.”
“I’m not very good.”
He actually was okay; he had more rhythm than a lot of guys on the dance floor. He had nothing to be embarrassed about. We didn’t sit down for three songs. Then I needed a drink.
The cake was gone. He looked like a puppy who had been kicked.
“I’ll bake you a chocolate cake tomorrow.”
Dylan’s face lit up. “Promise?”
“Promise.”
“Okay, then.”
And for one quick moment, I saw the teenage Dylan. Not the serious grownup one that had been around lately. Not that I minded, either.
“Last song of the night, girls and boys,” the disc jockey said.
I turned back to Dylan. “One more.”
He kissed my nose. “Of course.”
He held me close again, and I never wanted the night to end. His warm body was pressed against mine, his bow tie was in his pocket, and his sleeves were rolled up.
He was all mine. At least, for now.
When the song ended, he led me to the table. We gathered our things said goodnight to everyone. I really didn’t want to go back to reality. This had been wonderful.
I held onto Dylan’s arm, my high heels in my hand. “This was great. Thank you.”
He smiled down at me. “I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.”
I stopped him before we climbed into the limousine.
“Is something wrong?” he said.
“No. I just wanted to tell you that I love you.”
His smile lit up his face. “I love you, too.”
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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2016 Naomi Niles