by Caila Olsen
Chapter 14
RILEY
“I have missed you so much!” I say as I fall back onto my bed. It feels so good to be back home. My own bed, my own room, my own clothes, my own food.
“I am glad to have you back Riles!” Sam says, leaning onto the door frame of my room. “Ethan is a little bummed though.”
“Boo hoo,” I say. “Tell him that he is free to visit anytime he likes.”
“I will do that right away.” Sam laughs. “Is there anywhere you want to go today? Anything you need to do?” she asks.
“Today I think I will just stay here and get my things organized and cleaned up,” I reply. “Tomorrow I wouldn’t mind hitting a few malls. I would like to revamp my summer wardrobe.”
“I hear that there is a sale going on this week at the new Prada store that just opened up a few months ago at the mall,” Sam says with excitement. “We need to check it out!”
“Definitely!” I say enthusiastically.
“I am just going to run and grab a few things we are running low on around here. Do you need anything?” Sam asks.
“Not that I can think of,” I say. “If I need anything, I will give you a text.”
“See you in a few hours,” Sam says, turning around and waving goodbye. She stops and grabs her Gucci sunglasses on the table in the entrance way before leaving.
I think I will go through my closet after unpacking my things. I haven’t done that in a while and there is a ton of clothes I am sure I don’t wear any more that I can donate. As crazy as it sounds, I love organizing. I could spend all day going through things and tidying up, putting labels on and color coordinating items. I find it therapeutic. Whenever I am stressed about something, I just focus on organizing and it calms me down.
I hop over to my bed where my bag of clothes from the hospital is lying. I pick it up and start taking things out. The last thing I pull out is the dress that Sam helped Aden choose for me the night of the accident. As beautiful of a dress it is, I don’t think I can hold onto it. It brings back too much bad memories. I unfold it and take one last look before I put it into the donation bag. As I am doing that, I hear a clank of something falling onto the floor. I look to the side of the bed to see what fell. I see a small silver pocket watch. It is about an inch and a half round. There are black roman numerals etched around it. Small round circles are etched in a circle inside of that. In the center is a watch hand with four numbers marking every half hour. 3, 6, 9, 12. The time on the watch says 12:29.
I pick it up and hold it close to me. Aden gave this to me shortly after we met. I thought I lost this in the accident. It must have just got tangled up in everything and I never saw it.
I start to daydream of the day Aden gave this to me. It was the night of our senior prom.
“Honey, Aden is here,” my mom shouts up the stairs to me.
“I will be down in a minute,” I call back. I was so nervous that night. Aden was the first guy I had ever gone to a dance with who I ever got this excited and nervous to go with. I check myself out in my tall beveled mirror one last time before making my way downstairs. I am wearing a mermaid style gown. It is blush pink and has gold crystals that cover the entire bodice. It has a few crystals that are spaced out on the lower half of the dress, making it look like there is a waterfall of diamonds dripping down my dress when it hits the light. My hair is curled in loose waves down my back. I think I am ready.
I start walking down our spiral staircase to go and meet Aden. I look up and I see him wearing a perfectly tailored black tux with a white dress shirt underneath. On the left hand side of his tux, he has a blush pink corsage that matches my dress. He is grinning ear to ear I can’t help but smile when I see him. His smile is so contagious. My mom and dad are standing right next to him. My dad has his camera out, taking pictures as I walk down the stairs.
“Words cannot describe how beautiful you look right now,” Aden says in awe.
“You look gorgeous darling!” my mom exclaims giving me a hug. “Now stand right here next to Aden so we can get a picture.”
“Here, put this on first,” Aden says as he slips a matching corsage onto my wrist. He stands behind me and holds me by the waist. We both smile as my dad takes the picture.
“Have fun you two. Stay out of trouble,” my dad tells us.
“No need to worry about us,” Aden tells my father. He then opens the front door for me. “After you my lady.”
I follow him down to a long black limousine parked out in the driveway. “A limousine!” I say a little too excited.
“The only way a princess can travel to her ball,” he says. “Well technically, a horse drawn carriage would be the proper way for a princess to arrive at her ball, but nobody around here has a horse and carriage to rent so this was the next best option.”
“I have always wanted to ride in a limo!” I say.
“I am glad you like it,” Aden says. “We should probably get in it now. I wouldn’t want you to be late for your prom.” He holds the door open for me then slides in next to me.
“This is kind of my first prom,” Aden says, “I am sorry if I am no good at it.”
“It’s my first prom too. We can figure it out together.” I laugh. “It happens to be my last prom too.”
“What a coincidence,” he jokes, “Mine too! Unless of course I find out that I don’t actually graduate.”
“Aden Hansen, not graduating? Impossible!” I say.
“Well I did have an amazing tutor these past few weeks,” he says looking over at me. “If I fail, then I blame my tutor.”
“Hey that’s not fair! It’s your fault that you weren’t paying any attention to what I taught you,” I say.
“It’s not my fault that my tutor happens to be distractingly beautiful,” he replies.
I feel myself blush a little and I push a piece of my hair that had fallen forward back in its place.
“I think we have arrived,” Aden says, looking out the window. “Time to get your dance on!”
“Sorry if I embarrass you with my dance moves. I am not the most skilled dancer,” I say.
“I was about to say the same to you!” he says. “Good thing we came together then.”
We walk up the steps of our school and make our way to the gymnasium. We can hear the music playing as soon as we step foot in the building. The base of the music gets louder and louder as we get closer. The entrance to the gym has a lit up bridge we have to cross to get in. In the middle of the gym, they brought in a huge tree. Lights are intertwined in the branches all the way down to the base.There is a massive water fountain at the other end with rainbow lights in the water. Everything looks so elegant and magical. Something straight out of a fairy-tale.
“May I have this dance?” Aden asks. The song Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran comes on. It’s one of my favorite songs.
“Yes you may,” I reply. He pulls me into his arms. The smell of his cologne smells so good. I place my hand on his shoulder and he grabs me by the waist.
Everybody at the dance starts making their way to the dance floor too. I think this is not just my favorite song.
I feel like Cinderella dancing with my prince. It all still seems a little surreal when I am with Aden. I couldn’t have asked for a better person to go to prom with than him.
“Hey guys!” Sam says as she and Ethan come up from behind us just as the song is ending. She has her hair with big waves all parted off to one side. Her dress is a lilac purple that comes just above the knee. The top has a sweetheart neckline with a row of silver jewels lining the top. The waist has a jeweled sash and the bottom is made of tulle.
“Sam!” I give her a hug. “You look amazing! I love that dress on you!”
Ethan twirls her around. “I know right?” she says. “And you! You look like a goddess!”
“Thanks,” I say as I smooth out my dress.
“This is the first time I haven’t seen you in a t-shirt,” Aden says to Ethan. “Looking spiffy.”
“One night,” Ethan says, “That is all. How can someone wear this all the time? It is so uncomfortable. The fabric doesn’t breath,” he complains.
“Come on, this is a good song!” Aden gestures for us to follow him to the middle of the dance floor.
I shrug my shoulders and follow. Sam and Ethan come right behind me. We form a circle and start dancing the night away.
“Good evening North High seniors!” an announcer says, interrupting the music. “Is everyone having a good time?” He points the mic to the crowd and everyone cheers. “The clock has struck midnight and we are now going to announce this year’s prom king and queen.”
“Don’t worry, I voted for you guys,” Sam says to me. “I am not as selfish as I once was.”
“I voted for you guys too!” I say back. “May the best couple win.” I hold out my hand and shake hers.
“This year’s prom king is….. Aden Hansen!” the announcer shouts out. The crowd roars with applause.
“What me?” Aden says, looking surprised.
“Come and get your crown,” the announcer says.
Aden makes his way to the stage in the front of the gym. The students are roaring wild for their new king. He walks up the steps. The announcer places a giant plastic king’s crown on his head. “I dub the king!” he shouts. Aden does a bow, just about knocking his crown off.
“Okay North High, let’s see who your queen will be.” The announcer opens up the second envelope. “Riley Warren! Come and join your king up here.”
“This is so embarrassing!” I say to Sam.
“Congrats Riles!” Ethan says to me.
I join Aden on stage to claim my crown. He grabs my hand and we both take a bow. The crowd is going crazy congratulating us on our win.
“Let’s have a dance for our newly crowned North High royalty!” the DJ calls out. He starts playing Stop Time by Landon Austin. Aden pulls my arm back and takes me back to the floor to dance. Shortly after, the rest of the seniors join in. We all jump up and down and pump our fists. This is the first time all of the seniors have been unified and have come together like this, each and everybody having a good time.
“Can I steel my queen away for a second?” Aden asks me.
“Sure,” I respond. I look to my side where Sam is and let her know that I am going with Aden for a bit.
Aden leads me outside to the courtyard. They strung lights up all over the garden in here as well. He takes me to the edge of the fountain and sits down. I follow his lead.
“Riley, I think I am the luckiest guy on this planet to have found someone like you,” Aden starts. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out something. “Something is different about you. I have been in a couple relationships, but I have never felt the way I do when I am around you, also how quickly these feelings have been developing. I don’t know if you feel the same, but I hope you do.”
“I do feel the same way Aden,” I say. I don’t really know what to say at this moment.
“This was my grandmothers,” Aden opens his hand, revealing a small pocket watch on a silver chain.
“It’s beautiful!” I gasp.
“My grandfather had this watch when he was a boy. The watch lasted for years without changing the battery once. When he met my grandmother about 10 years after he had gotten this watch, it stopped. You might think that it was just by chance since it had been running on one battery for 10 years. He swears that it was because it not only can tell time, but it can also tell true love. My grandmother never replaced the batteries since then as a reminder of the time they fell in love. When I was about 9 years old, my grandmother died. This watch was the one thing she personally gave to me before passing. She said to put batteries in right away. When it stops, you will know you have found the right girl,” Aden says.
“That is such a beautiful story,” I say.
“Riley, I carry this around with me all the time and check it every moment of the day to see if it stops. Tonight when I was dancing with you, I felt the urge to check. Take a look what it says.” He shows me the watch.
“12:29,” I read.
“That was 5 min ago Riley and it hasn’t moved since,” he says. “I want you to have this.” He stands up and places it around my neck.
“Aden…” I start to say.
“I know it’s only been a few months together, but it just feels right being with you. I want to continue to see you even after graduation. I want to put this watch to the test and see if whether or not you really are the one, even though I am certain you are.”
“Thank you Aden,” I say as I touch the watch carefully with my fingers. “I want to continue seeing you too.”
Aden slides in closer to me, his face less than an inch away. His breath is warm and smells of spearmint. Aden looks deep into my eyes and leans in to kiss me.
It was a night to remember. I have never once, not worn the watch around my neck until a week and a half ago in the hospital because I thought it was lost. It is such a relief to have it back again.