“I blew it, Mom. I blew it with him. He doesn’t want to be with me. I blew it.”
Shannon whispered soothing hushing sounds in her daughter’s ears, but it only made it worse. Everything that Elodie had worked for was just superficial. She’d lost the only guy that she really cared about. And he wasn’t coming back.
After she had calmed down, later that evening, Elodie took to her guitar, strumming to get her mind off of what had happened with Duncan. It wasn’t working. Not when most of her recent songs had been written about him. Suddenly, she heard the familiar tone of her cell phone ringing on the desk as her mother typed away on her laptop. It was a number that she didn’t recognize but was in the same area code. Her heart leapt with the fleeting thought that it might be Duncan, but after this evening, that was highly doubtful.
“Hello?” she answered.
“Hey. Elodie.”
Her heart immediately stopped. Was this who she thought it was?
“Who is this?” she looked frantically around.
“Elodie, it’s me. Quentin Rice.”
What the.....?
There she stood in the middle of the study room, her cell phone to her ear, absolutely stunned. After what he put her through earlier this year, why was he randomly calling her? And why did he even still have her number in the first place?
But she needed to keep her cool. "Why are you calling me?”
“I have something I need to ask you. I know we... really haven’t talked a lot in the last few months.... I was wondering if you... if you would like to go to the prom with me.”
Elodie put her hand over her open mouth. There was both excitement and anger as she stood there realizing what was going on. After a few moments of silence, Quentin asked if she was still there.
Keep your cool. “Why are you asking me?”
"Because I still have some feelings for you. I was such a jerk to you, leading you on when I was going out with Veronica. I shouldn’t have done that to you. And I want to make it up to you.”
“You realize the crap you put me through a few months ago, right? Or have you completely forgotten? Because you see, I don’t forget very easily. And what you did really hurt me!” She hissed angrily into the phone, feeling pent-up rage finally coming out. “You have any idea what it was like for me to see you with another girl on your arm? And how much I wanted that to be me? And you LIED. You LIED to me!” Her face flushed in anger, sweat pouring down her face.
“Elodie, I’m sorry about the way I treated you. I really am. It’s just....I would be so happy to take you to the prom," Quentin said with a slight quiver. Elodie had never heard someone so nervous. "I was an ass, and I admit it. I shouldn't have treated you the way I did. And I can't explain it.... I really like you, I really do, ever since we first met, and you're... My god you're so beautiful and....."
Elodie heaved a sigh and stared off into the distance. The one person she would have wanted to share such an occasion with wasn’t talking to her and probably wouldn’t ever again. And it was expected of her to attend the prom, especially with someone as attractive as Quentin.
“Fine... I’ll go with you.”
She could hear the elation in Quentin's voice, even though he was trying hard to not sound ecstatic. "Th-that's great! Beautiful, yes! I'll come get you at 5:30?" There was such an urgency to his words that irritated Elodie, but she had to play along.
"5:30 works for me," Elodie replied.
With that, she ended the call and set the phone down on the desk. Her mother who had been typing away as usual had overheard the conversation and turned to face her. “Was that who I think it was?”
“If you’re thinking Quentin, then yes.”
“Why? Why are you choosing to go back to the very person that hurt you? Why do you do this to yourself, Elodie? I have never seen you cry as much as you did when you came through that door this evening. You’ve brought a lot of boys through this house, but I’ve never seen you as hurt over any of them as you were about Duncan. And all Quentin did was string you along. He’s not good for you....”
“Because it is expected of me, Mom! I’m the popular girl. I have to go to the prom! All of my other friends are! And Quentin is popular too so if he asks me, I have to go. Do I wish I could be going with Duncan instead? Yes, more than you know. But he’s not coming back.”
“Can you really blame him? Look at what you had to do to become popular. I don’t even want to be around you sometimes.”
“Please just leave me alone.”
With that, Elodie stomped out of the room and ran to the bathroom, where the bathroom fan masked the sounds of her sobs.
Chapter Fourteen
The next morning was just like any other in the DeGarmo house. Francis had already been at work for a few hours so he was not home for the day, while Shannon was slowly getting up to work on her new novel, puttering around in the bathroom as the girls ate their breakfast. In her usual way, Heloise slowly ate her cereal and went over in her head all the homework she’d done to make sure she’d completed all her work ahead of time.
About ten minutes before her usual walk to school, Elodie came stumbling out of her bedroom, looking completely beat and her hair looking like a few rats had nested in her hair overnight. She may have been dressed for school, but her face, usually hidden behind layers of mascara and blush, was not even close to ready. Heloise had woken up several times during the night to the sound of her sister turning in her bunk bed and then loudly sighing as if she was trying to get her sister’s attention on the bottom bunk. It didn’t work. Instead, Heloise turned over and went back to sleep, not bothering herself with her sister’s problems.
Besides, she had other issues to deal with. Namely that it was a month away from the prom and she still didn’t have a dress to wear to the event. Kyle had already asked her what color her dress was so he would know what kind of corsage to give to her, and she didn’t have the faintest idea what to tell him.
Heloise just hadn’t been thinking about such things lately. These days, she was more concerned with her future, more specifically how she was going to go about taking classes in something that still interested her, but wasn’t truly her passion. Heloise was already set to attend Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond that fall to study physics, and she knew she couldn’t change her mind so late in the game to go someplace else.
She then had an idea. She quickly ate the rest of her cereal and went over to her bedroom to look at something on her computer. Heloise opened the web browser and pulled up the VCU website. What if they have a culinary degree? I could just switch my major and that would be that!
Unfortunately, there was no such program to be found. She combed through every part of their website and found nothing for a culinary arts program at VCU. Her heart sank into her stomach and the excited hope that she had was dashed. She leaned back against her chair and gazed into the distance, ruminating on what she had just discovered.
I’ll just stick with my original plan then. It’s too late to change. Besides, physics will be far more profitable than cooking, even if cooking is really what makes me happy. I can’t change. It’s too late.
Heloise’s thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the bedroom door. Shannon came in and told Heloise it was time to get ready for school.
“Sure, I’ll be right there,” was all she replied. With a heavy heart, Heloise finally got up from her chair and went over to her backpack. It’s too late to change. Just remember that.
Heloise set out that afternoon after school in one of the the family cars for the local Shady Valley Mall, a small regional mall located just outside of town with no more than 300,000 square feet of retail. Despite its smaller size, the mall was just large enough to have a good variety of stores for the region, complete with Belk and Dillard's as the anchor stores and a center court with the usual fast food options for hungry customers. It was the only large retail center for miles around and had started as an open-air shopping center before be
ing enclosed sometime in the 60s. Since then, it had consistent, brisk business. Whatever couldn't be found in town could be found at that mall.
Heloise supposed that she could have asked her mother to come shopping with her, since she didn't have any other girl friends and knew Noah would not have really been interested, but she decided to go it alone. Besides, her mother had a meeting with her publisher that afternoon in Richmond and wasn't even available. No matter. Heloise was used to doing things by herself.
She strolled through the mall crowds toward Dillard's, thinking over what kind of dress to look for. Heloise had only ever dressed up maybe once in her life: going to her little cousin Sophie's baptism when she was ten. And that was a long time ago. She had never been to a school dance before, having avoided them through much of her academic career. It wasn't because she disliked the idea of school dances, but more because she was always too busy studying or wanted to stay at home reading. Moreover, she never had anyone to go with.
As she walked into the formal dress section of Dillard's, she was struck by how many other young girls were there browsing through the racks of beautiful, glittering prom dresses. She even recognized a few of her classmates, though they didn't seem to take notice of her. Racks of long dresses, short dresses, halter dresses, and spaghetti strap dresses as far as the eye could see and Heloise had no idea where to start!
She started with a rack of floor-length dresses next to the wall, drawn in by the vibrant colors and large, puffed skirts. However, she was continually disappointed by what was available.
"Is there anything here that doesn't show off every inch of my cleavage?" she muttered as she flipped through dress after dress, looking for something a little more modest. Something with cap sleeves would be nice, or something with a slightly higher neckline where she wouldn't be risking showing off everything if she bent over.
"That one would be nice if it weren't for the bare back," she said to herself, holding up a sleeveless, thick-strapped robin's egg blue dress with a scooped neckline. The back straps stopped in the lower back, far too low for Heloise's liking.
Rack after rack led to disappointment. Finally, she saw it.
Hidden at the back of one of the racks was a one-shouldered ocean blue chiffon dress that had Heloise's name all over it. The only decorations on it were a sheer flounce going from the bottom of the bodice to the skirt and a decorative silver buckle at the shoulder. Simple and beautiful.
It was even the right size too.
She could hardly contain her excitement. She pulled the dress off the rack and folded it over her arms and continued looking through the dresses for others she might like. I'll look for at least two more dresses before I go hit the fitting rooms.
Fifteen minutes later, she had three dresses on her arms: a charmeuse light pink number with cap sleeves and skirt gathered at the side tied with a matching pink bow, and a soft purple ensemble with an empire waist, fitted bodice, and shirred overlay with straps that crossed high in the back, and the one-shouldered dress that was her first choice. She rushed to the dressing rooms as fast as she could, since she could see that there would be quite a wait ahead of her.
While she waited, she heard a piercing giggle from off to her left. Could that be Elodie? Heloise turned around to see where the noise was coming from, and sure enough, there was her twin sister approaching the dress department at the head of a large group of girls. Elodie and her friends were joking about something that Heloise could not hear and did not seem to notice Heloise standing in line for the fitting rooms. Heloise quickly turned back to face the backs of the girls standing in front of her, pretending to not notice her sister.
Finally it was Heloise's turn for the fitting rooms. She walked into the stall and placed her dresses on the hooks to her left. The first dress she tried on was the pink charmeuse. Unfortunately, it looked better on the hanger than it did on her body. Quite a shame since she really liked that one. As for the purple dress, it looked ok but felt way too tight in the bodice. That dress was the only one she found, so no doubt the other sizes just weren't available.
Better hope this one works. Heloise took the one-shouldered dress off the hanger and unzipped the side zipper and slipped it over her head. She reveled in the sleek fabric against her skin as she adjusted it over her chest. Throughout the fitting process, she had turned away from the mirror while putting on her dress and only turned around to look at herself in the mirror when the dress was completely on and zipped up. She pulled up the zipper, made sure the shoulder sat as it should, and turned around to face the mirror.
Seeing herself in such a simple but fancy dress made Heloise gasp. The dress was absolutely perfect, from the way it fit her like a glove to the way the dress showed off her shoulders. She'd never thought of herself as pretty or even beautiful, but looking at her reflection in the mirror made Heloise realize just how pretty she really was. No, beautiful.
Heloise reluctantly removed the dress and put it back on the hanger to buy. She inspected the price tag and was delighted to see that it was only $75 and on sale for half off. Papa had let her borrow his credit card for the trip and told her to buy whatever she wanted, but she didn't want to spend too much of someone else's money. After putting her street clothes back on, she took the blue dress and left the dressing room and headed toward the cashier. As she walked to the register, she heard her sister's voice from behind her calling out her name.
She froze and couldn't decide whether to keep walking or acknowledge her sister's existence. Heloise turned around and saw her sister standing in line with at least five dresses on her left arm, none of her friends in sight.
"Looks like we're both here for the same reasons."
"So it would seem."
Elodie peered over at the one-shouldered dress hanging over Heloise's arm. "That's a really pretty dress. Kyle will really like that one."
"Thanks. Why are you being so nice to me anyway?"
"People can change, you know."
Heloise scoffed. "You don't have to tell me that. Look what happened to you when you hit puberty."
"Are you finished? I'm just being friendly but I guess I can't even do that, can I?"
"Not with the history we have."
With that, Heloise turned on her heels and slipped away toward the registers without even bothering to see her sister's reaction.
Chapter Fifteen
In the twenty-four hours that followed Thursday, the day before the prom, to Friday, it was like the entire high school had been turned upside down. Even though they weren’t allowed to do it, it was a tradition at Shady Valley High School for most seniors to skip school that Friday so they could get ready for the prom that night: girls spending most of the day at the hair salon while guys shopped for last minute tuxedos and corsages for their dates.
As soon as school let out for the day, Elodie and her friends headed down to the hair salon to get their hair done. Quentin was coming to pick her up at the house at 5:30, so with school letting out at 2:15, there was more than enough time for her to get ready. After getting her hair done, Elodie planned on going back home to put on her makeup and dress before Quentin’s arrival.
While her friends giggled about their dates and plans for after the prom, Elodie sat in her hairdresser’s chair in silence, contemplating how this evening was going to go. This was the moment she’d been waiting four long years for. She’d dreamt about the day she would get to attend the prom. However, she was anything but happy.
What really brought her mood down was thinking about Duncan. It seemed these days that he was everywhere she’d look and his face never left her thoughts. She hadn’t seen him since their disastrous date, though she desperately wanted to call him and at least hear his voice. She wanted to show him that she could change, but he sounded so definite that night that she wasn’t sure he would even listen. She remembered him being very stubborn at times as a child, and she was sure that hadn’t changed much since then. Every afternoon for the last few weeks she
would purposely stop in the park on her way home from school in hopes that she would catch a glimpse of him walking Sprocket. But she never did and she would walk home with her head hung in disappointment.
He was the one she wanted to be with, not Quentin. Deep down, she knew that she really didn’t want to go to the prom with Quentin. He had never liked her for who she really was. And he didn’t treat her with the kindness that Duncan did. She couldn’t be as open with Quentin as she could be with Duncan, and more than ever, Elodie just wanted the freedom to be herself.
The afternoon passed in a blur. Elodie felt like she was on auto-pilot for most of it. The same gossip and jokes with her friends as they all sat together in the hairdresser’s chairs, the same conversations about fashion and friends, the same light giggles placed just so. By the time Elodie came back home to put on her dress and makeup, she was already exhausted and it wasn’t even four-thirty yet.
At least she had bought herself a beautiful dress. Elodie had placed it in the back of her closet when she bought it that day at Dillard’s and had been eager to wear it ever since. As she opened her closet, Elodie held out the dress and examined it. The dress was a stunning sheath and column draped neck sleeveless georgette floral dress with a creamy background that became more pink as it reached the skirt hem. It was a simply amazing print and style that Elodie just had to have, despite the over one hundred dollar price tag.
Even if I dislike going to the prom with Quentin, at least I get a nice dress out of it. She removed the dress from its zippered bag and put it on, watching herself in the mirror as she adjusted it over herself. With her curly updo, she was absolutely gorgeous.
As Elodie walked out of her bedroom toward the bathroom, she saw her sister coming through the door with her hair all done up too. Where Elodie had chosen a free-falling style with some strands of hair curled around her face, Heloise had her hair done in a simple side chignon style that framed her face well. Elodie was impressed with how beautiful her sister looked.
Elodie and Heloise Page 14