Elodie and Heloise

by Cecilee Linke

  Both sisters locked eyes for a moment, at which point Elodie muttered something to her about how pretty she looked. In response, Heloise turned away and made a beeline for their bedroom without saying a word. Elodie tried not to think anything of it, and instead went for the bathroom to put on her makeup.

  Right on the dot at 5:30, the doorbell rang. Elodie had been finished with her preparations for at least fifteen minutes, her face glowing with freshly applied rouge, her eyes accentuated with the usual eyeliner, mascara and eyeshadow and her lips a rosy pink to match the floral patterns of her dress. She knew that she looked absolutely gorgeous, even if she felt anything but on the inside.

  “Just get through this evening,” was all she kept saying and thinking to herself.

  “Elodie, it’s Quentin!” Shannon called.

  Elodie stepped out of the bedroom and walked out into the house, her heart fluttering in nervousness and her high-heeled pink shoes clanking on the hardwood floor. There he stood in the front entryway, looking like something out of Saturday Night Fever with his dark hair slicked back and his white tuxedo. Even if she didn’t feel anything for him anymore, Elodie had to admit that he looked very handsome and cleaned up very well.

  “Wow,” was all he managed to say as he looked her up and down.

  “Oh you look so beautiful!” Shannon gushed. “Oh it feels like only yesterday I went to my prom. That was before I met your Papa, of course. Oh, wait a moment while I go get the camera.”

  As Shannon rushed into the study room to grab the camera, Elodie looked over at Quentin with his hands in his pockets. “You look amazing, Elodie. Really, you do.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Hey, um, I do have something for you.” He fumbled around in his pants pockets and drew out a small box with a single pink rose in it. “You told me you’d be wearing pink, so I got you this.” He held it out for Elodie to examine.

  “Thanks, it’s really pretty.”

  “Here I’ll put it on for you.”

  Just as Quentin pinned the flower on Elodie’s dress, her mother came out with the camera. Suddenly the doorbell rang again and Shannon set the camera down on the nearby dining room table. Meanwhile, Elodie and Quentin stood in awkward silence, Elodie unsure of what exactly to say. A million thoughts all came at once, some of them happy, but most of them not.

  It was Kyle at the door. He stepped into the house looking just as distinguished and handsome as Quentin, his hair glistening with hair gel and his black tuxedo neatly pressed. As he walked in, Heloise strode out of the bathroom, having only applied a little bit of makeup in her usual manner. Elodie never thought she had to use much makeup to look beautiful.

  Elodie watched her sister and Kyle embrace as he told her how lovely she looked and that he was lucky to be taking such a beauty to the prom. She laughed in a way that Elodie hadn’t heard from her sister before and they fell into each other’s arms with kisses and hugs. It was a sweet sight to see, a contrast to the awkwardness that Elodie felt standing next to her date.

  Shannon grabbed the camera and told them all to pose for pictures before they left. As she turned on the camera, Heloise asked, “Mom, would you mind just taking a picture of only Kyle and I? I don’t really want to do one with all four of us. If you don’t mind.”

  “If you’re sure. I’ll get you two first then.”

  At that moment, Francis came walking out of his bedroom. He went to stand next to his wife and gazed out at his girls. He looked very proud to see them all standing there looking so happy, and Elodie thought she saw a lump forming in his throat.

  Elodie stood off to the side with Quentin so that her mom could get her sister and Kyle’s pictures first. She wished nothing more than to have someone she could be so free with, like her sister was with Kyle. They both looked so happy standing there in the entryway as Shannon snapped serious and silly pictures of them together. Heloise had never had to pretend to be someone she wasn’t. Kyle loved her for who she really was.

  “All right, Elodie and Quentin. You’re up.”

  As Elodie and Quentin stood together, Heloise and Kyle went on their merry way, giggling together as they walked through the front door and down the steps.

  Shannon took a few pictures before handing over the camera to Francis. He gladly took the camera to take a few pictures himself. For a few of the pictures, he even asked them to say, “Fromage,” instead of “Cheese,” just to be a little silly.

  “Make sure you don’t come back too late. If you stroll in at dawn, I won’t be surprised, but don’t make it any later than that. Have fun and enjoy yourselves,” Shannon admonished her daughter as they walked toward the door after picture taking.

  “We will. Don’t worry, Mom.” She gave her parents both a hug and then turned back to Quentin.

  “Shall we go then?” Quentin held out his arm to Elodie, a nervous smile on his face.

  “Let’s go.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Heloise leaned back against the seat of the limo and rested her head on Kyle’s shoulders, content at being so close to him. Kyle had ordered a limo to take them to Machiavelli’s, the more upscale Italian restaurant in town, for dinner and then to the prom, which was going to be held at the local Holiday Inn.

  It had been a wonderful evening so far. She and Kyle chatted eagerly about their upcoming summer plans and anything else that came to mind, and he had been the perfect gentleman throughout. He’s open all the doors for her, pull out his chair for her at dinner, and held her hand whenever he could.

  The prom was just beginning as their limo pulled up to the hotel. Streams of well-dressed high schoolers poured into the hotel all dressed in their finest dresses and suits. The limo driver got out of the car and opened the door for everyone

  As Heloise stepped out of the car, making sure she wasn’t stepping on the bottom of her dress with her shoes, she saw a few people she knew from school. Her cousin Noah was walking inside with a few of his female friends when he caught her eye. Heloise grinned widely and waved at her dear friend, hoping he could see her from across the hundred feet that separated their limo waiting at the curb of the hotel, to the front entrance. Sure enough, Noah saw her and gave her a huge smile as he waved in kind. He made his way through the crowd and came walking swiftly toward his cousin.

  “Hey Noah it’s so great to see you!” Heloise gushed. She and Noah hadn’t seen each other much in the last few weeks since he was busy with the school basketball team, so she was especially excited to see him. He was still one of her best friends in the world, no matter how much time went by between them.

  “Thanks, you too,” he replied as enthusiastically. “Wow, you look... amazing! Who knew you could get all dressed up and go places?” He eyed her with a smirk that only came out when he was joking around with friends.

  Heloise let out a laugh and playfully punched Noah on the shoulder. “And I could say the same of you. Last time I saw you, you were all sweaty in your basketball uniform. So imagine this!” Heloise gave her cousin the once over, who was dressed in a black suit, matching shoes, with a red tie with his brown hair slicked back.

  “So who is this guy trying to hit on my girlfriend?” Kyle smirked from behind Heloise, raising his eyebrows a little bit. “Should I be worried about him at all? He is dressed pretty sharply.”

  “Oh goodness no!” Heloise exclaimed, surprised at her enthusiasm. “This is Noah, my cousin. You’ve heard me mention him before, haven’t you?”

  A look of recognition came over Kyle’s face. “Ohhhhh yes, I remember now. You’re the basketball player, right?”

  “That would be me. Nice to meet you. Heloise has told me a lot about you,” Noah replied, putting out his hand to shake. “Only good things though.”

  “And I’m Kyle. Kyle Cayce. Nice to meet you.”

  Heloise giggled to see Kyle blushing as he lightly shook Noah’s hand. “Of course, only good things. So who’s the lucky girl?” Heloise, Noah, and Kyle began walking toward the front
entrance of the hotel, following the crowd of other students.

  “Don’t you mean, lucky girls?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well a few of my other female friends didn’t have dates, so I decided to take them all to the prom then!” Noah responded, walking toward a group of four other girls who were waiting at the entrance for him. “I thought of coming dressed as a pimp, but decided against it.”

  Heloise immediately burst out laughing. “Only you, Noah. Only you.” With a joking wink, she added, “Have fun then.”

  Noah grinned as he walked toward his group of friends. Heloise saw him hold out his two arms for them to hold on to and she giggled again at the silly but happy expression on her cousin’s face. Kyle watched the whole scene too and couldn’t help but laugh along with her.

  Kyle glanced at Heloise and held out his arm for her to hold on to, just as Noah had done with his ladies. “Shall we go in, my lady?”

  “Why yes, my lord. Let us go in and partake of this event they call ‘prom,’” Heloise spoke in a mock British accent. She took his arm with a huge grin and they followed the crowd of other students into the hotel. For the first time in her life, Heloise felt like she really belonged.

  The music blared over the speakers as Kyle and Heloise walked into the hotel ballroom. It was really a sight to see all of her classmates dressed so well. Even some of Kyle’s usual gaming friends cleaned up well as they stood around with their respective dates. She was used to seeing them with funny and sarcastic graphic t-shirts, so she hardly even recognized them when she and Kyle came over to their table located in the back of the ballroom.

  Kyle pulled out his chair for Heloise to sit and she gladly took a seat. She liked being dressed up in heels and beautiful dress, but even in the comfortable heels she had purchased for this event, the straps of her shoes were starting to dig into her feet. She reached down to adjust the straps when she saw Elodie across the room.

  Elodie was seated at a table with some of her other friends and Quentin, with perhaps the most miserable look on her face that Heloise had ever seen. It seemed like the façade that Elodie had worked so hard to put up for so long in front of her friends and classmates was slowly crumbling and she couldn’t contain her emotions any longer.

  Kyle noticed that Heloise’s attention was focused elsewhere, so when he came back to the table with some clear cups of punch, he looked over in the general direction of where she was looking and saw the object of her attention. He glanced back and Heloise and raised his eyebrows as he handed Heloise a cup of punch.

  “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say your sister looks really sad.”

  “I’ve never seen her like that. Whatever it is, she’ll get over it I’m sure. I’ve long stopped worrying about her. Especially since she’s stopped worrying about me.”

  “You know, I don’t mean to bring up anything bad, but what exactly happened between you two? I just ask because you guys are so distant and I thought you’d told me you used to be really close.”

  Heloise sighed and peered down into her glass, as if she expected her drink would hold the answers. “We grew apart. That’s what people do. People change, and not necessarily for the better. She actually didn’t used to be like that at all. But as soon as Duncan, our childhood friend, moved away before fifth grade, she became different. She started getting in with the popular crowd and just.... never looked back. She told me she couldn’t stand being like me anymore, being a nerdy bookworm, those were her words, and she kept asking me why I wasn’t doing what everyone else was doing. ‘If you want any friends, you’ll have to change. I can’t be friends with you unless you change. Otherwise, I’m not allowed to associate with people like you.’ And the most hurtful of all, which was, ‘I’m ashamed to even call you my sister.’ I couldn’t stand being around her anymore. She became a completely different person, and not someone I wanted to even call my friend.”

  She wasn’t even aware of the tears that started coming down her face. When she felt an itch coming down her cheek, Heloise swiped her hand over her left cheek so that her makeup wouldn’t be too ruined, even if all she had put on was a little eyeshadow and light mascara.

  “Anyway, that’s what happened. And you know what? We’re not hear to talk about my sister, we’re here to have fun.” She sipped her punch and then thumped the cup on the table. “Kyle, will you dance with me?”

  “Sounds good to me!”

  Chapter Seventeen

  The first hour of the prom for Elodie was a dance of another kind. After the obligatory prom pictures, Elodie and Quentin found the table with all of Elodie’s friends, though none of their friends spent much time sitting. Several of Elodie’s other friends also joined the table, eager to talk about their after-prom plans and asking Elodie if she was going to join them. She told them she’d have to ask Quentin, not wanting to say she had no desire whatsoever to join in any after-prom festivities. She felt increasingly uncomfortable being there with her friends, and even more so with Quentin. He was being far too attentive to her when all she wanted was to be left alone. There were the small grins he would give her when she said something amusing. Then there was Quentin never keeping his soft eyes off of Elodie and giving her constant attention, whether it was keeping her plastic cup full of punch at all times or pulling out her chair every time she sat down. All of this attention was not lost on Elodie.

  “Is everything okay, Elodie? You seem a bit.... preoccupied.” He leaned a little more forward in his chair.

  Elodie turned to face him, nervously running her fingers up and down the sides of her plastic cup. “Quentin....” Her voice drifted off again. Finally she sat straight up and put her hands on her lap. “I’m going to be frank with you. You’re making me uncomfortable.”

  “Oh....” He looked away from Elodie, looking like a puppy dog that had just been kicked. “Well, I’m sorry Elodie. I truly am. It wasn’t my intention to make you feel uncomfortable at all. I was just trying to be an attentive date.” He shook his head and looked back at Elodie. “Is that what this is all about? Why you’ve been avoiding me?”

  “Yes. Yes it is all about that.” Elodie heard her voice getting a little bit louder. “I don’t want to be with you as anything more than a prom date, all right? I got over you a long time ago and I have no interest in doing anything else with you except come here to the prom, dance with you, and then leave. But you’re being.... overattentive to me, and you won’t stop looking at me!” She took a breath before continuing. “And I’ve had a lot on my plate these last few weeks, things you wouldn’t even understand, so I’m not really in the best mood right now.”

  “Quiet down, Elodie. You’re making a scene,” one of her friends said from across the table.

  “I don’t care! I’m tired of keeping it all in.” She buried her face in her hands, trying to stop the buzzing going on in her head. A moment later, she felt a hand on her back and she knew that it was Quentin’s. The strains of a soft pop ballad came over the speakers as the lights in the hotel ballroom dimmed. In a soft voice, he asked, “Elodie, would you like to dance? We can talk more then.”

  Elodie slowly lifted her head to look at Quentin, who appeared genuinely concerned. Instead of it touching her though, it only irritated her even more.

  “Yeah sure,” Elodie whispered. Anything to get away from this table and these people.

  Quentin stood up and held out his hand to Elodie. They then joined the rest of their classmates on the dance floor, who were swaying back and forth in time, or sometimes out of time, with the music playing on the speakers.

  Quentin and Elodie stood in front of each other as the strobe lights shone across their faces. He gently took her hand and placed his other hand on her waist, her eyes scanning the room for anything to look at that would take her away from where she was.

  Her eyes fell on her sister and Kyle slow dancing with the rest of the crowd. Heloise’s head rested on his shoulders as he held her close to him, one hand o
n her waist and the other holding her free hand. She was so peaceful in his arms, her eyes closed and a small smile forming on her lips. Elodie wanted to be that happy.

  Unfortunately, the one person she knew who could make her feel like that probably never wanted to speak to her again. Rightfully so, as her mother pointed out. Elodie would have given anything to be there with Duncan, laughing and dancing and being close to him, knowing him even deeper than she ever did when they were kids. Being herself. That’s all she really wanted.

  “May I have your attention please?” a familiar voice erupted over the speakers as a song came to a close. Gennifer Beers, the school council secretary, stood up on the stage at the front of the ballroom tapping at the microphone trying in vain to get everyone’s attention in the room. Only when the microphone gave a loud feedback sound did everyone turn around to her.

  With a sheepish look, she apologized to the crowd and cleared her throat. “It is my pleasure to announce our winners for this years’ Prom Court!” Thunderous applause from the attendees soon followed as Gennifer fumbled for the cards with the elected officials written on them.

  “As you know, we, the Student Council, have chosen the officials based on your recommendations, and I think you will all be delighted at who we have chosen!” Gennifer practically squealed into the microphone. She was known for her exuberance, one of the reasons she even got elected as the council secretary in the first place.

  Elodie looked around at her fellow students. She wasn’t sure if she would even be chosen, but it wouldn’t surprise her if she was. After all, she was one of the more popular and well-liked students at her school. The prom court selections were always so secret, so their selections always came as a surprise to those in attendance.