by Morgan Utley
Her mother had another dress in her hand when she spun around, and her face fell when she noticed that Peyton was crying.
“Honey, what’s wrong?” She sat down next to Peyton and put a hand on her knee. “You don’t have to wear a dress if you really don’t want to.”
“Am I doing the right thing?” Peyton whispered.
“What do you mean?” her mom questioned.
“I mean,” Peyton’s voice became louder, “should I be going out with someone so soon? Won’t people think that I’m rushing? What if someone sees me?”
She shrugged her shoulders, “Who cares? You need to worry about yourself and what’s best for you. You deserve happiness just as much as everyone else. Enjoy your time with Noah and be in the moment. Don’t spend the whole time worrying about what other people think. It’s impossible to please everyone. Plus, who are you worried about seeing?”
“No one in particular. Just in general, people have their personal ideas of what grief is, and I’m just worried I might set someone off if they see me with another boy,” Peyton explained.
“Or they would be happy to see you get out of the house for a change,” she offered.
“Yea, maybe,” she thought out loud and stared at the heels that were crushing her toes together.
“So, what do you want to wear?” her mom prompted.
Peyton decided to go with dark skinny jeans and a yellow flutter sleeve blouse, but to make her mom a little happier about that option, she told her she would wear her booties. That way, she was wearing some type of heel to look dressy but not so tall of a heel that she couldn’t walk. Her mother had especially wanted her to wear a dress and strappy heels.
Her mom followed her like a little puppy dog around her room and into her bathroom, constantly asking questions and offering suggestions. Once Peyton started working on her hair and makeup, she let her mom take over and do it because she didn’t want to risk messing up and causing her mom to have a heart attack. With a lot of guidance from Peyton, her mom curled her hair into loose waves and pulled some of it up so that she didn’t have to worry about hair falling in her face. Then her mom started on her makeup, and even though it was a little darker than what Peyton preferred, she kept her mouth shut because it was going to be dark out, so she could get away with a little darker makeup.
When she was all done getting dressed, she looked at herself in the mirror and gasped. She hadn’t seen herself done up and all put together in a long time. Lately, she figured she cried so much that it was pointless to put on any makeup besides the occasional concealer for breakouts.
Her mom walked up behind her and hugged her shoulders. “You look so beautiful,” she breathed.
“You don’t think it’s too much?” she hesitantly asked about her new look.
“Not at all. You are going to blow him away. What time is it?” She patted her shoulder implying for her to find the time.
“It’s fifteen till,” she answered, looking at her phone. “Oh, look, he texted me a while ago. My bad,” she muttered.
“What did he say?” her mom asked, being her usual nosy self.
“He just wanted to make sure I was still planning on coming and wasn’t going to bail on him again,” she explained. “How was I supposed to know that blonde wasn’t his special someone?”
“I don’t know. Because he told you he wanted to be your special someone?” her mom retorted.
“Okay, okay, you were right. I get it,” Peyton waved her off and walked out of her room and downstairs.
“I just love hearing those words,” gloated her mom as she followed Peyton down the stairs.
“What are you guys going to do tonight?” asked Peyton.
“I think Chris and Gloria are going to come over, and we’re going to plan some things for the wedding. Don’t worry, they aren’t coming until after you're gone. I don’t need your brother saying something that’s going to embarrass all of us.”
“You talking about Chris?” her dad called out from his chair.
“Yep. Mom was just telling me that Chris was coming over, but he isn’t coming over until after I’m gone,” Peyton walked over and sat down on the couch closest to her dad. Her dad looked over at her and his eyes widened.
“Holy smokes, Peyton, is that you?” he marveled and looked her up and down.
“Very funny, Dad,” she mumbled and slumped into the couch.
“Honey, you look beautiful! I didn’t mean anything by it!” he complimented.
“Yes, so sit up straight. You're going to wrinkle your shirt and flatten your hair,” her mother pointed out.
Peyton did as her mother said and straightened out her shirt and fluffed her hair back out. “Better?” she sassed.
“Yes, thank you! Sarcastic punk,” her mom deflected.
“I heard that,” Peyton sang, and she and her dad snickered.
“Are you excited?” he asked.
“Yes and no,” Peyton admitted. “This whole last week I thought he was playing me and that turned out to be wrong, so I think I’m still trying to digest that. And I’m worried about the timing of everything and wondering if we're moving too fast. More specifically, me.”
“Well, after what you’ve been through, I don’t think there’s a specific timeline of when to start moving on. If you're happy and he’s happy, that’s all that matters,” he smiled and grabbed her hand. “You look absolutely beautiful. And I gotta say, I haven’t seen you smile this much in a long time. I’ve missed your smile.” Peyton noticed tears welling up in the corners of his eyes, and it caused Peyton to start tearing up as well.
“Oh, Daddy!” Peyton lunged forward and hugged her dad, trying to not let any tears fall from her eyes. She didn’t want to mess up her makeup and, more importantly, give her mom another reason to put a makeup brush near her face.
There was a knock at the door, and her mom rushed over to answer it. Before she opened it, she noticed her husband and Peyton hugging and getting emotional.
“You guys!” she whispered frantically and waved her hand around like a crazy person, “Stop it! Shake it off. Peyton, go quickly check your makeup in the bathroom. Walter, pull yourself together.” Peyton rounded the corner and checked her makeup quickly. Once she was done, she walked back into the living room and straightened out her clothes again.
The man did as he was told and grunted, “Yes, dear.”
Her mom rolled her eyes, “You two will be the death of me.” Then she swung the door open and greeted Noah. “Why hello, Noah! Nice to see you again! Come on in.”
“Thank you, Cheryl. How are you doing?” Noah asked. He was wearing khaki pants and a nice navy blue pullover sweater. He searched around the room for Peyton, and when he finally found her, he caught her eye and winked.
She blushed and looked over at her dad to see if he had noticed the affectionate gesture. By the look of it, he had noticed and teased her by making a funny face and winking at her. Peyton attempted to stifle a laugh but didn’t do a good job because then her mom gave her a look, and she tried to make a straight face. Her mom narrowed her eyes and turned back around to look at Noah to answer his question. Peyton spared another glance at her dad, and they both smiled at each other mischievously. Noah caught her eye when her mom wasn’t looking and shared a silent chuckle, shaking his head. She had been caught.
When they were done exchanging pleasantries, Peyton walked over to Noah to get ready to walk out the door.
“Alright, what time will you be home?” her father asked.
“Daddy,” Peyton warned.
“We’ll be home no later than nine. I have to get up early and study in the morning,” Noah explained.
“Good man, nice and early. Have fun, Sis.” Her dad kissed her on the forehead and sat back in his chair and grabbed the remote.
“And Dad’s assumed his position, which means we can go. Mom, I’ll see you later,” Peyton kissed her on the cheek and opened the front door.
“Have a good night, Chery
l,” Noah said and walked out the door, and Peyton followed behind.
Like a true gentleman, Noah opened the car door and waited for her to climb into the car.
“Well, aren’t you nice,” Peyton teased and walked over to the passenger side.
“I’d like to think I am. By the way, you look beautiful,” he crooned and shut the car door, walked over to his side, and got into the car.
“Thank you,” Peyton said bashfully. She was grateful it was getting dark to hide her red cheeks. Noah grabbed her hand and squeezed it as if he knew she was embarrassed.
“Hey,” Noah began, “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Yeah, I am too. So, where are we going?” she asked.
“Well, there’s a good restaurant here in town called Maxwell’s and it has an assortment of food. Burgers, pasta, seafood—all sorts of stuff. I wanted to go somewhere where we had a lot of options because I didn’t know what you would be in the mood for,” explained Noah.
“I think it sounds great. And very smart on your part,” she added.
It didn’t take long for them to drive to the restaurant. They parked the car, and Noah walked around to open the door for her again.
“Are you ready?” he teased as she hesitated to get out of the car. Her nerves were starting to get to her. She hadn’t been in public like this in a while, and she didn’t want to see anyone. He held out his hand and smiled, waiting patiently.
“Yeah,” she swallowed hard and took his hand. She couldn’t resist a smile like that, and somehow it gave her courage to step out.
“You okay?” He eyed her suspiciously.
“Yes,” she nodded, “let’s go!” She tried to sound enthusiastic, but she didn’t fool him because then he started laughing.
“Alright then, I’ll just let you tell me later. I’m hungry since I didn’t eat lunch,” he added. He looked at her with a twinkle in his eye, and it took Peyton a second to realize that he had skipped his lunch to come to see her.
“Noah, I would have made you something to take with you! I feel bad you came to see me and didn’t eat,” Peyton said as Noah kept hold of her hand and led her to the entrance of the restaurant.
“It’s all good,” he reassured and stopped at the front doors. “It was worth it,” he smiled his crooked smile, and she couldn’t help but smile back. He leaned in and gave her a quick kiss.
“Definitely,” she breathed and looked at him, realizing she was head over heels for this man.
“I’m glad you think so,” he concluded then opened the doors and led her to the front desk to request a table. The hostess took them straight back to a booth, and they sat across from each other.
The restaurant was big and open. It felt like a big lodge but had lanterns and candles all over the restaurant to help it feel romantic. The hostess let them know that their waitress would be with them soon and left them alone.
“This place is great. It feels romantic yet comfortable,” Peyton described.
“Yeah, it’s a nice little place,” Noah agreed and looked over the menu.
Peyton decided to do the same but was having trouble deciding between pasta or a burger.
“Are you guys ready?” said a familiar female voice above her.
Peyton looked up at the waitress and felt a chill run down her spine.
“Peyton?” said the female waitress in a shocked voice.
“Hi, Lucy,” Peyton stammered and could feel her cheeks start to flush because the look on Lucy’s face showed that she was not happy.
“How do you two know each other?” Noah asked, noticing that Peyton was very uncomfortable.
“This is Derek’s little sister, Lucy,” Peyton mumbled.
“Derek? Who’s…” Noah paused and his eyes widened ever so slightly, realizing he knew the answer to his question. “Oh, that Derek.” He sat back in his chair and said nothing else.
“Yep,” Peyton nodded her head.
“Yes, I’m Derek’s little sister,” huffed Lucy and put her hand on her hip. “I’m the sister-in-law Peyton hasn’t talked to in about a year and has ignored our family ever since the accident. You know, we’re still your family and could have needed you throughout this past year. The only thing we get from you is one phone call. One phone call! That’s it! We used to talk and hang out all the time, but the moment Derek was gone, you were too. I needed you, Peyton! I tried to call you and text you for the first few months. Did you get those? Apparently you’re getting some messages because you're out tonight with this guy!” She pointed to Noah, and he smiled sheepishly. “But I guess you're doing just fine because you’ve moved on and forgotten all about us! Glad you’ve been able to move on so quickly and completely abandon us! The worst part was that it didn’t just feel like Derek died, but you did too! And it didn’t need to be like that. But I’m over it. Enjoy your new guy.” She turned around and stalked off.
Peyton could feel that her face was on fire. She looked around the restaurant and everyone was staring at her. As calmly as she could while biting back tears, she stood up from the table and walked toward the front doors. Noah must have picked up on what she was doing because she heard him stand up from the booth and follow her.
She refused to turn around and look back until she was out of the restaurant and by his car.
“Peyton,” Noah called behind her. She stopped walking once she reached the car, but she wouldn’t turn around. “Peyton, are you okay?”
“Um,” Peyton sniffled, “I don’t know.” Her tears were starting to escape out of the corners of her eyes. She was really hoping her makeup wasn’t going to mess up too much.
Noah touched her shoulders and turned her around so that he revealed her tear-stained face and pouty lips. “Peyton, are you okay?” he repeated.
Peyton proceeded to collapse in his arms and cry all over his sweater. She didn’t know how long they stood there, but it must have been a while. She was so embarrassed. It was their first date, and she was already so nervous about seeing someone she knew, but then it had been Derek’s little sister. The sad part was that Peyton felt like everything she said was true. Lucy and she had been very close. They used to shop together, stay up late to watch movies, and talk about the boys Lucy was into. However, after the accident, Peyton couldn’t bring herself to talk to her in-laws. They were a constant reminder of Derek, and it hurt her too much. She had only called her in-laws once because Dr. Schoenborn had told her to, and she wanted to be done with that place.
“Peyton, do you want to get out of here?” he asked.
Peyton nodded her head, and Noah guided her toward the passenger seat.
Chapter 17
Noah drove away from the restaurant and kept sneaking glances at Peyton, who was staring out the window.
“Would you like to go somewhere else?” he offered to her.
Peyton shrugged her shoulders, “Not really. Especially after what just happened. But I know you're hungry, so we can do whatever you want to do. It doesn’t matter to me.”
“I’m okay, Peyton. I’m more concerned about you right now. Would you like me to take you home?” he asked quietly.
Peyton looked at Noah and nodded her head, “I’m really sorry. I’m just not hungry anymore. I just want to go home.”
Noah took her hand and gently squeezed it, “That’s okay, we can try and do this again another night.”
Peyton smiled in response because she didn’t want to tell him what she actually thought. At this point, she didn’t want to go out in public ever again.
Noah stopped the car in front of the fully lit house and turned off the engine. Peyton stepped out of the car, and Noah did the same.
“Do you want me to go in with you?” he asked, opening his arms in question.
“No, I think I’m just going to go in. I’m sorry about everything,” Peyton was looking down at the ground, trying not to make eye contact. All she wanted was for him to leave, so she could continue crying in her room.
“Can I do anythin
g for you? I feel bad leaving you like this,” he explained to her. Peyton looked up at him and noticed that when he was worried, his eyebrows furrowed. She felt herself smirk a little bit and shook her head.
“Don’t. You couldn’t have predicted this happening. I just need time to process this. I don’t mean to leave you hanging like this. I’m sure you have a lot of questions, but I just need to figure things out,” said Peyton.
“Okay, I hope you feel better. I’ll text you tomorrow,” Noah informed her. He took a step forward, kissed her on the forehead, and walked to his car.
Peyton felt bad. She could tell he was confused and wanted to help her, but she just wanted to be alone. She walked into the house and saw four sets of eyes turn to look at her.
“Peyton, what are you doing here?” her mother demanded and stood up from her chair.
“You’ve only been gone about an hour,” her dad stated and stood up behind his wife.
“Have you been crying?” her mother asked, walking toward her with a look of concern.
“Do I need to go teach this guy a lesson?” Chris stood up from his chair and pounded his fist into his hand.
Gloria rolled her eyes and tugged on Chris’s shirt, “Sientete, mi amor.”
Peyton looked between the four people and started feeling anxiety swell up in her. Her eyes became fuzzy, and she started seeing stars. Before she knew it, her dad was rushing toward her and everything went black.
Peyton woke up staring at the ceiling. She looked around and realized she was in her room, and her mom was sitting by her bed, asleep. She sat up slowly and looked around to see if she could locate her phone but didn’t see it lying around. She assumed it was probably still in her purse, wherever that was. She sat up straighter and accidentally knocked down a book that had been sitting at the edge of her bed. The noise woke up her mom, who looked dazed and confused for a moment until she saw Peyton awake.
“Peyton, you're awake! How do you feel?” she asked, rubbing her face.
“I’m okay. How long have I been out?” Peyton wondered.
“Well,” her mom paused to pull out her phone, “you’ve been out all night. After you passed out, your dad carried you upstairs. You woke up for a minute, but you were very groggy and fell back asleep. You were completely out of it.”