Becoming Beautiful (Wattys2014)

| Chapter 32 |

Beautiful cover to the side made by DarkMasquerade1813!

Chapter 32

It’s been a month. It’s been an entire month since I’ve talked to Noah and I think I’m going insane. I know, I know- you’re overreacting, Kenna. I wouldn’t be this upset if my feelings were going away, but they aren’t. It’s like they’ve made a home in my stomach and I feel so sick thinking about how long it’s going to take to get over Noah. And when I do get over him, will I even be able to be his friend? Was me breaking things off with him the end? It sure feels like it.

“Are you going, Kenna?” Marissa inquired.

I quickly looked up at Marissa, giving her an apologetic look. “Repeat that one more time, please.”

“Dana’s birthday party,” she explained. Oh yeah. They’ve been talking about this for the last three weeks. Dana’s seventeenth birthday, which falls on the 21st of March, is only seven days away. Despite the fact that her birthday falls on a Friday, she’s having the party on Saturday. I guess that’s the only day the event hall was free.

“Am I invited?” I asked stupidly.

Dana laughed loudly before nodding at me. “Of course you’re invited.”

“Is he invited?” I muttered quietly. That’s how we refer to Noah, now. He, him, and other masculine pronouns.

“I don’t think he’s going to come,” Marissa butted in with a shake of her head. “You already know that he doesn’t like parties.”

“Okay,” I nodded, feeling a sense of relief wash over me along with a flush of sadness.

“So you’ll come?” Dana asked with a large smile on her face.

“Yeah, I’ll go,” I returned the smile and the girls did a small cheer- even Chloe. I haven’t exactly been one to leave the house lately. I’ve driven the girls to and from parties, giving them the impression that I was going to stay but I’d drive off once they were all out of the car. I’d go back and pick them up, of course, but I wouldn’t stay at the party.

I couldn’t help but laugh as the girls continued to cheer happily. It wasn’t until a teacher overlooking lunch glared at us that they stopped.

<<>><<>>

“Are you coming out with us tonight?” Marissa asked me.

“What?” I responded.  

“Floyd and Elizabeth’s date,” Marissa explained. When she saw that I was staring at her in a lost state, she sighed and continued. “Floyd’s scared he’ll mess things up with Elizabeth if they go on a date alone so he’s invited us to come along. It’s to a carnival.”

“Are you bringing Eric?” I asked. I really don’t want to be a third- er, fifth wheel.

“No, it’s supposed to be the four of us- you, me, Floyd, and Elizabeth,” she responded. When she saw my unsure look, she poked me in the stomach with a cheesy smile on her face. “It’s for Floyd!”

I sighed and nodded. “Sure, I’ll go.”

“Great, I’ll pick you up at seven,” she told me. I stared at her before walking in the direction of my car. I saw Noah walking towards his car and I wanted to run up and hug him but I held myself back, knowing that it’d only make things more complicated.

The warm March air felt like a blanket wrapping me up as I approached my car. Thankfully, I left the window cracked open so it wouldn’t feel like death in an oven when I got into the car. As I unlocked the door, I saw something sitting on the seat. It was a white box with purple ribbons around it. I stared at it in confusion. This doesn’t belong to me. Is this my car? I looked around the rest of the car, recognizing the box of guitar picks in the back seat and the picture of Dakota hanging from the rearview mirror.