WAITING FOR HIM

Chapter 3

"Ok you HAVE to get that dress!! It's the one El", Lindsey gushed as I twirled around in front of the humongous mirror. The royal blue dress I was currently wearing came down to my knees, and was bunched at the waist. The skirt portion of the dress flowed down elegantly over my hips, and the lace sleeves complimented my arms. The neckline was also perfect, not too deep, but showed a decent amount of skin for a small necklace. I smiled and nodded.

"Yeah Lind. This is the one."

I changed out of the dress into my clothes and went up to the till to pay. As soon as Lindsey had heard of the bbq dinner at Jayden's, she had demanded that we go dress shopping. Although I had not been initially interested, she was stubborn as a mule and would not take no for an answer.

"Gotta show the boy what he's missing!" She had gleefully exclaimed. I had caved in, trying to convince myself that I needed some summer dresses anyways, however the thought of dressing up nice for Jay did the real convincing. If I were completely honest with myself, I had to admit that ever since my mom had introduced the news of the bbq dinner on Thursday night, it was all I could think about. Having a chance to see him again, and having the chance to really talking to him, made me extremely nervous but also highly anticipate the night.

"Kay I'm totally gonna do your makeup for tonight!" Lindsey looked over at me with a grin as we headed out of the dress store and walked towards my car. She was born with a natural talent for the ways of makeup, and insisted that I be dressed to perfection for the dinner. The thought of impressing Jay had already wedged itself in my stubborn mind that I instantly agreed.

"Ok Lind." I smiled as I unlocked my car and we got in. "My face will be your canvas." We both laughed at my lame metaphor as I started the engine.
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"Ok I'm gonna go to my house to get all of the makeup stuff I'll need, and be right over." Lind said as she got up from the couch, and instantly fell over.
"Ugh pins and needles!" She groaned.
I laughed as I got up to help her up. Lindsey and I had been on the couch having ice cream and chatting after we had returned home from shopping. She had insisted that tonight, I had to Jayden to talk.
"Ok I'm gonna go shower and get my hair done." I told her as I walked her to the door.
"Perfect! By the time your done I'll be here to do yo face!" I laughed as she tried to sound thug.
"What? It ain't workin?" She asked as I shook my head.
"Lind you couldn't pull off gangster even if you tried." I laughed as I ducked her swatting arm and closed then door behind her.
It was time to get ready.
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"Ok. Ready?" Lind asked as she set her brush down and looked at me. I was sitting faced away from the mirror so that the finished look would be a surprise.
I nodded eagerly and she held her breath as I swivelled around in my chair.
I stared at the girl in the mirror.
Ok, that can't be me.
My hair was pulled back from my face and into a high ponytail, accentuating my neck. Lind had applied a natural layer of foundation, and lightly dusted my cheeks with a blush that flattered my skin tone. My eyes were lined with black eyeliner and she had placed grey sparkly eyeshadow on my eye lids, which made my grey eyes look almost blue green. A lip gloss of pink colour had also been applied to my lips.
"Wow." I breathed, and stood up to admire my full appearance.
"Yeah. You bet 'wow'. That's what he's gonna be saying." Lind smiled proudly as she came up beside me in front of my full length mirror. "You look absolutely stunning El." She turned to me and hugged me tight.
I smiled at her brightly as we pulled away. "Thanks Lind. It's all because of you."
She shook her head. "Are you kidding? It's all worked off of YOUR natural good looks! All I did was add a couple touches." She winked at me. "Now, go wow that crowd!"
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"Honey! You look absolutely beautiful!" The gorgeous lady exclaimed and placed her arms around me for a tight hug.
"Thanks Mrs.Masters", I grinned. "I don't usually wear this much makeup--"
"Nonsense! You're a natural beauty love!" She winked at me as she started to lead me to the garden, where throngs of people were already seated around a bonfire, or just standing around and talking. My eyes immediate searched for the one and only, but he was nowhere to be found.
"Now we just need Jayden to see how beautiful you are."
"I hope he likes how I loo-" I froze mid sentence. "Wait, pardon me?"
Mrs.Masters laughed. "Honey, I've known you for so long that I can read you like a book." She gave me a knowing smile. "Now, go get him." She gave me a slight push out the door, and suddenly I was in the garden.
I looked around for familiar faces and was surprised to discover that a lot of our former classmates from high school has turned up. I got a few nods and smiles as I passed by some people
"Elena!" A voice called out to me from the far left and I immediately turned to it.
"Josh?!" I exclaimed as I was suddenly lifted up into the air and spun around.
Laughing, he set me back on the ground and I glanced up at him. Josh had been my classmate all throughout junior high school, but we had gone to difference high schools so I hadn't seen him in a while. He had grown to well over 6 feet, and his blonde hair that had always been kept cropped short had now grown to collar length. His green eyes sparkled at me.
"Wow El, you look great!" He dramatically looked me up and down and I laughed.
"So do you big guy!" I lightly punched his arm. "How long has it been! I missed making fun of you!" I joked.
"Now I'm the one who can call you shortie!" He joked in return. I glanced at our height gap and realized he was right. Back in junior high I had always been a head taller than him. Now he was about two heads taller than me.
"Why is everyone so fricking tall these days?" I pouted. "I used to think I was average, but I've soon become 'short' compared to everyone else. And you're not helping Josh." I stuck my tongue at him.
He laughed as he lightly ruffled my hair, just to prove my point. "It's ok, I'll bend down to your height whenever you feel inferior standing next to me." He smoothed the the collar of his shirt, and I rolled my eyes teasingly.
"Oh how kind of you noble sir, to consider the distress of this helpless damsel!" I dramatically sighed and bashed my lashes at him.
"It is only what any young man would do, my lady; your beauty would give him no other choice because it would trap even a blind man." He followed suit and bowed low.
We looked at each other and burst out laughing.
"Still got that goofy bone in ya El?" He asked, still laughing.
"I could never lose it." I smiled up at him, and realized how much I missed the guy.
"So one could technically still call her a kid."
My heart skipped a beat at the sound of his voice, that my mind completely looked over the context of his statement that a couple years go I would have jumped on to argue. Josh and I whirled around to find Jayden standing behind us, an amused expression on his face with his hands in his Jean pockets. He was wearing a casual black t shirt and his hair had been lightly styled back. He looked handsome, and by the current smirk on his face, he knew I knew that too.
Great.
"Jayden!" Josh was the first to break the silence and went up to him, giving him a big hug. "How's it been man? You look awesome." He clapped Jayden on the back and the other boy grinned back at him.
"It's been good dude! It's good to see you again." Jayden smiled, and for the first time since he had returned I glimpsed genuine happiness hiding beneath the surface.
Josh grinned back. "Same dude--" he suddenly stopped and compared their heights. "AND I think you're taller than me!" Josh turned back to me and pointed at Jay. "Looks like there's someone else who can make you feel even shorter El!"
I resisted the urge to throw my shoe at Josh and instead mustered a smile. My eyes hesitantly went to Jayden and it was then I noticed his gaze travelling from my face to to my dress. I held my breath as he finally raised his eyes and let them linger on mine.
"She looks great huh?" Josh spoke and it was then I realized he was still here. The heat from the intense stare of those hazel eyes had made me completely forget the other boy's presence.
"Yeah. She does." Jayden finally spoke, his gaze unwavering from me and I stared at him in shock.
Did he just compliment me?
"--for a kid." He added, once more a smirk slipping on his face.
--there we go.
I felt my heart drop, but quickly masked the hurt and rolled my eyes.
"Think of a new insult genius." I was done with his games. "This one's kinda getting old."
Jayden's smirk slipped off his face for once and he looked almost remorseful for a second before his face set an amused expression as we continued to stare at each other.
Josh awkwardly looked between the two of us and cleared his throat.
"I'm gonna..um get some punch." He threw a quick smile at me and clapped Jayden's back before leaving the two of us alone.
I turned back to find Jayden still staring at me. "Well?"
"Well what?
"Aren't you gonna say something?"
"No I'd much rather just stare at you. It's fun making you uncomfortable." He smirked.
Damn that stupid smirk, and his stupid face.
I huffed. "Yeah we'll keep staring and people are going to be mistake you for a creep. You know, staring at a kid like that." I levelled my gaze and was irked to find that he didn't even seem to be fazed. I finally knew what would make him stop smirking.
"Why did you suddenly stop talking to me?" I took a deep breath as I watched the smirk instantly slip from his face and his face hardened as he directed his gaze elsewhere. "We promised to keep in touch! And don't you dare give me crap about being busy because of school, it's nothing but a lame excuse." My voice softened. "I missed you Jay." I hated how my voice cracked near the end and Jayden finally looked up at me.
"People change." His voice seemed hardened, any trace of laughter or teasing gone. "The people I came to befriend there made me question how you and I even became friends. We are so different." He looked away.
I felt anger welling inside of me. "Please." I gritted my teeth. "Continue."
He glanced at me before looking off towards his house. "You're not yet mature. Two years may not seem like much to you, but it's enough to make a difference in terms of maturity. I'm done university now, and am in the process of finding a job. You're only halfway the through uni. I need to be friends with people who are at the same stage in life." At this point he stopped and looked back at me, and continued to stare.
I held my breath, knowing he wasn't finished.
"You're too young to even understand this.Our friendship was nice while it lasted, but in university I realized that you're always going to be a couple steps behind me. And I need people who are in line with me. People who challenge me, and make me strive to be a stronger person."
All through his speech I had held his gaze, and oddly enough where I had expected to feel hurt, I only found anger. And anger gave me strength.
"You're right." I glanced at the bonfire, and the flames seem to dance in tune to my bristling emotions. I returned my gaze back to him and found him staring back with an intensity that almost made me forget my words. Almost. "I don't understand. Anything really. Like half of that bull excuse you just made up. There is one thing that I do understand though."
I stepped closer to him and gazed directly into his eyes, my gaze unwavering and strong and calm, regardless of the turmoil inside.
"I thought our friendship meant more to the both of us that at least you'd be honest with me. That at least, it held some significance to you that concocting a cheap excuse would seem unimaginable." I tried to keep the tears at bay, but they stubbornly seeped through.
His gaze softened for a moment and he slightly raised his hand almost as if to reach out to me. But he caught himself short and changed his expression into an indifferent one.
I sighed. "But I realize now that I was wrong."
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