Two Years From Today

Eleven

I stood in front of my bathroom mirror as Kate twisted my hair into an updo only her hands could replicate. She went through more bobby pins than I ever had, and when she was done, she sprayed it with lots of hairspray.

I looked back at myself. I smiled a little, because I liked how I looked. I wore a yellow dress that expended to my knees, and Kate had laced false flowers in my braided undo. 

"Aren't you thrilled?" Kate gushed. "If I was going with Aaron Blue, I would be bouncing off the walls!"

I shrugged, being honest. "I guess."

Kate sighed. "Just  because Johnson isn't taking you does not mean you can't have fun, you know."

I turned to look at her. "I know, I just..." I sighed. "It's so hard."

Kate looked at her feet, silent.

I didn't say anything. I thought about telling her that I was talking to Connor again, but it seemed like a bad time.

"He misses you, you know," Kate said abruptly, making me look up.

"How do you know?" I questioned, probably sounding more interested than I had originally intended. I coughed to hide it.

"He seems pretty mopey every time I go over to Juliet's," She informed me, strolling over to my bed and flopping down onto it. "He keeps giving me withering looks all the time like, it's creeping me out."

My eyes lit up. "So he doesn't like Marina?"

Kate shook her head. "Well I don't know about that. Juliet says..." She hesitated, looking at me with warning eyes. "Well, she said they have been on a date every single weekend and day off we've had since you guys broke up."

My heart sank. I wanted to cry but I didn't want to mess up all the makeup Kate had done. I decided not to, and I didn't think I had enough tears left to do it anyway.

"I should probably be ready for Aaron," I said quickly. "He will be here any minute."

Kate pressed her lips together and nodded, standing. After a few minutes, our doorbell rang. I was still pretty sad, and I really didn't feel like going to the dance. I heard the door open, and my parents gush over Aaron. 

"Reagan!" My mom called. "Aaron is here!"

Just before I turned to walk down the stairs in front of the door, Kate kissed my cheek. 

"Please have fun," She whispered. "Don't think about him."

I nodded and walked down the stairs toward Aaron. There was no doubt, he was cute. His eyes were the lightest blue I had ever seen, and his black hair was combed so nicely. His tie matched my dress perfectly, and he had made me a corsage out of old newspapers. Every time he smiled at me, it was like a dream. 

Yet, the night seemed to drag on.

The group we were in were all of his friends. They were jocks and hipsters and jokers, with their pristine dates, with curled hair and white teeth and dainty laughs. I didn't fit in at all, and I knew it. No one else seemed to notice, as people laughed at my jokes.

Halfway, through my appetizer, I saw another group walk into the restaurant. I almost spit out my artichoke dip when I saw that too familiar sandy blonde hair. I sucked in a breath and tried to hide behind the ketchup holder. I watched as they were seated across the room, Johnson sitting with his back toward me. I sighed in relief and tried to pretend nothing had happened. I pretended to be interested in conversations about school and teachers, but I watched across the room as Johnson handed Marina a flower from the vase on their table, and how much she was laughing. She even reached across the table to hit his shoulder.