Prom Queen

Flawless (9)

"Social media was popping about Ivy and her party. Ethan too posted a picture of his new kitten, he called Grey. It was booming of good signs for a plausible relationship. I had never thought I'd see Ivy chasing the title of Prom Queen, for one thing she never seemed to bother about it. Ivy wasn't the kind of girl who was comfortable throwing herself out there. Out of the three of us, Ivy was the private one.

Which is why, I learnt, that Duke was drawn to her and hurt by her.

A month before Duke 'officially' ended it with Ivy. He found me studying in the library. I pretended I hadn't seen him, secretly wanting him to go away. My heart ached because, God, guilty as it was I wanted him too. He didn't go away, he took the empty chair next to me and sat beside me. He waited for me to scold him or chase him away but I was silent.

I heard him sigh, then he said, "Don't do this Adeline."

"Do what?"

"Avoiding me, pretending I don't exist," he whispered softly. "It was wrong of me to kiss you."

"It was."

"I'm sorry I did that."

"Okay," I wasn't sure where he was going with this.

He told me, "I'm sorry but I can't bear us like this."

It's wrong of me to play with fire, but I couldn't stop the compelling need for me to ask, "Why did you kiss me?"

Duke raised both his eyebrows. It's one of the little things I found adorable about him. He could never raise an eyebrow. "Do you really want to hear the answer?"

Heart racing wildly, I responded "Yes."

He laughed, "I'm infatuated with you."

"Ivy," I corrected.

"Was," He responded, meeting my gaze. I look back at my book, heart racing faster still thinking about his sharp grey eyes, "I am infatuated with you."

"Why?" I asked without thinking, a notoriously horrible habit I have.

His hand brushed my hand, fingers touching mine lightly, the secrecy excited me, briefly, before the guilt set in, "I loved Ivy because she was the new kid, the mysterious one. She wasn't like the rest, she kept to herself," a ghost of a smile lit his face, "I really liked her then, but getting into a relationship with someone who doesn't tell you what's really on her mind, why she's mad, in short, getting into a relationship with someone who's not willing to let you in. It's horrible. I had faith that one day, she'll let her walls down..."

He took a deep breath, I touched his arm, it's evident, and he was in pain.

"You know what torture is? Watching someone you love, open up and love someone else."

I let out a breath, "Ethan."

Duke looked at me, and I'm knocked over by the depth of his feelings and the torture in his eye. This time, when his hand brushed mine, I don't move away." - Adeline Stone.

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I GLANCED AT the dresses feeling completely disheartened. Today is the second day of dress shopping since I didn't find anything on Thursday. Prom was this coming Saturday, and I haven't gotten a dress yet.

Gabby was helping me go through the dresses and gowns, she pulled out a pink coloured one, reminding me of Adeline, Gabby and I's colour coding plans which didn't pull through for prom. "No Pink," I told her.