Love Happens

24. "Who the hell let you wear this dress?"

"Gabby, are you sure this dress looks good on me?"

It was probably the fifteenth time I had asked her this, as we stood in front of the mirror staring at ourselves.

The girl who stared back at me wasn't me. She was wearing a black dress that came above her knees, aka above her comfort level. Don't get me wrong, the dress was gorgeous- it was glittery black and soft and hugged my body perfectly. I was skinny, so it was slighly loose on me. My normally messy or combed back blonde hair was now made into a complicated fishtail braid/french braid that took Gabby like 25 minutes to make. Plus, I had six inch black stilettos on, that made me look so much taller and much older.

And of course, signature red lips. I looked twenty three, twenty four, like some kind of model. That sounds like a good thing, right? Right. I looked good and felt good too. But I was nervous.

"Angela," Gabby said, rolling her eyes at me. "Cage is gonna have a heart attack when he sees you."

"I still don't know, Gabs..."

"I'm telling you, Kit," Gabby held me by my arms, looking right in my eyes. "You look beautiful and you are beautiful. Cage knows that, but he's just being dumb. You're amazing, and I love you."

I grinned cheekily. "Are you planning on kissing me Gab, cause you know I'm not interested in you in that way..."

"Idiot," Gabby laughed, letting go. "You're like the worst person on this planet."

"I love you too, Coleman," I took her arm in mine, eyeing how gorgeous she looked in her navy blue floral dress. Her dark hair was curled and falling to her waist.

"Let's go," Gabby giggled, handing me my purse (which consisted of some money, my phone, and a whole pack of breath mints cause those are addicting). I looked at my reflection one more time and smiled, and suddenly felt a boost of confidence surge through me. I felt good.

We made it to the lobby, and walked past the swimming pool and into the beach where more than a hundred teenagers all dressed up were standing. The beach was decorated with fairy lights that twinkled like anything, and music was pumping through. Chairs were set up and even tables of food and drinks. Everything looked magical.

Everybody looked great too, and I felt someone grab my hand, swirling me around. Tanner stared at me. "Holy shit."

"Hey," I laughed, awkwardly. "You look great, Tanner."

"No, but Kirstin, you... you look... really hot," he grinned, but looked around to see if anybody was listening. "Shit, man, Cage would kill me if he heard me say that."

I rolled my eyes, grinning. "Thank you."

"Ahem," Gabby glared at him playfully. "You didn't even notice me!"

I noticed the way Tanner's eyes lit up when he saw her but he tried to play it cool with a shrug.

"You look mehh," he smirked and she hit him across the head. "Idiot."

I smiled to myself at these two and turned away when I saw Aleisha. She looked good in a simple crop top with a skull on it and a skater skirt. She gave me a nod of approval. "You look nice, Kit."

"You look better, Aleisha," I responded with a smile. She smiled back shyly, obviously not used to receiving compliments.

People were dancing, talking and laughing all around, swaying to the music and since I loved to people watch, I leaned back and observed all of them.

And that was when I spotted her. She looked amazing like always, in a red satin gown, and her hair even more golden than usual. Irritation took grasp of me when I saw her. How could someone like her be such a horrible person?!