The Dating Department

17. I Kind Of Wanted...

Amber pulled Danny and I in and out of multiple stores, searching for something. What was it? I couldn’t tell you.

“Are we almost done?” I complained, my feet throbbing in the uncomfortable sandles I had opted to wear instead of my comfortable sneakers.

“No! We need this to be perfect!” Danny crowed, taking the lead and dragging my into another shop. “This is Amber’s summer dance we’re talking about!”

“That’s what all this is for?” I asked, relieved that we were shopping for a good reason.

Amber threw a huge summer party every year, and invited all the fun people. The nice, popular kids, the cool—but still geeky—nerds, and everyone in between were invited. They showed up at Amber’s house in a wide range of clothes depending on the selected theme for the year. This year’s theme was a ball.

We had gone from department store to department store searching for just the right dress. Amber had found a dress: a gorgeous purple halter dress with a poofy skirt that swept the floor.

We were still searching for dresses for Danny and I.

“Ooh!” Amber cooed, “How about this one?” She swept a green princess gown off of the rack and held it up to Danny.

More eager about trying on a dress than I had ever seen her before, Danny clutched the dress to herself and twirled, “I’ll go try it on.” She disappeared into the changing rooms, a bright grin stretched across her face.

“Your turn.” Amber turned to me, an appraising look on her face. “Hm…” She tapped her chin thoughtfully with her index finger as her eyes raked over me, taking in my coloring and body structure. “How about…this?” She tore a pink dress off the rack and held it up to me.

“Pink?” I gaped at her; she knew I didn’t like that color.

“But you’d look so pretty in this color!” She pouted, still holding up the dress.

“I don’t wear pink.”

“But Roy would love you in it.”

“I don’t care if—why are you bringing Roy into this?”

"Oh, no reason…” She trailed off and sent me a mischievous glance before disappearing behind another dress rack.

“Amber…” I groaned, trudging after her. "Why did you bring up Roy?"

"Riley, I may be blond, but I'm not stupid." She pulled a blue dress and passed it to me, "Hold this."

"And just what is that supposed to mean?" I demanded, taking the dress from her.

"It means to hold it, duh. Jeez, and I thought I was the blond one."

"You know what I meant, Amber." I pressed, wondering why the heck she had brought Roy into all of this. Did she know something that I didn't?

"I saw you two in your yard a few days back..." She murmured, walking over to the next rack.

"...And?"

"I saw the glass rose."

"Yeah, he gave me a rose, whoop-de-doo. What's that have to do with anything?"

"Roses mean romance, dur." Amber rolled her blue eyes at me and put another dress into my arms.

"No. Each rose means something different. Red roses mean romance. The rose he gave me was clear." I hefted the dresses in my arms, positioning them better.

"A rose is a rose, babe. It doesn't matter the color."

"Well, to me it does," I explained patiently, walking behind her into the dressing rooms. "Roy and I are just friends."

"Darn right!" Danny called from a few stalls over.

I walked into an empty changing room and locked the door behind me. "See? Danny gets it."

"Whatever. I saw what I saw." Amber grumbled. I could just imagine her crossing her arms across her chest grumpily.

"What did you see?" Danny asked, her voice sounded closer, like she had come out from her dressing stall.

"Roy gave Riley a rose."

"Eh, that's no biggy, he gives roses to everyone."

I don't know why, but it felt like a large rock had landed in the pit of my stomach as she said those words. I grimaced and started trying on dresses to distract myself from the odd, unsettling feeling that was growing within me.

"Well? Come out and show us a dress." Amber prompted, clearly letting the subject of Roy's rose go.

I stepped out of the stall slowly, so as not to step on the satiny, floor length skirt.

"I don't like it." Danny said at once, frowning at the dress.

"Why not?"

"It's ugly. It's got butterflies on it. And they're mauve." She paused for a moment. "Seriously, who puts mauve butterflies on an off white dress?"

Amber pursed her lips before nodding. "She's right. Next!"

I stepped back in and threw the next dress on.

"Hm... maybe..." Amber murmured.

"Are you kidding? It's perfect!" Danny clapped her hands together excitedly.

"But it's so simple!" Amber complained, throwing her hands to the air in an exasperated motion.

"Exactly! Simple and elegant!"

Amber had me try on several other dresses, but ultimately I decided on the simple, elegant black dress.

As soon as I was out of dresses, however, the sinking feeling in my stomach came back.

Why was I feeling this way? Did Roy really matter that much to me? Inside the stall, I pounded my forehead against the mirror. Why did this have to be so difficult?

On the one hand there was Aiden. Tall, dark, and handsome. He was sweet and I felt secure when I was around him. Protected. He was easy to be around. He was funny, cute, everything a girl could ever want in a guy.

Then there was Levi, the adorable surfer. Hadn't I felt sparks when we had kissed? He was my first kiss, and for that I felt some loyalty towards him. I for sure liked him. How could I not? He was polite, handsome, and a total sweetheart.

...where did Roy fit into all of this?

I only had two dates left to choose one of them.

And right now, I wasn't sure I wanted to choose any of them at all.

Right  now... I kind of wanted... Roy.

Dedicated to grrappleberry for being awesome. :P ^ ^