Then I Met You

Chapter Forty

Three weeks seemed to fly and throughout those three weeks, Shane and I continued to talk even having a few secret Treehouse meetings. Just like he promised he would, he quit partying and drinking, I couldn't have been more proud of the progress he had made in such a short amount of time. Now prom was finally here and although I was excited about the dance and the weekend I would spend at Colin's family lake house I couldn't help but be a little upset.

I Dreamed of prom my whole life, every little girl does. I had my dress, a shimmery metallic blue A-Line gown. I loved that dress the fabric reminded me of a gentle waterfall, and finally, I had finished curling my hair in perfect pretty spirals with the front pieces braided back for an accent. I had done my makeup really simple with just a little blush concealer and mascara nothing too dramatic. I looked into the mirror I looked beautiful. I should be happy, but I wasn't I felt like something was missing but that was only because something was. Shane was going to the prom with Karlie not me even though I was the one that loved him and he was the one who loved me. I just had to remind myself that this was the last weekend we had to be apart after this was all over we could be together. Of course, it would still be far from ideal we would have to hide everything from my mother but at least we would be together. I couldn't wait for that moment but for now, I was being picked up for prom by Colin and Miranda my small suitcase trailing behind me. I opened the back door to Colin's truck and stacked my suitcase on top of Colin and Miranda's luggage. We were taking all our stuff with us because the moment prom was over we would head out to the lakehouse. I walked around to the other side of the truck opened the door then climbed in, Mer turned around in the front seat and got a good look at me.

"Elli you look absolutely beautiful." I smiled a bittersweet kind of smile.

"Thanks, Mer, you do too," I responded, sadness lacing my voice.

"Are you okay emotionally?" she asked me, I looked out the window.

"I'm okay, I just feel a little empty I guess, but don't worry about me. I'm gonna have fun tonight and I'm really pumped for the lake house."

"Oh we're all pumped for the lake house, Marissa bought us tons of shit, so we are definitely getting trashed tonight." Marissa was Miranda's 21-year-old sister, they were always really close to each other so it wasn't a surprise to me that she bought a bunch of alcohol for us.

"Sounds good to me," Colin spoke as he pulled into a parking spot pretty close to the gym where our prom was being held.

"I'm in too," I said as I unclicked my seatbelt.

"Really Elli, you don't normally intend to get trashed." We all got out of Colin's truck and started to head in towards the gym.

"Yeah Mer but it's senior year, so why the fuck not."

"Hey sounds good to me." Miranda laughed as we entered the gym. The decorations were beautiful, we had a starry night theme and with all the fairy lights hanging from the rafters our gym didn't look like a gym anymore. We took a moment to let our surroundings sink in then began looking for a table to put our belongings on. We found a nice spot on the outskirts of the dance floor and quickly put our stuff down so we could start talking to all of our friends, Colin found Blaine and began to talk to him and his friends. I, however, was completely removed from scanning the room for one person.

Until I saw him, he was with Karlie and waiting in line for the photo booth. Our eyes met and I automatically smiled, he did too. My heart instantly felt full as we stood there laughing and grinning at each other. I did a little twirl in my dress and Shanes smile faded. He stopped and mouthed to me "You look beautiful." And in sign language, I responded with a thank you. Then Miranda tapped my shoulder bringing me back into reality.