Leap Year (✔)

October 12

~140 Days till Leap Day~

Usually a small fight would blow over after everyone got some sleep, but Tessa and Pablo were still fuming Saturday night.

Tessa was now refusing to be in the same homecoming group as him and had switched at the last minute. That meant Beojun had no date. Luckily this was no issue for Beojun, who had returned his suit rental and opted to stay in for a night of video games.

The only person this new arrangement seemed to be bothering was Rosie. Now that Tessa and Beojun weren't going as a "couple," Brie and Rosie were the only pair of friends in their group going together.

Rosie frowned as she looked herself over in Hailey's mirror. Her dress was this loose-fitting navy blob she'd scavenged from Nordstrom Rack. Hailey had attempted to pin up Rosie's hair, but it was so stiff from over-dying that it had taken on a blob-like shape as well.

Hailey and Brie, on the other hand, looked fit to be princesses. Hailey was in this tight, silvery dress that she'd covered with a cardigan to get past her parents. Brie looked beautiful as always, in a lavender dress that puffed out at the bottom. She'd left her hair curled, with a braid running down the side that flowed down her open back. Rosie had to limit herself to only three glances in Brie's direction.

"Okay, my friend, Zach, should be here in any minute," Hailey said as she rummaged around one of her twenty makeup bags for her mascara. They had chosen Hailey's room as the meeting spot specifically for her five-foot tall light-up makeup mirror and her endless supply of lipstick and eyeshadow.

"Ah, yes, friend." Brie and Rosie shared a chuckle. Usually boys got bored when they realized Hailey didn't like to fool around, so Rosie was impressed that Zach was hanging on this long.

"Oh, Brie!" Pablo's voice rang through Hailey's bedroom. "Can I ride with you and Rosie to the dance? Pretty please?"

"Of course, Pablo."

"Don't you worry about a thing. I'll keep y'all plenty entertained. Me and uh..." Pablo trailed off. "What's his name again?"

Hailey widened her eye to apply a third layer of mascara. "You mean your date? Xavier! You've got to remember this, Pablo. And please don't do anything weird."  Xavier was Zach's brother and Hailey was terrified Pablo would do something crazy and mess things up with Zach.  

"When have I ever done anything weird?" Pablo asked straight-faced, as he stood in the middle of Hailey's bedroom in a hot pink suit with cat-wing eyeliner and gelled hair.

"I think Hailey means she doesn't want you and Xavier to affect her relationship with Zach," Brie added.

The doorbell ringing interrupted their conversation. Hailey leapt up from her makeup mirror. "Oh! They're here!" Everyone grabbed their various purses and phones to meet outside for pictures. "Oh, Rosie, by the way," Hailey said as they headed downstairs, "Can you ride with me and Zach to the dance? I don't want it to be just the two of us."

"Don't you work alone together at Dunkin all the time?"

"This is different," Hailey said. "It's a dance."

Rosie shrugged. "Whatever, fine." She had been planning to ride in Brie's car with Pablo and Xavier. Up front with Brie... they would have controlled the radio... eavesdropped on whatever crazy thing Pablo was bound to say to Xavier... laughed together.

Rosie tried to meet Brie's eye, but she was looking away.

➣

As Zach parked his car outside the school gym, Rosie could feel the bass echoing from the building. And they were still inside Zach's car.