Dear Diary

Chapter 74

After what felt like a million pictures, my sister was finally satisfied and we quickly made our way out the house (after giving Dobey a short goodbye) and locked the door. My sister's husband, Ronan, had managed to organise a top-of-the-range Mercedes car to take us, but it was on the condition that he had to drive. 

So, Richard sat in the front with him while I took the backseat with Sarah. My parents, along with Richard's family, followed in their own cars and soon we arrived at Tyler's house.

Tyler wore a gunmetal strapless dress with a crisscross back. Our aunt had done her make-up and hair and although it looked okay ... you could see she didn't have much experience with the make-up side of things. Our hairdresser aunt was known for her overdone blue eye shadow, but although that was fine, the blush that she had applied to Tyler's upper cheekbones kind of made it look like she had just been in a fight. 

Of course, I couldn't voice any of my thoughts though.

After countless pictures and a few cheek cramps, we were finally on our way to the school. Tyler was going with a friend of Richard's from football and they were in a sporty-looking car. 

In the backseat of the car, now alone because Sarah stayed by Tyler's house along with all the parents, I was bored stiff listening to Richard and Ronan chatter like monkeys about the vehicles. I had wondered about Amy and what it might have been like if she had been able to join in the pictures, but I knew there was nothing I could do about it now.

We waited in a line-up of cars for close to an hour before we eventually reached the school. 

Now for a good ten minutes I had tried to calm Tyler down who was getting cold feet about having to walk in front of hundreds of people. The reason there was always a crowd was because everyone wanted to see the couples, dresses and cars. This night was all about glamour: one year a person even managed to come in a firetruck. But as the school neared and I heard the cheer of the crowd, I started telling myself my own advice about remaining calm.

There was eleventh graders acting as footmen when the car came to a stop and they opened the doors for Richard and I. All the girls screamed when they saw Richard step out of the car and he smiled at them as he linked arms with me and began to escort me down the aisle. 

The screams were deafening as we walked (and I know for a fact they were mostly for Richard) as we smiled at the crowd, although I mostly smiled to the ground because I felt so awkward. I was glad we linked arms though because I almost slipped on the tar and it would have been very embarrassing if that happened.

Within five minutes we entered the foyer to the hall and greeted Mr Robertson and his wife. Stella smiled widely at me, but I could see she was a little surprised when she saw Richard was my date. But it didn't deter her from, instead of giving me a handshake, pulling me into a tight hug which caught me a little off-guard. However, she didn't have time to chat as the next couple came up behind us.

"Do you know her?" Richard asked as we checked to see which table we were seated at.

"I've been to her cafe a few times," I explained, deciding to leave out the fact that Cole introduced us. 

We soon found our table and, even though I knew I would be sitting with my group, I was still relieved to see that there hadn't been a mess-up with the seating arrangements.

Richard nodded his head as he grabbed my hand and led me into the hall ... which no longer looked like one. White draping covered the walls and ceiling, and dim blue lights gave the illusion of being under water. I couldn't help but stare amazed at all the decorations; some kind of thing to look like jellyfish hung from the ceiling draping, fish bowls in the front with many multi-coloured fish and more. The council had really gone all out for us.

"Hey, there's Anne," Richard said and gestured into the standing crowd. 

I looked around and my eyes spotted my best friend in a midnight blue dress. I immediately rushed up to her and grabbed her shoulders to turn her and stare at her face. She had told me she was going to wear make-up tonight and I wanted to see for myself how it would look ... mainly because she's never worn make-up before in her life.

"Hey, Lizzy," she greeted and I smiled as I greeted her back. 

She had told me she'd gone for the natural look and she wasn't lying, she looked almost exactly as though she wasn't wearing make-up, but I could never have pictured it otherwise.

I greeted the rest of our friends who had arrived and I realised that Amy and Cole still needed to arrive. As the thought crossed my mind Anne looked behind me and gestured for me to turn around with her eyes. I frowned and did as she said and I felt my mouth go dry as my eyes met dark brown.

Cole.