He stared at me with a blank expression.
My arm was interlocked with Reed's. I freed my arm from his and ran to Darren, picking up my dress about two inches from the ground so it wouldn't drag on the floor. He saw me, but didn't seem excited or anything. He was unfazed. "Darren!" I yelled without realizing I had just said his name aloud.
"You're here with him." He said bluntly.
"I know, I know. It's nothing, I swear. My friends thought we should go as friends so I wouldn't be without a date since I didn't know if you were even going to show."
"I guess it's my fault. I should've assured you that I would be here."
I scanned him with my eyes, suddenly noticing how well he was dressed. "You look amazing. That tux is so nice."
"Thanks. You look breathtaking." He said hiding a smile.
"Why did you leave? Where were you? You worried me so much."
"I already said I couldn't tell you. You found and read the whole note, right?"
"Yes."
"I knew you would." He smiled.
"It drove me crazy not knowing where you were and having no way of contact at all."
"I'm sorry." He simply said. A slow paced song began to play as couples got together and singles sighed in annoyance. "Want to dance? I'm not that good, but it's worth a shot."
"I would love to dance with you." I smiled.
He wrapped his hands around my waist and I placed my hands upon his shoulders. We swayed back and forth to the music and I tried looking into his eyes, but I was intimated.
"Why can't you just talk to me," I asked softly.
"I try, sometimes I can't." He confessed.
"You don't make any sense."
"I know. I make sense to me though."
"We're never going to be able to be together. Are we?"
"Probably not, but we have tonight." He twirled me around gracefully.
"Why does it have to be this way?"
"Sometimes things just are what they are." He simply stated.
"You really do look great tonight." I complimented him once again as I admired his appearance.
"As do you, although you always do."
"Thank you." I smiled. We danced without saying anything for the rest of the song. A fast-paced song began playing and we found a table to sit down at. "Where are you going after this?"
"Tomorrow or tonight?"
"Both."
"I'm going to head out again tonight. I have to take care of the rest of the mission."
"Mission?" I asked in surprise.
"The top-secret thing I left for."
"No, no. That doesn't seem safe at night and stuff. Why don't we just go back to the cabin tonight?" I asked nervously. This mission he speaks of could easily be in his head, but if I accused it all as fake, I'm afraid of how he would react.
"I can't. There's no time. I'm risking a lot just to be here." He said firmly.
"Darren, can you please tell me about your parents? Family? Anything, please. I'm worried about you."
"I told you once before, I can't talk about them." He looked away from me.
"You can trust me. Please."
"No! I can't! I can't trust anyone! I may trust you enough to look after my cabin but not about my past or mission. It's too dangerous."
"You can't be out there alone! Who have you been staying with? How have you been taking care of yourself?"
"You think I'm full of it, don't you? You're just like everyone else, but you have this idea that you're different. Well, guess what, Arabella? You aren't. You have no idea in hell what it's like to be different. You think you can fix me? I don't need fixing. I'm needed in something that's bigger than you can comprehend."
I began to feel tears forming, but I knew I didn't have waterproof mascara on. There was no way I'd let those tears fall. "I just care about you. How could you say that?" My voice came out shaky.
"Because you pushed me too far. Sorry, Arabella."
And just like that, he disappeared into the crowd. Fighting back the tears was becoming more and more difficult. My eyes roamed the room for a friend when I spotted Avery with the witch. Even though I couldn't stand her, I didn't want to wreck his night, so I searched for Reed. Once I found him near the punch table, I ran into his arms.
"Hey, whoa. What's wrong? I thought you ditched me for the creepy dude." He furrowed his eyebrows.
"He left. He told me I was just like everyone else and then walked away from me." I said now ignoring the fact that my make up was being ruined by my sadness.
"Oh God, I'm sorry. Want some punch? I spiked it." He winked.
I giggled. "Of course you did. No, I'm fine. Hey, I'm sorry for ditching you. I was just so worried about him since he vanished out of thin air for the past two weeks."
"No, don't be. I totally understand. Uh, do you wanna get out of here?" He asked.
"But it's only been an hour. I don't want to ruin your prom."
"Okay, how about we stay for another hour or two. If you still feel bad, we'll ditch this place."
"Thanks, Reed." I smiled and wiped my tears away.
We made our way to the dance floor and danced along with Daniela and Kade for awhile. It was kind of hard to enjoy myself, but I tried to focus more on my friends than what had happened. Darren was not my responsibility, and I couldn't let him wreck my night when he was the one who was being difficult. I asked like two simple questions out of worry and love. If that offended him so much, he's not who I thought he was.
When the cupid shuffle came on everyone fled to the center of the gym. Even the kids who acted like they were too cool to dance even joined in. After that song, more group dance songs like the cha cha slide were played. Avery briefly talked to me and complimented my dress. I began to feel tired of being here and asked Reed if we could leave. He suggested we go to his house, but I knew what would happen if we did, so I insisted he take me home the that he could come in and hang for a while.
The ride to my house was mostly silent with the radio softly playing. I looked out the window and became lost in my thoughts. I had gone against everything I stood for. Never let a guy blur your vision or waste your time. I wasted so much time on Darren that could've been used to better myself. I lied to my parents about spending the night at Daniela's! He's the reason I made out with Reed, the one guy I told myself I would never be even the slightest bit attracted to. Ever since he came into my life, nothing had made sense. It was time to let him go and forget. The only direction I can take from now on is the path that will lead me to success. California.
When we arrived at my house Reed walked around to my side to open my door for me. "Why thank you." I smiled.
"Be careful. Don't step on your dress." He chuckled as I had a hard time getting down from his car. It was one of those high set ones where you have to practically jump out and my heels were not cooperating. The second we walked into the house, I saw a white, bright flash. "Ah!"
"Smile, kids! I have to get a photo of the 'after prom'." My mom looked down at her watch. "Wait. It's only ten thirty! What are you guys doing here? Doesn't prom end at midnight?"
"Yes, but I just got really tired. Dancing in heels can do that to a girl." I lied. Well, it wasn't completely a lie. Heels are a pain, but I wasn't going to tell my mom the painful details about what went down between Darren and me.
"Is it alright if I stay and chill with Arabella for awhile?" Reed asked my mom nicely.
"Of course! Y'all have fun. It's still prom night after all!"
"Okay then..." I said out of shock that my mom was being so happy about the fact that Reed wanted to stay. I began walking towards the staircase when I felt myself being lifted.
"A princess should not have to walk up the stairs in heels after an exhausting night." He said in a dramatic voice.
"Aw, Reed." I laughed. I wrapped my arms around his neck to have a better grip. When we got to my room he dropped me and breathed heavily.
"You're heavy, girl!"
"Ugh, Reed! That's so rude!"
"Kidding, kidding." He laughed.
"That's not even funny." I crossed my arms.
"Yes, it is!"
"No."
I slumped down onto my bed and ripped the horrid heels from my feet letting out a sigh of relief that I was home.
"Out of all seriousness, I'm really sorry about what happened," Reed said putting a hand on my shoulder.
"It's okay. It's not important anymore. I need to focus on myself...which is going to be really difficult to do not knowing where the hell he's going or doing."
"That guy doesn't seem to make much sense..."
"He doesn't." I huffed. "It's the most frustrating thing ever."
"It'll get better. It always does."
"You think so?"
"I don't know. That's just what I hear people say to cheer someone up."
I punched him playfully on the shoulder. "You're no help at all." I laughed.
"I tried!"
"I just don't understand how he could say those things to me. It was like he was a different person."
"Well everyone has a dark side. His just came out tonight."
"I guess so."
"You're smart and stuff. You don't need some guy holding you back." Reed said.
"Wow, thanks," I said. It was actually a sweet compliment considering my parents constantly made me feel like I needed a man to be happy in the future.
"What do you wanna do now?" He asked.
"Let's just put on some music and lay down. That's all I want to do right now."
"Do you want alone time? I can go, it's no big deal."
"No, no. I want your company. You're not all that bad." I giggled.
"Thanks...I think." He laughed. We both laid down on my bed, but from a good distance. We weren't making contact in any way. I put my Spotify on shuffle and let the calm acoustic music play. I shut my eyes and felt at ease.
"I wouldn't have wanted to spend prom with anyone else," Reed said out of the blue.
"Sorry, it had to end like this," I said turning my head to make eye contact with him.
"No, I like this." He smiled, looking up at my ceiling.
At midnight he went home. Even though the night wasn't our perfect expectation of prom, we were both thankful to have each other.
That night I went to sleep with empty thoughts. Tonight was a lot to process.
I just wanted to get some sleep. The nice thing about sleep is you forget. All the negativity and noise goes away even for just a while and you're left in a blissful state of nothing.
Unless you have nightmares...
Then you're greatest fears come back to stab you in the back. Unfortunately, that's what ended up happening to me. Dreams of the nameless boy being stuck somewhere dangerous, and it would be all my fault. My fault that I let him get away. My fault that I gave up on him. My fault for not believing in love.
My fault.