That Friday, after school, Kyla and I went shopping for our dresses. Yes, I caved in and decided to go with her for two reasons: one being that Seth was going to be there and I didn't want him to think that he left me as a mess and second, Carla was going to be there and I wanted to look better than her. As childish as I do sound, I knew that doing this was going to make me feel better and boost my ego.
"How about this?" Kyla asked as she walked out of the changing room in a strapless coral dress. It had a sheer net around the bottom half.
I scrunched my nose and shook my head. I said, "Doesn't suit you."
She groaned and retreated back into the changing room to try another dress on.
We had been in this shop for the past half an hour or so and I was already exhausted. How Kyla managed to spend hours and hours prancing from one shop to another I have no idea.
Have you guys found anything yet?
Tyler and I had been texting since Kyla and I stepped into this shop because I needed someone to keep me entertained.
No, according to Kyla 'it's only been half an hour'
Wow. Have fun, I guess.
I sighed and put my phone away. A few seconds later, Kyla stepped out in a grey and black dress that hugged her body in the right places. The top half was grey and it flowed down in black, the shape of the dress fitting her well. The grey had tiny sequins on it while the black was plain with a slit down the right side.
"That's the one," I said, standing up.
"Really?" she asked, turning around to examine herself in the mirror. She pressed the dress down with her palms and cocked her head. She moved to get a look at the back and nodded, impressed. "It does shape my butt well."
"Sure," I said, avoiding to make any more remarks.
She scrutinised it for a few more minutes before she turned to face me with a satisfied grin on her face. "I'm getting it."
"Hallelujah!" I sung out, picking up my bag.
"We still need to find a dress for you," she pointed out.
"I'm aware," I said with a shrug. "It shouldn't take too long."
"Okay, you look around while I change," she instructed before shutting the door to the changing room.
Even though I had already looked around, I decided to take another look. Once Kyla was out, she told me she's going to pay for her dress.
"Let's go to another stop," I said, following her to the cashier.
"Nothing nice here?" she asked, to which I shook my head.
Once she paid, we made our way out and to another boutique nearby. After two more shops, I finally found a shop where I actually like quite a few dresses. I put on a little fashion show for Kyla but she didn't seem to like any of the dresses.
Groaning, I pulled on a red two piece. The skirt had a velvety texture to it and it had a mermaid cut that made the bottom of the fan out nicely. The top was short with full sleeves, exposing my midriff. I liked it, a lot actually.
I stepped out of the changing room and Kyla's mouth slightly parted as she gushed over my dress.
"You look so pretty," she said, covering her mouth with her hands. "Seth is going to regret all his life decisions."
I laughed and turned around to look at myself again. "If that's the case then I definitely need to buy it."
My mom was more excited than Kyla and I combined. She rarely gets to see her child dress up for anything so this was her one rare moment to dress up. I felt a bitter feeling rise within me as I realised the last time mom got to dress me up was when I went on the date with Seth on Valentine's Day
Shutting my eyes tightly, I forced myself to push that memory away.
"These are lovely picks," she said, brushing her hands over our dresses laid out on my bed.
"Thanks, Mrs Nelson," Kyla said, sitting down on my bed.
"I'm glad you're not letting things pull you back," she commented, making Kyla scrunch his brows.
"What do you mean?" Kyla asked.
"Oh, you know," my mom said, flustered. "Under recent circumstances..."
I exhaled loudly, causing Kyla to look at me and that's when she seemed to understand what my mom meant.
"Oh! Yes, yes, of course," Kyla spoke up.
On the night of the Spring Fling, I went over to Kyla's place since I didn't want my mom fussing over our makeup and shoes and jewellery and the list goes on and on.
Kyla was hovering over me with a makeup brush whilst I sat on a low chair in front of her dressing table. She had multiple eye shadow palettes open on her dressing table along with blushes and lipsticks and lip-glosses and contour palettes.
"My personal aim right now," she began, "is to make sure you look at least a thousand times hotter than Carla does."
"I'm with you on that one," I said as she moved away to grab another brush.
For the next half an hour, I comfortably sat in Kyla's silk dressing gown whilst she worked on perfecting my eyeliner, adding mascara and fake lashes.
She moved her face a few inches away to examine her handiwork and nodded satisfactorily.
"Okay, we'll put the lipstick before leaving," she instructed. "I'm going to go change now. You should too."
"Okay, ma'am," I said with a salute as she walked to her wardrobe.
I stood up to look at myself in the mirror. I must admit, Kyla had done an incredible job with the make-up. She had done a brown smoky eye with eyeliner winged as perfect as Adele's. I stared at myself for a while, marvelling at how Kyla managed to make me look good.
"Are you changing in the bathroom?" I asked as Kyla pulled her dress out.
She nodded in response.
"Okay, then I'll change out here," I said and laid my dress out on the bed.
Once I was in my dress, I looked myself over in the mirror. I felt a smile come on my face as a boost of confidence surged through me. I reached from my shining, new black stilettos that Kyla and I went hunting for a day before.
Frankly speaking, at this point, I didn't even care about Seth. After all the effort Kyla and I put into finding this dress, the shoes, doing my makeup and hair, I just wanted to enjoy my night and not have to worry about making Seth jealous. Not have to worry about Seth at all.
I heard the bathroom door open and turned around to see Kyla stepping out, looking flawless as ever.
"You're looking gorgeous," she complimented.
"Thank you, so are you," I said, a genuine grin on my face.
After we put red lipsticks on, Kyla's mom insisted on taking a few photos of us and then, we were off. Kyla's dad dropped us off and as we neared the school, I felt myself getting more and more nervous.
"What's wrong?" Kyla asked, studying me calmly.
I shook my head. "Just nervous."
"Don't worry about him," she said in a low voice so that her dad couldn't hear her. "Just have a good time, okay? And about making him realise what a dumb mistake he made, even if you looked like shit, he would still regret what he did. I'm sure he already does."
I forced a small smile on my face. "Thanks."
"You girls be safe, alright?" Kyla's dad called out after us as we got out of the car.
"Yes, dad," Kyla answered.
The student council had done a rather impressive job on the decoration. There were pink and red balloons all across the ceiling with a huge bunting that said "Spring Fling!" The DJ hired was playing really good music too. The best thing, however, was that there was no fountain.
"There they are," Kyla exclaimed, pointing in the direction of Derrick and Kian.
Kyla sneaked up on Derrick and gave him a hug from behind. He turned around, surprised and pulled away to get a better look at her.
"You look beautiful," he gushed, looking her in the eyes with so much love.
Kian let out a low whistle as he looked me up and down. He said, "Kian approves."
I laughed and playfully hit Kian on the shoulder. I was about to say something to him when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see Tyler standing in front of me in a pair of trousers with a pale blue shirt and a black tie.
"Hey," I said and reached forward to give him a hug, taking him by surprise.
"You look hot," he whispered in my ear so that no one else could hear him, his hand sliding around my lower back.
I pulled back, a blush creeping up on my face. My eyes flickered to the floor and I turned around to look at Kian. A knowing smile was playing on his and Kyla's face.
To avoid all of them, I said, "I'm going to go get a drink. Do you guys want anything?"
"Could you get me a Coca-Cola?" Kian asked.
I nodded and walked away from them, without sparing Tyler another glance. My breathing was still quick as I approached the so-called bar. I stood in line, calming my nerves.
I'm well aware that Tyler likes me and he doesn't seem to mind 'just being friends' and I have grown used to his teasing and flirting but I don't know. There are times I feel...different. What he said a minute ago, however, made me really uncomfortable for some reason.
I shut my eyes and shook my head, pushing all these thoughts. I was just over-thinking things.
"Two Coca-Colas please," I said, reaching the front of the line.
The person behind the bar nodded briskly and started filling up two glasses with Coca-Colas.
"There you go," he said, placing the glasses on the marble between us.
"Thank you," I responded with a tight smile. Holding the glasses one in each hand, I turned around and halted in my steps.
Seth was standing in front of me. His mouth parted whilst his eyes locked on my face. They lowered down and were back up to meet my eyes in a split second.
"Ava, you..." he spoke up.
Swallowing hard, it took all the courage I had in me to walk away from him. I was not going to let him ruin my night. Not anymore.
A/N- Hello, happy Halloween guys! What did you guys dress up as this halloween?
Do you think Ava is being a bit too cold towards Seth or do you think her actions are justified? Idk, Seth was an ass but then again, he did try to apologise so many times. Let me know what you think.
I know, it's kind of a filler chapter but it's just to move things along. You can expect A LOT of drama in the next chapter! I promise you that.
Thanks for reading! Leave a vote and comment, add this book to your reading list and don't forget to share it with your friends and followers!
Love you guyss <3