The song that occurs later in this chapter is called Greatest Love Story by LANCO. One of my favorites.
Sydney...
What have I gotten myself into? All I did was agree to going on an innocent lunch picnic with Josh and then I'm harassed by that bitch.
Don't get me wrong, I was ticked that Josh slept with another girl, but because of my quiet personality, I didn't express my emotions. It didn't even matter to me after that though because he said it was disgusting.
When I found out that it was Logan though, my whole perspective changed. Logan is the beautiful, popular, bitchy girl that even though she's a horrible person, girls tends to get jealous of her. I was jealous of her.
That's when I got mad at Josh. The fact that it was her made it all that worse. I thought that he was different. I thought that he was able to see passed her physical appearance and understand how bad of a person she really is. I guess that's what I get for getting almost involved with popular football players.
I understand that Josh and I aren't in a relationship. We aren't even really friends. I feel like we're too different to become friends. I liked Josh, though. I wish he'd be that sweet, caring person to other people besides me.
Oh well. After storming away from him the other day, I most likely blew any chances with him. It's been three days and I haven't heard from him.
It's not like I've been waiting for him to text me or anything. Just in between helping my grandma plant flowers, taking walks with my grandpa, and going shopping with my mom, I've been glancing at my phone, checking if anything new comes up.
What really confused me was he texted me three days later. I don't know what to think about it. Do I want him to come? Should I forgive him that easily?
All I know is I can't figure out what to wear. Nothing seems right. I've been digging in my closet since three in the afternoon. What has become of me? I've never cared this much appearance before. What's different about tonight?
As soon as I give up on finding a cute outfit and just going in a t-shirt and shorts, I hear a knock on the door.
My grandma comes through, holding something behind her back. "Guess what I have." She says. She is silent, waiting for an answer.
I raise an eyebrow and she soon realizes, "Oh, I'm sorry, I've got to get used to that." She laughs nervously.
I give her a small smile. At least she's trying to be patient. It'll wear off though, just like it did with the kids back home. They got bored and left, knowing that there won't be any communication between us two.
She continues, "I found something in my closet. It was your mother's when she was a teenager like you. Since I heard you rummaging through your closet, I figured it would be the perfect time to give it to you." She holds out a pretty, pale pink dress. It's more of a simple short sundress, but it's utterly gorgeous. Instead of what a normal person would say, I respond with a small hug and a smile. My grandma looks pleased, and says, "You're welcome," as she walks out of the door, letting me try it on.
About an hour later, I walk down the stairs with my usual crazy wavy hair, loosely curled. I put on makeup and decided to wear brown sandals that strap at the ankles. I feel like a princess as I walk down the stairs. It felt like one of those moments where a father would shed a single tear as their daughter walks down the stairs in her prom dress. Too bad I never went to a school dance and I don't have a real father.
Instead, Dirk says, "The car's on, you guys are wasting my gas money." Yep, that's my life.
During the short drive to the clubhouse, I get very nervous, which is stupid because he probably won't even show up. When we get here, I see a bunch of older people. I only see a few teenagers here and they look miserable. Oh no, I've been dragged to one of those old people parties.
The first thing I think of after I have this realization is that Josh is going to think I'm a complete loser with nothing better to do on a Saturday night than go to my grandparents parties. He's never going to talk to me again. He's probably not even going to show up and laugh at me while him and his friends drink a beer and he makes out with Logan on the back of a tailgate. I can see it now: the mute kid with no social life. Great, I'm stuck here for the entire summer. I'm rambling in my brain. I always do it when I'm nervous. I was doing it so much that I didn't even notice the cute boy standing in front of me, jaw dropped. Do I really look that ugly?
Josh takes a step closer. "You look so beautiful." He says to me. My face reddens even through the makeup that covers my face. I can just feel it.
I push my hair behind my ear, unsure what to do. I'm nervous under the stare he's giving me. Suddenly, he clears his throat and says, "Do you want to go sit down?" I nod my head and follow him to an empty table. My family is no where in sight. Thank god.
As we're sitting, we watch the old couples dance. It's sweet. I also take the chance to look at Josh. He's wearing a red polo and his hair is a little messy, but in a really cute way, like he tried to style it that way. He turns towards me and catches me staring.
"Sydney, would you like to dance?" He asks.
I nod my head. It's the only thing I can do tonight I guess.
He grabs my hand and leads me to the dance floor. A country song is playing softly on the speakers. He pulls me close, almost as if we were hugging, but we're swaying to the music.
They said I was nothing but a troublemaker never up to no good
You were the perfect all American girl wouldn't touch me even if you could
But you was sneaking out your window everynight riding shotgun in my car
We go to the river and find us a spot and we probably went a little too far
Just a little too far
'Cause I was gonna be your forever
You were gonna be my wife
We didn't know any better
Didn't have a clue about life
But I was what you wanted you were what I needed
And we could meet in between
We were gonna be the greatest
love story this town had ever seen
It's such a sweet song. I've decided that it was my new favorite. The fact that my head is laying on his chest, I can hear his heartbeat, and his arms are around me make me want this moment to last forever. The dance floor is more of a grassy area where lights are strung over the space and in the trees. It makes the moment almost magical.
He leans close to my face and kisses me softly on the cheek. I shudder, not because I'm uncomfortable, but because this moment is so perfect. He moves his head near my ear and whispers, "You are so beautiful, Sydney."
At that, I smile. This boy is so sweet and caring and I'm falling for him. So fast, I can barely keep up with the moment.
I lift my head and look into his eyes. They are so sincere. I know that his words are true, but am I ready to hear them yet?
The song ends too quickly. Another song plays, this one, very upbeat. We walk off of the "dance floor" and he grabs my hand as we decide to get some dinner.
While we wait in line, an old lady turns to look at us. She glances at our hands and she taps her husband on the shoulder, "Look Ed, young love. Isn't that so sweet?"
Her husband grunts and fills his plate and I rip my hand away from Josh. "N-no," I say and smile at her. She gives me a knowing look and grabs her own food. She couldn't be more wrong.
I sit down and Josh tells me that he's going to grab some drinks. Hopefully they're non-alcoholic. It seems like that kind of party. I find the song that we just danced to on Spotify and he comes back with cups full of root beer.
While we eat, Josh tells me funny pick up lines that he's discovered over the years. Some of them make me laugh so much that I almost spit out my root beer.
After we're done, he takes me on a walk around the lake.
"So you were spray painting your school building," Josh continues for me.
"Y-yeah and I-I was a-scared of get-tting caught, so I-I w-went all the w-way up on the ladder a-and onto the r-roof and s-saw t-the school princip-pal m-making out with m-my brand n-new english t-teacher. A-and she w-was twenty y-y-years y-younger than him."
"Oh my gosh that's gold," Josh cracks up. I laugh along with him. When I told him that I've vandalized public property before, he didn't believe me, and then I showed him the picture I took as proof. That made him laugh even more.
"Wow Sydney Morgan, you are crazy." He says. I'm happy that I made him laugh. It's a sweet noise.
When we get back to the party, he leans in to kiss me. No way. I back up a little, trying to nicely give him the hint. I'm not ready to kiss him yet. He nods his head and takes my hand, "Goodnight, Sydney. I had an amazing time tonight." He kisses my hand for a second and walks down the hill.
When we get home, I don't go inside right away. I just look at the stars. They look so much brighter here than they ever did at home. It's nice and peaceful.
Suddenly, I feel a breath on my neck. A hand grabs my upper thigh. I turn around and see Dirk with bloodshot eyes and a wicked grin on his face that just spells out trouble. I feel the fear creep up on me as he raises his hand slightly higher. Finally, he pulls. He pulls at my dress so that it starts ripping. It's getting torn. I push away from him, but he keeps his dirty, malicious hands on my dress. The seem that connects the top to the skirt rips. He only stops when my mom calls me upstairs. He takes his hand away and moves away from me, laughing spitefully. I'm shaking. It's so hard for me to run up the stairs to get away from that sick man, but somehow, I do.
I get upstairs. My mom asks what's wrong, thinking that I'll write it down or something, but I just merely shake my head. That's what I've done the other times.
She looks down at the dress, but asks no questions. When I go upstairs, I cry on my bed.