You've got it all
You've got charm, you're an alarm
That's why I cry
I know you're not mine
Maybe another time
I looked at you and said
Oh oh oh, don't hate me
Am I crazy?
~ another time | simon eng
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"So hot!" Kaylin comes rushing towards me with her coffee cup in hand and three shopping bags in her other hand. I almost laugh when she urges me to twirl around. Emily had forced me to wear a very revealing champagne coloured satin dress that stops just below my knees.
Emily only nods at Kaylin with a proud look on her face. "I chose it. See, this is why you should always shop with me." Her blonde curls seem to bounce as she walks away. It seems that Emily is a little too excited that graduation is only three days away.
I watch as she approaches Cory and kisses him on the cheek. I can never forget the face that Rylan had made when Emily dumped him. He had begged her the whole way through for another chance, but Emily already had her eyes on Cory the whole time. She still owes me a thank you for giving Cory her number.
Rylan ended up walking away, simultaneously throwing insults at Emily. It only shows how he never really cared for Emily. That same day we find out that he had been dating Emily only because he made a bet with his friends to fuck and then dump her just before the graduation ceremony. She beat him to it.
"Is there another dress like this but without the sleeves?"
"No way. I like sleeves. It's going to get cold."
Lies.
I'm only saying I want sleeves because of the scar on my shoulder. It isn't ugly or anything of that sort. I just don't want anyone noticing and then prying me for answers. It seems that for once, living in a cold place has its advantages.
"You're right," Kaylin says defeatedly as she eyes the dress I am wearing.
I am just about to go to the dressing room when I hear someone call out Kaylin's name. Both Kaylin and I turn to look at the person who had just entered the store. Michael Dibble? Michael freaking Dibble is approaching Kaylin right now.
"Mike." Kaylin grins.
Oh, they're on the nickname stage already? Since when?
"Who's this?" He points to me.
"Oh, this is my friend, Leah. Leah, this is Michael."
I give him a small wave and turn back to walk into the dressing room. "I know you," Michael abruptly says.
"You do?"
Mathew must've told him. I've made a grave mistake. The least I could do for him is to return the charm bracelet he had given me for my birthday. It feels wrong to wear something that comes from someone who hates you. But I'm not going to ask Michael to do it for me. I need to talk to Matthew about everything that happened. I don't want to graduate knowing he thinks of me as a monster.
"Aren't you dating my brother. He took you to that food festival in the city."
"Oh, Matt's just a friend."
He nods. I can tell he doesn't believe me, but I'm glad he lets it slide.
Kaylin beams and turns back to Michael. "Let's talk outside. And Leah, please for the love of god wear that to the graduation ceremony."
As they walk away one of the staff comes up to me, asking me whether I want to buy the dress. I tell him I'm not sure yet and enter the dressing cubicle to change into my clothes.
The same staff from before approaches me again as I am handing the dress back to the person in charge of the dressing rooms. "It looks great on you. I would definitely recommend."
And I definitely know you're only saying that because you want me to buy from your store.
"I'm going to look around first. Thanks."
As I walk away I can tell that he's still watching me. What is his deal? If he wanted tips, I would've been happy to give him some for complimenting me.
No doubt, the store sells beautiful dresses, but I want something simplistic. In the end, though, I buy the same dress that I had tried on before. Kaylin and Emily are going to be ecstatic once they know I actually bought it.
After Kaylin finally parts ways with Michael, she runs up to me, squealing the whole way through. Emily is too busy with Cory so I am stuck listening to Kaylin ramble the whole way to the salon by myself. Not that I am a bad friend, I just don't think I'm a good listener. Things distract me quite easily and I find it hard to keep my full attention on Kaylin's words.
"Are you even listening to me?" She asks as we enter the salon.
"Yeah," I defend as the smell of chemical fills my nose.
At the end of the day, we're exhausted as we enter Cory's car. He had been nice enough to drive us to the mall. Rylan would never in his right mind even bring Emily anywhere except his bedroom.
He drops me off first since my house is the closest to the mall, and I start to thank him but he waves it off, saying he loved hanging out with all three of us. This makes me jealous. Emily is extremely lucky to have found someone like him.
"Oh, your hair!" My mum is screaming as I set my shopping bags down on the kitchen counter. She immediately starts to touch my hair, admiring it. "What did you do to it?"
"I just got it cut. I was getting tired of my long hair."
"It feels so soft."
"They put some kind of hair mask on it when they washed it."
She continues to bounce my hair in her hand, grinning. "I can't believe you're graduating already. Oh, by the way, someone sent you a package. I don't know who it's from but the mailman said it was for you."
"Where is it?"
"I put it upstairs on your bed along with your phone. I thought you might want it back for graduation."
I kiss her cheek goodnight before grabbing my shopping bags and jogging up the stairs, excited to see who had sent me a package.
The box is wrapped in brown paper, almost the same as the wrapping they use to wrap the flowers in Mrs Oliver's flower shop.
There is nothing on it except my address and a random bunch of numbers and barcodes. I eagerly open it, curious as to who had sent it.
I throw the brown paper away and stare at the white box. I bring the box near my ear. You never know, it might be a ticking bomb. When I open it I reach down to pick up the card resting on top of the white tissue paper.
Wear it to the graduation ceremony. I've washed it already.
That is the only thing written on the plain card. Who could've sent it?
I put the card aside and start unfolding the tissue paper. I gasp when I see the neatly folded Bordeaux coloured velvet dress. It's soft to the touch. It must've cost a fortune.
I carefully pick it up and hold it in front of me for me to look at. The neckline is plunging, but it's only revealing enough to give it a modest look. Just below the plucking neckline is a tied ribbon that goes all the way around the dress, seeming to tie the robe-looking dress together. The sleeves are long, reaching down to just above the elbows. The bottom of the gown is also long, stopping below the calf. The front of the dress is split in the middle, though.
I take a shower first before trying it on. It looks so wonderful I'm starting to regret buying the satin dress from the mall. It fits me perfectly. The fabric glides against my skin like liquid gold. The plunging neckline leaves little to the imagination and the split at the front of the dress gives a generous amount of skin to be seen. I'm going to have to seriously shave my legs before wearing this dress.
I set the dress on my window sill before falling asleep, thankful to whoever had bought the dress for me. There is one person at the back of my mind, but I try not to dwell on it. Putting your hopes up too high can sometimes hurt you.
+
I only listen to my class sing as our teacher continues to give out our art class certificate. Everyone is laughing cheerfully, but there is a certain atmosphere of sadness that lingers in the air. This is what I'm going to leave behind. The friendship that will be lost, but never forgotten. Our pranks and silly jokes will linger in the halls and classes as bittersweet memories.
Hailey grins as she sits beside me. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'll miss this school," she says to me as our classmates continue to sing at the top of their lungs to the music playing on the speaker.
One of Hailey's friend joins in. "I won't."
Hailey slaps her on the arm and walks away, leaving me alone yet again. I'm glad she walked away. I want some time to myself to just soak in as much as I can before the graduation party tomorrow.
"Last day. Ready for college?" Joey mutters from beside me.
I nod. "I'm taking a four months break."
"Really? Four months? I'm taking like a year off."
Emily asks me to join her and a couple of other people at the Love Shack. I accept even though I'm not too hungry, not wanting to be alone and sitting at home while all these people celebrate the last day of school.
The day goes by quickly and before I know it I'm stepping back into my house, still in my uniform and the sky already dark. My mother proudly smiles at me as I set my bag down on the couch. She hugs me, tears streaming down her face, mumbling something about how I grow up so fast.
Dinner with my family is filled with a lot of congratulations and questions about what I'm going to miss most about school now that it's over.
After dinner I go back up to my room, ready to go to bed. I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon.
Unknown number: Party for seniors at 18 Eddie Street. Starts at 7. Plenty of alcohol and music. Seniors only.
Why would someone throw a party the night before the graduation ceremony? Students are going to come to the graduation ceremony tomorrow morning with a massive hangover.
I receive a call from Emily soon after. "You're coming to Jacob's party?"
"Yeah, I'll be there."
"And I'll be waiting."
I glance at my closet. I could wear the satin dress I bought at the mall. The cold isn't going to be a problem. Once I'm dancing around I'll be warm in no time. Bad idea. I am going to stay safe and stick with a simple white t-shirt and a pair of jeans.
I pick up my phone, only to realise that Matt and I aren't even on talking terms. I hope he comes tonight so I can finally apologise and return the charm. It took me this long to actually have the courage to apologise to him face to face. The first time I did apologise was via text, and he didn't even end up reading it.
I text Kaylin, asking her if she could pick me up. She tells me she's going to get dropped off by Michael because her brother, Viktor, isn't home. I text Cain next, but he tells me he's not coming because he's feeling a little sick.
If Eric hadn't broken up my friendship with Matt, I am sure he would already be calling me by now, asking me if I had a ride. I have one last person to call, but I am not going to do it, simply because I've come so far with avoiding him and to let it all crumble because of a simple reason of not having a ride to a party would probably leave me feeling horrible at the end of the night.
My phone starts to ring. It must be Emily asking me whether I am on the way. I groan. I know she's going to the party with Cory. "Yeah?" I ask.
"Do you have a ride? I am passing by your house right now if you don't."
"Could you pick me up? Sorry to ruin your little car date with Cory."
"Oh, Cory's not here. He's going to be back here later this week to take me to his place. It's been so long since I've gone to the beach."
"Oh, you're so lucky."
"Okay, you stay in your room. I am coming up to make sure you're not wearing your granny panties or anything."
Footsteps rapidly ascend the stairs outside. The door to my room is flung open forcefully by Emily who comes in wearing matching grey halter crop top and a tight-fitting skirt that seems to hug her every crevice and curve like it was custom-made just for her.
Her eyes widen when she takes a look at my outfit that I now just realise is extremely boring compared to hers. "Oh, god, this is the reason why I came up here. I knew you were going to look like a hobo."
She marches towards my shopping bag, going through the clothes I bought at the mall yesterday. When she finally pulls out the two items of clothing I immediately shake my head. She throws the black lace bra at me, demanding me to put it on.
I do what she says. If we bicker about this, it's going to last all night and I am not missing on loud music and drinks for a stupid argument. After I swap my white bra with the black lace bra I turn back to her, raising my eyebrows questioningly.
"What's that scar on your shoulder? Put this on." I catch the sheer floral embroidered crop top she tosses me.
"Grazed it a few months ago," I lie. "I haven't even washed these clothes," I say quickly to change the subject.
"No time to argue, chop chop."
I reluctantly put it on anyway. She smiles when I do and then drags me downstairs to say goodbye to my parents who are sitting on the couch watching a movie on the TV. They both warn me not to stay out too late.
I make sure my hair is covering the scar on my shoulder as I walk to the car parked in the driveway. My stomach seems to drop the more I look at it. If only Emily knew what had happened in that car. Well, on the car as well. I bite back a smile.
"Okay, you sit at the front," she says, pushing me hastily.
"Fuck, stop pushing me around," I laugh.
My laugh dies down as I enter the car, sitting in the front seat. I only utter a small 'hey' to Hunter without looking at him. Today is the only exception I am going to make. Saying hello to him isn't going to hurt. Tomorrow I am going to go back to ignoring him.
"Oh, fuck! I forgot my phone in your room. I'll be back."
I almost tell Emily that I can go and grab it but she's already out of the car and running into my house.
Almost instantly, Hunter speaks, not wanting to waste any time. "You're ignoring me."
I shrug, playing with my fingers to seem busy.
"Leah, look at me."
My first mistake for the night? I do as he says and turn my head, looking at him right in the eyes. As cheesy as it sounds, it almost feels like the world pauses. It has been too long since I've looked into his eyes. They seem greener than ever.
He reaches out, pushing my hair away from my shoulder, revealing the white scar on my shoulder. I shiver as his fingers gently trace it. "Don't blame yourself."
He chuckles. My whole body seems to come alive at the sound. "You tell me not to blame myself but you ignore me the whole time."
"I don't hate you if that's what you're asking."
"Then why have you been ignoring me?"
"Because I'm tired. Every time we get closer something just keeps standing in the way."
"You're not even putting in any effort to make it work. What's going to stand in the way now?"
I blink away my tears, ignoring the fact that he is watching me. To some extent, he's right. I desperately want to make this work but my feelings for him just hasn't been quite the same since the day he killed Eric. I won't deny it, though, I still care about him deeply. I guess I'm just scared that something else will try to stop us now that Eric's gone. There's always going to be something, and I'm tired of being hurt.
I am glad when I see Emily exiting the house and heading towards the car.
"I care about you. If I have to make you feel the same way about me too then I am going to try. I need you."
His words send my heart fluttering and beating around like a fish out of water. I try to calm it down when Emily opens the back door.
Hunter Kings, you're succeeding already.
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All exams are done. Now just waiting for the marks 😴