a/n: The picture above is kind of what she'll wear but it'd be less revealing and the skirt would be more.. out there at the waist and it'd have a low back on it. ok, anyway...bye!
"Tut, tut, tut," Meghan shakes her head at Chloe.
"No?" she says, looking in the mirror at her braided hair.
"I like it!" says Bubbles.
"I don't," Kate says.
"Its ok," I say, looking up from yet another message from Amanda.
Tartarus is waiting for you 😂😂😂
"Its ok?" Chloe raises an eyebrow, patting her hair down slightly.
"I think you'd be better off with a bun," I say and slip my phone into my bag.
"Yes! A great suggestion, my dear," the stylist claps his hands and beams brightly at me before walking over to Chloe.
Bubbles' parents hired us a stylist to do our make-up and hair. Her parents are really chill and have gone out for the night. They only told Bubbles to send photos and us to behave ourselves before they left. They also took her younger sister, Faye and her older brother, Michael out with them.
The stylist - Nathaniel, is wearing a load of makeup and, as Bubbles confided, "he acts like Paolo from the princess diaries."
Nathaniel has with him a tall, skinny blonde that hands him his curling irons and brushes. I wonder how much Bubbles' parents paid for someone this professional.
The stylist combs the brush through Chloe's hair as Meghan, Bubbles, Kate and I chat amongst ourselves. The first subject of the conversation is Justin Beiber and then Shawn Mendes. Then we discuss Hailey Baldwin's new name and our opinions on her. And then we chat about our Christmas gifts and the homecoming dance.
"You're still going with Noah, Nat?" Meghan sighs.
I laugh. "Well, yeah, who else would I go with? Noah's my boyfriend."
The others look at me with despair before Chloe side eyes me and yells, "Alex, of course!"
I roll my eyes and take out my phone, opening my Instagram and liking my feed. I scroll down a couple of posts and see a picture that absoulutely disgusts me.
"What is it?" Bubbles bounces over to me. "Ew."
I scroll past the gross post before Kate comes over. "Oh, bring it back! What was it?"
"Just a gross post," I mutter.
"No! What was it," she scrolls up. "Oh, honey."
"Oh, honey?" I repeat, looking up at her and furrowing my eyebrows.
"Yeah. Alex and you are meant to be together, not him and ... her. You should be the one he's taking to homecoming. You should be the one kissing him there, and you know it!" she says and I roll my eyes. I like the post and move on.
"YOU LIKED IT?" Bubbles screams.
"Yeah," I say. "Why not?"
"Because... because- BECAUSE!" she yells and I laugh. "You can't like a photo of your boo and his girlfriend."
"Why not?" I say, and think it over. "Actually, I'll unlike it because I hate that idiot."
"YOU SAID WHY NOT? YOU ACCEPT HE'S YOUR BOO! JOY TO THE WORLD, NATALEX IS REAL, WE KNOW THEY LOVE EACH O-THER. BUT WHAT ABOUT AMANDA? WE'LL FLUSH HER DOWN THE LOO-OO AND ROUND AND ROUND SHE'LL GO AND ROUND AND ROUND AND ROUND SHE'LL GO A-AND ROUND AND ROUND SHE'LL GO!" Bubbles screams and Kate, Meghan, Chloe and I burst out laughing. Bubbles just smiles happily and walks over to survey Nathaniel's work.
"Looks good," she says, looking at Chloe's artfully messy bun. Nathaniel beams and continues adding silver clips into her hair.
I look down at my phone and see the picture of Alex and Amanda. I cannot believe she's chosen to wear an extremely skimpy red dress. Alex's arm is around her waist and hers are around his neck. Its a boomerang video of them kissing and pulling away. I can't unsee it so I shake the image out of my head and turn my phone off, but not before Amanda sends me a text message from another one of her minions. I see a picture attached and my curiosity wins me over.
I click the notification and open the video. There's nothing on the screen but I can hear the audio clearly. I forget all my friends are listening and turn the volume up. BIG mistake.
I hear the sound of lips pulling apart before I hear Amanda's voice.
"Hey babe?" she says.
"Yeah?" says a muffles voice, unmistakably Alex's. I swallow the lump in my throat.
"What do you think of Natalie Bennett?" she asks.
"B***h," he says and the sound of lips locking together is heard before the video ends. I look up and shut my phone off. My friends are all looking at me, mouths wide open. I look away. Oops.
"Ima use the bathroom," I say and stumble out of the room. Why did my friends have to hear that? I bury my face in my hands as I sit on the bathroom floor, pulling my legs up to my chest and holding my cardigan's sleeves in my fist.
I know he's a jerk and I'm angry at him but I can't stop the sick feeling in my stomach after watching the video, or listening to it. Why did he have to say that? I knew he told me he hated me but he did apologize.
A million thoughts are running through my head when the door is pushed open. When was the video taken? Does he really mean that? Why did he have to say it?
"You good?" Bubbles closes the door and sits down opposite me, mirroring my position. I nod my head and look up, smiling sadly. "The Alex I know wouldn't have meant that," she says sincerely.
"The Alex I know would," I say.
"Oh, c'mon, everyone knows you mean so much to him, he wouldn't do that without reason. If you really think that's him maybe you've gotten to know the wrong Alex," she says. I know she's right. Alex wouldn't say that without reason.
"It doesn't matter anyway. I'm being over dramatic - as always - and I him anyway. C'mon Bubbles, let's go enjoy our night!"
***
"Dayumm gurl, you look fine!" Kate exclaims, twirling a piece of her straightened hair around her finger. She's got on her black dress and has dark, natural makeup on with a smokey eye.
"I agree!" says Bubbles. She's got on her long yellow dress and has light makeup on with quite a lot of blush. Her bleach-blonde hair has been straightened and has a braid from one side to the other.
"You look great!" Chloe says, painting her nails with a sheet over her dress to stop the blue and silver material from getting sprayed with the polish.
"Noah will be stunned!" says Meghan, her frizzy hair bouncing with the white clips in it. Her white crop top is separate from the short white skirt and under that are a pair of high heels are placed on her feet.
"Really?" I say, turning back to the mirror in the bathroom. My friends follow me. My hair was curled and spun into the weird fancy hairstyle that's hanging down my back. Its got a few curly strands askew and a long line of silver decorations in it, matching my silver heels. Nathaniel forced me to wear them.
The red dress covers my legs and has a low back, finishing just before the skirt begins. The top half almost completely covers my chest and the red material feels silky against my skin.
My cheeks are covered with make-up and my brown eyes are emphasized with ombre-eye shadow or something and have layers of mascara on my eyelashes. I know I'm exaggerating. I don't have layers of makeup on, just more then I'm used to. Or maybe just Amanda's everyday amount. Take a layer.
I have red lipstick on and my eyebrows have been colored in. I look at myself in the mirror. Nathaniel did a great job.
"Selfie time!" screams Bubbles, taking out her phone as we walk out onto the balcony. We smile at the camera she holds up before I take it from her, all of us concluding I have the longest arms and aren't even close to their height even when their high heels are 3 inches higher than mine.
We then set the timer and place the phone on the table, wrapping our arms around each other's shoulders and waists.
"Oh, um Noah's picking me up from here, I think," I say.
"All cool," Kate replies. "Leo is too."
"And all the others are coming with Callum and I!" says Bubbles.
"All of us?" Chloe raises and eyebrows at the same time that Meghan says, "The others?"
Kate and I laugh as a car pulls up on Bubbles' driveway.
"There's Callum. See you both there!" says Bubbles and the others wave goodbye and follow her.
The others have been gone for a few minutes, of which Kate and I begin a conversation. It stops and I pull out my phone.
"So, how long have you been getting those messages from Amanda?" she asks seriously. I look up so fast I'm surprised I don't get whiplash.
"W-what?" I say, trying to act like I don't know what she's talking about.
"Amanda wouldn't just randomly send you a video if things like that haven't been sent before," she explains. I sigh.
"They've been coming for a couple of weeks. The messages- I mean," I say.
"You have to tell someone!" she says, concerned.
"No!" I say a little too fast. "I mean, they've been stopping a little since Alex and I had a.. um, a fight."
"Sure they have been," Kate says.
"Please don't tell anyone," I plead.
She sighs, looking into my eyes. "I won't. I'm just advising you. You should tell someone else soon, Nat, otherwise it'll just get worse."
I smile at her. Thank God she's not going to tell anyone.
"Here's your ride, babe, have fun. You look stunning!" she kisses my cheek and I wave, walking downstairs onto the driveway and hopping in Noah's car.
"Hey Noah," I say. He smiles at me.
"You look nice," he looks me over before leaning forward and pecking my lips.
"Thanks, you do too," I say. He's wearing a navy suit with a silver tie.
He drives of and I wave goodbye to Kate, who's just coming downstairs as Leo has just arrived. We drive along with the radio on, some old rock song is playing.
It must be about 7:00 because the sky is black and the moon shines down on the road in front of us. I see a bunch of lights on at the school and see heaps of cars pulled up. There's even a limo which a couple is getting out of.
"So, did you get into the semis?" I ask him about NFL.
"Yeah, actually we did!" he says happily, helping me out of the car.
"Thanks," I say. He takes my hand and we walk along the path. Against the brick wall of the gym, I see Amanda and Alex kissing. I roll my eyes just as they pull apart. Alex looks over at Noah and I. His face is overcome with an emotion I can't place. Then his eyes look down to our connected hands and a muscle in his jaw twitches. If I didn't know better I'd think he was mad. But I know better.
Amanda tugs his hair, where her hand is placed and he slams her against the wall. I look away and tug on Noah's hand and we walk inside. There's soft music and the sound of chatter echoes around the decorated hall.
My guess is its some kind of Winter theme, judging by the blue decorations around the gym and the swan ice statue at the drinks table. It looks great and people are dancing and chatting all around.
"Want a drink?" Noah asks.
"Yeah, yes please," I say and he walks off to the bar. I find Chloe, Meghan and Bubbles chatting and dancing in the middle of the gym.
"Hi Nat!" Bubbles sings.
"Hey guys," I say.
"Go try the punch, its great!" Meghan yells over the noises of the music and people's chatting.
"Actually, Noah's just gone to get me one," I yell back she nods and I look over at the bar, seeing Noah's just taken our drinks off the counter.
"Bye!" they yell when I turn around and wave, walking back over to Noah.
"Here you go," he hands me my drink and I thank him before the rest of the jocks come and hit him on the shoulders and compliment him, ruffling his jelled hair. He smiles at me. "You wanna dance?"
"Sure," I say and place my drink down on a table he's chosen. He leads me over to the area where couples are slow dancing to the music.
Noah places his hands around my waist and I put mine around his neck. We sway from one foot to the other for around a minute before he shuffles closer to me. I really don't want him to kiss me, but I don't want to not either because then it'd be pretty awkward afterwards. So he takes another step forward and places his hands in my hair and his lips on mine.
He kisses me while we sway to the music and as much as I want to pull away from him, I know I can't because it would, again, be awkward in a couple of seconds. So he kisses me while we dance to the slow music. When I can't bare it anymore I pull away and immediately feel someone's eyes on us. I turn and look their way.
Alex is standing ten feet away, one hand in the pocket of his black dress pants, the other holding a cup that he's drinking from quickly. He looks away quickly and slams the glass down on the table next to him before quickly rushing off. Noah turns and looks at me.
"Oh, yeah, I forgot to ask you: there isn't anything going on between you and Alex Collins is there?" he says, placing his hands back on my hips and swaying.
"Nah," I laugh. "I wouldn't dream of it."
***
When my feet start to get sore in my shoes from dancing with Kate, Meghan, Bubbles and Chloe, I tell my friends I'm going to the bathroom and that I'll be back soon.
I walk down the narrow hallway to the bathrooms and open the door to the women's.
"Well, well, well," Amanda sneers, closing the lid of her mascara bottle. "If it isn't little miss Bennett."
"Hi Amanda," I say sweetly and quickly step into a cubicle and lock it. When I flush the toilet and walk out of the bathroom Amanda is standing with her arms crossed, two of her blonde minions standing beside her, mimicking her position. I swear she doesn't let brunettes into her group. She must want to stand out as the only brown haired girl, making sure everyone knows she's the leader. Or maybe its because she wants to seem smart, you know the stereotype: dumb blondes. I always told Adele I had brown roots, so I couldn't fit into that category. She always laughed at me.
I try and walk around them to the sinks but they move slughtly and I sigh. "Please, Amanda, let me get to the sink. I just got off the toilet and if you don't want me infecting you with toilet-germs, I'd advise you to move so I can wash them. Thanks," I say and walk right through them, quickly washing my hands. "Bye."
I walk out the door as quickly as I can and down the corridor. I stop when I hear voices outside the men's change rooms. It sounds like Noah so I halt to see what he's doing. About to continue on, I hear one of his friends talk again.
"I don't have the money tonight!" Noah's friend says.
Noah chuckles almost evilly. "Come on, man. You told me once you saw it you'd give me the money."
"I don't have solid cash tonight, dude," his friend says and I can practically hear the eye-roll in his voice. He laughs, "Its not like I carry around one thousand bucks in my wallet, Noah."
Me, being my nosy self, continues to listen to the conversation.
"Can't you transfer it?" Noa asks.
"Bro. Why don't I just give it to you tomorrow?" his friend compromises.
"Fine," Noah sighs and agrees.
"Good," his friend says. "I still can't believe she kissed you."
"Bro, she's pretty gullible. I think she actually thinks I'm into her for her personality," he laughs. "I kissed her on the first night we dated. Anyway, why'd you pick her for the bet?"
"Isn't it obvious? She's the hottest girl in the school. Why else would I pick her?" he laughs.
"I dunno. Maybe because Natalie is kind of sassy?" Noah replies and a chill spreads down my back. "But yeah. Anyway, I dunno when I'll break up with her. If I get the money tonight it'll probably be sometime next week."
His friend laughs. "Bro, I can't believe you got Natalie Bennett to even say yes to dating you! What're you going to tell her?"
"Oh, probably just the usual; 'its not you, its me,'" he says. They both laugh and I feel sick in the stomach. "Hey man, what's happening with you and Amanda?"
His friend chuckles. He must be the guy Amanda was with earlier in the week. Either that or Amanda's cheating on Alex with more than one boy. "Just a few casual hookups. Nothing much. Alex doesn't suspect a thing," his friend says. I decide I've heard enough and walk back outside, hoping that I've got enough makeup on to hide how pale my face must be.
"Yo good, gurl?" Kate asks as they dance to 'best song ever' by One Direction. Rip 1D.
"Yea, I'm fine," I force a smile and they all smile back. "I'm thirsty. See you guys!"
I walk over to the punch table and serve myself some in a white plastic cup. I take a sip. Its really yummy. I walk over to the table I put my purse down at and take a seat. I watch people dancing with their friends and others dancing with their date. I see Callum and Bubbles laughing. I smile at them silently and sip my punch.
"Hey Nat," Noah sits down next to me and I immediately sit up straighter.
"Hi Noah," I say quickly. "My phone's ringing."
I quickly grab my purse and my drink and walk away quickly. I'm so happy I've given Noah $1000. Note the sarcasm. Of course, I shouldn't have put it past Noah to do something like this. I feel so stupid. So used. I thought he was sort of nice. Sort of, I guess.
I walk around the gym once before meeting back with my friends. Bubbles joins us and we chat for a couple of minutes at a table before the NFL coach comes onto the stage and taps the microphone.
"Please take your seats," he says deeply. I don't go back to Noah's table. Instead, I follow all my friends to a table where Leo and Callum are seated and sit down. The coach begins speaking. "So, firstly I'd like to say a few thank you's..."
The coach continues talking and I think its only our table that listens to the full speech. People start talking halfway through, getting bored and losing interest. Finally Mandy - the student Councillor - comes to stand at the microphone. Her brown hair is twisted into a curly side pony tail and she's wearing a short, sparkly purple dress. She smiles at everyone and taps the microphone everyone falls silent.
"Hey everyone!" she says and earns a few hoots from her friends at the drama kids table. "Its time for the moment we've all been waiting for!"
The school cheers loudly, wooping and applauding. I can't recall what people have all been waiting for so I lean backwards and whisper to Meghan, "What moment?"
She rolls her eyes and whispers back, "Homecoming King and Queen."
"Oh," I nod and lean forwards again. I voted for Callum and Bubbles. Apparently the criteria was: Friendly, smart, kind, quirky, creative, inspiring, energetic and genuine. I doubt many people looked at this and just wrote down either one of their friends or some kind of popular person, like Amanda for example. I decided on Bubbles because she new everyone and was kind and energetic. And obviously, Callum because they're cute together and would look great as homecoming king and queen.
"And... homecoming King goes to... drum roll please!" Mandy says into the mic. People drum their hands on their laps or on their tables. "Alex Collins!"
People clap. I hear whispers all around me. From the boys: "No surprises there." From the girls: "He's so hot. I voted for him. Damn, he is actually a king. A king of good looks," earning giggles from their friends.
Alex stands up and Amanda stand with him. He looks a little confused but when Amanda kisses him his eyebrows stop furrowing and he kisses her back. I look away and tuck a strand of hair behind my ear before playing with my nails and biting my lip.
Alex walks onto the stage and shakes hands with the principle once he's done swapping saliva with Amanda. He takes the crown and puts it on. Callum and Leo cheer loudly and he winks at them.
"And homecoming queen... drum roll please," Mandy says again. People drum roll again. "Natalie Bennett!"
a/n: PLOT TWIST!
I look up at Mandy, shocked. She looks around the gym and smiles when she sees me. Meghan pushes me and I stumble up and walk forwards.
I am not popular. Nor am I quirky, friendly, inspiring or creative. This school really is delusional.
I walk towards the stage before an ear-threatening scream echoes around the gym. I turn to look over at the table Alex was just sitting at and I see Amanda standing up, yelling at the ceiling. Bubbles makes a weird snorting sound but covers her mouth.
Amanda finally stops screaming and runs out of the gym, wailing, "it was meant to be me, it was meant to be me," after her.
I raise my eyebrows and continue walking
I walk up the stage steps as Alex looks at the floor, playing with the bottom of his red tie. I walk past him quickly, forcing myself not to admire how handsome he looks in his tux. I shake hands with the principle who gives me a warm, "well done," before placing the crown on my head. Its silver and thin with fake diamonds on it and little flowers glued on.
"Congratulations to our 2018 homecoming king and queen!" Mandy says. The crowd cheers and the whole table I was sitting at stand up and cheers. I look at my feet, feeling my cheeks heat up.
The clapping lasts for about a minute before we're asked to resume our spots and the NFL team are given some participation medals, which I find strange because they're in the semi-finals, but I suppose most teams have them, so I don't overthink it. Ha. No, I do.
The night continues and Kate, Leo, Callum and Bubbles go off to dance in the middle of the room. Meghan and Chloe go off to the bathroom. And I suddenly feel really hot. I walk over and get some punch which cools me down. I lock eyes with Amanda who glares at me and looks over at the tiara on my table before going back to glaring at me. I give her a weird funny face and walk out before I can see her flip me the bird.
I leave from the side of the gym, which leads out into a large gazebo. Its been decorated with pink flowers and white roses. I see Alex sitting on the bench with his hand clasped together, his legs wide open and his head looking straight down at the floor. The king's crown lays beside him on the seat. And music is playing softly from one of the speakers, mirroring the music coming from inside the gym.
He looks up and his blue eyes shine, darker then usual. He sits up and smiles weakly. "Hey."
"Hi," I say and sit on the other side of the gazebo, beside the entrance. We sit in silence for a couple of minutes before he speaks.
"You know, I really am sorry," he says quietly.
"How do I know that you didn't mean it?" I say, equally as softly. "You sounded pretty legit."
He stands up and reaches around on of the decorated poles and picks some thing off it and walks over to me. He holds it out to me and I see the pink flower he holds out to me.
"I hurt you," he whispers. I look up at him and bite my lip. "And I'm so, so sorry."
I take the flower. "I don't hate you," I whisper.
"I know," he smirks , I roll my eyes and he takes my hand.
"What're you doing?" I ask. He points to the speaker. Its playing a slow kind of dance music. He wraps his arms around my waist, higher than he usually down when he hugs me because the waist of the back is higher. I look up into his eyes that have changed from a navy blue to a light, sparkling shade of the color.
"Dancing with you," he says and leans his head on mine. I wrap my arms around his neck. He's only slightly taller than me, even with heels on. But I guess he's wearing boots that have a small heel on them too.
I bury my face in the nape of his neck and inhale his scent. It feels good to breathe him in. I am a very big creep. But I'm glad he's back.
We sway on our feet for a couple o minutes, our eyes closed, before I open my eyes and think about what I'm doing. I push him away and walk away. He looks confused.
"Did you mean it?" I whisper. I start walking backwards towards the exit of the gazebo.
"Mean what?" he furrows his eyebrows and shakes his head.
"You.. you- y- you called me a.. a-a," I take a deep breath. "A b***h."
"What?" he says loudly.
"Amanda sent me a video. You called me a-a-a," I stutter, still backing away from him.
"You don't have to say it, Nat," he says. "Why would I call you that?"
He takes a few steps toward me and I grab hold of a pole and step backwards down the steps. He grabs my hand.
"Show me that video," he says quietly. I nod and walk back into the gazebo. I unlock my purse and scan my touch ID. I open the video and turn up the volume. He listens to it and takes my phone from me. "This isn't from Amanda. Its from..." he squints. "Talia Quinn, and, listen to this Nat."
He pulls me over to him and replays a section of the video a couple of times. "Can you hear it? The skip?" he whispers, pausing it. I nod and smile up at him. He grins back and wraps his arms around my neck and chuckles into my hair. "I would never call you that."
I smile and pull away from him. "Thanks," I say. He smiles and hands me back my phone. Then he wraps his arms around me and starts slow dancing again. I put mine around his neck and we sway a little.
We stay like that for about half an hour. I almost fall asleep with my head on his shoulder. He shakes me just before I nod off.
"C'mon," he chuckles. "I'll take you home."
I nod sleepily and send a text to the group chat, telling them I'm leaving early. Alex grabs his keys and we walk off.
He drives to my place and drops me off at the front door.
"Good night, dude," he says.
"Night, babe," I smile at him through the window and he drives off to the house right next door. I walk up to my room and take off everything, including the makeup. It feels so good to have a clean, light face again. I sigh and slip into bed after brushing my teeth. I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.
__________________________________________________________
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