It was a week before prom, and I was sitting in the Hunter's kitchen letting Clara eat her lunch while Tessa got ready to head to Boston with Jason for a business function.
"So Ariel, are you going to prom?" Tessa asked me as she stood at the counter, putting her earrings in.
I nodded, "Yeah, I am." I said.
She smiled slyly, "Who are you going with?" She asked.
I smiled and shook my head, "No one specifically. A bunch of us are going as a group. We rented a party bus and are kind of just all each other's dates." I said.
She smiled happily, "I think that's nice. You don't need a date to have a good time. So, do you have a picture of your dress I can see?" She asked, getting giddy.
I smiled, "I'm actually just going to wear the dress I wore to Cassandra's birthday party. It's gorgeous and I'd hate to never wear it again. Plus, I didn't want to buy another one." I said.
A contemplative look came over her face before she smiled, "Come with me." She said.
She began walking towards the exit that led to the staircase, "You can come too princess." She said to Clara who hopped out of her chair and followed the both of us.
She led us up to the third floor, "I have a lot of friends in different fields. The fashion field, specifically, and they always send me some pieces from their newest collection before it's released. I think I have something for you." She said as we walked into one of the guest rooms that wasn't a guest room.
It looked like heaven on Earth. It was a room filled with dresses and shoes galore. It took me a few seconds to pick my jaw up off the floor before I could utter any words, "Oh my God. This is...incredible." I said looking at all of the clothes.
Tessa smiled and walked over to a black garment bag hanging from a hook on the wall, "This was just sent to me by a very close friend. It should be in your size, might just need to be hemmed a bit. It's one of a kind, so no chance for repeats." She said to me with a wink.
I looked at her, "Tessa I can't take this. It was given to you." I said.
She shook her head, "No. You are going to take this. You deserve it." She said before hanging the bag on a rack in the center of the room so it was by itself before unzipping the bag and pulling it off.
Clara and I both gasped as the dress revealed itself.
It was a black gown. It had a high neckline that was sheer with long sleeves. There were several sheer layers and on the top layer, over the entire dress, swirling and geometric designs with black jewels scattered over the dress.
"Oh my God it's absolutely gorgeous." I said looking at it.
She smiled, "Elie sent it to me and I don't have a need to wear it. I want you to wear this to prom." She said.
"Elie Saab? You know Elie Saab?" I exclaimed, at a loss for words.
She smiled, "He's a very close friend." She said.
"Now I really can't accept this." I said with a shake of me head.
"Ariel I want you to wear this to your prom. Think of it as a thank you for everything you've done for this family." She said.
I smiled and shook my head sheepishly, "I'm just doing my job." I said.
"Not just for Clara. For Lucas too. You helped change him for the better. And I know Jason and I both are grateful to you for it." She said.
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A week later I answered my door to find Maya waiting with her dress, shoes, makeup, and hair supplies all in bags, overflowing in her arms.
"We got work to do." She said and I laughed before letting her into the house and closing the door behind her.
My mom walked in and smiled when she saw Maya, "Hi girls. Have fun getting ready, just yell when you want food and I can order it." She said.
I smiled, "Thanks mom." I said.
"Yeah thanks Mrs. Montgomery." Maya said.
"Maya how many times have I told you to call me Maeve?" My mom said and Maya smiled.
"Sorry." She said.
As we walked up the stairs Maya spoke to me, "Have I mentioned how much I love your mom's accent?" She asked and I smiled before we walked into my bedroom.
"Alright. We have three hours. Let's get started." I said, clapping my hands together.
I did Maya's hair first, with my famous braided crown, but leaving half of it down and curling it. Then I did my hair twisting up part of it with the rest of it curled.
I did Maya's makeup next, a soft pink look, to match her dress. I did my makeup last, a bold black and silver eye look with a bright red lipstick for a touch of color.
"Okay you obviously look amazing, as usual. Now let me see this dress you've told me nothing about that was a gift from your boss." She said, rubbing her hands together excitedly.
I smiled slyly and unzipped the garment bag, pulling out the dress, "Hold mother of God that dress is amazing." Maya said, her eyes wide.
I smiled, "I said pretty much the same thing when Tessa showed it to me." I responded.
"I would actually murder someone for that dress. I have to see you in it. Now." She said.
Five minutes later the dress was zipped and I stepped out of the bathroom. "My best friend is an actual goddess." Maya said simply when I stepped out.
I smiled, "Why thank you. Now get your ass into your dress so we can take hot mirror selfies." I said and she smirked before grabbing her dress and scurrying into the bathroom.
She emerged a few minutes later, looking gorgeous, the soft pink dress looking amazing with her tanned skin. We took a few mirror selfies before packing out clutches with the essentials for the night, and then putting our shoes on just as my mom called from downstairs.
"Girls! The boys are here! Come down so we can take some pictures before the bus arrives!" She called.
We grabbed everything we would need for the night, and I shut off my bedroom lights before walking out of my bedroom and heading downstairs.
We walked into the living room where everyone was waiting. My mom was the first to see us, "Oh my goodness you two look stunning!" She exclaimed as everyone else turned to look at us.
All of the guys (minus Lucas) were there, and Brianna Marchant, along with all of the parents. The guys went slack-jawed for a few seconds before snapping back to normal.
"Ariel where did you get that dress? It's absolutely amazing." Brianna exclaimed.
I just smiled and gave her a wink in response. We spent about a half hour taking pictures and then the bus pulled up to the house. We loaded up and took off to the venue. I was sitting in the back of the bus next to Tyler, who was my "date".
Music was blaring so he leaned over to speak into my ear, "You really do look gorgeous." He said.
I smiled, "Thank you." I said sincerely.
We danced and sang along for the remainder of the forty-five minute bus ride all the way until it pulled up to the venue. We all piled out of the bus and walked into Mechanics Hall, Worcester. We checked in and made our way to the ballroom.
There was already a decent amount of people there and we made out way through to find our table. Many people turned to look at us as we walked, but none of us really cared. We found our table and dropped our things, before heading back to the dance floor to say hi to a bunch of people and dance a bit before sitting down for dinner.
As we were talking to people a voice rang out from behind me, "Well, princess, you clean up nice."
I turned around to see Lucas, smirking, "Thanks Hunter." I said, crossing my arms.
"Seriously, you look good." He said.
I smiled and looked at the ground, "Thank you. You look good too." I answered. Before he could say anything else, Katie, Rebecca, and the other bitches of the west materialized from behind him.
"Hey guys. Tyler, Miles, Maya...cute dress." Rebecca said looking Maya up and down.
Maya just smiled sweetly, "Thanks. I would return the compliment but my mom always told me to be honest, so I'm just not going to say anything." She said.
Rebecca's eyes narrowed before she turned to me. She did a double take when she saw my dress and I couldn't help the smirk that came to my face, "Where the Hell did you get that dress?" She snapped.
I smiled, "Oh it was a gift! Isn't it pretty?" I asked, overly sarcastic.
"That's an Elie Saab. It's from his newest collection. Which hasn't even come out yet. Who do you know that would be able to get you an Elie Saab before they're even making them?" Katie asked.
I smiled sweetly, knowing how wonderful the words that were about to come out of my mouth would feel, "Oh my boss gave it to me. She said she would never wear it and wanted me to be able to wear something special to my prom." I said.
"Wait. But isn't your boss...?" Rebecca trailed of as her and Katie looked at Lucas, who shot me a death glare before turning to his girlfriend.
"Your stepmom gave a designer dress to her?" Katie asked, saying the last word with so much conviction it could have made anyone else flinch.
"It looks like it." Lucas said simply.
"Well why would she do that?" Katie asked.
I shrugged and answered for him, since I knew he had nothing to do with Tessa giving me the dress, "I guess I'm just a really good babysitter." I suggested, receiving multiple glares for my smart-assery.
"Watever." Katie said harshly before walking away, dragging Lucas with her, but not before he sent me an apologetic glance.
"Bitch." Tyler said before we went back to our table for dinner. We ate and then hit the dance floor. The next three hours I forgot about all of the problems I had. I forgot about Katie and whatever her and Rebecca were planning. I forgot about Lucas, I forgot everything. They stopped the music to announce the king and queen, which was some jock and a cheerleader and then we danced for a bit more.
Once 10 o'clock rolled around, people started leaving and things started dying down. As I was walking to the bathroom, I walked past Rebecca and Dylan who were in a fight. They were arguing back and forth. I didn't really care enough to listen to what they were actually saying before I walked in. I probably should have listened.
When I walked out of the bathroom I saw Dylan sitting against the windowsill with his head in his hands. I should've kept walking, I shouldn't have cared. But I spoke up anyways, "Everything okay?" I asked him.
He looked up and saw me, "Rebecca and I broke up." He said.
"Why?" I asked, curious.
He shrugged, "She got bored I guess." He said.
"Well I'm sorry." I said simply, not really sure what else to say.
"Thanks," he said sighing, "I want to apologize for the way I've treated you. And for...what I did in seventh grade. It wasn't right. And I am so sorry." He said.
His apology took me back, "Wow, um, I appreciate your apology." I said, not really sure of what else to add.
He just nodded once, "Good." He said before walking away.
I just stood there for a second before a voice rang out from behind me, "What the Hell was that about?"
I turned around to find Lucas standing there, looking very annoyed, "What?" I asked.
"Why the Hell were you talking to him?" Lucas asked.
I shrugged, "I don't know. I just saw him there and started talking to him." I said simply.
"Why would you do that? You don't remember what he did to you?" Lucas asked.
I started getting angry, "Are you seriously asking me that? Of course I remember what he did to me! I will never be able to forget it! That doesn't mean I can't ever talk to him again." I argued back.
"You shouldn't want to! He's not a good guy!" Lucas exclaimed.
"Yeah well neither were you when we first met." I said quietly.
His face went blank for a second as he registered what I said, "I never tried to rape anyone, Ariel." He said quietly.
"I never said you did. I don't think you will ever do that. And I'm not excusing what he did. But I'm not going to refuse to interact with him ever again. He could have changed." I said.
He nodded once, accepting my answer, "I'm sorry for being such a dick. I just don't want to see you hurt. Ever." He said, wrapping me in a hug.
I returned the hug, "Thank you." I whispered.
No matter how many times he pissed me off, no matter how much it hurt to be so close to him, knowing he was with someone else, I would never be able to let him go.
A/N: Merry Christmas my pretties!!!! I decided my Christmas gift to you all would be to update a little early! (Sorry if you don't celebrate Christmas, not trying to piss anyone off)
XOXO- Gossip Girl