“He did that for you?” mom gushed. “That is so sweet! I wish I had had an amazing proposal to prom.”
“How did your date ask you?” I asked, adjusting my headphones.
“It was not special enough for me to remember,” she said with a laugh.
“Do you even remember the guy you went with?” I asked, raising my eyebrows.
“Of course I do,” she said with an eye roll. “So, what are you going to wear?”
“I don’t know yet,” I responded. “Abby wanted to go shopping for our dresses today; hopefully I’ll find something good.”
“When is your prom?” she asked.
“Tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?!” she exclaimed, causing me to cringe. “Who buys a prom dress a day before? Do you know how expensive they’ll be now? Not just that, you won’t even find a good dress in one day!”
“We didn’t have time before,” I said. “The three of us were not free on the same day. It’s okay, Abby’s been going almost every day. She said she’s found some good boutiques with beautiful dresses at reasonable rates.”
That seemed to calm her down. I disliked how she trusted Abby much more than me when it came to fashion.
“Shopping for a prom dress is hectic,” she stated.
“Ashley! Jared! Lunch is on the table!” I heard Hailey call out.
“I have to go for lunch now and then I’ll be leaving to go get my dress,” I said. “I’ll call you once I come back; I want to show you the dress.”
“I’m not free tonight, I’ve got a meeting.” She let out a puff of air and asked, “Tomorrow?”
“I’m not sure if I’ll have time tomorrow but I’ll try to call you,” I responded.
“Okay. Take lots of pictures and send them to me,” she instructed.
Replying an ‘okay’, I disconnected the call and headed down for dinner.
*
Come on, Ash. Pleaseeeee tell me what the color of your dress is.
Please. Please.*puppy dog eyes*
Ashhhh! I gifted you a puppy.
I just want to know so I can match my tie with your dress!
At least tell me so I can get you a matching corsage.
I should’ve known the puppy wouldn’t have been enough.
For the past hour, Ethan has been bugging me. I told him I got a dress 2 days ago even though I didn’t and now, he won’t stop bugging me. My phone vibrated in my hand while I waited for Abby to come out of the changing room. I picked it up, sighing in frustration.
“What, Ethan?”
“Just tell me what the color of your dress is and I’ll stop bothering you,” he said quickly.
“No,” I responded.
“But why?” he whined.
“Is it completely necessary for your tie to match my dress?” I questioned.
“Yes, it is,” he said sternly. “Just like it is completely necessary for you to always eat the other half of my sandwich.”
“I don’t do that all the time!” I protested.
“You do,” he argued back.
“If I agree to that, will you stop asking me the color of my dress?” I asked.
“No.”
Abby walked out of the changing room, adjusting the dress she tried on. I stared at her in awe. The dress, itself was elegant. It was a strapless gown with a dark shade of peach-ish pink and had little jewels embedded around the top. Abby’s blonde hair contrasted perfectly with the dress and her eyes looked even brighter.
If I was a guy, I would have let out a wolf whistle right now. But I’m not a guy and I don’t know how to whistle.
Noticing me on the phone, she said, “Is that Erica? Where is she?”
“Wow,” I said, ignoring her questions.
“What?” Ethan said from the other side.
“Nothing, Ethan,” I said and Abby’s shoulder dropped in disappointment. “I’ll talk to you later, bye. Love you.”
“No! Wait!-”
I disconnected the call and shoved my phone in my bag.
“That’s the dress you’re wearing to prom,” I declared, standing at up and admiring her.
“Really?” she questioned in doubt and turned behind to observe herself in the mirror.
I nodded. I heard a low whistle and turned around to see Erica standing behind me.
“You’re finally here!” Abby said. “Why are you wearing jeans? I told you not to wear jeans! This just makes changing harder and then you’re going to constantly whine.”
“I’m not going to try any dresses on, Abby,” Erica responded. “I’m only here because you begged me to come.”
“But you need a dress for prom,” Abby prodded.
“I would need a dress if I was going but since I’m not, I don’t need one,” Erica replied. “I don’t even have a date.”
“If you didn’t turn down three guys, you would have had a date,” I countered. She groaned and slumped down on a plush chair.
“Come on Erica, please just come for us,” Abby begged. “You don’t need to have a date.”
“I’m not going to be the extra wheel,” she argued.
“We don’t care about any of that,” I said quickly and grabbed the first dress next to me and pushed it towards her. “Now go and put this on, now.”
Erica raised one eyebrow but Abby and I held our gaze with hers. Eventually, she gave up and lazily walked into the changing room while grumbling something.
Abby turned to face me. “Are you sure I should get this?”
I nodded eagerly. “Yes.”
A smile lit up her face, which was the only thing left to complete her look. “Now, it’s time to look for something for you.”
She rushed into the changing room and pulled on her normal clothes. Coming out, she banged the door of the changing room in which Erica was.
“What?” Erica snapped. She was not enjoying this.
I left the two of them to continue their argument and looked around to search for something for me. So far I had tried on three dresses and none of them reached my expectations. Grabbing few random colored dresses that caught my eye, I walked into an empty changing room.
I pulled on a silky royal purple dress with a low neck; it was tight around my chest and flowed down freely. The straps of the dress crossed on my back. It was a bit long for me, but heels would do make me look taller and the dress fit perfectly. Twirling around once, I grinned and walked out to show Abby.
“I just don’t-”
Abby stopped mid-sentence while arguing with Erica and turned around to look at me.
A grin lit up her face. “That’s the one.”
I looked at Erica for approval. She was slouching in a dull, black dress that made her look emo. She stared at me for a moment and said, “What?”
My shoulders dropped in disappointment and I shook my head while walking back into the changing room to change back to my clothes.
After arguing with Erica and finally finding a classy, black dress that suited her, we paid for the dresses and grabbed some lunch.
“You guys are coming over tomorrow evening, right?” I asked, pushing my empty plate away from me.
Abby nodded. “Yes. The guys are going to Michael’s and Michael said they’ll come to us up at your place.”
“Great,” I said.
“This is going to be so much fun,” Abby squealed happily.
*
Ever since I woke up this morning, all I could think about was when Ethan would come up to my door and pick me up.
I was currently doing my make-up and I realized that there might be people out there struggling with actual, serious problems and here I am worrying on whether or not I should apply another coat of mascara.
Abby had texted me telling me to start doing my make-up since she was trying her best to drag Erica all the way to my place. I glanced at the clock: two more hours.
I re-checked my face. I had applied a light shade of lipstick along with lavender eye shadow and coated my eyelashes in mascara and my eyes with eyeliner. So far, it was looking pretty good. I just needed Abby to do my hair and the finishing touch ups.
Naturally, Hailey asked me if she wanted me to let her do my make-up but I’ve strictly told her that she was not allowed to see us until we were done. When it comes to playing dress up, Hailey was the impatient, hyper child. It was better if she just stayed out of it.
I let out a puff of air in boredom. Jared had left about half an hour ago to buy Claire a corsage. I had told him not to do it last minute, but of course he never wants to do what I suggest.
Just as I looked at the clock again, the doorbell rang. I rushed downstairs and opened the door. Abby stood there with an unhappy and grumpy Erica. I stepped aside to let them come in and while we walked up, Abby told me all about Erica’s tantrums.
After reaching to my room, Abby worked fast. Way too fast.
As a mother, Hailey had really wanted to do our make-up and hair. But we turned her down in the most polite way possible. We had allowed her to do it once for us when we were going out to a party. The minute we sat inside Erica’s car, we wiped off us and quickly re-did it. It was that bad.
Abby touched up my make-up and along with my help, did Erica’s make-up. Then, she did her own make-up while I worked on Erica’s hair. I let it flow down her shoulders in natural waves. She looked wonderful.
Abby decided to go with waves on my hair, too but put it up in an elegant bun with a few stray strands hanging here and there. She added a little silver headpiece to the bun and my look was done.
The three of us occupied all the toilets in the house and changed into our dresses. Grabbing my black heels on the way to my room, I halted in the hallway in front of a mirror. I was startled, staring at the beautiful girl standing in front of me. Abby had transformed me entirely. I looked elegant and classy, thanks to the up-do and the dress. The make-up hid all my flaws and made me look like I was about to shoot a romantic scene for a music video.
Smiling to myself, I walked up the stairs and the doorbell rang as I opened the door and my eyes met Abby’s with excitement. Ethan and Michael were here. I heard the main door open and close loudly and a few minutes later, Hailey rushed into my room with a camera in her hand.
“They’re here!” she announced. “I must say, girls, you’ve managed to get yourselves handsome young men.”
I laughed while she ushered us to stand closer so she could take a picture. She quickly took some photographs of us together and each one alone and then, pushed us out of the room.
We walked down together and saw Michael and Ethan sitting on the couch. Saying that he looked handsome was definitely not enough. His eyes met mine and he a slow smile formed on his face. He was wearing a black suit which suited him stunningly. What was odd, though, was that he wasn’t wearing a tie.
Both of them stood and approached us as we descended the stairs. He took my hand in a way formal yet romantic way. I was almost his height because of the heels. I smiled and leaned forward to kiss him quickly.
“Wow,” he whispered, looking down at me. I blushed and ducked my head.
I could feel his stare at me, which only made me blush harder. I looked up to see Erica leaning against the wall and my smile faded a bit. But then I remembered that she’s happy being single and that she did turn down three guys. Hailey was busy taking photographs of us.
“You look gorgeous, Erica,” Ethan complimented her. My eyebrows shot up and my head whipped in his direction. Did he actually compliment her?
Erica looked stunned, as well. Our shocked expressions slowly faded to smiles.
“Thanks,” she said awkwardly. Noticing Abby and Michael and me and Ethan, Erica decided to leave the room and wait outside near the car.
I gave Ethan a smile of appreciation. He pulled out something from the inside of his coat. It was a bent, transparent box with a corsage in it. It was made out of white roses and a lavender ribbon was tied around it. It contrasted beautifully with my dress. Opening it up, he asked for my hand which I gladly gave to him and he easily slipped it on my wrist. Then, he gently picked up it up and delicately placed a light kiss on the top of my knuckles, never losing my eyes.
I felt an uncontrollable smile take up my face.
“I’ve got you something as well,” I said and walked over to get the white rose boutonniere I had gotten for him. I assumed he was going to wear black and decided to get a white rose. I pinned it on his left side and adjusted it. I grinned once it was on properly.
“Why are you not wearing a tie by the way?” I questioned with curiosity.
“Since you didn’t tell me the color of your dress, I brought along a bag full of different colored ties. It’s in the car,” he said with a cute boyish grin. “I don’t have a dark purple one but I have a lavender one, which should work.”
I gaped at him with an open mouth. “Are you serious? This is insane!”
“You said you wanted this to be special,” he said. “When we get out prom photographs, won’t we look adorable with matching colors? Then you can ‘treasure’ that forever.”
I laughed loudly and wrapped my arms around his neck “Gosh, I love you so much, Ethan.”
He bent down and pecked my lips. “I love you more.”
“I’m re-considering going to prom, though,” he said, holding on to my waist.
“What? Why?” I exclaimed.
“All the guys are going to be having their eyes on you and some brave ones might even try to hit on you,” he said with a sigh.
“I could say the same to you,” I responded with a small smile.
“Yeah, I doubt guys are going to be ogling me,” he said.
I hit his shoulder playfully. “You know what I mean.”
“Well, all of them know I’m with you. The matching color tie would say it all.” He winked at me.
I chuckled and rested my head on his chest.
“Shall we go?” I asked, noticing that Abby, Michael and Hailey weren’t around.
“After you,” he said, gesturing me to go ahead with his arm.
A/N- Long chapter! Woohoo! No, the book is not over yet. There's still a special, little epilogue left to put up.
I haven't read through it, so if you notice any mistakes, please tell me in the comments. How are you guys doing? I have been so busy with homework, projects, assignments, tests-- I'm going to die. Aahh. So much stress. I tried to take time to write this chapter sooo many times but I only got a few paragraphs done and then I had something else to do. Well, it's up now. So maybe you could hit that star for the long chapter and leave a comment below? :3
I know I say this very often but I feel like it's not enough: I want to thank you guys for allll the support that you've given me. You guys have given me so much confidence that I actually put my real name up on my profile. It's unbelievable. Thank you so much <3
I love you guys <3