so it's currently 4 in the morning and I just realized I forgot to update yesterday so here it is :)))))))
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My mind was racing as I made my way back home, Carter Jacobs on my mind. I knew I wasn't going to take him back, that was an easy decision after discovering how much of a douche he truly was.
The problem was him trying to squeeze his way back into my life. I really didn't need someone as problematic as Carter trying to involve himself with me.
For what seemed to be the hundredth time this week, my head was clouded with my own thoughts.
I let out an annoyed sigh and turned my music up, hoping that it would calm my racing mind. It seemed to work as I began singing along to one of my favorite songs, Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls. Before I knew it, I was already pulling into my driveway, the thoughts of Carter long gone.
I hurried into the house and up to my bedroom, throwing my bag to the side of my room with little interest. My phone buzzed in my pocket with a text from Jack, telling me that he would pick me up for the dance at around five-thirty.
Quickly replying with 'ok', I threw my phone onto my bed and hurried towards my closet. I fished my dress from the back of my closet and removed the hanger, laying the dress out on my bed.
My clothes were thrown to the side as I quickly stripped down, kicking my shoes off in the process. I was planning on using the same pair of heels from last year, saving my mother the expense of buying yet another pair of shoes.
God knows how much I loved shoes. My closet was filled with them, from Converse to red bottoms. Well, not really red bottoms, but a much cheaper version of them, none the less.
I examined the dress for a moment before unzipping the back, slipping my slender frame into it. The mirror beside my dresser allowed me to see how I looked in the dress, which actually, wasn't half bad.
Up next was my makeup, which was intended to be a blue smokey eye. If it looked anything like the girl's eye in the tutorial I watched, then surely it would look at least half-decent.
I hurried into the bathroom to work on my makeup, finishing in record time. It was already almost five o'clock, so I headed back into my room to slip my heels on.
Once I was finished, my mom insisted that we take pictures.
"Alright, let me get one of you by the staircase," My mom said with a bright smile. "Say cheese!"
After what felt like an hour of taking pictures, there was a knock at the door. I let out a sigh of relief. I wasn't sure how much of my mother I could take. Soon after the knock at the door, my mom hurried to the foyer and swung the door open, grinning at Jack.
"So you must be the lucky guy," she winked.
"That's me," he replied with a bit of an awkward smile, holding out a singular rose, "This is for you." his eyes met mine, and the tension in his shoulders seemed to ease. Honestly, if Jack and I were on anything more than a friendship level, then his presence alone would've made my knees buckle.
He looked incredibly good, with his hair gelled to perfection, paired with a traditional black tux. I felt really bad that I would probably have to friend zone him later, but I tried not to let that ruin all the fun.
"Well, I suppose we should get going," I said with a small smile, taking Jack's hand as he held it out to me.
"Alright, don't have too much fun, and be back before midnight!" Mom called out, shooting me a supportive smile.
I smiled in return and the two of us sauntered out to his car, then Jack opened the door for me, being the gentleman that he was.
The guy may have been a bit goofy and completely dense, something he and his brother had in common, but he was one thing for sure, and that was a ladies man.
*^*
Jack and I arrived at the dance right on time, only a few other couples having made it that early. The night was just getting started, so the two of us decided to go get some refreshments while we waited on Nick and Kenzie.
After a few minutes of chatter, Nick and his date walked through the door. I recognized her as someone in my calculus class, Amber Holloway. I gave Nick a knowing smile, remembering the time he told me about his crush on her.
He'd seemed to like her forever, so I was glad to see him finally working up the courage to ask her out.
Shortly after Nick arrived, Mackenzie came through the door, her date right by her side. He was much more attractive in person, might I add. He supposedly went to another school, McKinley Prep, which was a private school a couple of towns over.
"Glad to see you finally made it," I mused, taking a sip of my fruit punch.
"Oh shush, you wouldn't believe how long it took me to get my hair right. First, my curling iron decided to be stupid and stopped working for, like, ten minutes. Then when I finally did get it to work, it wouldn't go to the right heat setting. I finally got tired of it and used my curling wand, then I almost burnt myself on that. When I finally did get my hair right, I'd barely even started on my makeup, then I couldn't find my eyeshadow palette. I finally found it after I'd already started using another palette, then I got pissed off and threw a hairbrush, knocking my whole makeup bag into the floor. God, it was a long two and a half hours of getting ready..." Kenz rambled, a flustered smile on her face.
I stifled a laugh as I took a bite of my cookie, becoming disappointed when I realized that it was oatmeal raisin instead of chocolate chip.
The boys wandered off to talk to some of their guy friends, leaving Kenzie and me alone.
"Shall we dance?" I asked in a posh accent, holding my hand like they did in romance movies.
"We shall," she mocked my accent and we headed towards the dance floor, prepared to make fools of ourselves. Several party remixes played before a slow song came on, which happened to be Perfect by Ed Sheeran.
Kenz and I split up and went to find our dates, then we danced side by side, her with Charlie and me with Jack. I smiled to myself and leaned my head on Jack's shoulder. He was several inches taller than me, but we fit together well while dancing like this.
Once the song was over, the two of us continued dancing, talking and laughing as the night went on. Before I knew it, the time was already eight forty-five.
"I'm gonna go find Kenzie," I yelled over the loud music, receiving a nod of approval from Jack.
I eventually found her sitting by herself, a cup of fruit punch in hand, and a miserable look present on her face.
"Whoa, what the hell happened to you?" I asked, sitting down next to her.
"It's not what happened, it's what didn't happen," she sighed, setting her cup down and holding her head in her hands.
"Hey, hey, what's wrong?" I asked, reaching out and holding her right hand.
"Well I originally wanted to go to the dance with Nick, but when we were talking about it he told me he'd already asked Amber, and I didn't wanna be rude so I just let it go and asked Charlie to go with me instead," she let out a sigh, seeming incredibly overwhelmed.
I tried to shift the subject to something in much safer territory.
"So where did you meet Charlie?" I asked, the question coming from curiosity more than anything.
"We met at my mom's Christmas party over break. He was there with his family and we started talking, then we just kind of clicked." she raised up and gave a small smile. Then her smile turned to a frown, and when I turned and looked in the same direction as her, I saw why.
Walking towards us was what appeared to be a shit-faced Carter Jacobs.
I scowled at Carter, who was approaching us very loudly, drawing attention to a few people around us.
"What do you want, Jacobs?" Mackenzie was quick to protect me, her hand instinctively squeezing mine.
"I just came to see how my favorite girlfriend was doing," he slurred, his forehead covered with a thin layer of sweat.
I glared at Carter, my face clearly showing how unimpressed I was.
"We broke up, Carter. Remember, you're the one who dumped me," I pointed out.
"Yeah, but I want you back, baby," he was stumbling over his own words and his feet as he continued moving towards us. Nick and Jack seemed to have noticed Carter, as well, because the two of them were quickly by our sides.
"C'mon, let me show you what it's like to be with a real man." Carter was, once again, far too close for comfort. My stomach turned at the smell of alcohol on his breath, which was incredibly gross.
"Back off, Carter, before a teacher or someone sees you like this," I sighed, crossing my arms over my chest, "And for god's sake, use a damn breath mint. I didn't know you pre-gamed before school dances now."
Carter ignored my comment and instead said, "But babe, I want to see what you've got on under that dress,"
"I believe she told you to back off," Jack was quickly there to defend me, stepping in front of me and blocking some of my view of what was going on.
"Why are you trying to defend her? She's just a stupid whore." Carter's words were coming out in slurs, proving how extremely intoxicated he was. But even if he was intoxicated, that didn't stop his words from stinging.
In one swift move, Jack's fist collided with Carter's jaw, sending him flying backward into the table of refreshments. Carter quickly retaliated, and before anyone could even think twice about it, a full-blown fistfight had broken out.
Several people began recording and I sat there dumbly, unsure of what to do. Mackenzie and I were frozen in shock, neither of us having moved since Carter initially approached us. Eventually, Jack and Carter were ripped apart from each other and escorted out of the building, then the teachers called off the rest of the dance, claiming that we'd had enough entertainment for the night.
Mackenzie offered to drive me home and I took her up on that offer, not wanting to stay at the dance any longer than I had to. The ride home was short and it wasn't long before we pulled into my driveway.
"Thanks for the ride, Charlie, was it?"
He nodded his head and gave me a small smile, causing me to blush ever so slightly. I hadn't noticed his dimples before, but in the lighting, they were now very prominent.
"Well, I'm gonna head inside, then. Bye Kenzie, and thanks again for the ride." I waved to the pair and made my way up the front porch stairs, unlocking the door and heading inside. It was only nine-thirty so my mom was still awake, sitting on the couch and scrolling through shows on Netflix.
"Hey sweetie, you're home early. Did something happen?" she asked, seemingly concerned.
"Yeah, but it's fine. I'll tell you about it tomorrow, right now I'm just really tired," I sighed, which actually wasn't a lie. I hadn't realized how tired I'd grown during the night. My lack of sleep throughout the week was really catching up with me.
"Alright, goodnight sweetie. Sleep well."
I smiled slightly in return and headed up to my room, taking a quick shower before changing into some pajamas. I was incredibly thankful that school was canceled for tomorrow, especially since I didn't want to get up early.
Once I was dressed in some PJs, I hurried back into the bathroom and brushed my teeth, then settled into bed for what I'd hope to be a good night's sleep.
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New Lookalikes ~
Charlie ~ played by Xavier Serrano