It’ll be my future.
And I’m going to live it to the fullest.
TWO WEEKS LATER . . .
“Oh, my God! You look so beautiful,” my sister beams at me as she takes in the navy blue dress I’m wearing.
The dress goes to my knees and elongates in the back, making me feel elegant. I topped off the look with strappy, velvet heels and wore my hair down because Grey loves to run his fingers through it.
“Thanks for helping me pick out the dress,” I say to her as I look at my reflection in the mirror.
For the first time in my life, I actually look happy, free, like myself.
“I’m glad we actually could.” She starts cleaning up the makeup products she brought over. “I was so worried that somehow Mom and Dad were going to separate us again.”
“That’ll never happen,” I assure her.
The sad truth is, I haven’t heard from my mom or dad since the fight. They’ve cut all ties with me like they always told me they would if I didn’t turn out to be what they considered a great person. I tried to call them a couple of times, but after the third attempt, they changed their phone number. I wish I could say that it didn’t bother me, but it does. At the end of the day, they are still my parents, and I’m still their daughter. I wish that could’ve been enough, but like I know all too well, you can’t force people to change. They have to want to, and as of now, my parents care more about their beliefs than having a relationship with their daughters.
“I can’t believe I’m wearing a dress to this,” Willow grumbles as she walks into the pool house.
I eye over her strappy, red and black dress that flows to her knees. “You look nice, though.”
“Thanks, but I still hate dresses.” She sinks down in a chair. “So, how long do you think we’re going to have to wait for Wynter to finish getting ready? My bet is at least another hour.”
“Will you chill out!” Wynter shouts from the bathroom. “I’ll be out in a minute!”
While we wait, I introduce Willow to my sister. The two of them talk for a bit, and then Willow asks me about the wall.
I take great pride in the wall. In fact, I think it might be my most prized possession as of now. Wynter and I actually painted it after eating way too many bags of M&Ms and drinking an entire six pack of soda within an hour.
“What? You don’t like it?” I slant my head to the side, examining my handiwork.
“No, I like it.” Willow moves up beside me, fussing with a strap on her dress. “It kind of makes me feel out of control, you know. Like I could spin forever, yet at the same time, it kind of works as a whole.”
“That’s kind of the point.” I trace my fingers along the psychedelic purple and black lines. “It kind of reminds me of us in a way. We’re all different, but when we’re together, we just sort of work.”
“Aw, Lu, that’s so sweet.” She tears up a little, which is super weird for Willow.
“Oh, my God! You don’t need to cry about it,” Wynter says as she overdramatically whisks out of the bathroom, dressed to impress in her floor length, shimmering white dress that matches the diamonds in her ears. “I said I’d be ready in a few minutes, didn’t I?”
“She wasn’t crying over that,” I tell Wynter. “She was crying over the wall.”
“Oh.” Wynter looks guilty. “Sorry, Wills.”
“It’s okay,” Willow says, fiddling with a stud in her ear, “just as long as you do one thing for me.”
Wynter picks up her clutch from the bed. “And what’s that?”
She grasps the black and silver pendant of her necklace. “Stop bugging me about what happened with Beck.”
“I’ll stop bugging you when you admit that you guys did more than just dirty dancing.” Wynter sits down on the unmade bed to slip on her heels.
Willow crosses her arms. “How many times do I have to tell you that nothing happened?”
“You can tell me a million times, and I’ll never believe it.” Wynter gathers her dress, stands up, and admires her reflection in the mirror. “You two have been acting way too awkward around each other.”
“We have not,” Willow fires back.
“Liar.” Wynter shuffles for the door.
The two of them walk out, bickering, but hush when we reach the pool where the guys are waiting for us on the lounge chairs, dressed in tuxedos. The sun is sparkling in the sky, and the air smells better than it ever has
“You look so adorable,” Wynter muses, taking the three of them in. “Like little teddy bears.”
Beck mutters something under his breath, Ari shakes his head, but Grey ignores her. His gaze is fixed on me as he stands up and meets me in front of the hot tub, just out of earshot.
“You look beautiful.” He grips my waist, hauls me to him, and seals his lips to mine.
“So do you,” I say when we come up for air. “Or, I mean, handsome. I’m not sure guys like to be called beautiful.”
He chuckles. “You can call me whatever you want when you look like that.” With our fingers entwined, we return to the group. “My mom made me promise that we’d stop by later so she can take some photos.”
“My sister’s going to take some now,” I say, resting my head against his shoulder.
He steals another glance at my dress again. “Yeah, but I think she just wants to see you in your dress.”
I find myself smiling. I met Grey’s mom and sister a week ago, and they might just be the sweetest family I’ve ever met. They care about each other, and for some crazy reason, they seem okay with letting me be a small part of it. They have to know that I was kicked out, though, since half the town knows. But Grey assures me they don’t care, and they like me.
His mom even helped him decorate the pool house with hundreds of lilies when he properly asked me to the dance. Wynter gushed over it for days, and I don’t blame her. It was kind of a magical day and helped erase the bad memory of when I asked Grey to the dance. Plus, the bed even still smells like flowers, which helps me fall asleep each night.
After taking a ton of photos, I say good-bye to my sister, and then the six of us head for the limo Beck rented. It’s parked in the driveway next to Grey’s car. He’s been working with his uncle to fix it up and while it still has a very rustic look to it, it’s not as dinged up as it was a few weeks ago. He’s mentioned a couple of times that he might sell it once it’s finished. I feel bad that he might have to get rid of something his father gave to him, but hopefully, the present I’m going to give him tonight will make it easier.
Before I climb into the limo, I snag Beck’s sleeve and steer us away from the group, ignoring everyone’s questioning stares.
“Did you bring it?” I ask when we’re far enough away from everyone.
Beck hitches his thumb over his shoulder, pointing at the limo. “I put it in the front seat so you can get it whenever you’re ready to give it to him.”
“Thank you!” I loop my arms around him and squeeze him tightly before skipping back to the group.
“What was that about?” Grey asks as I duck into the limo.
“I just needed to ask him something away from everyone else,” I say as I slide into the seat beside him.
I can tell he wants to say more, but he doesn’t press. Grey never pushes me to tell him stuff when he can sense that I don’t want to. Almost always, though, I end up telling him.
As we drive toward the school, we sip on champagne while Beck and Wynter argue about where we’re going to do afterward.
“My place has the bigger television,” Wynter says. “We should go to my house.”
“Why the hell would we watch TV on prom night?” Beck retorts. “Do you know how lame that is?”
“About as lame as watching sports every stinking day,” Wynter quips with a sassy bob of her head.
Beck’s head bobs back as he heaves a sigh. “It’s going to be a long night if she keeps going like this.”
Thankfully, for Beck’s sake, Wynter gets distracted from arguing with him the moment we pull up to the school. We pile out of the limo one by one, and then everyone heads for the entrance. I catch Grey’s arm and tow him around to the front of the limo.