The days after, leading up to the dance, go by at an agonizingly slow pace. I was disappointed when Evan told me he’d meet me at the school before the dance starts, hoping he’d pick me up, like a real date. I pushed the disappointment aside and decided to focus on having a fun time.
This was my first date to a dance, well, my first date in general. Knowing it was going to be with Evan made me even happier. He had become a friend to me, and I knew it had set a foundation for what I hoped would be something great between us.
My mom took me to three different department stores the weekend before, and we shopped for hours looking for the perfect dress. As soon as I spotted the beautiful emerald-green dress on the rack, I knew it was the one for me. Green is my favorite color and one I knew not many girls would choose to wear.
Kyla and her date, Max, stand outside the building with us. The fall temperatures leaving it a little cooler, but the nerves and excitement rushing through me help add warmth to my body.
“What time did he say he’d be here?” Kyla asks, Max standing behind her with his arm around her waist. She is dressed in a stunning blue dress. The color complementing her eyes perfectly.
“Any minute now,” I reply, clicking the button on the side of my phone to see the time showing ten minutes after seven o’clock.
He is late. With every minute that passes, the knot of worry sitting low in the pit of my stomach tightens.
I didn’t want to think about the likelihood tonight wouldn’t go as I hoped and planned.
Opening the message thread with him, I type out a response. There has to be a perfectly logical explanation for why he is late. Maybe he had car troubles, or maybe he left his corsage at home, thinking back to the beautiful rose Max had given Kyla, sitting on her wrist.
Just as I am typing out a response, a black Escalade pulls up in front of us with a line of people jumping out. My eyes fall on Brix, helping some blonde beauty out of the vehicle. Her hair and makeup flawless, her bright pink dress fitting her like a glove, making her look like a barbie doll.
I thought back to the hair my mom helped me curl. I wasn’t one to normally style my hair. I usually wore my black-framed glasses to school, contacts often made my eyes itch, but for one night, I decided to get through it. Kyla helped me with my makeup. We decided to keep it minimal. I didn’t want to look like I had it caked on.
Following behind Barbie, I spotted Evan sliding out of the back seat. My brows furrowed in confusion, surprised to see him hanging out with Brix and his posse of losers.
It was no secret Brix and I didn’t get along. In fact, for most of my freshman year, he had made it his life’s mission to make mine a living hell. Thinking back to when it all started, I can’t even be sure I can pinpoint what happened or why he picked me as his proverbial punching bag.
But somewhere along the way, Brix decided he hated me and picked on me whenever he had the chance.
“Evan, hey.” I smiled, waving at him to get his attention.
His eyes fell on mine, and I could see the regret on his face as he glanced down at my dress to my shoes and back up to meet my eyes.
What I expected to happen next, I have no idea, but I certainly hadn’t anticipated for him to say nothing at all, which is exactly what he did. He turned, held his hand out to Barbie #2, helping her out of the Escalade. As soon as she stepped out, she adjusted her dress then wrapped her arm around Evan’s.
I wish I could say I stuck it to him. That I called him out on being the biggest piece of crap at Hawk High. Anything.
I didn’t, though. I ducked my head and stepped back, tears filling my eyes and threatening to fall. I managed to keep it together, as each person, one by one, climbed out of the vehicle.
“What the fuck!” Kyla shouted next to me. I should’ve known she would come to my rescue.
Madden, her brother, standing amongst the group, turned to look at her.
“Kyla, why don’t you go find something to do besides follow me and my friends around?”
“Shut the fuck up, puke brains. You and your friends are a bunch of douchebags, you know that?”
Madden doesn’t reply. He simply goes back to ignoring us, like he usually does.
When they walked past us, heading toward the front door of the school, Brix turned his head to me. The side of his lip curling up in a salacious smile, muttering, “Fucking loser.”
His eyes glanced down at my dress, and immediately, I wanted to wrap my arms around me to cover myself up. His eyes traveled down the length of my body before finally falling on mine again. With nothing more than a head shake, he turned his attention back to his date.
“I’m sorry, Ivy,” Kyla said, wrapping her arms around me. Once we’re alone, just the three of us, I tuck my head into her neck and let the tears flow.
With the ache in my chest and the embarrassment flushing my skin, all I wanted to do was leave. I wanted to go home, take off this stupid fucking dress and drown my sorrows in a pint of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.
I wanted to forget Evan. I wanted to forget this dance.
Most of all, I wanted to forget how much I hated Brix Ward.
