Never Say Never (Completed)

Fifteen {Meet Me In The Hallway}

Staring into the mirror in front of me, I swallowed hard and met the blue eyes of the woman behind me. "Maybe I should just go home."

Chelsea pushed herself up from her bed and touched a hand to my bare shoulder, smiling. "Stop it, Charlotte. You look absolutely stunning. You'll fit in perfectly."

Tearing my eyes from her, I caught our reflection in the full length mirror in front of us. Chelsea was wearing a body-hugging black dress that fell just passed her knees and stilettos to match. She'd spent a little over an hour curling her dark blonde hair, and it cascaded like a beautiful curtain around her face and down her back. She'd put enough makeup on to enhance her already extremely acute and beautiful features, but not enough to change her completely.

But the girl beside her wasn't me. Mrs. Grace had insisted I put on a full length burgundy gown. Unfortunately she must not have realized just how short I was, because a lot of the gown dragged across the ground, trailing after me like Navi did when she wanted snacks. Chelsea had pinned my hair up in a hairdo that was some weird mix of a French braid and a messy bun, but looked elegant and sophisticated. Against my protests, she'd also done my makeup, and had gone all out on me.

"Chels, can you help me with the ti—" Bryan threw the door open without knocking, his fingers fiddling with the red die in his hand, the words quickly dying out when he found me standing directly in front of him instead of his older sister. She shot me a pointed look before quickly tying her brother's tie on and patting his shoulder.

"I'm not going to be here forever, Bry. You need to learn how to do that on your own." She winked at me over her brother's shoulder, earning a blush out of me as I dropped my gaze. I'd spent the last three hours with her, but had felt so at ease that it was almost as if I was sitting with Stephanie in her bedroom. I felt as though I'd known her for years.

Bryan straightened himself, smirking. "You're actually a girl. Who knew?"

"Ass." I mumbled, grabbing a handful of the silky material so I wouldn't trip over it on my way to the door. "Remind me again why I'm doing this? And what's with the color coordination between us? Why is Chelsea wearing black and not red too?"

"Because you're Bryan's date." Mrs. Grace answered before her son could, stopping just outside the door in the hall. "And you're doing this because it'd beneficial for your future, Charlotte."

I was sure my face was as red as my dress. I hadn't meant for her to hear what I said, and having to nod and look her in the eyes, I felt like a small child. She flashed a toothy grin before heading down the stairs, her dress a dark, navy blue. But like her daughters, it was on the shorter side.

"You need help?" Bryan still wore his usual smirk, but he was watching after his mother with a bitterness shining in his eyes. "At least they didn't force you to wear heels."

I thought about denying the help, but reconsidered and grasped Bryan's bicep, allowing him to lead us both down the beautiful spiraling staircase. I couldn't help but feel as though I was a princess for a moment. The whole staircase and me coming down in a long, beautiful dress made my inner child scream in excitement a little. As soon as we reached the bottom of the stairs, though, I forced the feeling down and looked toward Mrs. Grace in front of the door. Bryan dropped my hand so it felt limply at my side and turned his attention to his mother.

"Well, we better get going. Wouldn't want to be late, would we?"

*

As soon as we pulled up to the banquet hall, I swallowed hard and could feel my anxiety starting to reach its peak. I reached for my handbag, tempted to call Ian and have him come get me. But I knew better than to try and talk to him right now. He'd been furious when I'd told him where I was going tonight. Lucas had been the middle man and was able to calm him, but he had very clearly told me not to call him begging to come home.