From Then to Now

Chapter 6: The Cotillion

I wake up early the day of the cotillion. As I look at myself in my mirror I can image me dancing with Mason. I go downstairs to find everyone else in the kitchen.

"Morning sis." Kate smiles.

I smile back and sit at the table. Mason hands me breakfast and sits down next to me.

"Hey Kate? Do you think we could get ready together?" I ask.

She smiles and hugs me from behind because I'm sitting in a chair.

"We will look fabulous." She says.

I smile and nod. After breakfast I decide to pamper myself. I run a hot bath and get in. I soak for a while letting the smell soak into my skin and then I shave. I am washing my body when I realize I can't reach my back.

"Kate?!" I call.

No answer. I sigh and think of my options. Ryan- absolutely not. Mason- don't know him well. Matthew- dating Kate. Michael? It's the only option I have.

"Michael?"

There is a glimmer of hope when I don't hear anything for a few seconds; and then my door opens. I sigh and hear him call me. I bring my legs up to my chest so everything is covered and then call him in. He comes in and when he sees me, he looks at the ceiling.

"Can you get my back?" I ask.

He nods and walks over. I hand him the rag and he starts washing. He starts from the back of my neck and goes down. I hear him gasp and I give him a confused look.

"What's this scar from?" He asks, wide eyes.

I mentally facepalm myself and clear my throat.

"That is from the day we met." I say, simply.

It's his turn to give me a confused look.

" When we were pushed to the gutter, I landed on a beer bottle." I explain.
"I am so sorry!" He exclaims.

I giggle and shake my head.

"No, trust me. I would rather have a scar than be dead."

He gives me a small smile and finishes my back.

"Michael." I say, biting my lip.
"Yea?"
"I was serious. This scar just shows how far you went to save me and for that, you will always be my hero."

Michael's POV
I had never understood why Wren never left me alone and for once in my life, I do. The rest of the day, I can't keep my mind off her. Not even when Mason is talking about how much he likes her.
"You okay?" Matthew asks me.
"Yea. Fine." I answer, never looking at him.

By the time we are getting ready, my mind is completely blank. I get in my normal suit while Mason gets in his cream and pink suit to match Wren and Matthew gets in his cobalt blue and black tux to match Kate. We all walk downstairs and wait for the girls. I can hear their mom, as well as mine, up stairs helping them. My mom comes downstairs smiling.

"Come on down girls." She calls.

Kate comes down first so I can't see Wren. And when I finally see her, I silently gasp. She looks beautiful. The way her eyes pop and the way her up do hair style frames her face. I can tell Mason is thinking the same thing by the way his blue eyes light up. I sigh and realize I lost my chance the day I wrote that note.

Wren's POV
I walk downstairs and smile at Mason, who is matching me. However I can't seem to stop looking at Michael. His big brown eyes are sparkling and he looks extremely handsome in a suit. I resist the urge to mess with my hair and stand next to Mason.

"We ready?" I ask him.

He nods and we say goodbye to our moms. All five of us leave and I am really excited, but for some reason I have a bad feeling at the pit of my stomach. We walk to the park it is held in and go straight to the giant gazebo.

"You think they have enough food?" I ask, sarcastically.
"No." Kate answers seriously.

Then I realize how many people have arrived in the last few minutes. I even recognize a few people from past visits.

"Let's dance." Mason says as an upbeat song starts.
"Can you jitterbug?" I ask.
"Can I what?" He asks back.

I laugh and we walk to Kate.

"Hey,do you know any guys that can jitterbug here?" I ask.

She points to two guys that I recognized from last summer. I grabb her hand and we walk over to them.

"Hey, do you guys wanna dance?" I asked.

They nodded and we got on the dance floor. 'Hand Jive' starts and I smile. We walk on to the dance floor and begin to dance with the others around us. People do cool tricks and we copy them. I laugh and we continue the dance. He picks me up and I do a back flip. We start to do the jitterbug. Everyone's cheering and clapping. The song ends and me and Kate walk over to the others.

"When did you learn that?" Mason asks shock.
"My parents taught us and now we do it every year at the cotillion and dances." I shrug.

A slow song comes on and Kate follows Matt on to the dance floor.

"Shall we?" Mason asks, wiggling his eyes brows.
"We shall." I laugh in a fake posh accent.

He laughs and we walk to the dance floor. I look at Michael and he is asking a girl to dance. I feel a ping of jealousy runs through me but I shake it off and turn my attention to Mason. He puts his hands on my waist and I put mine on his neck. He pulls me closer and I bury my face in his chest. We sway to the music and he spins me around. As the song comes to an end he backs up and his face gets closer to mine. I realize what he is doing and move my face.

"I'm sorry, I thought you liked me." He says.
"I do , I'm just not... Ready for that." I reply.

He shakes his head and I ask him what.

"Nothing." He mumbles.
"Tell me." I beg.
"Would you 'be ready' if Michael had tried to kiss you?" He asks.

I let go of him and back up.

"You can not use that against me! You have always known how I feel about him!" I say, angrily.

He scoffs and tears run down my face. I start walking towards the street and he calls me. I continue walking and ignore him. I run down the street and don't look back. I don't know how, but a few minutes later I am on the beach with my heels in my hand.

"Kathwren!" I hear another voice call.

I turn around and Michael is running towards me.

"What do you want?" I ask, wiping the tears from my eyes.
"What happened back there?" He asks.

I look at him and he looks concerned.

"Mason tried to kiss me and when I refused , he brought up you." I manage.

He looks at me, confused and I chuckle sarcastically.

"He asked me if you had tried to kiss me if I would have kissed you back." I explain.
"What was your answer?"
"I told him he couldn't use it against me. He has always known how I felt about you. That will probably never change."

He messes with his hair and let's out a sigh. I see a bench and sit down.

"If you had answered the question, what would the answer be?" He asks, softly.

I turn towards him and his eyes go from mine to my lips. He leans in and I automatically copy his movement. Our lips meet and I feel sparks. The kiss is sweet, but passionate. We separate and I look down.

"Does that answer your question?"

Hello! So I am obsessed with this chapter! Anyways, thank you for reading and I hope you like this book so far.