TANGLED PLANS

31

It doesn't take me too long to get ready. I slip on my dress and then get started on my hair. I had gotten a hair tool that was perfect for my hair and have been using it since. I put my hair in a half-up, half-down style with braids from the sides. The rest of my hair is curled down, and I have kept the curtain bangs in my face.

Once I'm done with my hair, I start to do my makeup. I kept it all the same, instead adding glitter to my eye shadow and attempting to draw an eyeliner. Once the liner doesn't look good and I'm tired, I wipe it off and just stick to more glitter.

I'm done with my makeup in under fifteen minutes, and I look in the mirror. I looked good, but my cheeks were too rosy, which I had dabbed away with my fingers. Once it's settled into my skin in a natural way, I wash my hands and then moisturize my skin. Once that's done, I put on jewelry, which consisted of a bracelet and my mom's favorite pairs of earrings.

I tried not to think about how she told me I could have it in the doctor's office a few days after her passing. Instead, I take the earrings and think about all the love they have witnessed in my mom's life. Once I like my presence in the mirror, I grab my phone off the charger and a purse.

After I finish with everything, I check the time to find that I need to go. Opening my door, I welcome the quiet sound of my family downstairs. I walk down the staircase that has walls on both sides, and then, as I get to the bottom part, I look forward to finding a set of eyes watching me.

Brown eyes that were so much brighter than normal met mine for a split second before trailing down the length of me. I try not to slip on my heels as I walk down the rest of the stairs. Max's eyes come back to my face, and I find that his lips are slightly parted as he takes me in. My body warms up at his look.

After the almost kiss, Max had gone back to treating me the way he used to. He came over to our house but never spoke to me instead of greeting me. Even when I was downstairs in the kitchen and he would come in for a drink of water, he wouldn't make conversation. Or look at me. I think that in the past two months of us spending more time together, I have gotten used to the way he looks at me.

It was different than the one from our earlier days. Max looked at me with a softness in his eyes that I couldn't place then. I missed that. I missed it when he used to look at me.

The almost kiss had ruined the tiny thing that we had worked on. It made sense why Max had pulled away—I had a boyfriend. He couldn't kiss me if I was with someone, and I had a feeling that he couldn't kiss me unless he wanted to be more with me. I saw the regret in his eyes when he started cursing. I saw that he knew he shouldn't have even leaned in toward me.

I just wish that I knew what I wanted. I wish that I knew if I wanted to have a relationship with Justin or Max. I didn't know what to do, and that was the scary part. Truthfully, I was still having trouble wrapping my head around the fact that Max had even glanced at my lips for a second. I didn't think he would ever do that in his lifetime.

Max's eyes leave mine within a second, and he puts a hand out to slap the back of Justin's body. It dawned on me then that the three boys were in conversation before I came down here and that Max had been the only one to look at me. The other two were busy talking amongst themselves.

"Next season," Justin finishes off his conversation before turning his head toward me. When his eyes do a quick glance at my figure, I tell my body to heat up in the way it did with Max. No feelings come over me even as Justin licks his lip.

"Daisy, you look so pretty," Justin compliments as he heads toward me. He places a hand on my shoulder and pulls me in for a quick hug. I'm facing Max during the hug, and as soon as our eyes meet, my body comes alive again. I needed to do something to contain my feelings. I couldn't go out to dance with someone while having feelings for another.