Oh, Heather

Chapter Thirty-three

The filtered rock music blared through the speakers as large groups of seniors and juniors flooded the floor. The teachers who were chaperoning the invite were walking around with drinks in their hands, not paying any mind to the students. The punch was the center of both tables, surrounded by many appetizers. There were a ton of people, but not one of them seemed to be Jada. She could have easily gotten lost in the groups but they were near the entrance, she would’ve seen them if she walked in, and they would’ve seen her. Mia, a girl in Heather’s chemistry class, walked through the door, sliding the sleeve of her jacket through her fingers. She walked in with 2 cheerleaders, the only two who weren’t helping set up. One of the girls was wearing a red dress that fell just above her knees with sleeves that cut off at her elbow.

It was a v-neck lined with a thicker fabric that created a flap over the top of the dress. She had half of a gold heart locket that brought out the stripes of blonde in her hair. Taylen was the second cheerleader, but you could barely recognize her with the bright yellow dress she was wearing. It was off the shoulder and had short, ruffled sleeves that stretched across the top of the dress. The dress was quite long and curved out at the bottom, slightly revealing the white heels Taylen was wearing. She had her hair up in a tight ponytail with the front strands of her hair pulled out, putting all the focus on to the second half of the necklace.

Mia was wearing a long, sparkly, light blue dress that was the same shade as the balloons. The slim straps of the dress were covered by a white jacket that clearly didn’t belong to her. Her dark brown hair was curled and kept gently over her shoulders. Both cheerleaders were greeted by their dates and split off from Mia. She walked around, continuing to mess around with the sleeve of her jacket. Heather glanced around the room a few more times, looking around for Jada, but she couldn’t find her. She had asked Jada about an hour before prom started if she needed a ride but Jada had never answered. Was she even coming?

“Heather,” Leo said, pulling her out of her trance.
“Yeah?” She replied.
“Jada is coming, right?” He asked.
“Supposed to be. I texted her earlier and asked if she needed a ride but she never answered me.” 
“Don’t let that stop you from having fun, she’ll be here soon enough.”
“What if she doesn’t show?”
“Oh trust me, she’ll show. Jada loves dances, she’ll never admit it, but she does.” Miley said.

Heather smiled, bringing her attention to the groups of students. She knew Jada wasn’t here yet, but she continued checking the crowd, hoping maybe she missed her. Mia walked through her line of sight, grabbing the hand of someone Heather recognized. She had been here for almost a year, but she didn’t know the names of that many students. She watched the guy pull Mia into the crowd, taking her jacket and placing it over the back of the chair he pulled out for her. Heather watched her play with his fluffy brown hair and he helped adjust her jacket, but it wasn’t until he brought his attention to Heather when she realized who it was.

“I feel so bad for her.” Heather mumbled, forgetting about where she was.
“For who?” Leo asked.
“Oh, sorry I didn’t realize I was talking out loud. But I’m talking about Mia, look who she’s sitting with.”

Miley and Leo moved around Heather. searching around for Mia.

“Is that Oliver?” Miley asked, wincing in disgust as she brought her attention to Heather.
“Yep.”
“She’s too pretty for… that.” Miley frowned.

Heather laughed, holding her hand over her mouth when a group of kids gave her a weird look. The gym doors opened with a loud push, causing the three of them and everyone near the door to look over at the door. Jada had walked in, wearing the dress she had bought and a pair of black heels. She walked calmly over to the three of them, adjusting her hair. Her hair was done into box braids with curls at the end, a look she had never done before but pulled off really well.

“You should wear dresses more often.” Heather said.
“Nice try, not gonna happen.”
“I agree, you look good.” Miley smiled, shooting a look at the large crowd of students dancing.
“No,” Leo said, “We aren’t dancing.”
“I didn’t say anything.” Miley said, shooting her eyes up to Leo.

“I saw you looking over there. We aren’t dancing.” 
“I think we should.” Jada said, turning her head over to the makeshift dance floor.
“I’m sorry? Did Jada Anderson just agree to dancing?”
“Well we’re at our senior prom. And all of us know I’m not getting into college, so this is my last dance. Plus,” She said, wrapping her arm around Heather’s waist, “I have someone to dance with. If you want to, of course.”

Heather swallowed the lump in her throat, staring awkwardly between Leo and Miley.

“Uh yeah, I do. Not sure how good of a dancer I’ll be in heels, but I do.”
“Great. So, let’s dance.”

Jada took her arm from Heather, sticking out her hand to lead Heather to the dance floor. Miley and Leo gestured her to go with and she grabbed Jada’s hand, following behind her. She stumbled in the heels but Jada was walking just fine, she didn’t stumble once. Just as they stepped into the crowd, the DJ played a slow dancing song, turning on his mic and giving a speech about how important your senior prom was. Heather wasn’t paying any attention to his speech, she was focused on Jada. Her smile, her eyes, her hair, her dress, her. She was beautiful. When he ended his speech, he started the music back up, pulling Heather back to where they were. Jada smiled down at Heather, placing her hands gently onto her waist. Heather wrapped her arms around Jada’s neck, taking deep breaths as they moved, trying to focus on the music. As the music began to fade out, Jada lifted Heather up slightly, pressing a small kiss against her lips.

“I like you, Heather. Like, really like you. I was a jerk when you first got here but I wish I could go back and change that, maybe this could’ve happened quicker if I wasn’t mean to you, or maybe that’s why this happened. Either way, I’m glad we’re during this and I wanted to know,” She said, pulling Heather back over to Leo and Miley, “Will you be my girlfriend, Heather?” She asked.

Heather’s eyes widened as she realized what just happened. She blinked a couple times before shaking her head, bringing her focus back to Jada.

“I will.” She smiled, struggling to give an answer.

Jada placed her hand gently on the side of Heather face and the other hand on her waist, pulling her up for a kiss. Heather wrapped both her arms around Jada’s neck, letting her keep her balance. Her soft hands moved to the back of her neck as Jada deepened the kiss, pulling away after a few seconds.

“Well, that was not how I expected prom to go. But I’m happy for you two.” Leo said.
“Thank you. But why did we have to leave the dance floor for this? We could’ve walked back over here after you asked.”
“I don’t know actually, I just did I guess.”

Heather chuckled, pushing her hair behind her ear. The next 2 hours went by quickly, the four of them got photos from the photo booth, then Jada and Heather took some with only the two of them. None of them wanted to test out the food, but the punch was pretty good. It was about 3 by the time everyone made it home, and they were all exhausted. Heather slid off her heels as soon as she got through the front door, skipping to her room with the heels in hand. She tossed them into her closet, changing into a more comfortable set of clothes. She took the two photos she got from Jada and Her, Jada got the other two, and pinned them on the corkboard with all her photos on it. She took the photo she got from all four of them and pinned it to the board, smiling at the large range of photos she got from just 8 months of being here. She walked into her brother’s bedroom, quietly tip-toeing behind him before picking him up swinging him in the air.

“Sissy! You’re back!”
“Yeah I am.”
“Did you have a good time?” Alyssa asked, walking into the room.
“Hey mom, yeah I did. I had a great time.” She replied, putting Corey back onto the bed.
“Did you dance with Jada?” She asked, leaning against the doorframe. 
“Yes I did. And she asked me to be her girlfriend.” She replied, trying to hide the excitement in her voice.
“Oh, Heather,”

She ruffled Heather’s hair, spinning around on her heel and walking back into the living room.
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Finally!!