One Night

The One Where Christmas Wishes Come True

It was the Wednesday before Christmas and today had been our final day at school, meaning that this evening was the annual Christmas Ball that St. Bernadette and St. Francis Xavier jointly held. Every year, the junior and senior boys and girls would join forces and we'd each be assigned partners for the entrance and the traditional first dance.

Our schools didn't have that many students, seeing as they're Catholic schools, and each class had a maximum number of pupil enrollment. Each grade only had fifty students, and each place was filled so that for occasions like this, there were no odd numbers.

Partners were chosen at random by the Heads of Class, the staff members assigned to oversee each grade. Our names are written on small pieces of paper and are picked out of a hat, meaning we could end up with anyone. The worst part, however, was that we wouldn't find out who that anyone is until we step out on the stage and are escorted to the Ball.

That moment was just under an hour away and I still wasn't ready to leave the house. I'd spent most of the afternoon getting ready, and yet, I was running behind. My mother had coaxed my hair into an up-do that was elegant and she'd applied my make up for me, because I'm useless at those things, but having to get into my dress was entirely up to me.

The dress was made of soft touch green satin and it had an open back that was crisscrossed with the thin straps that would hold up my dress. At the front it plunged slightly, but seeing as I'm rather flat chested, it hardly showed anything in that department. It took fifteen minutes to work out how to get into the dress and then it took another five minutes before the straps were sitting comfortably and that I could fasten up the zipper.

My accessories were gold, with the clutch purse and shoes matching. The earrings were delicate drop earrings that I loaned from Mom and the tennis bracelet had been the one that Elliott had bought for me as a Christmas gift. It was not, however, the one he'd bought at the mall when we went there together. I'm not allowed to receive that until tomorrow night, even though he's received his.

I forgot it in his car that night after our epic date marathon and the super inquisitive Elliott Anthony decided he was going to peek inside. He went completely crazy for his gift.

Once I was happy with my appearance, I made my way down to the entrance lobby of my house, where Mom, Dad and Jackson waited alongside my grandfather. They all stopped speaking when they noticed me descending the staircase slowly and the smiles they wore made my heartbeat race. Mom looked so happy, as did Dad, and Jackson and Grandpa shared a look between them before they fist bumped each other.

"Peyton," Mom managed to say before she collapsed in a flood of tears.

"You look wonderful, darling," Dad noted, walking towards me to give me a kiss on the cheek. "Elliott is a very lucky young man."

"As long as he knows not to mess with her," Jackson added in a threatening tone before he smirked at me. "Looking good, sis."

I blushed at all the compliments, especially the numerous ones Grandpa offered me, and quickly posed for photographs once Mom had composed herself enough. As part of the Christmas Ball, family were invited, and it was customary that fathers escorted their daughters into the Ball before they handed us over to our partners. It was tradition and if there's one thing St. Bernadette and St. FX reveled in, it was tradition.

Dad and I rode together in one car, while Jackson drove Mom and Grandpa. As we made our way to the Ball, I could feel my father's eyes cast over to me every once in a while, almost like he wanted to say something, but never really opening his mouth to speak.

"You okay over there, Dad?" I asked, taking the chance to start the conversation.

"As long as you're happy, I'm good," he answered with a small nod. "Just... don't rush into anything with Elliott. You made Markus your everything and you lost so much. I don't want you making the same mistake again."