Tears of July | √

11. Starlight

Chapter 11

Three days, twenty hours and five minutes.

That was how long Lyle and I hadn't talked since the party.

It was the longest and most agonizing fight we had ever had in the history of our friendship. After thinking through about all other things, I decided not to talk to him first. And the truth was; I was actually having a hard time doing so. He had tried to talk to me the past few days, but of course, I ran to Zara instead and avoided him all throughout the days. He would call for me though, and every time I didn't look back, it made me feel as if I was stabbing my own heart. And each time I laid my eyes on Lyle, I felt as if the world was zooming only to one focus;

Him.

I still had a few minutes before eight, and Nathan was coming to pick me up. Probably hiring a limo, or bringing in his shiny BMW. Honestly, I didn't want him to since I was quite okay with just riding in a horse, even. But of course, he insisted. Adjusting my eyes to the transparent contacts I was wearing, I stared at my reflection in the mirror.

I didn't really look like me anymore. I looked like the soon-to-be seventeen Cassandra Hale, if that had made any sense.

As soon as I told my mother about the prom thing, she freaked out as to why Lyle wasn't my escort. I told her we had a little misunderstanding, and nothing more. She thought it was cute because, maybe, definitely, probably, Lyle was jealous.

As if.

I twirled around in my knee-length Alice In Wonderland inspired dress that my mother had designed for me. It was a bit rushed, but since my mother told me it was finished, I wore it with confidence... And maybe, that confidence was just going to reach living room. See, I wasn't really much of a fan of dresses and other girly shit, but the party and that night's event were exceptions.

Because that night, I had promised myself I would have a good time.

Sighing, I ran my hands through the silky soft puffy light blue skirt and fiddled with the huge ribbon wrapped tightly around my waist as a design. The ribbon matched with the color of my skirt too. And my upper torso clothing was laced with navy blue ribbons. My high heeled shoes matched the navy blue color of the dress, and my blue eyes flashed widely like a street sign. And to top it all off, I wore a blue headband that honestly made me look like the thin line between Alice and a middle school kid.

I let out a laugh at thinking how silly I felt. I mean- the dress was good, but my very first prom made me feel jittery and all that.

Putting on a dark shade of lipstick, I noticed some of the bruises Amber gave me were still showing. I put on a bit of powder to hide the bruise on my cheek, and covered the other one on my arm with my long and soft (for the first time) brunette hair. I was thankful mom let me put on make-up myself since I didn't want her to find out about the bruises. As the chorus of Friday by Rebecca Black boomed from my speakers, a knock came on my door and in came my mother, her eyes shining with excitement.

"Hey." she greeted in a nonchalant tone and leaned behind my door. I turned off the music and gave her a nervous smile. "How're you feeling? No, wait, don't answer that. I know how you feel to attend your very first prom. It's weird, isn't it? The last time you wore a fancy dress like this was when you celebrated your twelfth birthday, and now here you are- standing in front of me, looking like a princess and a China doll I can't touch because you're so pretty and-"

She stopped when I hugged her tight, the bruise on my arm protesting in pain. I hadn't hugged my mother in months, but I knew she was about to cry since she talked too fast. And I didn't want to start the night by seeing my mother cry because I was growing older now.