Forever & Always

Chapter 35

The day finally came that all seniors in high school either dream about or dread: prom night. You either hate the idea because it means you have to dress to the nines just to be with the same group of annoying ass people you see every other day of your life, or you relish in the idea because maybe, just maybe, it will be as magical as everyone tells you it will be. Well, as most things in life, it's all in how you make it. 

My mother was a human waterfall. She was tearing up at every move I made, making comments like "My little girl is all grown up" and "Where has the time gone?" and at least fourteen other statements that all started with "I remember when you were little and you would...". And despite the numerous eye rolls, deep sighs and grumbles I sent her way, she piled it on like she was shoveling snow. If I wasn't already nervous enough, I had to be strong enough for the both of us because God knows, she wasn't holding it together. 

We had all agreed to go to Shane's house to get pictures taken. I had gotten ready really early so that we could get to his house and allow his mom and my mom to cry together instead of me having to fight this war alone. When we pulled up to his house, knocked on the door and Mrs. Wolfe answered, it was like watching my mom's reaction all over again. 

"Oh my God, Riley, dear," she gasped, looking me up and down. 

I smiled, but inside, every part of me cringed. I hated attention or eyes being drawn to me for any reason. However, and this was probably the only time I would say this: I knew I looked good. When I put my dress on that morning and looked in the mirror, even I, the master of self-deprecation, had to admit that your girl looked GOOD. And that was even before I did my hair and make up!

"Mom, pull it together," I heard Shane's voice from somewhere inside the house. Mrs. Wolfe rolled her eyes and stepped to the side. 

Shane was standing in the kitchen, but could see us from where he was standing. He had everything on but his jacket, but he looked... indescribably handsome. His hair was styled so casually yet so refined and his suit looked tailor-made for his body. It made him look like James Bond or something. I would try to be classy, but that's not me, I'm sorry. All I kept thinking was DAMN!

His eyes widened and lit up with that familiar childish gleam and a smile worked its way across his lips when we made eye contact and his eyes looked me over. 

"Wow," he let out almost in a whisper. 

I blushed a little and chuckled. "I have to say, this may be the first time I have ever seen the great Shane Wolfe at a loss for words."

Mrs. Wolfe ushered my mom and I into the house and we all went into the kitchen. Almost immediately, Shane grabbed my cheeks and kissed me gently. 

"I can't even begin to describe how beautiful you look right now," he said to me.

I chuckled. "You don't clean up to bad yourself, Mr. 007," I said, running my hand over the fabric of his shirt. "Holy shit, is that silk?" 

He laughed. "No," he replied, "but its funny, it seemed like just the other day you were talking about how in my picture I looked so refined, but it didn't fit my personality, yet, here you are looking the picture of sophistication and without fail, you have the vocabulary of a sailor."

I laughed and rested my hand on his shoulder. "Oh, honey, you could dress me up from head to toe in diamonds and pearls," I said, "but nothing is going to change the fact that 'shit', 'fuck' and 'fuckery' are my favorite words."

It didn't take long before everyone from our group was present and accounted for. Sara and Adam showed up not long after my mother and I did and they looked really good together. I said 'hi' to Adam when they walked in. I still felt kind of bad that I had to turn him down, but seeing how happy Sara was confirmed that I did the right thing. Sara had gone with a black dress, so to offset the color, Adam had opted with a white jacket, and it worked really well for them.