New Dawn

Prom Night

AFTER NAHUEL AND I TALKED ABOUT THE VERY

mysterious girl he had kept from me, things became better between us. We made plans to go on the Florence trip together and my parents agreed to it. They were excited that I would be traveling with someone but when we were booking hotel rooms they made us get rooms with two beds, which didn't bother me. The anticipation for the trip to Florence and the excitement for my senior year of high school seemed to speed up time instead of slow it down. Junior year moved faster than the past two years and before long it was April and prom was coming up, along with Nahuel's graduation.

The only downfall with the year were my relationships with the guys from La Push and Eli. Seth still texted me from time to time in order to check in on me but I never saw him or any of the others. I missed their calming presence and fought with myself on whether or not to stop by and say hi. It took all my self control not to see them. I had to keep telling myself that if they wanted to see me, they would come say hi or give me a call but they never did. And I deserved their cold shoulders. Nahuel had been extremely

rude to them and he had scared Eli half to death, yet still I forgave him. It was hard to remember why or when I made the choice to forgive him but I remembered that I had forgiven him, so I didn't fight it. My choice had lost their trust and I could understand that. I remembered being okay about it but I didn't feel okay – I felt empty inside.

It was hard for me to stay in Forks and away from my friends. Gradually I was able to become more comfortable with Nahuel and was less irritated by him. The more time I spent with him, the more lost I became in my thoughts and memories. He was all I could seem to think about and eventually all my thoughts of Seth and Embry grew faint and all but disappeared. Nahuel was my main focus – my main reason for living.

When the day of prom finally arrived, I was more nervous than I had ever been before. Cassidy and I had planned to get ready together and Nick and Nahuel planned to pick us up at her house for dinner. Cassidy had become a close friend when Eli stopped returning my calls and dodged me in class. Cass was a lot of fun but she wasn't the typical person I saw myself being friends with. She was more into beauty and living in the moment, while I enjoyed sitting back and observing. None– the– less, I always had a lot of fun with her. She was spunky and full of energy.

As I pulled into her driveway, my stomach began to knot as my nerves got the best of me. I wasn't sure how tonight was going to play out and Cass was more modern when it came to physical relationships than I was. She was happy to take the next step with Nick and was even happier to tell me about it. There was always one thing I could count on when I was with her – I didn't have to say much, which was nice. My goal for the night was to keep her thoughts from sexual topics.

Cassidy swung open the door, "Come in Lydia."

Taking a deep breath, I stepped through the doorway. "How're you doing?"

"I'm great. I was just upstairs gathering up all my makeup and hair stuff. I still haven't decided how I want my hair or what way my eyes would look best. You're going to have to take a look and see what you think. You have the best taste when it comes to clothes and hair and makeup. I don't know where you get it. It must be that California girl inside you."

"Let's go take a look."

Gleaming, she pulled me through her hallway and into her parents bathroom. "My mom said we could use her room. It's way bigger and there's a lot more mirrors and stuff. My parents are gone for the night so we won't have to worry about them coming in."