Make My Way

Chapter Twelve

Aria's POV

My lips hit his hard. It may be reluctant but it was still real. I hated myself for this, but I hated Easton more. We were on the floor in Easton's room. They said they wouldn't watch but I could feel eyes on me through the crack in the door. The worst part was that Easton wouldn't let us put our clothes back on so he was only wearing underwear and I was in black leggings and my push-up bra. I felt my skin against his. We moved together in a way I hoped we never would have to again. After a while, we broke apart and there was a scrambling at the door as the others tried to get back to their spots before we came out.

Easton and Stella were stifling giggles and Blake and Xavier were sitting on the couch talking. I could tell that it had been Easton and Stella watching and not the other two, but I could see the discomfort on Blake's face. I shook my head and ignored them. I sat on the couch next to Blake and rested my head on his chest, trying to forget the last few minutes.

It was midnight so everyone but Blake, who was sleeping over, decided to to leave. I hugged Blake and thanked him for tonight. Stella and I got in our cars and drove out to her house in the country. I parked outside and went into the kitchen. We popped some popcorn and went downstairs. Since tomorrow was a school day, we promised ourselves that we would only stay up until 3 AM at the latest. We turned on the movie "The Fault in Our Stars" and snacked on popcorn. Neither of us said anything about the game.we talked for a little while before going to sleep.

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As we were walking into school the next day, I realized something. "Stella, I have like two weeks to pick out a homecoming dress and order it in time."

She looked at me with an expression like it was obvious. "Duh," she said. In past years, I had either gone with friends or with my boyfriend so I had gotten a dress in advance, but I hadn't been planning to go this year so I hadn't even looked. I'd do that later. When we got to band class, we found out that we weren't going to be playing, it was a study hall.

I went and sat down in my spot and pulled out my phone. I went to amazon.com and started looking for dresses. Stella sat down next to me. Xavier came up behind her and whispered something in her ear. She shook her head with a disgusted look and whispered something back. A few other people gathered in my general area and we started a conversation. "I like blue eyes," Josh said randomly.

I looked at him, confused and he repeated himself saying, "I like blue eyes. And blonde hair. You three," he gestured to Stella, Lila and I, "all have blonde hair and blue eyes."

All three of us gave him a puzzled look and then turned away. "Josh, I'm going to feel your hair."

He looked at her funny and said, "Okay...."

She put her hand on his head and moved it back and forth. "It's so fuzzy! Josh, you are literally a cute little giraffe."

"Thank you?" I felt his hair too. It was softer than I expected, and very fuzzy. He pushed up his glasses. Xavier who was sitting next to Stella, ran his fingers through his own hair. And I felt the weird, sudden urge to feel his hair too. I ran my fingers up the back of his hair and he groaned in pleasure.

"That feels really good," he said.

"I know." Something Adrian had told me in eighth grade was that it felt like heaven to a guy when a girl ran their fingers through the back of their hair. I stood up and walked over to Blake. I stood next to him and reached up. I ran my fingers through the back of his hair and he made a similar sound to Xavier. His hand moved to my lower back and I leaned against him.

Across the room, Paisley and Quinn were talking with Grace. Quinn nudged Paisley and jerked her head towards us. Paisley shrugged and called me over.

"Are you and Blake dating?" she asked.

"Well, we're going to homecoming together. I think maybe we are but honestly I'm not sure," I said.

"Oh. I think you're cute together," Quinn said.

"Thanks. Are you guys going to homecoming?" I ask, wanting to take the focus off of me.

"I am. Jasper asked me. We're not dating though. It's just for homecoming," Paisely said.

"I'm going, but only because I'm a cheerleader," Rori said.

"That's okay. That's what Stella's doing as of right now. What about you, Grace?" She shrugged in response. I rose my eyebrows and smirked, wanting to know more.

"She's going with Kyle. You know, the extremely loud, I think is obnoxious trumpet player over there," Paisley said, speaking do her. "They've liked each other for a while now, but wouldn't act on it until now."

"And Quinn?" I prodded.

"Nope. I'm single as a Pringle."

When I finally stopped laughing, I reassured her, "That's okay. You can just go with friends. You don't actually need a date."

She shrugged and sat down. I shook me head and returned to my friends. I looked at a few more dresses and found one I absolutely loved. It was black with lace sleeves and a cutout in the front and back.

I showed the picture to Blake and he shrugged. We decided he would wear a silver bow tie and a black shirt to match. I showed Stella the picture and she freaked out. "OMG! I love it! It's perfect! We need to go shoe shopping together." After I calmed her down, we talked about after homecoming.

"We should have a small party. Like not everyone, just our friends and their dates," I suggested.

"That's a great idea! We can do it out at my house. My parents won't care. It'll be so fun!"

For the rest of the period, we worked out details about the party.

I had no doubt that this would be the best homecoming ever.