The Mix (short story)

The End

 I’d called Draiden the night before to accept his offer, and to my surprise, he seemed genuinely happy to be going to the dance with me! Bryce had made good on his promise to get Zander to go with Julie, and we’d decided to double.

        I couldn’t help but feel a little guilty at the thought of Bryce being left out. He was such a good friend to me, and he honestly would have made a nice date, and maybe, if he had asked me earlier, I would have said yes.

        Julie showed up to my house before everyone else so we could talk excitedly about our dates and get ready together. I didn’t talk about Bryce and neither did she, but knowing Julie, she’d probably already given Bryce the antidote. Surely I was the last thing on his mind!

        But why did that make me so sad?

        I pushed away my thoughts of Bryce and tried to focus on Draiden. I thought of his beautiful eyes, and his luscious black hair…

        Wait…what?!

        No! This was all wrong! I was going to the dance…with Draiden! Draiden! The love of my life! This was no time to be thinking about Bryce, and how shiny and thick his gorgeous black hair was.

        Suddenly, the doorbell rang, saving me from the wrath of my thoughts, but causing me to nearly stab myself as I put in my dangly, silver earrings.

        “I’ll get it!” I called out, nearly sprinting down the stairs, in my shiny blue dress, and sliding across our hardwood floor in my pantyhose. I practically slammed face first into the door, but somehow managed to slow my momentum just enough to dull the thud. I took a deep breath, steadied myself, and opened the door.

        “Hey Dra-,” but it wasn’t Draiden. It was Bryce.

        He stood there on my doorstep, looking stunning in a black suit and blue tie, that seemed to match my dress perfectly.

        “Hi,” He said sheepishly, looking me up and down, “You look really pretty, Em.”

        “Thanks,” I said a little too breathlessly, “You too.” He gave me a funny look, “I mean, not pretty! You look…um…” paused trying to gain some composure, “Will you excuse me for a minute?”

        Without waiting for his answer, I stepped up the stairs and back into my room, where Julie sat in front of my mirror, finishing up her make-up.

        “What is he doing here?!”  I exclaimed, in a half whisper.

        “Well,” said Julie, not looking up at me, “Since you rejected him, I thought maybe it would be sweet if he came with us, since we’re going as a group.”

         I sighed. She was right, as usual.

         The doorbell rang again.

     Once again, I hurried down the stairs, moderately slower, but found that Bryce had already answered the door. Bryce, Zander, and Draiden all sat in my living room, not saying anything to each other. To my delight, Draiden’s face lit up when he saw me. He stood and walked over to me.

        “Dang Emma,” he said, “You look hot.”

       I wasn’t really sure how to take his words. Hot? No one had ever really referred to me as “hot”. I wasn’t sure if I was comfortable with it or not.

        “Thanks…” I said hesitantly. Draiden grinned.

       Suddenly, Julie walked down the stairs, looking nothing short of beautiful. She’d picked a green, ruffled dress that complimented her fiery hair perfectly. She studied Draiden and I intently.