Photo Booth Queen And The Not So Cinderella Not So Story

6 feet deeper

"What did I just do?!?!?" I whispered to myself, quickly deleting the messages and sitting down the phone. Yessica casually strolls into the room. She can read the worried look on my face.

"What's wrong?" She asks concerned.

"Nothing," I quickly blurt out. She rolls her eyes detecting my lie, I need a better lie than that. I take a deep breath and smile sheepishly, " It's just that I don't know about this party."

"It'll be fun, I promise." She walks over pulling me into a hug. Then it dawned on me, Yessica would be put in the middle of all this mess that I created. Maybe I should just not go to the party- but then Kole would wonder why Nel didn't show up and I already replied. I'm in too deep now.

"You're right." I act encouraged.

"Good. Now could you zip me up in the back?" Yessica turns around holding her long hair. She has on a black crop top that zips up in the back, bright blue high-waist pants and black heels. All of her hair is straightened completely, which is a challenge to do- for her. I zip up the shirt for her, while she applies lip gloss and fixes her bangs.

Nellie walks in dressed in short jean shorts and a creme blouse-type shirt while sliding her foot into her brown sandals.

"Ok, I'm ready." Nel says while fixing her wand curled hair and wiping off any smudged red lipstick.

"Let's go then." Yessica smiles. Yessica is all for parties, all day, every day.

About 30 minutes later we pull up to the house. Colorful lights flash around the dark house as we could see through the windows and the music was so loud, we could feel the bass in the car. We got out and Nellie's phone was on silent but I spotted the glowing red dot signaling a text message.

"Hey, Nel let me take your picture." I say snatching the phone  and quickly reading the text while turning the phone horizontal, to seem like I was taking pictures. The message was from Kole:

     "The attic is by the upstairs balcony."

"One..Two..." I dragged out the numbers to buy some time. I deleted the message and went to camera, "three." I said finally breathing. Nellie giggled.

"That was weird." She grabbed her phone from my hands. We walked into the crowded house where Yessica had already slid off to when we got out of the car. We strutted into the kitchen.

"Chips and dip?" Yessica asks with her mouth already full. We all laugh. Nellie looks a little disappointed.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"Nothing," she pauses, "it's just that Kole promised he'd be here and he's not. Should I call him or text him- yea, I'll text him."

"No!" Yessica and I scream in unison. Nellie looks scared and confused

"No, don't do that. You don't want to come off as worried. Boys care when you don't. " Yessica says waving her hands around.

"But he does care. I think." Nellie says unsure. I feel so guilty. Maybe if I go talk to him first. Yeah, if I go tell him maybe we can find out a way to tell her.

"But you're not sure, so why risk it? Just party it out. It'll be fine." I say before turning to fight through the crowd.

"Where are you going?" Yessica grabs my arm.

"Bathroom." I lie.

"Ok. Do you know where to go?" Nellie asks.

"I kinda wanna do some sight seeing, so I'll find my way. " I hide my guilt.

"Ok. Be careful and hurry back." Nellie smile.

"Don't worry I'm sure Kole will be here and if not I'm here for you." I say truthfully because despite everything she is still my friend. Nellie pulls me into a hug. I walk away and scurry up the stairs. Going down the long dark hallway, I spot the balcony doors and an upper door leading to the attic. The problem is getting up there. I can't see anything.  The only light is when the strobe lights occasionally blink in my direction. Timing the lights, I mange to pull down the string- by standing on a wooden decor table. The old ladder creaks as I climb it but due to the loud music it's unnoticeable. Once I'm in the attic, I pull up the ladder. I look around for a light but I don't see one, I would use my phone but- you know. I stumble over something I can't see.

"Nellie," Kole's voice appears near me but I can't see him, "it's dark and my phone is dead. Put your hand out and I'll lead you to the booth."

I froze. All this anticipation of being with him and I freeze- right here in front of him. His hand grabs me and drags me left. I try to speak but I can't.  I can't even find the words to say.  We reach the booth and sit on the bench and he closes the curtains.

"So I wanted to talk to you," he freezes and then continues, "I am really sorry for what happened- I'm not going to be seeing her anymore. I just want you."

"I can't!" I accidentally say out loud and jerk away, hitting a few buttons on the machine but before I can move any further he grabs my face and pulls our mouths close enough to feel his minty breath creep across my lips. I can't do this to Nellie but I can't move- and in this moment I see everything. I see the very first moment I met Nellie. When we first met Yessica. The first sleepover we had. When Yessica died her hair. All the trips to the mall, movies, restaurants, and amusement parks. At this moment, to me, I crossed the line. This was crossing the line. I feel like a part of me died.
He pressed his lips against mine and- despite the huge hole of my heart and life- it was everything that I'd imagined. His lips were soft and it left a tingle when he pulled away.

"What was that," he questioned. I turned my head in confusion. Was I trying to hard- I actually wasn't trying at all, "That was different... I like it."

I could feel his face move closer to mine he continued to kiss me. As magical as it felt, all I could think about is the great times that Nellie and I had. I pulled away quickly. I felt tears fall down my cheeks. I got up and started to run away.

"Nellie!" Kole called but I kept running until the music drowned him out. I wiped tears left and right running down the stairs. I knew if I ran into Yessica or Nellie, I wouldn't get away. I pushed through the huge crowd of people pressed against each other, keeping my head down. I go out the front door and I end up bumping into a guy on the phone, completely spilling his drink on the both of us.

"Sorry." I yell distressed.

"Wait-I'll call you back," he doesn't wait for a response he just presses the end button, "are you ok?"