Ultimate Sacrifice - FINISHED

Chapter 12

ALISON

I take my dress out of my closet. Everything else is done. My hair looks exactly like I pictured it. My mother's earrings look beautiful with the angel neckless. Mom did my make-up and made it look natural. She helps me to put the dress on and I can see tears forming in her eyes. I put my shoes on. "You look beautiful," she says as the tears roll down her cheeks. "Thank you," I say and walk to the full-length mirror in the corner of my room. I gasp when I see my reflection. The dress makes my eyes look even bluer. The dress hugs my body in the perfect way. "Let's go show the others," Mom says. I carefully walk down the stairs to the living room. Dad and Derek are waiting there. "You look stunning," Derek says when he sees me. Dad is speechless. "Aren't you going to say something?" Mom asks Dad. "You look beautiful, Alison," he says. "When will Adam be here?" Mom asks. "He'll be here any moment now," I say.

ADAM

Drew, my cousin, stops in front of the house with his Mercedes. It is one of the newest models. I didn't have to beg too much to get him to lend me the car. I didn't want us to go in my car. He walks up the driveway and I open the door. "You clean up nicely," he says. I look down at my suit. It is a normal black suit with a white shirt and a blue tie. Alison told me I had to wear blue somewhere. My hair is neatly combed and my black shoes are polished. "Thank you. Come in," I say. He walks in and hands me the keys. "Please be careful with it," he says. "I will," I say. Dad appears in the room. "Enjoy the evening. Just be back by midnight. You're working tomorrow," he says. "I'll try my best," I say. I look at Drew. "Thank you for the car. I owe you big time," I say and walk towards the car. I can't wait to see how Alison looks. I carefully drive to her house and stop in the driveway. I get out of the car and walk up to the front door. I ring the doorbell. Mrs Matthews opens the door. "You look handsome," she says. "Thank you," I say. She leads me to the living room. Seeing Alison leaves me breathless. She looks incredibly beautiful. "You look incredible," I say to her. I can see her cheeks turning red. "You don't look too bad yourself," she says. I walk over and give her a gentle kiss. Her parents are watching. "We have to take pictures before you guys leave," Mrs Matthews says. She positions us on the stairs with me a step above her. I hold her around her waist. Then we have to do a few family pictures. There is one with Alison, Derek and their parents. Then Derek takes a photo of Alison and I with her parents. After a few minutes we are done with the photos. "We have to get going," I say. "Take care of my girl. If anything happens to her you will have to deal with me," her father says. He doesn't sound like he is joking. "I will take good care of her," I say. All of us walk out of the house towards the car. I see Derek's shocked expression when he sees the Mercedes. Her parents hug her and then I open the door so Alison can get in. We drive towards the venue. "Where did you get the car?" she asks. "I borrowed it from my cousin," I say. I look at her again. She looks gorgeous tonight. When we arrive at the venue I find a parking spot. Alison reaches to open the door, but I stop her. "There is something I want to do before we go in," I say. I take the box with the bracelet out of my jacket pocket. "This is for the most incredible girl in the world," I say and hold it out to her. She takes the box and opens it. She takes the bracelet in her hand. "It is beautiful. I love it! Thank you so much," she says and hugs me. I help her to put it on. It looks perfect with her dress. "Let's go have the time of our lives," she says. I get out of the car and open her door. We walk towards the red carpet arm-in-arm. When we get there I can see the guys staring. They can stare, but I am the lucky one with her by my side. We stop for the photographer and then we enter the room. The decorations look incredible. There are fairy lights hanging from the ceiling to the walls. The entire room's tables are covered in red and black. There are candles across the room and lights are shining onto the dance floor. A waitress hands both of us a drink. We search for our table. On our way over we greet our classmates discussing how good everyone looks. We find or table and take a seat. I look at the nametags around us. I have to double check to make sure that I saw correctly. Michael is sitting next to Alison. I can't forget what he said to me earlier. "We'll just ignore him if he bugs us. We won't be sitting the whole time anyway," Alison says. She is right. I won't allow anyone to ruin our night. The room fills up quickly. The principal walks up to the stage and positions himself on the pedestal. "Good evening ladies and gentlemen. The girls look stunning tonight. I can see the guys made an effort too. I know you don't want to listen to long speeches tonight. The buffet tables and dancefloor is waiting. I just want to thank everyone who came tonight. I would also like to thank the teachers who are chaperoning," the principal says. The rest of his speech is about studying hard for the exams and to enjoy the remainder of high school. The entrée is served. It is a chicken salad. I look at Alison's plate after I finish mine. She ate all of it. So far so good. If she eats enough of the main course I will know that she is okay. "The buffet is now open. You can eat, dance and chat for the rest of the evening," the principal says and music starts playing. "Let's get some food at the buffet," I suggest. Alison agrees and we get in line. My heart still beats out of my chest when I see how beautiful she looks. She looks a little bit pale, but it can be the lighting as well. When we get to the front I let her go before me. She takes a reasonable amount of food. I take food for myself and we sit down. We eat and chat for a few minutes. She looks even more pale now. "Are you okay? You look pale," I ask. "Yes, I'm just a bit tired," she says. I think it is something more. "Just tell me when you want to go home. If you don't feel well let me know," I say. She takes my hand. "I will," she says. "Do you want to dance?" I ask. "I would love to," she says and gets up. When we reach the dance floor I take her around her body. She is very thin. She puts her arms around my neck. We dance. The music pulls me in. The moment feels so good that I never want it to end. We move across the dancefloor as the beautiful music fills the room. There are couples around us, but I am only aware of Alison. She is the only person I want to be dancing with now. "You are a very good dancer," Alison says. I blush at the sudden compliment. "My mom taught me how to dance when I was little. We used to dance every Saturday when I was under 12. Then it became awkward dancing with my mom," I say. She chuckles. "My dad taught me. He and my mom did ballroom dancing for years. He taught me how to dance and my mom taught Jake and Derek," she says. The song stops and we stop dancing. One of the teachers walks onto stage. "Voting for prom king and queen will end in half an hour. Please get your votes in as soon as possible," she says and the music starts playing again. We vote and head back to our table.