Paint Me - S.M

20. Never Let You Go

11 November 2017, Friday

"Hales, Felicity wants to see you, Jor and some other Juniors in the auditorium foyer for a bit," Malia notified us as she settled into her seat next to Nat and Suri. I nodded, shooting a small smile towards Shawn.

"Go ahead. It doesn't start so soon anyways," he reassured and just as I was about to leave, he grabbed my hand and kissed the top of it softly.

"Why do your hands always smell like vanilla cupcakes?" He asked, mildly puzzled.

I laughed at his expression on his face, one eyebrow tweaked in confusion. "It's hand sanitizer and lotion from Bath and Body Works. I could get you some," I teased before strutting off to meet Felicity, my dorm monitor, with Jordanne. We both met each other's eyes and shrugged. It was the last few days of school. What would Felicity want to speak to us about? Regardless, we marched out to the foyer where she was waiting for us, a few other girls had already crowded round her.

Felicity's smile was almost as bright as her light yellow dress that sparkled with faux (or maybe Swarovski) jewels, it complemented her skin tone really well. I hoped I didn't look like a mess considering my skin was dark and my dress was a pale baby pink. I stroked the soft skirt for some much-needed reassurance.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

"Thanks for meeting me here girls. Sorry for such a short notice but Mr Corden just notified me that he wanted to seal the year off on a good note and he would like all of you here to star in Waltington's end of year video. It will play right after graduation, once Mr Corden has delivered his Dean's Speech," she paused for dramatic effect and most of us were already letting out small squeals of excitement. "All you girls need to do is write out a short message of two to four lines on this card for me to check. We'll record later in the night near the light up photo booth. Here's the cards, hurry! There's only three minutes til doors close!"

I scrambled for those note cards and a marker. Wow! I was going to be in the year end video, not every student gets the opportunity to be in those. Sure, students from the media club will interview at random but so far, I have never been chosen. I cannot believe Jor and I will be in this year's video, I know it sounds super lame and childish but I suppose I went from literally having five friends to about fifteen. And I could truly show my appreciation to all the teachers and staff here at Waltington.

"Hurry, Haley!"

I quickly scribbled down as much as I could in about 30 seconds, thrusted the card in Felicity's direction and dashed for the doors.

As we ran in, I could almost feel the happiness and satisfaction radiating off Felictity. But I also could feel some sort of bad vibe rolling off her, not her directly because...she's more than just my dorm monitor, she's my friend, she's like a big sister to all of us and I know she would never do anything to harm me. I was sure of myself, Felicity was on my side.

The bad vibe was most likely emitting from a very cross looking Erin McAllister who sauntered in a second after I did.

I seriously did not get this girl and her problem with me, we have never ever held a conversation for more than a minute yet she always has it out for me. And I constantly wondered why there was always this peculiar glint in her eye.
...
Jordanne barely sat in her seat when Mr Corden and Ms Jordina burst out from behind the closed curtains of the mini stage. The crowd clapped and cheered politely for their favourite couple on campus. Ms Jordina looked absolutely stunning with her dark hair curled into perfect ringlets and her flaming orange dress going well with her dark skin. What a look. Bless Mr Corden.

He was wearing the classic black suit but with an orange bowtie to match his wife's dress. Mr Corden looked like he belonged at the Grammys or Oscars. The couple looked amazing.