The night is cold and gloomy, but when I wake up, for a second I think I'm back in New York with my mom.
I sit up and stretch my arms, letting out a loud yawn.
When my feet touch the hardwood floor, I shiver and let out a grunt.
As I walk across the hallway towards the steps, I hear someone laughing and once I reach the bottom and see who it is; I'm almost speechless.
"Candice?" I question tiredly towards the girl sitting on the brown couch next to Justin. Each with their own cup of coffee.
"Maggie!" She screams in a high pitched tone that makes me wince. She puts her coffee down on the small coffee-table and rushes over to me. She wraps her long arms around me tightly.
She made me feel at home again. As if we were still 12 and best friends for life. Mom and I would sometimes come up to visit Justin and somehow she just appeared in my life, making every second better.
"I'm so sorry about your mother." She says and hugs me even tighter.
"I missed you." I say and can't help but smile.
"I missed you more." She says loudly and I pull away as Justin walks over with both of their coffees.
"Can I join?" He jokes and she gives him a playful look
"No, she's mine now" Candice demands and I laugh.
"And you're going to the Ball with me."
She commands
"Ball?"
"The biggest social gathering of the season! It's 3 days from now. All the hot guys are going..." She exaggerates then winks
"Oh, they still have that?" Thinking back to the days when I helped my mother pick a dress. She nods with an excited expression.
"Oh what a shame, I don't have a dress.."
I continue, hoping she'll let me off easy
"Don't even think about getting out of this one, have you ever seen my closet?"
She insists and I roll my eyes looking at Justin.
"I fully intend to stay by my little sister the entire time, especially with Candice around." He warns sarcastically and stares at her. She sticks her tongue out.
"Can't help it, girls just wanna have fun." She says and he snickers as he turns away and heads up the stairs.
Candice and I sat down on the couch, she invited me to dinner with her family at her mother's new Italian restaurant. I couldn't say no.
Then I head upstairs with Candice following me. We go into my room and she picks out an outfit for me:
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