OUR OBLIVION | BELLAMY BLAKE

FIFTEEN| close your eyes

Around five o'clock the next night, there was a loud knock on the door as my dad and I watched TV in the living room. I slowly got up from the couch and walked over to the door. A few moments later, it slid open to reveal Archie. He was standing there with the stupidest grin on his face. 

"Hey, Archie. What are you doing here?" I asked as I gave him a weird look. 

He glanced over my shoulder at my dad, whose eyes were glued to the TV. He leaned closer to whisper, "I'm here to get you ready for your big date tonight." I opened my mouth to object, but he cut me off. "And before you try to protest, you should know that I come bearing gifts."

I noticed that his hands were behind his back, and he had that look in his eyes that said he was about to give me something that either would make me want to hug him or punch him.

My eyes widened as he finally revealed what was behind his back. I looked in shock at what was in his hands, "Is that really what I think it is?"

Archie nodded, "I saw it at the trading post yesterday, and I knew you were the only one that should wear it. I'm sure your mom would have wanted you to have it."

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. In Archie's hands was the dress my mom wore on her first date with my dad. She had shown me it so many times and said that she would give it to me on the night of my first date. It was a beautiful, yet casual royal blue and even though the color was slightly faded, it still looked perfect to me.

"Archie... This is amazing. I can't believe you actually found it. I thought it was lost."

He shrugged, "I know you don't really like dresses, and you don't have to wear it, but I just figured-"

I cut him off by wrapping him in a friendly hug, "Thank you so much. I don't know what I did to deserve a friend like you."

He pulled away from the hug, "And also if Bellamy ever hurts you, I will end him. No one messes with my best friend."

I ruffled his brown hair, "Thanks, and I'm willing to beat up any girl that ever gives you trouble."

I stepped back from the doorway to let him in, and after he greeted my dad and we all sat down to finished watching the basketball game my dad had on (which there was no point to watching since the game ended over one hundred years ago) I began getting ready for my date with Bellamy.

Was it normal to feel so...jittery? My insides felt like they were going to explode as I pulled on my mom's old dress while Archie searched through my closet for shoes that matched. Some people always assumed Archie was gay because of his huge interest in clothing, and his ability to sit through girl talk and gossip. Plus, he was able to give his input like he really was one of the girls.

But, contrary to people's beliefs Archie was a huge ladies man. He was a complete flirt with girls he liked, and girls liked him just as much. I had just never thought of him in that way. Maybe it was because we had been best friends basically since birth. I was only three days older than him, and I had literally never gone a day without seeing him. I was pretty sure our parents had a very embarrassing picture of us as babies taking a bath together. I considered him my brother.

It was illegal to have more than one child on the Ark because of oxygen issues, so no one ever knew what it was really like to have a sibling, but I had gotten as close as you could get. No matter what, Archie would always be family to me.

"How about these?" Archie asked as he pulled out a pair of black wedges from my closet. "Do you know how long it took me to find both of them? Your closet is disgusting and very unorganized I might add. Have you ever heard of color-coordinating?"