For the Love of Toby.

7.

Marg and Tor suggested on picking me up for the party in Marg's silver Ford Edge but I told them I already had a ride. I was indifferent about the whole thing. All I could think of was how awkward things might turn out in the car with Toby, Madeleine and I. To be honest, I didn't think it was a smart move; getting a ride from your crush who'll be accompanied by his girlfriend? Worst of all, what if Madeleine and Toby end up having more fun conversations about music? What if they had their own jams? What if they had the coolest inside jokes? You know what that would make me? An outsider. My tummy started to rumble and my palms got all sweaty. The dress fit perfectly although, I was sort of worried about the back; My pale white skin would be showing as a result of the décolletage behind. I wasn't very comfortable of my skin. It was too.. White. I complained about it to mum.

"Sweetie, sometimes, you amaze me," mum laughed, "how could you complain about a skin as flawless as yours?!"

"Mum. I look like a freaking vampire," I told her as we both stared at myself through my full length mirror. Mum rubbed my shoulders.

"Baby, there are advantages of looking like a freaking vampire," mum said and she quickly ran off to her room to get something. She was back within 5 seconds.

"This would look perfect on you," mum grinned as she sat me down and applied her lipstick on my small lips. I was considering applying my lip moisturizer so her attempt to 'make me up' kind of pissed me off. When she was done, I walked up to my mirror and lifted my head slowly, ready to receive whatever ugliness I was about to view. Holy shit. My mum's ultra red lipstick had succeeded in transforming me from a 'freaking vampire' into a 'sexy vampire'. It was so RED. I packed my hair into a neat ponytail, revealing my décolletage, and mum sprayed me some fragrance from an almost-empty perfume bottle. I was ready just in time for Toby's horn. I grabbed my cellphone.

"If you're not home by 12, I'm sending the SWAT to raid the whole of Washington for you," mum said as she kissed me gently on the forehead. I whispered 'I love you' and before I knew it, I was in outside the door. I didn't see any sign of a girl in the car so I was wondering whether Madeleine had cancelled on the plan. Toby was leaning against his car and facing my direction as I walked slowly towards him. He looked.. Surprised. He was still static when I got really close to him.

I got to see how he looked in the moonlight. His brunette hair suddenly looked almost as golden as Caroline's. His green eyes were more beautiful than ever and his Coldplay T-shirt couldn't have looked better on anyone other than him. Then, he did that intimidating thing with his eyes again. He gave me a long stare and narrowed his lovely eyes while I just directed mine towards my feet.

"That's a really nice dress you've got on," Toby said, looking me up and down, like he was carefully assessing. I smiled. He liked the dress as much as I did.

"Thank you," I told him and after a few seconds, he took his eyes off and turned around to get into the driver's seat. I wasn't sure whether I could sit in the front with Toby considering the fact that Madeleine was riding with us. I got into the front seat anyway.

"I had to pick you up first; Madeleine wasn't ready," he told me and started the car. We didn't say much to each other on our way to Madeleine's but he did say he wished I looked more like a vampire everyday, like I did that night. There was nothing else that could be said.

We got to Madeleine's and I was surprised to be parked In front of an apartment building, which was, no doubt, still finer than mine.

"Madeleine lives on her own," Toby told me and then horned. I felt it only polite to ask Toby if Madeleine would rather sit In front with him.

"She doesn't mind," was all he said. Madeleine got out after 12 minutes. She was in brown sequined shorts with a black cropped top that clung to her body. She also wore black studded flat boots. Her perfectly flat tummy was exposed, revealing her silver piercing. She had braided her red hair into 2 cornrows and her face was almost without any makeup at all. She looked beautiful. When she got in, she literally brightened up the whole car with her warm glow. Toby started the car.