The Cliche Gone Wrong

Chapter Fifty-one

"What do you think of this one?" Asha twirls around dramatically in the floor length dress, emphasizing the ball gown ruffles that flair out from her hips.

I look up from my phone as I take in the sparkling white dress. "Hun, its senior ball. Not your wedding day."

"It might as well be my damn wedding," Asha spins around once more as she gazes over her shoulder into the floor-to-ceiling mirrors, "because either way all eyes are going to be on Femi and me."

I roll my eyes as I look back down at my phone. "Whatever you say, ma."

Asha steps back into the tiny dressing room as she starts to change, the curtain swishing closed as she continues to speak to me. "Shouldn't you be the one trying on all of these dresses? Senior ball is next week!"

I crinkle my nose at the suggestion. "Why would I buy a dress for a dance I'm not going to?"

Asha forces her head out of the curtain, her bare flesh nearly flashing to the other three people in the waiting room. "What do you mean you aren't going?"

"I mean exactly that. I haven't bought a ticket or anything."

Her entire face scrunches in confused anger. "Hasn't your boyfriend asked you to the dance or bought your tickets or anything?"

I chose not to answer her question, instead directing the conversation elsewhere as I look back down at my phone. "I thought we were supposed to be getting lunch? Lunch period is going to end in 10 minutes, we barely have enough time to hit up a drive thru."

"I know you're just trying to change the topic, Ken." The sound of the curtain closing again emphasizes the silence between us.

A few minutes later Asha reappears, her street clothes donning her slim figure as opposed to the dresses she's been trying on for the last thirty minutes.

"The last day to buy tickets is tomorrow." Asha walks over and pulls me up from my seat, looping her arm through mine. "So think of it this way, if Shills doesn't shape up and ask you within the next 28 hours you can always come with Femi and me."

Her offer makes me cringe even more, drawing to mind homecoming last year and the year before where I was sitting on the fucking bleachers watching them grind in the middle of the fucking gym for three hours of my life.

"I'd rather stay at home with the twins," I laugh off the awkwardness as we make our way out of the shop. "I wasn't stressin bout Ball last month, I'm not stressin bout it now."

"Sure you aren't." Asha laughs lightly, although I detect something else in the giggle. "Let's hit up Arby's before we head back to school."

I push off the sinking feeling in my stomach to the back of my mind as I follow Asha to her car. "Yeah, Arby's sounds good."

●●●

The blaring of the final bell shocks me out of my unfocused state. I slowly gather my stuff that is spread over my desk. After tucking everything into my backpack I trudge into the hall, exhausted from an entire day of pretending like I care about anything. As I'm making toward the stairs that will lead me to my locker on the first floor I feel an arm slip around my shoulders and another hand slip into the crook of my arm that is struggling to hold all of my textbooks.

"Were y'all gonna help me carry these books or just make it harder for me to do it myself?" I laugh helplessly as my Econ book nearly slips off of the stack.

Michael scoops it up before it hits the ground, while Femi grabs another book from the pile in my arms as we start to walk down the stairs. "Why do you have all of these books anyways?"