The truth she held inside

18

     Outside of the venue, people dressed so elegantly roam around, saying goodbye to their parents and finding their dates.

"Hey guys, we are gonna take some pictures before we go inside, you wanna join?" Reese calls out to the three of us.

Roni give me a look and I know exactly why she is giving me this look but there is not time for questions.

We say goodbye to my dad and walk over to Reese and her friends.

"You guys look so pretty." Kalia squeals.

"I love those dresses, they look really good on you." Reese calls out after Kalia.

"Thank you." All three of us thank them at the same time and return the compliments.

We pose for about thirty pictures before walking in. Arthur was already inside, chatting with some kids in our grade.

"Woah, you ladies really clean up." He instantly regrets the words that comes out of his mouth.

I laugh at his words, not being offended by any of it.

They serve everyone dinner before they move the tables to reveal the dance floor.

Once they start playing our favorite songs, everyone was out on the floor. I see Remi dancing with a few kids and all I could think of is how Steven was fooled by his own family member. She isn't dancing with Lucy so I assume they aren't on speaking terms. After my little thought of Remi, I forget about all of that non sense for the night.

Arms are up in the air, bodies are moving everywhere I look, everyone is screaming lyrics as loud as they can.

This night is pretty amazing.

It's half past eleven and this magical night is officially over. I didn't realize how hot the venue was until I walked outside and the cool air hit my face.

Ronnie took her shoes off and Ava took her hair out of the bun it was in. Ava and Arthur went home with their parents while my cousin in I head to my dads car.

"How was it girls?" He looks as tired as he sounds.

"Good."

"Great."

We are zombies at this point. My dad laughs at us because he can clearly see that we just want to sleep. Back at home, it's pretty quiet. Mom and Malia are asleep which is strange for Malia because she's usually a night owl.

I stripped down, took a shower, and got right in the bed. When I laid down, it's like some of my tiredness faded away. I posted a few pictures on snapchat, just like everyone else and I instantly see that Steven is typing.

I don't need him to ruin this night but I am curious as to what he has to say. At this point, I feel like I won't ever be able to look at him the same. I want to be able to go to him when I need to talk or when I just want to be around him.

Now, all I can think about is what his cousin will do next to make sure Steven and I don't last. It hurts and all of this drama makes me realize how much I do like Steven and I don't want anyone to get in the way of that. I feel as if this is a test and I'm failing miserably. In the future, if someone were to come between me and the guy I'm with, I shouldn't automatically give up just because things got tough.

I'm torn, my thoughts are spinning, my heart is racing. I don't know what to do.

"You looked beautiful tonight, I'm sorry I wasn't there." His message read.

My heart is already trying to jump out of my chest.

Do I stand my ground or give him another chance?

Why does this feel so difficult?

"Thank you." I typed and threw my phone across the room.

The throw wasn't hard enough to break my phone or even make that much noise. I don't want to see his response right away, I might actually wait until morning but the anticipation eventually gets to me.

I only wait about an hour to even go near my phone. It's pretty late but I don't feel tired anymore, I'm actually wide awake.

"Are we ever going to fix things between us?" His text read.

There it is.

That is exactly what I've been waiting for.

I type then hit backspace about a million times. I am actually speechless. I have so much to say though.

"I want to but I need time. Things won't be the same that  memory of you and your cousin almost ruining my night will always be there."

Although I want to forgive him, I don't give him an easy way out of the mess that was caused. We were just friends anyways, I think I should reevaluate this situation. I do have a right to be mad at him but to a certain extent. If I was his girlfriend, it would have felt way worse because my boyfriend would have left me last minute to go to the dance alone.

In this case, my friend bailed on me the last minute, potentially ruining any chances of us actually being a real couple. Maybe it's good this happened, I learned a lot about Steven from this.

"Going without you did hurt but I had amazing friends who were there for me. I want to be mad at you but I always give my friends second chances. We've been friends since the beginning and I want to continue that." I hesitate sending this.

It takes a while for him to send his text. I wish I could pause time, relaxing a little before continuing with this conversation.

"What if one of us wants to be more than friends?" 

My insides turn.

"What if one of us don't want to rush this?" I don't like rushing relationships, especially not with Steven.

"Then, I will wait. I will continue getting to know you, I will be your friend, I will fix this mistake and any other mistakes I make down the road. Please don't give up on us."

"I won't."