You All Along

Chapter 17

SONGS FOR THIS CHAPTER

Why don’t we GO There (One Direction)

Wherever You Are (5SOS)

Strong (One Direction)

All of Me (John Legend)

I would (One Direction)

DNA (Little Mix)

The River Flows In You (Yiruma)

Layla’s P.O.V

The things they say. I took of my clothes and went in to the bathroom to shower. I took a break from my usual lavender and vanilla shampoo and used the brand new rose scented shampoo and cleaned the grease out of my hair and lathered some sea water shower gel all over my skin. 20 minutes under the intense pressured water was all I needed to start off my spirits for the dance. I towel dried my hair and put on a pair of clean, new undergarments. I pulled on an old nightgown before calling my mom and Mrs. Chance up to my room. I sat on the settee and took out all my styling equipments.

“Calista went back home to give Jeff the tuxedo. She’ll be back in a while,” mom said as she laid my dress and shoes on my bed. I nodded and unlocked my phone to see a message from Jeff:

* A TUXEDOO?!? You didn’t even tell me you’re getting one! You wasted your money on meL. Jeff sad. *

It read.

“I suppose Jeff got his tuxedo already. He just texted me that he is mad at me,” I told my mom and giggled. I replied Jeff:

*Too bad baby. You’ve spent SOO MUCH ON ME! Payback! Just wear it. Nothing else! Lol. I’m really excited for the dance. Thank you for calling me! And I’m getting ready, so I’ll say bye now. See you later Jeffyy! BYEE! J *

“He literally screamed at me for agreeing to give him the tuxedo. He said you shouldn’t have bought him one,” Mrs. Chance said, entering my room and shutting the door gently behind her. I smiled at her and my mom and Mrs. Chance stood behind me staring at my pale reflection on the mirror. “So what are we doing today?” mom broke the silence. “Lovely choice with the dress there Layla. So if its white, I brought some white hair extensions or we could highlight your hair light brown. Which do you prefer?” Mrs. Chance asked.

“I just washed my hair so I don’t think I have time to dye it and wash it again. So the extensions maybe?” I said more like a question and she handed me the extensions. It was more of pretty silver than white. I nodded enthusiastically and she grinned. My mom set off on blow drying my hair as I just sat there playing with my finger tips. Mrs. Chance was making sure my dress was fixed and proper. After blow drying my hair, Mrs. Chance fixed in the extensions at random spots on my hair. Not to boast, but I really liked the way the extensions looked with my brown hair. My mom suggested I curled my hair a little, to give an elegant look or something so I just nodded because she obviously knew more about make up than me. Soon my hair was curled slightly at the bottom together with the extensions, and was pulled into a low bun that looked like a flower with loose ends hanging here and there. I instantly fell in love with my reflection.

“I say, you could go light on the makeup. You look perfect just the way you are,” Mrs. Chance said. I rolled my eyes at her way of saying too much make up won’t look good on me. My mom and Mrs. Chance took turns on applying all kinds of make up on my face. I wasn’t allowed to see the mirror because they wanted it to be a “surprise”. I felt a black tip lining my eyelids, and a soft brush caressing my cheeks. A soft brush stick ran over my lips and it tasted like flowers. I shouldn’t have tasted it but I did. I had tiny pearl pins stuck on my hair while mom said she’ll fix my hair a little. I had half hour before Jeff would be here to pick me up. I was left alone in my room to change into the dress and shoes. I carefully stepped into the dress, trying really hard not to mess up my hair or my makeup. I successfully zipped the dress and let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding, god knows since when. I opened my door a little and peeked outside to see my mom and Mrs. Chance talking very softly downstairs. “Mom, I’m ready,” I called out for her, softly. Mrs. Chance waved at someone in the living room and ran up the stairs and caught up with my mom.

“Oh my god. Layla, darling. You look amazing,” Mrs. Chance said, as my mom just stood there teary-eyed. Both of them hugged me, tight and held me at arms’ length. “Who’s down there?” I asked, suddenly recalling Mrs. Chance waving at the stranger. “Oh yes. Jeff’s already downstairs. And he’s wearing the tuxedo you gave him. He’s extremely nervous and has been checking his reflection for the past fifteen minutes,” mom chuckled. I smiled sheepishly at the idea of Jeff being nervous. I slipped on my shoes and grabbed my new purse and cell phone and took a deep breath before taking a step down the stairs.

Jeff’s P.O.V

She bought me a tuxedo, which she didn’t mention to me about. I don’t like her spending money on me. I’m the man here and I should be doing that. But I love her and the tuxedo so I’ll stop with my ranting. I showered very quickly and put on the tuxedo which fitted perfectly. I sprayed so much perfume that I almost choked on the smell itself. I was careful not to crinkle my suit and carefully put on my socks and shoes and grabbed the keys to the car my uncle agreed on letting me use for tonight. I don’t want my baby riding with me in a stuffy car or I’m not letting her drive today. I had to talk myself out of being nervous on the short drive to her house. I knocked on the door, and took a step back. I didn’t know what I was expecting until I saw Mrs. Young open the front door. “HI! Layla’s getting dressed! Come in!” she chirped and pulled me into a hug. “Oh! Someone has gone crazy on the perfume!” she chuckled. I just smiled and walked towards the sofa. I hesitated to sit down or just walk around to calm my stupid nerves. “Come on, Jeff! I don’t think Layla herself is nervous as you. You’re just going for a dance. Calm down,” my aunt said. Just a dance. I guess no one had any hint of what my plan for today was. This wasn’t just about the dance. I’m going with Layla. The girl of my dreams. She’s not just anyone. She’s Layla. I nodded at my aunt and muttered an okay when I heard the door upstairs creak open. My heart beat stopped when I heard Layla calling out for her mom. I almost ran out of the door when my aunt waved at me to sit down. I heard talking upstairs, when I heard the door open again, and involuntarily I stood up and checked my appearance in the mirror one last time before Layla came down the stairs.

____________________________________________________________________________________

I shut my eyes tight, and talked myself out of not stressing myself out. “Jeff?” her voice snapped my little world into half and I swear my mouth would have dropped to the floor if it was made of rubber. She stood in the dress we bought a few days back but she looked perfect. I stumbled over my words before I could say “Hey”. She smiled at me, and I had to suppress the urge to just kiss her full lips. I took sudden interest on my shoes and just stared at the ground with my hands in my pockets. I could feel her eyes burning into me, and I almost melted at her intense gaze. “Shall we?” I gave her my hand which she gracefully took. “One moment! We haven’t taken any photos. We need photos if you too are going to get married in the future!” Mrs. Young said as she took out her cell phone and directed the lens at us. Layla and I didn’t even roll our eyes at the mention of our marriage and that was a first. She slid her arm with my elbow and leaned in to me, smiling at the camera. I stood awkwardly, my hands on her waist, sending chills up my spine. After a few shots, I lead her out to the car, and waved a goodbye to Mrs. Young and my aunt. I took a deep breath and inserted the key into the ignition and brought the engine to life. 

Um HIII! Sorry I didn't update because my wifi crahsed. And idek how i survived 4 DAYS without the wifi :( But! I'm so so so happy its back, and this chapter is longer than usual and I'll do a double update today, so I hope that makes up for my *disappearance*. I LOVE YOU ALL SO EFFING MUCH! I'm going to leave and update the next chapter, and and and this chapter doesn't have the dance because it was longer than usual. So yeah. I LOVE YOU ALL!!!