Jaded

[10] Friends and Dresses

Presley's out the high school doors, bounding towards me at top speed before the last bell even rings. I've no idea how she managed to leave a few minutes early, but I'm glad- waiting in the high school parking lot was getting lonely.

"Any longer and I would've snuck in," I tease, my voice muffled by the stiff denim of her jacket. She doesn't respond right away, instead she takes her time squeezing the life out of me.

When she finally releases, I get a good view of who's standing behind her and I understand. If I thought Nate was beautiful under the dusty light of the party, seeing him in this sunlight is mind-blowing. Presley leans close and whispers, "babe, lemme tell you. We spent the entire weekend together and oh my god he's such a good kisser!"

Great, now I'm thinking about Nate's kissing. Which I'm not sure is okay since I'm not too familiar with the girl code, so to speak. Honestly though, go Presley.

When Nate slips his hand in hers, she sighs the kind of sigh only happy people can do. Nate looks similar to the last time I saw him, thick hair pulled into a gorgeous bun and flawless bronze skin juxtaposed against bright clothing.

I glance around them, searching for Jay. Presley explains, "Jay is finishing that history test of his. We'll catch the bus once he's out." She pauses for a bit then adds, "I still can't believe that you not only convinced the eternal grouch to go to the ball, but also to take you with him. Some crazy stuff."

When I called her last night to tell her about Atty's 'change of heart' she freaked for a few minutes. My ear throbs just remembering all the excited screeching- some of it mine, since I got carried away by the hype.

Of course, Presley insisted I need a new dress so here we are, waiting outside the local high school on Monday afternoon. I'm giddy though, checking out new malls is always an adventure, especially when I have people to go with.

Since Jay hasn't shown up yet, Nate takes advantage of the time by grilling me with questions about the future. I groan, "you sound like my dad!"

He laughs, nodding. "Right, but you've got no clue where you'll be headed next year. I'm getting nervous for you!"

Yeah yeah, whatever Mr. Harvard.

As the rush of teenagers begins to settle, I spot Jay's familiar blond head among the hoards. He struggles to shuffle around the various lingering groups to finally get to us.

Once he's here, he doesn't waste a single minute. "C'mon, let's go."

We would, if I didn't get pulled into another hug. What's going on? Who is... well, not that I mind, the unknown hugger smells like lavender and holy crap, I'm a total sucker for lavender. If Atty wore lavender, he could get me to do literally anything.

Haha, he would never, but the thought of it is hilarious.

When the girl pulls back, the familiarity of her face is staggering. Those red locks, button nose, freckles... I'm thinking 'celery' but that cant be right. Hmm...

I gasp, "Celeste?" She's the girl I set up with that mountain mark dude.

She smiles wide. "Yup. I didn't think I'd see you here, are you a new student? Please say yes."

"Nah, I was just waiting for these guys," I gesture to Jay.

"Aw, boo. Oh! I saw you and I had to say thank you! Mark and I are dating and it's so great and god knows I messed it up the first time so you really came through for me."

I turn to Nate, smirking. "Maybe I should become a professional cupid."

He retorts without skipping a beat, "as long as you know which school to go to."