Sandcastles

Chapter Twenty-Three

Helping Madeline get ready for prom only seems to worsen the depressed sort of phase I'm in. It's true; I loved him. Maybe it was just the standard teenager puppy love, but it was still there, and I'm still feeling the aftershocks of that day. Alexander showing up and breaking up with me...everything just seems to have this terrible haze over it. Seeing Alexander with Tiffany in the halls at school wasn't clear, and it was as if someone placed a mesh sack over my eyes. This was probably for the best; I would rather not focus on how happy Alexander looks with the blond girl.

I should be getting ready for prom right now alongside Madeline. Instead, I'm curling her hair while she does her own makeup in the mirror. It's only a few hours away. Ben is prepping himself by playing video games in his room. Classic guy move, right?

"Should I do winged or just a line?" Madeline asks, holding up the eyeliner pencil. I look at her green eyes, which are staring back at me in the mirror. I then flicker my glance to the blue dress hanging by the closet.

"Do a thin line but wing it out." I recommend while taking the curling iron away from a strand of hair. She nods her hair and begins to gently pencil it on.

Mom said she would be back an hour before they were leaving to take prom pictures. She's actually on a date with some guy from her work. Yes, an actual date. Everyone in my family is going to a dance or on a date.

Except me.

So I plan on doing the natural thing and watch Netflix while everyone is out enjoying the iconic prom night. My life is just great, isn't it?

I just take the curler away when Madeline groans. I look and see that she has a bold black smudge across her eyelid. She gets up and goes to the bathroom to clean it off.

I decide she will be a while and jump onto my bed. I scroll through the apps and messages on my phone before deciding that the pictures of couples going to prom are only making things worse.

Madeline comes back in and I start to work on her hair again. It only takes twenty more minutes for me to finish curling all of the dark strands. When I'm done, I walk over to Ben's room so Madeline can finish her makeup.

It's only two hours until the Collins Creek High School prom, and my brother is doing what he does every Saturday. He's sitting in the black bean bag chair with his headset on and the game controller in his hands. He doesn't even seem to notice me when I walk in.

Helen's one and only senior prom is tonight. Ben can have two more proms at Collins Creek, since it's really only for the seniors and juniors. I'm not going to have Ben ruin Helen's night with him showing up unshaved, unclean, and smelling ripely of pizza and Mountain Dew.

I walk over to the outlet and yank the cord for the game console. The screen cuts black and Ben stops rapidly pressing buttons. He throws his headset off and stares at me like I just committed the worst crime possible.

"I was ten points away from being promoted to corporal! And I didn't even save it! Thanks a lot!" he nearly yells at me. He crosses his arms, making him look like a little kid who has just been put in timeout.

"Yeah, whatever, your prom is in two hours. Go take a shower." I demand. He scowls at me but stands anyways before walking over to his closet, throwing several pairs of Vans and a Converses aside.

"Where's my tux?" he asks me. I shrug my shoulders and Ben groans.

My eyes grow wide and I just sigh. I stare at the ceiling, tapping my foot on the ground out of annoyance.

"You never picked up your tuxedo, did you?" I ask him.

"Nope." He claims.

I decide that I will go pick it up for him. He thanks me numerous times before walking into the bathroom to shower. I let Madeline know that I'm borrowing her car and trot outside into the cold air.