“Dad, please. That’s enough with the pictures.” I whined. We were currently standing on my front yard, while my dad took too many pictures.
“I’m sorry. It’s just that you look so beautiful.” My dad said gesturing towards my dress. He snapped the camera a couple of times.
“Come on, Hayley. Don’t be a party pooper and smile for the paparazzi.” Jamie said hooking her arm in mine and making a really cheesy super model pose. I mentally rolled my eyes and smiled for my dad. After all, he’s been away for a while and has never seen me go off to a party all dressed up. Except for when I was little, of course.
“Ok, last one.” My dad said before he clicked the camera again.
“You look beautiful, girls.” My mom said, coming from inside the house.
“Thanks mom.” I said, putting on a smile. My smile was short lived when I saw the enormous and defiantly fancy limo pull up in front of my house. My mouth hung open as Caleb, Dylan and Kelsey got out.
“Hayley, close your mouth.” Jamie whispered. I quickly complied as Dylan started walking over to me. He was dressed up with a tie and everything, as well as Caleb.
“So what do you think?” Dylan asked me, his arms outstretched.
“You really went all out. I can’t believe you even rented a limo.” I said in awe.
“Yeah,” Dylan rubbed his neck. “I know how much you wanted to ride in a limo and I was like ‘what the heck’, so yeah.” He said with a smile.
“Wow. Thank you so much.”
“No problem. Anything for you, Hayley. I would do anything to make you smile. Also, I wanted this night to be really special for you considering it’s been nearly a month since your incident.” He said. Boy, was he making this hard for me.
“You’re sweet, Dylan.” I smiled. Dylan came closer and hugged me. He kissed me gently on the nose before whispering how much he loved me in my ear. I started to think ‘could I really go through with this?’
A couple of minutes later, Dylan pulled back and went to go talk to Caleb.
“What’s the matter now?” Jamie asked.
“I-I don’t know if I could go through with this. I mean, Dylan’s so sweet now. He dressed up, rented a limo and he wants this night to be special for me in honor of a month without self harm. He loves me and I don’t want to break his heart.” I said. Then I started doing something I never thought I do again. I started freaking out. “Ohmygoodness. I can’t do this. This is not of my nature. I can’t just break his heart. Oh my god.”
“Whoa, whoa. Breathe, Hayley, breathe. You can do this. You got this. Just put on your game face and you’re ready.” Jamie said.
“You know, you sound just like our volleyball coach before a big game.” I said.
“Well did it work?”
“Yeah.” I sighed. Jamie punched me playfully in the arm.
“Good.” She said with a big grin on her face. We walked back over to the rest of the group who were now being bombarded by my dad and his camera. Man, that guy liked to take pictures.
“Um, Dad? I think it’s time we leave now.” I said, tugging on Dylan’s collar and grabbing Jamie’s hand. I pulled them toward the limo.
“Wait, I wasn’t finished. Just one more pic-” My dad started saying. I gave him a ‘please stop, you’re embarrassing me’ look. “Alright. Have fun!” He said.
“I’ll try.” I muttered to myself. I knew in what was to come that it’ll be anything but fun.
