16 Roses

Chapter 20: 16 Reasons I Love You

The afternoon before the dance, Ella, Riley and Madelyn came over to get ready. They all had dates but decided to meet them at the dance so I didn't feel left out.

Ella was doing my makeup. I couldn't done it myself but she insisted that it had to be perfect, to show Wes what he had missed out on.

I had my hair down and Ella had helped me use a curling iron to give it some loose curls and then I pinned it with an elegant sparkly barrette. My light pink dress went really well with the high heels I had picked out.

"You finally look regular sized!" Riley had teased.

"Hey! 5'2 isn't that short!" I had protested.

"Mhm," Riley put on a jokingly skeptical face.

"You look fabulous," Ella hugged me.

"We all do!" I said.

Shortly afterward, my mom took some group shots of us, some photos of just me and a few of just me and Ella.

She pulled me aside after. "What happened to Wesley Rivers?" She asked.

I didn't want to tell her about everything and make her feel bad for me. "Um... we didn't really click," I fib. Biggest lie of the century; Wes and I had gotten along great.

I hugged my mom goodbye and the four of us left. We took a taxi to school.

When we finally arrive, the other girls leave to go find their dates. I go get something to drink when I bump into Collin.

"Where's Rivers?" He asks.

I shake my head.

"But I thought... man, I'm sorry for bringing it up," Collin sounds sincere.

"No, it's all good. We just decided we were better off going alone," I lie.

I can tell Collin doesn't believe me but he nods as if he does anyways. I can hear the loud music booming and people are already starting to dance. 'If I Can't Have You' by Shawn Mendes is currently playing.

"Why don't we go dance?" Collin leads me to the dance floor.

"I'm warning you now, I am the worst dancer ever," I laugh and so does he. We join the group on the dance floor dancing. Shortly afterward, Ella joins us as well.

Someone taps me on the shoulder. I turn around. It's Wes' friend Xavier. "Can I help you?" I ask.

"Nope. Uh have you seen Wes at all yet?" He asks.

"No," I reply.

"Oh okay. Good. Uh, it's a good thing you're here, Aria," Xavier says quickly and walks away before I have the chance to ask what he means.

I turn back to my friends and we continue dancing. A few minutes later, Ella leaves to prepare to get on stage to make her 'thank you for coming' announcement.

Everyone quiets down and focuses on Ella on the stage in front of the dance floor. "Hi everyone! I hope you are al having fun! I just wanted to say thank you for coming and take this time to thank the following people who made this event possible—" Ella is abruptly cut off as someone runs on stage and snatched the microphone out of her hands.

It's Wes.

And Ella looks furious.

Wes turns to Ella. "Um, I'm sorry, but I have something to say," he says.

"And so do I," Ella fires back.

"Sorry but it'll have to wait. This is important," Wes replies.