A Million Shattered Pieces

Chapter Ten

"Sometimes even to live is an act of courage."

Six days passed faster than I'd have ever thought they would. When the day of my date with Brock finally arrived, I had a hard time breathing. Memories of our almost-kisses kept playing in my head. A quiet voice whispered in the back of my mind that tonight would be no different. We would not have a first kiss. Even if I wanted that more than I'd ever wanted anything else in my entire life.

This time, I really did put in effort for my outfit. I wore an actual dress. Complete with leggings and my boots. Looking in the mirror, giggles managed to escape me. I felt like a silly little girl playing dress up, getting excited for a date with her best friend.

Doing my makeup, however, was a different story. It took no less than twenty minutes of attempting to do eyeliner before I gave up, throwing the pencil down with a sigh. Mom walked into the room. Her eyebrows drew up when she saw my outfit, a knowing look on her face.

"There's no way you can tell me this isn't for a date. My goodness, Claire, I don't think I've seen you wear a dress in over three years!"

I tried to frown, but I simply couldn't. A grin spread across my face, and I turned to look at my reflection. "Does it look okay? Do you think Brock will think it looks nice?"

"Honey, I think Brock would be happy even if you showed up in a potato sack." She crossed the room, turning me to face her. "Did you need help with your makeup? I know how much you hate doing it."

Nodding, I dropped down on the small chair set in front of my vanity. "If that's okay with you. But don't worry about doing anything special, I just want some eyeliner."

She smiled, grabbing the eyeliner pencil and telling me to close my eyes. "I'm glad you two finally admitted your feelings for each other."

"You knew we liked each other?"

"Of course! I'm a parent, it's my job to know when my daughter is crushing. And from the way Brock looks at you, I knew the minute you introduced him to me that he liked you." Mom's hands left my face and I heard her set the eyeliner pencil down on the dresser. "There we go. Perfect."

I glanced at the clock. It was ten to eight. My heart began to race, and I looked up at my mother. "What if I screw things up?"

Mom shook her head, pinching my cheeks slightly before stepping back. "Don't worry about that. Just think about having a good time with him, okay?"

A familiar horn rang from outside my bedroom window. I looked back to my mom, the pounding of my heart growing more aggressive. Butterflies began to dance around in my stomach, their wings brushing against the inner walls. I'd never been more terrified.

She laughed, pushing me out of the room, down the stairs to the front door. It would be at least four hours before we saw each other again. And even though she'd been weary about allowing me to stay out so late, she had eventually given in. This date with Brock would go by without error. I was determined to make sure that was the case.

Brock waited beside the passenger door when I left the house. When he saw me, a huge grin lit up his face.

"This is the first time I've seen you wearing a dress." He gave me a quick lookover before settling on my face. "You look lovely, Claire."

"So do you," I said, even though he was wearing the same usual outfit he always wore. Jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, beneath a winter coat.