The "Girl Next Door" is Cliche for a Reason

Chapter 24: Golden

Lexi was the last of her friends to find her prom dress. They had insisted on going shopping until everyone had the perfect dress. Luckily, Lexi's dad and mom were both chipping in for it so she had a slightly larger budget than she had the previous year.

"I wore an extravagant silver dress last year and posted it on social media. I just don't want Nate to think I didn't put in the same effort for him," Lexi told them, taking in a deep breath before she stepped out of the dressing room. "What do you all think?"

"Derek was silver, but Nate is gold," Mary stated with a large smile. The others all nodded, laughing.

"It is perfect," Jess assured Lexi.

"And it didn't cost as much as I thought it would. Now, let's go find some accessories to go with it," Lexi told them with a large smile and giggle. She immediately texted Nate's mom the color of her dress so that she could find Nate his tux accessories.

The girls found almost all of their accessories that day, feeling a bit guilty about all of the money they were spending. Jess' family was the only one that really struggled with money, but Lucas had already paid for her prom ticket and her portion of the limo after he insisted. They had also gotten her an amazing bargain on her dress after lots of searching.

Carolina had started coming home every other weekend to help the girls decide how they wanted to do their makeup for the day of. She had agreed to do Jess and Lexi's makeup the day of, but wouldn't have the time to do everyone else's.

Jess was the only other girl that got ready at Lexi's. The others wanted access to all of their resources in case they had a last minute hair or makeup emergency before leaving the house.

"Alexandra, sit still or I will ruin your makeup," Carolina threatened, pointing an eyeliner brush at her cousin.

"She just wants to look perfect for her boyfriend," Jess teased as she fixed her curls.

"Don't act like I'm the only one," Lexi retorted, throwing a wrapper at her best friend laughing.

"Niñas, stop. You're both going to look gorgeous. Jess, stop doing your makeup. I told you I wanted to," Carolina warned, smiling.

Once Lexi's makeup was done, she sent a quick photo to the girls then one to Nate. He immediately texted her back with a compliment, making her smile widely. Carolina worked on Jess' makeup next while Lexi grabbed both of their dresses.

Carolina insisted on coming along for photos, Lexi driving the three girls in her truck while her family followed in another car. All of the guys were there, but Lexi and Jess were the first girls. Jess let Lexi jog over to greet the boys, taking her time in her borrowed heels.

"Alexandra, you are the going to be the prettiest girl at the prom," Nate commented once he saw her. He picked her up and twirled her around, making her laugh.

"I'm so happy you think so. I am going to refrain from kissing you right now even though I really want to. I don't think you want any of my red lipstick on your lips in photos," Lexi replied as he let her down. Nate kissed her cheek after Lexi turned in his arms to greet the other boys. Lucas and Jess were sharing a simple kiss since she was wearing a natural lip color.

"Where are all of your dates?" Lexi asked the boys.

"Still getting ready," Cole answered. "But if Nate isn't enough for you, I will gladly step up."

"Where are your friends?" Ethan questioned.

"Hopefully on their way because some of their dates arrived. I will be right back, I'm going to go greet them all and bring them this way," Lexi told them, pulling away from Nate and going toward the boys.