You, Always

Chapter Thirty: Homecoming

Three weeks later:

"So has Josh asked you yet?" I ask Mia while we walk around the mall. I take a sip of my milkshake and we head into the dress store.

"Yes, I was gonna tell you. He asked me last night and it was the cutest thing ever." She squeals and you can see the love in her eyes whenever she talks about him. "He set up a movie night for us both, made a picnic and gave me a bouquet of roses with a card attached with the question on it."

Her smile grows larger and she turns away from the clothing rack to face me. "I can't believe our dance is next week and we graduate the week after that."

"I know, it's crazy. Cole isn't telling me what college he's going to until he makes a final decision. What if it's miles away and we can't make long-distance work?" My stomach churns at the thought of it not working for us.

"You guys will be just fine. You're amazing together and I don't think being miles apart will be able to stop that. Come on, let's choose our dresses." I nod but the thought stays in the back of my head. I follow Mia and a dress on display catches my eye.

It's stunning.

I pick it up and I hear Mia gasp. "That will look amazing on you. Try it on now!" She basically shoves it into my chest and drags me to the changing room.

I put it on and walk out. "How does it look? It looks like someone's taken down the mirror in there." I tug at the lace sleeves and Mia still hasn't said a word.

Her mouth is agape and it's confirmed, even the most amazing looking dress doesn't suit me. I have no hope. She walks up to me and turns me to the side. "What are you—"

Now it's me not saying anything. For once, I actually look kinda nice. Somehow the dress looks even nicer on me than the hanger.

"If you don't get that dress, I'm going to grab one of the heels from that shelf and beat you with it." I burst out laughing because from the tone of her voice, she's being completely serious.

"Well at least I didn't have to try on a million dresses," I smirk. "Your turn." I grab one of the dresses she picked up and push her into the changing cubicle.

*****

You know when I said I was happy I didn't have to try on a bunch of dresses? Well, I think that sounds rather appealing right now. I've been sat in this same seat for the past two hours while Mia is yet to decide what dress she wants.

"I swear if I don't like this one as well, I'm going to scream." She mutters and I snicker. She grabs the last dress from the seat—the last dress from her third (and hopefully last) pile of dresses.

She walks out and looks in the mirror. Let's just say the dress definitely didn't disappoint.

"Holy crap, I look hot." I giggle, agreeing with her. "Okay, let's get out of here and pay. I can't be in this shop a second longer." She says and quickly changes back into her original clothes.

Once we pay we leave the store and she looks at me, "Cole is going to fall to his knees when he sees you in that dress." I blush and I hope you're right Mia, I hope you're right.

"And what about Josh?" I ask, raising my eyebrows. "Because he is going to be speechless when you walk out in your dress." She giggles a little.

"Bring on prom."

*****

I finish applying the last bit of mascara to my eyelashes and stand up straight, staring at myself in the mirror. I smile and can't wait to see Cole's face.