Silver Hawk Ridge: Taking Flight

{ Chapter 25 }

I popped my head in the door. No sign of Avery. Stepping quietly into the room, I gently closed the door behind me.

"And just where were you?"

I jumped and turned to find Avery and Isabelle leaning against the bathroom door.

"Oi! Are you two TRYING to give me a heart attack? And you!" I said, turning onto Bianca, who had just appeared behind them. "You let them do this?"

"Hey, you're the one who decided to go out with Drew and not tell us" Isabelle pointed out, shrugging. Avery had a petulant pout fixed on her face with a puppy lip and fixing her brown eyes to match.

"Well at least let me shower before giving me the third degree!"

I grabbed my clothes and toiletries, hauling myself into the shower. I vigorously scrubbed my scalp to get all the dirt and sweat away, but slowed as I hovered over the spot where he had kissed the top of my head. I smiled a little bit. No guy had ever shown me that much genuine care. I mean, yeah, it seemed like we were maybe starting into this awfully fast, but nothing seemed wrong. Then again, we weren't a thing...knowing my luck he swings the other way.

   After I toweled off, I tied my hair up in a bun so it wouldn't drip down my back. After pulling on an oversized t-shirt and a pair of leggings, I walked out to find Avery and Isabelle comfortably stationed on Avery's bed, while Bianca was balanced on the edge of my bed. They all had sulking looks on their faces. I leaned against the doorway with my arms crossed and a smirk on my face.

   "Do you guys seriously think I'm not gonna tell you anything? Come on now" I said with a raised brow. Bianca pulled me onto my bed and they waited expectantly for me to start talking. So this must be what it's like to have sisters (on a good day). I left out the part about Drew's whole backstory spill, since I didn't think it was my place to say if they didn't know. When I got to the part about the orchard, they all squealed.

   "Girl! I don't know what you're doubting all of this for! He took you to the apple orchard of all places!" Avery gushed.

   "Oh come on! He definitely seems nice, but he probably takes every girl there. All guys have their 'spots'." I wrapped my arms around my custom Petsies stuffed horse made to look like Rega that Delaney had made for me before I left for SHR. Everyone is different, but it's hard not to paint every "it-boy" with the same brushstroke.

   "Au contraire, my good friend, but he has NEVER taken anyone there EVER" Bianca noted. "I'm neighbors with him in Cali, so I hang out with him and Reyana a lot. That is the spot he uses to think or reflect, especially if things get rough". I had a spot like that back home. The outdoor classroom had a small pond that few ever went to, where the honeysuckle and trumpet vines always provided shelter from prying eyes and scornful words.

   "Besides, anyone would be remiss to notice that he's always looking at you in class. He's definitely got something for you" Isabelle notes. I felt my cheeks turning what was probably a very brilliantly toned shade of pink. With guys, my methods are deny, deny, and deny. It usually worked rather well.

   "Look guys, even if he does have a thing for me, this is my first year at this school, and my only year. There's so much risk involved here" I said, sitting back on my pillows and staring up at the ceiling. "Even if things work now, something tells me we're both going to college, and I really don't want to set myself up for pointless heartbreak".

   "Even if it doesn't work out, you tried, and that's what's important hon" Avery comforted. Bianca laid down next to me and hugged me. Of course I'm about 5'9" and she's no more than 5'2", so she's really more of a backpack or a koala. I hate it when they're right.

"Noted" I grumped.

"Alright, on that note, we have quite a bit of planning to do. Oak Hill and Capitol Hill are this Friday, and homecoming is next weekend." Izzy announced, clapping her hands together. "I already signed our group up for the 11AM-2PM bus trip into town tomorrow, so be waiting at the front of the admin building or it leaves without you." We all just raised our brows at Izzy. It was interesting just how terrifying when she got into planning mode.

   "I told you guys, there is NO WAY, I'm sacrificing my sanity another year. Besides, what if I don't find a dress?" I questioned, standing up and staring them down. If they wanted me to go, they'll have to hog tie me down and wrestle me into a dress.

   "Aw, darling", Bianca said, cornering me with the other girls, an evil smile on their faces. This can't be good.

   "You think you're getting out of this."

~~~~~~~~

   Come Sunday morning, all of us girls were waiting for the bus, along with the other students who signed up. While the rest of the girls had gone for cute breezy sundresses and sandals, I had decided to don a white cotton cropped t shirt, grey joggers, and white chunky Nike sneakers to further display my resistance at the whole thing. Forget being skeptical about going in general, finding a dress was always such a hassle. Because I'm 5'9", what's a short dress on a normal sized girl, effectively becomes a mini dress for me. Not fun. On the plus side, it weeds out guys who have too much pride to go out with someone almost as tall (or occasionally taller than) them.

Eventually the bus rolled up. They took roll and then we departed from campus. We could go anywhere within the vicinity of the shopping outlet, so long as we were back no later than 1:45. Any later, and we'd receive detention. Before long, we'd arrived at Fayette Mall.

"Alright ladies, let's go. Morgan and Charlie, Madi and Avery, you guys stick together in your pairs. Izzy and I are gonna go with miss stubborn here, so she doesn't weasel out of it" Bianca directed, cocking her head in my direction to indicate me as "miss stubborn". I shot a look at Madi for help. She only shook her head and grinned. It appeared my pleas were going to be somewhat ignored. As soon as we split off, Izzy and Bianca linked arms and dragged me into the nearby Dillard's.

The next hour was spent in a whirl of different colors, fabrics, and dressing rooms. By lunch, I had given up on even TRYING to get on board with the idea. Even Bianca was getting tired of my petulance. Meanwhile they had all found their dresses.

"Alright Bells, you are making a valiant effort, I will admit. You can test us all you want, but we will find you a dress, and you will go to that dance, if it kills us." I jutted my leg out and raised my brow at Izzy. I was the queen of stubborn, so she wouldn't be budging me anytime soon.

"AND, judging by the look on your face, you don't seem to be giving up anytime soon. Sooo..." What could she possibly come up with that would make me give in?

"No lunch till you pick out a dress that you ACTUALLY like" Bianca finished, with a smirk on her face. My face dropped and I felt all the courage drain out of my body. How dare they withhold food from me!

"It's not like you can withhold food from me if you don't have my -"

"Wallet?" Izzy said with a smirk. In her hand, she was holding my black Kate Spade wallet. Wow. Talk about sneaky. "You learn a thing or two about keeping your stuff safe on the streets of London. In the meantime, you've rejected everything from this mall, and I'm going to pull out the big guns. There's a dress shop nearby that they just opened up. And that's where we're headed".

   One quick walk across the street and we were in a sweet little shop called Lindy's. Not a single dress here appeared to be a duplicate. I was directed by the owner to my dress size. Whyyyy must it be such a battle to find dresses as a taller girl? Even the longer dresses served to be a tad too short in most cases. Just as I was about to throw my hands up in defeat, I spied a satin sheen dress peeking out on the end of the rack. It had a halter neckline with a spaghetti crisscross open back. It was long too. God please let it fit! Upon trying it on, skirt reached the floor, even giving me room to wear heels taller than 3 inches. I loved the slit in the skirt too. Not too high, but not too low so that it was awkward. This was it.

   "So, is this it?" Bianca said with hope with a slight hint of dread, her phone poised in hand. I turned toward her smiling.

   "Yes, yes this is it. Hand me my card and let's go get some lunch in my belly". After I paid and got back in my clothes, we walked back to the mall for food. I caught Bianca texting someone, but I couldn't tell who.

   Oh well, food's calling.