“What happened to the velvet dress?” I felt alarmed for some reason, and it came through in my tone.
“I exchanged it,” she stated simply. She moved next to me in front of the mirror and examined herself.
“Why? I thought you were really excited about it. Did it not fit right?”
“It fit okay. I just wanted something different. Why—you don’t like it?”
“No, it looks fine,” I said. “I mean, it looks really pretty.”
“Well, gee, Drew. Thanks.”
“It really does. It’s just not what I’d expect you to wear.”
“You know . . .” She faced me, placing her hands on her hips. “I could say the same about you. Will you help me fix my hair?”
She had her blonde locks pinned in a sleek up-do. I carefully loosened a couple strands for her so they fell to the sides of her narrow face. My hair was styled opposite of hers: it was down, in loose curls. There was no way I was willing to pin all my hair on top of my head, leaving my body even more exposed for tonight. My hair would be acting as a veil of sorts for me.
Riley got some music playing in my room (The Cure, who she had turned me onto freshman year) and for the next half hour, we aided each other with our finishing touches: blush, lipstick, jewelry, hairspray. It was strange seeing the two of us in the mirror side-by-side. It was like we’d swapped personalities for the night.
“Dude. I can’t believe you’re going with Ingram.” Riley was taking pictures of us with her phone. “In that dress.”
The anxiety I was experiencing intensified at her words, and I bit my lip. “Maybe I should’ve said no. Or just gotten a different dress.”
“I think this will be good for you, Miss Goody Drew Shoes. Ingram won’t be able to keep his eyes off you.”
“Well, what about you and River?” I asked, trying to change the subject. Plus, I was genuinely curious about their prom pairing. “What’s that all about?” I had intended to sound casual when bringing it up, but I wasn’t so sure I accomplished that. I felt a weird twinge in my gut when I said it.
“I don’t know. He just asked me to go with him. I didn’t think you would mind or anything. You don’t mind, do you?”
All of a sudden, she stopped taking pictures and gave me a concentrated look.
“Of course not,” I said. I looked away. “Why would I mind?”
There was another knocking at the door, and then my mom’s jean-clad body made an entrance into the room. She had her short hair pulled back in a ponytail, and her warm face brightened suddenly.
“Wow, Riley, you look beautiful.” She appeared to be fully captivated by Riley’s presence. When I had first befriended Riley, my mom had been uncertain about her, but over time she adjusted. “What a beautiful dress. You look like Cinderella. Blue dress and blonde hair.”
“Thanks, Kim.” My mom had never told Riley she could address her by her first name.
Riley made a gesture toward me. “Drew here doesn’t look so bad, either.”
With that comment, my mom finally noticed me, standing to the right. I had not shown her my dress before this evening, although she had given me the money to buy it. Without thinking, I quickly finger-combed my hair in front of my chest as much as I could.
“Drew, that’s the dress you got?” She had a truly puzzled look on her face. “Has your dad seen this? Bryan—"
Before she could make further calls to beckon my father, the doorbell rang loud and clear downstairs.
“That must be the guys,” I practically shouted, and I rushed out of the room with Riley tagging behind me.
◈ ◈ ◈
Riley had been right: Aaron Ingram could barely take his eyes off me.
When Riley and I hurried out of the house to meet our dates in the front yard, Aaron actually developed a stunned look on his face. River was there, too, to pick up Riley, and even he looked taken aback by the sight of me. I couldn’t tell if it was a good taken aback or a bad kind, and I found myself wondering what River was thinking.
“You look incredible,” Aaron said when I approached him. His words made me feel jittery.
After tackling all the corsages and boutonnieres and letting my mom take some pictures of the four of us (not without some disapproving looks she directed toward me), we drove off in River’s old Toyota. I was officially embarking on my first and final high school dance.
“So,” Aaron said in the car. “I kind of completely forgot to make reservations for us to get dinner somewhere.” He and I were sitting in the back, River and Riley up in front. Aaron spoke with a grimace.
“Nice job, man.” River glanced over his shoulder at Aaron for a brief second. “I came through on my part. Being the wheels, getting the corsages.”
I analyzed the small arrangement of white roses and ribbons on my wrist. It struck me as odd that River had picked it out and not Aaron.
“Sorry, guys. I even wrote it down on my hand yesterday, but it still slipped my mind.”
“I really don’t care,” I blurted out, and that happened to be the truth. Just the thought of sitting in this tight dress at a restaurant while trying to eat a meal made my stomach tie up in knots.
“Yeah, no worries,” Riley said. I could see her resting in the front seat like she owned the car. “We can just grab some of the cookies and crackers or whatever at the dance.”
This year’s prom was being held at one of the local golf clubs, a colonial style building that looked more suited for a grand wedding. After getting parked, presenting our tickets, and getting inside, I was surprised to see how crammed and busy the space was. It seemed like every single junior and senior in the school was in attendance.
Our time at the dance flew by—probably because we didn’t stay as long as I had assumed we would. Riley and I would reconvene at the punch table every few songs, and while we were there, she would always grab one of the cheap sandwich cookies. The idea of eating still didn’t appeal to me, though. I still felt too uncomfortable. Too on edge.
Aaron and I danced together to multiple songs. I wasn’t sure how to move my body during the fast songs, but the slow ones I could handle. Actually, the slow songs were pretty great. I would listen to the music and think about how Aaron Ingram was there, his arms wrapped around me, how he had asked me to be his date and not some other girl. He kept telling me how incredible I looked, and that jittery feeling would reappear in my abdomen. A few times, in an attempt to get my mind off those jitters, I would try to mentally list the different abdominal muscles I had learned in Anatomy & Physiology. But that only helped calm me down so much.
“Eat a damn cookie.” Before we’d left the golf club, Riley and I were having one last meeting at the punch table.
“I’m fine, seriously,” I responded. My stomach felt completely hollow, but I didn’t want to put anything in it.
“So, how’s Ingram?” She smiled at me. “How’s he liking your dress?”
I shot her a glare. She laughed.
“And how’s River?” I questioned her. “How’s he liking Cinderella, all transformed for her ball?”
“Okay, Mermaid Dragon.”