“Baby, this isn’t goodbye.” He holds me tight to him.
“I know,” I whisper, knowing that my voice would come out strangled.
“I will call you the first chance I get.” He promises.
“Okay.” I sniffle.
He pats my butt, and I reluctantly untangle myself from him. He places me back on the ground and his hands move to cradle my face. I close my eyes, not wanting him to see my tears, even though I’m sure it’s quite obvious. “Baby, look at me,” He begs. His pleading voice has me opening my eyes--and in shambles. “I love you so much. I will see you later.” He smashes his mouth to mine, and claims me, stealing my breath from me. When we pull apart, I see the wetness on his cheeks as he wipes away mine. “I love you.” He whispers and turns away from me, leaving me standing on his front steps. I watch him toss his bag into the back seat of the car and climb in. The car disappears down the driveway, and an ugly sob rips from my lips. I cry the whole drive home, and as soon as I see my mother, I collapse in her arms.
A few hours later my alarm sounds for school. Mom insists that I go and that it will help get my mind off everything. As much as I don’t want to--I know I look awful--sitting at home alone won’t help. Vance never went to see Chase, and I was extremely pissed off at him. As Chase promised, the Camaro was towed to the garage on Monday, but with our limited time, I didn't do anything with it. I wanted to spend every moment with him. The gesture behind his gift was so much more now, knowing that I needed something more to occupy my mind. I looked into classes at the local community college and they taught an auto body seminar for a reasonable price. I called the college and signed up for the most recent class. They start in two weeks.
A week after Chase left, I received my first phone call from him. It wasn’t nearly as long as I had hoped but it was all he was allowed at the moment. He gave me his address and told me to write to him as much as I wanted. When he had to get off, I had a really hard time with it. He promised to call me as much as he could. I could hear a man in the background barking orders, I kept it together but cried myself to sleep that night.
Two months later, I anxiously wait for my video call with Chase. It doesn’t always go as planned and sometimes, it doesn’t happen at all. This has become our new normal but my nerves still tend to get the best of me. I play a game on my phone until the notification that Chase Daniels wants to video chat. After I press accept, his handsome face fills my screen and my heart jumps at the sight of him.
“Hey, baby!” His full smile is on display and I feel my body melt when I hear his voice come through the speakers. “You look beautiful, I miss you so much.”
“I miss you, too,” I say, getting a little choked up with emotions, “Did you get my most recent letter?” I write to him as much as possible, my last letter included a few pictures of myself.
“I did! I hung them in my bunk. It’s nothing like having the real you but I stare at your picture before going to sleep. You’re the first thing I see when I wake up.”
“McSwoony.” I say low but he hears me.
“Only for you, forever and always.” There he goes again...he’s proved time and time again that the nickname fits him perfectly. There’s some commotion that pulls his attention away for a moment but then he’s back. “Sorry about that. So, how are the auto body courses going?”
“Oh! It’s so awesome! I’m really enjoying it and I think it’s something I can see myself doing in the future.”
“That’s so great, babe! I’m so proud of you. Have you spoken to your dad yet?”
“I haven’t, but I spoke with mom and Vance about the chances of expanding the garage to offer body repair and paint. Vance seemed interested so that’s a good sign.”
He nods, “It is. How is Vance?”
“His temper has calmed down. He’s not ignoring me anymore, at least.”
“That’s good.”
“It is. He’s stubborn but he won’t hate us forever.” I reassure him, the guilt of all that happened resurfacing. Vance will get over it. Chase and I love each other, that won’t change or go away.
“Let’s hope not,” He drifts off, “What else is new with you? Tell me. I want to hear everything.”
“Oh! Melissa and Victor are having a party next weekend, I think he’s going to propose!” I squeal in excitement.
“Damn, give them my best.”
“I hope you come home soon. Have you heard anything?”
He sighs and shakes his head back and forth, “I haven’t. I’m sorry.”
Our conversation lasts for about an hour, and I’m on a high to be able to spend that time with him, even if it’s through a screen.
I am running late! I rush into the house and run up the stairs, taking two at a time. I quickly unbutton my shirt and step out of my sweats, tossing them aside. Already wearing my special strapless bra, I remove the long slim red flowing gown from the hanger and step into it, pulling it up my body. I secure the straps around my neck but struggle to zip up the back.
“Veronica?” Mom calls out.
“I need your help!” I yell out.
A second later she comes into my room and sees me struggling to reach the zipper. She smiles and moves to zipping it up to the top. “Oh my goodness, you look beautiful! My little girl.” Mom gushes. I turn to look at myself in my floor-length mirror, noticing the glistening eyes of my mom. I chose red because it's Chase's favorite color, and if he wasn't here to go to prom physically, at least he was here in thought. He insisted I go and claimed that it’s a thing all high schoolers should experience. Unsurprisingly, Taylor also insisted I go. The top is a beautiful off-white halter encrusted with crystal beads and the back is completely open, exposing everything down to the top of my waist. It is elegant and, yet, very sexy. As soon as I saw it on the bust form in the boutique, I knew it was ‘the one’. My hair is up; complete with curls and a million bobby pins. I went and had it professionally done, and it took longer than I expected; it’s exactly the reason I’m running super late. I also had my makeup done since I know little to nothing about it. False eyelashes are my new favorite thing.
“I'm so sorry that Chase couldn't be here,” my mom speaks quietly.
I turn to look at her. “I am, too,” I say, sadly.
“Let's go take a picture to send to him,” she suggests.
“Okay. Let me grab my shoes.” My heels are an off-white satin to match the top. They’re nothing crazy fancy, but they are insanely high. Rather than kill myself by falling down the stairs, I grab them on my way out the door and wait to put them on until I'm safely on the first floor. Mom makes me stand in various places for pictures.
Finally, the rest of the gang arrives. Taylor looks incredible in her off the shoulder form fitting navy dress and Wes is looking quite dapper as well. Jerry whistles when he sees me, he’s tugging Mateo along behind him. “Oh dollface, you look stunning.” He grabs my hand and twirls me around. “You guys look so handsome.” I gush over their stylish suits. Jerry is wearing a black suit with a maroon tie and his boyfriend sports a deep maroon suit with a black tie. They purposely coordinated and it’s so adorable. They fuss over each other, my smile widens knowing after the playboy Jerry met that night months ago is long gone. Mateo mended Jerry back together and I’ve never seen him so happy.