"I can't believe that wench" Ivory said, moving her hands around radically, her bags moving around in the process. "Calm down, Â it's over" I tried relaxing her, taking the bags from her hands, as I was sure the beautiful dress inside would end up getting thrown somewhere on the asphalt.
"How are you so calm?" she said, "She wanted to get us upset, we can't give her that pleasure" I said making Bailey throw her hands in the air. "Finally, thank you!".
"I can't stand her" Maya murmured, shaking her head. "I'm not even sure if she can stand her own self" Bailey said and we all nodded.
I can't lie, my insides were turning upside down after the lovely encounter at the store, but with all the things making me upset lately, I was trying any possible way to help myself not explode. Remember what Bailey said, I told myself. "It's herself who she has a problem with, not you".
"Listen there's no use of letting her ruin our day. We had fun shopping, why let her tear our moods down?" I said. "Eve's right. Fuck that girl"
Fuck that girl.
~~~
"Found anything you like?" I asked Maya, and she sighed, sitting down on the bed next to me, defeated. We were a day away from prom, and Maya had come over for dress hunting from my closet. Â "I like everything, just not on myself" she murmured, and it sounded more like a confession. "I know I can't change your mind, but if you care at all for my opinion, I think you looked great in all of them" I said, and she gave me a slight smile.
"How about, I help you put together an outfit. Maybe you haven't found what assentuates your body yet" I suggested and she nodded. After a bit of digging around in my closet, I was happy with my choice. Who says she needs to wear a dress? I grabbed a black flared skirt that hugged her waist, a cropped pink pale shirt that wrapped around in the front and a Burgundy jacket.
She looked at her reflection in the mirror, looking unsure. "You look amazing" I exclaimed and I meaned it. "You really think so?" she asked, playing with the skirt and trying to pull it down. "Are you kidding? If the skirt is too short for you we can try something longer?" I proposed, but she shook her head.
"No. It's time I stepped out of my comfort zone a bit" she said, and I nodded, smiling like a proud mother.
She changed into her clothes and I put the outfit in her bag. "Found a date yet?" she asked, referring to the bet I made with Noah. "Nah. To be honest, the only reason I made the bet in the first place was so that I could find an excuse not to go. Noah will have already found a date and I'll be able to stay home in peace." I explained. "Sneaky" she chuckled.
"Are you sure you don't want to go? You could still save yourself from doing his homework" she said, taking a sip of her juice.
"I don't mind. Might help me get back on track too" I replied, and she nodded.
After a bit of talking, Maya got a call from her mum and she basically had to run home, so I walked her to the door. After thanking me about a billion times for the clothes, she was on her way.
I walked back to my room, opening my laptop to watch this new movie everyone was talking about. Just when I had grabbed all my stuff -by that meaning food- my phone buzzed with a text.
Noah: How's the date hunt going Hayes?
I laughed at the choice of words, before replying
Me: Not too well. Dates have not been tracked down. U?
I pressed play, shoving a bunch of popcorn in my mouth, when my phone buzzed again, almost making me choke.
Noah: looks like u got what u wanted, I haven't found a date yet
Sweet mother of  beer please tell me he's joking.
Okay, deep breaths, the prom is tomorrow, that's enough time for him to find a date, he's Noah for fuck's sake.
Me: losing hope I see?
I replied, trying to fish out as much information as possible from him.
Noah: the prom's 2mo dude, only Aiden would find a date in such short time
The minute I read the text, I forcefully grabbed a mouthful of popcorn and shoved it in my mouth, replying the words in my head in a mocking tone. Stupid Aiden and his stupid charm.
Noah: u'd better have found a hot dress ;)
I hid my face in my hands, shaking my head. Dear Lord this is really happening. I looked around in my room, panicking. I in fact didn't have a dress and with the prom being tomorrow, I had zero time to find one.
I shut off my laptop running to my closet like a mad man. The clothes quickly piled on the floor, and I realised I had absolutely nothing to wear. Looking back I know that wasn't true, but with my brain all scrambled, I couldn't possibly see that.
Desperate for help, I grabbed my phone and called the one person who I knew was an expert on last minute outfits. Ivory.
The minute she answered the call I went straight to the point. "I'm going to the prom" I spoke into the phone and heard her gasp. "I'll be there in 10" she said and hung up.
I dropped on the bed and put a pillow over my face. This can't be happening. Just when I thought things couldn't possibly get worse, I heard noise from next door. Peaking trough the window I was greeted with the sight of no other but Aiden and Lindsay walking in.
I shut the curtains, not wanting to see any more and decided to go downstairs and wait for Ivory there instead.
Within minutes she was knocking on my door frantically. I let her in and she went straight to my room. "Come on woman we don't have much time! This is code red" she yelled and I shook my head, following her reluctantly after grabbing the wine from the fridge. It was going to be a long night.
"You'll tell me everything about your date later, now we gotta get this shit sorted" she said, referring to the mess of clothes on my floor, while pulling her own stuff from her bag. "Let's get to business".
~~~
After what seemed like forever, Ivory was finally happy with her pick. A red satin dress, that went just before my knee with an open back. "You look flaming dude" she said, resting her hands on her waist, clearly proud of her skills.
I looked at myself in the mirror, scanning my body. I did look good. A small smile snaked on my lips, and of course she caught it. "Liking whatchu seee?" she teased me, running her hands over the dress to smooth it out. I chuckled, nodding slightly. "With my makeup skills and your beauty, tomorrow will be a hit!" she said, obviously taking the whole prom thing more seriously than most people.
"Now on to the good stuff" she said, after I got undressed. "Who's the lucky man?" she asked, pouring herself -another- glass of wine. "Noah" I said, doing the same. Her face instantly dropped. "Noah? Out of all people in our high school you went for Noah" she said, obviously disappointed.
"I didn't try to find a date okay? So Noah it is" I explained, earning a slap on the head. "You dumb bitch, you could've had anyone in that shithole" she said, taking a sip. "And don't tell me you haven't seen how Aidie looks at you" she smirked, making me choke on my wine.
"Aiden? No, no, not a chance dude. We're friends, we have been friends since like forever" I said, avoiding her gaze and hoping my bad acting skills convinced her. We are friends, just friends that have feelings for each other and make out sometimes.
"Correction, you were friends, and then he came back and he was all about you. Don't tell me you haven't noticed 'cause I won't believe you" she said, and my knee started bopping up and down. My options were limited. I could continue lying and tell her the same story again but she would've believe me, or, I could change the subject.
"Dude, I haven't told you! Oh, gosh you won't believe this." I said as dramatically as possible. "What, what, what, tell me woman" she said. success. "Okay, so apparently you're not the only one who thinks something's up with Aiden and me" I started, taking a sip of my wine. Let the tea spilling begin.
"Tell me more.." she urged. "Do you remember, a night when you guys went to that bar downtown and I had to stay home?" I said and she nodded. "At some point during that night, Aiden left to go do God knows what" I continued. "Yeah, I remember, Heaven only knows how hard we tried to stop him from driving, he was hammered" she said, shaking her head, and I nodded. Tell me about it.
"Well, apparently Lindsay went looking for him, and someone told her he was here" I said and she gasped. "No" she covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh, yes." I said. "Don't tell me that wench came looking for him here" she said and I nodded. "Well, what are you waiting for tell me what happened. Did you beat her ass?" she asked, enthusiastic.
"Out of all the things that could've happened do you really think the most possible one is that I kicked her ass?" I said and she burst out laughing. "I gotta have faith you what best friend would I be otherwise." she defended her judgement. "You could also keep it real, you know" I said back.
"Anyway, no, no one kicked anyone's ass but she was pissed and now she's got an eye on me at all times" I said. "That explains the incident at the store" she concluded and I nodded.
"Well, after she sees you looking hawt with you date tomorrow everything will be fixed." she said, and I chugged down the rest of my wine. Tomorrow, the lovely day when I'd have to be in a room with Aiden and his girlfriend slow dancing in front of me, and pretend I'm not bitter about it.
Ivory filled up our glasses. She raised her glass. "I say we make a toast, to making miss Lindsay jealous a-f" she said, and I chuckled, raising my glass as well. "Cheers to tomorrow" she said, and I sighed. "To tomorrow".