Jo
THE LAST TIME I saw confetti emojis and party poppers in my email was when I accepted Flynn's request to be his tutor in our school's peer to peer tutorship program. Then, I'd been shocked, confused and hoping I could tap on a rewind button.
So when the notification of an email on my laptop dragged me away from my half-dressed state in front of the mirror and the first thing I saw was the exact same thing from over three months ago, I was still shocked to say the least.
But this time, it's not from my school. It's directly from the write-a-thon website that I'd submitted my article to the other day. Within the few minutes that I've been standing here, I've read their email over ten times already. It's short and straight to the point.
Congratulations Josephine Pryce,
Your sample article has been selected among the top five that will qualify for the final writing contest which will take place on the 28th of this month.
It's a festive season and there are many topics to write about at this time of the year, so we're hoping you give it your best shot. We can't wait to hear from you. Further details will be communicated to you soon.
For further enquiries, contact [email protected]
Happy Holidays!
"You think now is the right time to watch porn?" I hear Drew ask and I cringe a little because his voice startles me out of my dazed unbelief state.
I glare at him. "Why didn't you knock?"
To annoy me even further, he opens my door wider and folds his arms. "Because you're not fully dressed and you know how mum gets when there's an occasion of any sort."
"Fuck," I curse as I struggle to cross the straps at the back of my dress. The email had successfully made me forget that I'd been dressing up for my school's winter formal that had been scheduled for six p.m today.
"Apparently, your winter formal could as well pass off as your engagement party."
"Oh god," I groan, pinching my highlighted nose. "I told her not to bake anything."
He looks down at the imaginary watch on his wrist and clicks his tongue. "She should be calling you in 3, 2â"
"JOSEPHINE MARIGOLD PRYCE! I swear at this rate, you'll be late for your own wedding!"
A little sweat breaks out on my forehead. "How late am I?"
"Your boyfriend's been waiting downstairs for the past fifteen minutes."
Oh my god. I grab my phone to see if he's texted and indeed, he texted that he was here fifteen minutes ago. I just didn't see it.
"Crap, come help me with this," I request but he doesn't budge. "Please."
Drew reluctantly shuffles himself inside my room and untangles the mess I made at the back before crossing the straps across my back. "No need to worry about him though, Grandma's keeping him company. Besides, we were having the talk."
I raise a brow as I kick my heels forward and place my feet into them while wearing a necklace at the same time. "The talk?"
"Yeah, y'know. Guy stuff." He replies in an ominous tone and pats my back as soon as he's tied the straps into a knot at my waist.
I turn around and face him with an accusing stare on my face. "Did you threaten him?"
Drew shrugs and grabs my purse from the bed. "He was barely intimidated so I don't know if I threatened him. Maybe I didn't do it enough," he says and then he lifts the purse to his eyes. "What the hell can you carry in this thing? It's so small."
I grab the purse from him and sling it over my shoulder before pointing at the door. "Go away."
He ignores me and plops down on my bed while I grab my red lipstick on the table and swipe it over my lips again. It's the same lipstick I wore to Cass's Halloween party and he hasn't told me yet but I think Flynn's in love with it. Plus, it looks really good on me so I toss it into my purse in case he decides to mess it up like the last time.
"Your friend's got a date?" He asks referring to Cass and I scoff without turning to look at him.
"Don't even think about it."
"What? I'm just asking a harmless question."
I ignore him and turn to the mirror to give myself a final once over. There are times when you dress up to go out and then when you look in the mirror, you're thoroughly satisfied with the way you look. Now is one of those times. When mum told me she'd been eyeing a blue dress at the store for me, I thought it'd be something I'd just have to accept without trying to hurt her feelings. But when she brought it home yesterday and I took it out from the box, I knew it was made for me. It had to be.
It's a sapphire blue, backless lace gown with spaghetti straps from the shoulders that are tied all the way across my back and ending at my lower waist. It's short, the seams grazing along my mid-thigh and it exposes a decent amount of cleavage. What I like most about it is that from a distance, it appears like it's glittering. My hair is the same loose, wild curls it normally is but I have it up in a perfect messy bun while two curly strands frame my face.
I practice a smile in the mirror and then I reach forward and grab my tote bag on the table. It contains a wrapped present I made because after Ellie's performance tonight, we'd planned to ditch the rest of the dance and head towards the beach to, surprisingly, open her Christmas presents. Ellie doesn't have to say it but from the day she made that suggestion, it was clear that she believes she won't make it till Christmas. And Christmas is a few days away.
"When Flynn sees you, he's going to have a heart attack."
Mum's voice at the door makes me turn to her with an anxious grin. "I hope not."
Mum walks towards me and cups my face with both her hands. Her eyes are glassy. God, I hope she's not about to cry. It's just winter formal, not prom. "You're so beautiful, honey. Andrew, isn't your sister beautiful?"
Drew rolls out of my bed and jams his hands into the pocket of his sweatpants as he looks at me. "I've seen better."
Mum ignores him while I roll my eyes as I drag him out of my room with me.
"You've got your glucose gels with you? And you've checked your glucose level?" She asks and I nod.
"All done."
When I hear voices downstairs and then a burst of laughter, his laughter, I feel shy all of a sudden.
"Mom," I plead as we descend the stairs. "Please don't embarrass me."
Mum places a hand on her chest like she's offended. "I would never," she says. "Besides, I think you're grandma's doing me the honors already."
I don't get a chance to react to her statement because we're at the bottom of the stairs already and I've locked eyes with Flynn in the living room. It's silly how my heart races and my cheeks flush, like I'm seeing him for the first time or like I'm just realizing I have a crush on him.
He gets to his feet but doesn't look away from me. He's wearing a blue tailored, velvety tux that hugs his body and quite frankly compliments my dress andâoh godâhe's got a new haircut. It's different from the mop of waves I'm used to. It's shorter now, slightly tapered at the sides and falling loosely across his forehead. It suits him better even but at this point, if he decided to go bald, I'd still find him excessively attractive.
Both my dogs bark when they see me and take turns prancing around me. Lillie (I named her Lillie because it just fit) is still gentle and meek compared to King who's hyperactive most of the time. When I lift her into my arms, she allows me run my fingers through her fur a little before jumping down and going back to my grandma, with King right behind her.
"Josephine, I was just telling Flynn here about the time you lost you third tooth at the water park." Grandma says, pointing a finger at a page in our photo album. I reluctantly drag my gaze away from Flynn and press my lips into a forced smile. At that time, my two missing front teeth hadn't grown back yet so when I lost the third one, I looked like a Halloween character with a gummy lopsided smile because I didn't know whether to cry or laugh.
"I remember it clear as day," Drew adds, ignoring my pointed gaze at him and takes a photo out of the album before handing it over to Flynn. "That's your girlfriend after I gave her a wedgie of her lifetime."
"Okay, that's enough socializing," I say, cheeks hot from embarrassment before snatching the mortifying photo from Flynn's hands and handing it over to Grandma. I grab Flynn's hand and he interlocks his fingers with mine before turning to me.
"You look beautiful, Jo."
I can't help myself. I run my fingers through his hair and grin. I love his new haircut so much. I want to kiss him but I'm not going to do that in front of my family. "You don't look too bad yourself."
"That's true. Josephine, you look like a princess." Grandma says and I smile at her.
Thanks grandma for complimenting me after embarrassing me for the past twenty minutes.
Mum pats her pants and then brings out her phone from her pocket. "Stay put. I need to picture this moment."
Flynn wraps a hand around my waist but Drew comes between us and stands as a barrier before he slings a hand over my shoulder.
"What do you think you're doing?"
He looks straight at the camera. "Staying put."
The flash goes off and after a few family photos(that I didn't approve of), I manage to push Drew and everyone else away before taking a picture with just Flynn and I.
"We're running late, mum," I groan when the repeated flashes almost take away my eyesight. "I think we've taken enough pictures already."
"Alright, alright. You guys go ahead now." She turns to Flynn with the most stern face she can muster. "Bring her back on or before 1."
"She means 11." Drew says as we head towards the door. Before I slam the door in his face, he stops it with his palm and sighs.
"If you're able to give Cass my number before the dance is over, he can bring you back by 12."
Internally I scoff but outwardly, I throw a sweet smile his way. "Okay."
His palm leaves the door and he straightens. "Really?"
"No." And then I slam the door shut in his face.
"If we'd stayed one more minute in there staring at my embarrassing childhood, you'd start have second thoughts about us."
Flynn laughs as we walk hand in hand to his car. "I thought they were cute. Especially the one with the wedgie. It's plastered to my brain now."
"Great. You chose the most embarrassing one. Thanks Drew."
He takes me to the trunk of his car instead and turns to look at me. It's pretty cold so he takes off his tux jacket and drapes it over my shoulders.
"Thank you." I say, my cheeks pink either from the cold or from staring into his piercing green eyes.
When he speaks, a small whitish breath leaves his mouth in gusts. "I wasn't sure which to get, Jo. We've never talked about what kind of flowers you like."
"So," he continues as he opens the trunk and my eyes widen when I see a bunch of different bouquets of flowers almost overflowing into the street. "I got one of all of them in the store." He finishes casually. Like this is a very casual thing to do for someone.
I'm speechless with shock. I lean forward and grab two of the flowers and perceive both of them. They both smell good. Everything smells good. The trunk, the flowers, Flynn himself.
So I just do the only rational thing that comes to my mind and I throw my hands around his neck. "If you'd asked me, I wouldn't be able to give you an answer because I don't have a favorite kind of flower so I love all of them."
"That's good," he grins. "For a moment there, I thought if you didn't accept them, I'd just go ahead and open my own damn flower shop."
I chuckle and he wraps his arms around my waist. "You'd get a lot of customers."
"Yeah?"
"Of course. If anything, they'd come because you're good-looking."
"And you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. I should be the luckiest guy out there."
I nod, agreeing with him. "You are." Then I shrug one shoulder. "I guess I'm kind of lucky too."
He surprises me when he lifts me up and I automatically grip his shoulders with iron fists.
"You guess?" His hands are on my sides so when he lifts me higher, a ticklish sensation travels across my body and my laughter echoes along the empty street.
"Okay, I'm lucky, I'm lucky."
He puts me down and I press myself against him with my arms still wrapped around his neck. "Also, the write-a-thon website got back to me today and they told me I qualified."
Flynn's grin mirrors mine, dimples sinking into his cheeks. His face lowers to mine. "That's because they saw potential and they took it like the smart people they are."
He cups my face with his hand. He's about to kiss me but he doesn't yet. His lips graze mine like he's teasing me. "I'm proud of you, Jo."
I lift my chin higher so our lips can seal together but he deliberately lets me struggle and then when we're just about to kiss, he kisses my nose instead, smirking as he does so. Alright then. Two can play at that game.
"Thank you," I grin as I take a hold of the collar of his shirt like we're not close enough already. And then I say something ridiculous. "We should celebrate when we're back from the beach tonight. We go into your room, you take off my clothes, I take off yours and we have a mini dance party."
His eyes darken a little and his hold on my waist tightens. "A dance party?"
I kiss his pulse point and it jumps against my lips. There's a lipstick stain there now in the shape of my lips. Perfect. "Yup."
He's not teasing me anymore and I realize that when he lowers his face to mine to kiss me. But once again, we don't kiss because once our lips touch, we're interrupted by a loud yodeling from my window.
I turn around and lift both my middle fingers at my brother. I swear, sometimes he can be so embarrassing. It makes me wonder if he's really 20 or not. "Drew, what the hell are you doing in my room? And why of, all things to do in the world to get my attention, would you yodel at this time of the night?"
He drags my curtain wider and frowns before redirecting his frown to Flynn. "You'd better not try anything stupid with my sister or else you won't wake up with legs by tomorrow morning and by legs, you know what I mean."
I cover my face in embarrassment and through the gaps between my fingers, I see Flynn raise both his hands like he's under arrest. "I promise. We're just going to dance."
That makes me blush even harder.
"It better just be dancing."
"Drew, you're embarrassing her," I hear my mum say behind him before the curtains are drawn, concealing my room again and Flynn grabs my hand as he leads me to the car.
"We better get going. I'm pretty sure we've missed the first hour already."
When he opens the door for me, I look at him with a cheeky smile. "We're just going to dance?"
He shrugs, tongue in cheek in a futile attempt to hide his smile. "We're going to a dance right now." He says, quickly stealing a kiss from me before Drew magically appears again. "Aren't we?"
â
I'M FILLED WITH awe when we walk into the school's gym. Only, it doesn't look like our gym anymore. The decorations make it look unrecognizable. It's beautiful, with balloons and fairy lights hanging everywhere and a huge disco ball that looks more like a snow ball hanging right in the center of the hall, rotating different lights across people's faces. The tables and chairs, though decorated as well and filled with drinks and eatables, have been pushed to the side creating a space big enough for everyone to dance. It really does look like a winter wonderland and it's blue. So blue, it reminds me of the time Flynn took me to the aquarium.
When he sees Amanda and Cass waving me over, his phone rings and when he takes it out, he tells me he'll be right back. It's his mum and since she's calling, it means she and Ellie are probably close by. Amanda and Cass hurry over even before I get to their table and after a solid three minutes of complimenting ourselves, I smile as I look at the students around. A couple of people are dancing already while most are talking, taking bites out of the snacks on the table or taking pictures at the photo booth.
"This place looks amazing." I say and Cass dramatically flips her hair to the side while Amanda bows. She looks beautiful in a flowery silver high low gown. It's armless as well and her braids serve as curtains behind her shoulders.
"Thank you."
"I feel underdressed for some reason." I hear Khalid say behind me and I turn around to see him wearing a pair of jeans that appears black in the light and a beige colored flannel shirt. He's holding a half-filled glass of punch and lifting it to his mouth.
"That's because you are," Cass hisses, snatching the cup from him. She's dressed in a red, one-shoulder floor length gown and her black mane of hair is side swept to her exposed shoulder so compared to Khalid who looks like he's about to train some fifth graders basketball, she has every right to be annoyed. "I can't believe my date is such an embarrassment."
Amanda laughs as he slings a hand over Cass's shoulder, unaffected by her insult. "What? I didn't think people actually take these things seriously. Besides, ladies think I look good in whatever I wear. Secretly, you do too."
"Hi Khalid." A blonde in an icy blue floor length dress greets coyly as she walks right past us.
Khalid looks away from her and turns to us with a smirk like he just proved his point. "See?"
A figure approaches us and I hear Cass clearing her throat loudly while Amanda nudges her on the side. Dark hair, dark eyes and a lean body. I send an evil grin to Amanda while Khalid rolls his eyes, muttering something about girls and their ways.
"Jo, hey. I haven't seen you at all tonight." Tony says and I nod.
"Yeah, I came in a few minutes ago. Here to take your date away from us?"
Tony shares a look with Amanda and he laughs. "Actually, yes. If she'll dance with me, that is."
"Okay, that's cute and all but when are you going to ask her out?" Cass questions, placing her hands on her waist and Amanda looks like she wants to disappear from the face of the earth. That's new. I've never seen her embarrassed before.
Even under the blue lights, I can tell his cheeks are flushed. "I was going to. Tonight. But that's not a surprise anymore, is it?"
Cass pats him on the back with a satisfied grin. "It's about time, Ironman."
Amanda places her hands on her ears and moves towards him. "I'm just going to pretend I didn't hear any of that. So you can take me to the dance floor and ask me out properly."
"Yes ma'am." Tony nods, taking her hand and steering her away from us.
"Aren't they cute? Khalid, I think you should get a girlfriend." Cass suggests but Khalid isn't listening because he's already a few meters ahead of us, flirting with the girl from earlier.
Carter's standing with Jamal and James or Ed Sheeran as I'd like to call him but he leaves their company after he checks his watch and walks towards Cass and I by the table. He looks good too in a two-piece suit with his hair in messy waves and even before he gets to us, a couple of greetings and friendly shoves have already being thrown his way.
"I don't get it." I say once he gets to our table.
He stuffs about three cookies into his mouth at once and with a brow raised, he asks mouthful, "You don't get what?"
"Why you don't have a date." Cass answers for me. "I mean, you're the star quarterback. More than half of the girls in this school throw themselves at you, singles and those with boyfriends included as well. If anyone should bring a date to the dance, it's you."
He shrugs. "When you eat something every time, eventually you get tired of it."
Cass grimaces. "TMI, Carter."
He laughs and shakes his head. "I didn't mean it that way. I'm just saying it's superficial. All of this is. And most of those girls who throw themselves at me don't do it because they actually like me. It's either because of my status, an ego boost or because they want to sleep with me. And trust me, it's annoying and tiring."
"Poor thing," I say patting his back. "I thought you hit it off with some chick at Appleton."
He runs his hand through his hair and nods at a group of three girls who wave and giggle as they walk past. "Her name's Annie and she's 21. She thinks I'm a kid because she's got a brother my age."
Cass scoffs. "That's ridiculous. Who still thinks 18 year olds are kids?"
"Well, did you show her that you're not a kid?"
"I didn't send her a dick pic if that's what you're asking."
I roll my eyes. "I mean, did you try to get serious with her? I don't know, ask her out on a date or something?"
He loosens his tie a little and pours himself a drink from the bowl of fruit punch on the table. He glances at his watch and looks away. "I did invite her to the dance but I doubt she'll come. I don't really care though. It's not like I'm expecting her or anything."
Cass whistles as she drinks from her cup. "Yup, someone's in denial."
He looks at her and scoffs while I grin. "I'm not."
Matilda, some girl from Math class, comes over and swoops Cass away before she can come up with any response. Cass tells us over her shoulder that she'll be back and Carter pours me a drink as she goes.
"Thanks," I say as he hands me the drink. The song slowly switches one of Beyoncé's and Carter leans against the table.
"Are you having fun?"
I take a sip from the glass and drop it back down. It's too sweet and I don't plan on leaving here with a spiked blood sugar level. I pick up a bottle of water instead. "Did Flynn send you over here to keep my company till he comes back?"
He doesn't deny it. He nods. "Yes. Ellie got a fright and he had to go home to encourage her and bring her and Talia by himself instead."
"Will she be okay?"
He waves it off. "Once she sees him, she'll be fine. Don't worry about that."
"Also, he said to ward off predators like that guyâ" he says, pointing to a tall dude eyeing me from the dance floor even if he's with his date.
"And that guy." This time, he points at Craig who's standing at the corner. He's laughing with some of his teammates from the swim team and his hand is clinched tightly to some girl's waist. He looks over at us, his eyes locking with mine and he looks like he's about to say something. Maybe a hey or a hi but we're not on friendly terms, at least to me, so I look away before he gets the chance to do so.
"And guys like that." Carter finishes and I arch a brow at him.
"Did he really say that?"
"No but he doesn't want you to be alone and as his best friend, I'm responsible for keeping you company and shielding you from the likes of guys like that. Including Albert Einstein over there who's walking towards us right now." He finishes, referring to Daniel Corrigan walking towards us like he's on a red carpet.