The Only Exception

While Sunday usually lounged on the sand outside of her house in a bathing suit or something else that would not cause a problematic tan, today was different. The sand was too cold to rest on, and the waves that were crashing on the shore were very close to freezing. So Sunday had been reduced to laying on one of the outdoor chaise lounges on the back porch in a pair of old jeans with a hole in the knee.

As frigid as the weather had decided to be, the sky was overtaken by light grey clouds that were hard to stare at without the assistance of sunglasses. The aviators that shielded her eyes were objects that Amber had talked her into buying, for which Sunday was very glad. With them she could stare at the sky for however long she wanted.

It was currently Sunday's main priority as well. A pencil was loosely held in her hand, and the paper that her hand was sitting on was blank. She had gotten incredibly sidetracked by the clouds—the shapes that they created were the wonder of the day sky, though Sunday invariably preferred the night. She found herself looking for the spots of her favorite stars, though she had no way to be sure whether she was looking in the right spots.

"That one looks like a bunny."

Sunday tore her gaze away from the clouds and looked over her shoulder to find Alex standing in the doorway that led to the porch. With a smile she said, "You're so creative."

"I know, I know," Alex agreed nonchalantly as he walked over to Sunday's chair. Instead of taking a seat on the lounge beside her, he sat down in her lap and pushed her sunglasses onto her head so he could see her eyes. "That one looks like Jack," he added as he pointed to a particularly misshapen cloud.

Looking pensive Sunday noted, for the first time, "I'd like to meet Jack. And Rian and Zack. They sound like... interesting characters, to say the least."

With a chuckle, Alex agreed, "They are. And that's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about."

Instantly, Sunday began fidgeting. She tried to sit up straighter, but it was a difficult task with Alex's weight placed completely on her. "You want me to meet them?" she asked nervously.

Alex shrugged. "Yeah, why not. Zack's having a party, and—"

At the mention of the word 'party', Sunday was met with a burst of inexplicable strength, and she managed to stand up, forcing Alex to hastily catch himself on the lounge. "I have to go," Sunday announced, "Amber's supposed to meet me in a few minutes so that we can go shopping, and she doesn't like waiting, you know how Amber can be, so you should probably leave and I should go sit down out front and wait for her because I think she just texted me—at least, I'm pretty sure she did. I thought I had my phone on silent, but it just buzzed..." She quit her rambling tangent, only to pull her phone from her pocket with somewhat trembling fingers.

Alex rose to his feet as well and took Sunday's hands. "Hey," he said, managing to capture her attention. "Where's the fire?"

She adopted a very confused expression. "There is no fire," she stated quite simply.

"It's an expression," Alex said with a roll of his eyes. "You didn't let me tell you about this party."

"Oh." Sunday gave a small shrug of her shoulders, her mouth set in a childish little frown. "Well, go on, if you must, but Amber's really on her way so don't dawdle."

Her vocabulary made Alex chuckle, but he obeyed her request and went on with his explanation. "It's a Halloween party," he said, "It's at Zack's tomorrow night, and a lot of my friends are going to be there. I wanted to introduce you to all of them. We have been... hanging out," he always had such a difficult time naming what it was he and Sunday did, "for a while now, and some of them really want to meet you."

"But not all of them?" Sunday inquired, picking up on the word "some".

Alex shrugged. "It takes Zack a while to warm up to people," was all he added.

An awkward silence befell them, and Alex loosened his grip on Sunday's hands as he prepared to be on the offense. "You don't want to come?" he asked, eyes narrowed a bit.

"It's not that," countered Sunday as she tried her hardest to avoid Alex's gaze. "You know that I don't like parties though, and..." She cut herself off as she heaved a sigh. "Nevermind."

"No, what is it?" Alex demanded, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Well..." Sunday tried to pry one of his arms away from his chest so that she could lace her fingers with his. "You know that I don't like parties, Alex, and... well, frankly, it bothers me that you'd ask again." She dropped her hands, angry at Alex's blatant rejection.

A honk sounded from the front of the house. "Better go run along to your she-beast of a friend," Alex spat.

Tears burned in Sunday's eyes; she knocked her aviators off of her head to shield her eyes and create a barrier between herself and Alex. "I hate that you of all people just ruined my day," she declared before she turned away from Alex and stomped down the stairs of the back porch, taking the long way around the house so that she could compose herself before sliding into Amber's car.

Guilt immediately flooded Alex, and after two short seconds of being glad that he'd brought Sunday the same unhappiness that her rejection of his invitation to Zack's party had given him, Alex took off down the stairs after her. "Sun," he called, hoping to stop her before they were in Amber's line of sight.

"Leave me alone."

He sighed but increased his speed to a light jog. "Sunday," he said, grabbing her wrist.

She sounded tearful when she answered. "What do you want, Alex?"

Because she wouldn't turn around to face him, Alex wrapped his arms around her from behind and planted a small kiss on her jaw. "I'm sorry," he murmured.

He felt her exhale. "It's fine," Sunday said, "I'll come to this party."

Alex grinned in triumph. "Thank you," he smiled as he gave her a quick squeeze.

Amber honked the horn again.

"I should... yeah," Sunday said as she removed Alex's arms from her torso.

And the triumphant feeling that had flooded Alex at Sunday's agreement to accompany disappeared when she didn't pause to give him a goodbye kiss (which she was quite fond of usually) or turn around on the way to Amber's car to give him a small wave. She didn't do anything. She simply continued to Amber's silver Mercedes and slid into the passenger seat without casting another look towards Alex.

Amber, however didn't pick up on Sunday's downcast attitude. She hardly noticed Sunday at all until she saw a flash of silver in her friend's hand. "Who are you texting?" she asked as she pulled a colorful kimono styled dress off of a rack. Hmm. Too long and robe-ish. She discarded the dress and moved on.

Sunday looked up from her old Razr. "No one," she said as she hastily shoved the phone into her pocket. She turned to the nearest article of clothing, which was a button up dress in a flowery print, and feigned interest in it. In all honesty, she was assuring Alex that she wasn't upset with him, though she wasn't entirely sure what her feelings were towards him at the moment.

"Honey, I'm not going to be mad at you if it's Alex," she said in a sugary voice as she crossed to one of the dressing rooms. She handed her pile of clothes to the attendant and waited for them to be hung up. "I'm just a little concerned for you, sweetie."

"Why?" Sunday asked as she drifted closer to the dressing rooms in order to continue her conversation.

Amber pulled the curtain of the dressing room closed and tried on the blue dress first. "Because Alex is a total player," she spat out vehemently as she pulled the straps onto her shoulders. "I just don't want you to get hurt, you know?"

"Oh, we're just friends, Am," Sunday countered. Amber stepped out of the dressing room and Sunday added, "That's really pretty."

Amber did a little spin. "Thank you!" She returned to the dressing room to try on her second best conquest, in her opinion: a white halter dress in a wispy Georgette fabric. She pulled the dress on only to be disappointed.

"You might think you're only friends, Sunday," she said as she glared at her reflection. "But I don't think that's what's on Alex's mind. What do you think of this dress?"

Sunday inspected her friend. "I like it," she smiled.

Amber rolled her eyes. "It'd look better on you," pouted the blonde.

As soon as Amber was hidden behind the curtain, Sunday pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. Have fun shopping with the dragon lady, had been Alex's statement.

Sunday thumbed her reply: Be nice to her. Amber's not bad once you get to know her.

The curtain was thrown open, and Sunday instantly hid her phone behind her back. Amber gave her a patronizing smile that told Sunday that she had been a little too late. She tried to discreetly return the phone to her pocket. "Just be careful, Sunny," Amber finally concluded. "Alex isn't a nice guy."

Sunday bit back her reply. She wasn't going to argue with her friend—she had never liked fighting with people—but she knew Alex couldn't be half as bad as Amber was trying to make him seem. He was just always so sweet and funny and nice when Sunday was around him. Except for today, the little voice in Sunday's head noted. She cleared her throat as Amber walked out of the dressing room, trying to think of a way to ask her next question.

"What?" Amber demanded as they walked towards the check out of the overpriced boutique.

"Um... Alex invited me to a party on Halloween," she explained, "And I was wondering if maybe you'd help me find a costume for it."

Amber's eyes flashed, though it went unseen by Sunday. She was astonished that Alex was still interested in Sunday after three weeks when she, Amber, had only captivated him for two. But she bit back an outburst and instead brought up a text message. Once she had obtained a quick invitation to the party in question, she smiled. "Of course," she agreed as she took her bags from the check out girl. "In fact, I need a costume too. Zack invited me as soon as he had the idea," she smiled in a gloating fashion. It went unnoticed by Sunday though, and Amber frowned.

As the pair walked into the first costume store that Amber could locate, Sunday noted, "I've never been to a costume party."

Amber felt a burst of pity for her friend. She'd been to many parties before, each more fun than the next. She put an arm around Sunday's shoulders. "We'll find you something great, Sun." As soon as Sunday started looking at costumes though, a wicked smile slipped onto Amber's face.

"What do you want to be?" she asked as she started looking at short costumes that Sunday would never consider wearing. Or at least, she wouldn't consider them without Amber's prompting. In Amber's careful and manipulating hands, Sunday was no more difficult to mold than clay.

"I don't know," Sunday shrugged. "Something fun." She gestured to an M & M costume and laughed. "How about that?"

She knew Sunday wasn't going to instantly point out the shortest and most attractive dress in the store, but she never thought her first inclination would be an M & M. Good lord, help me, she thought as she repressed the urge to roll her eyes. She cleared her throat and pressed forth, ignoring Sunday's comment. "I'll just pick a few things out for you."

Soon, Amber's arms were loaded with options for both Sunday and herself, and one of the workers at the costume store was showing them to the dressing room areas. Sunday hesitantly looked at the pile that Amber had handed her once the door was shut behind her. "I don't know about some of this stuff, Am," she called over the partition.

"Just try it on, Sun. You'll never know unless you try it."

So Sunday pulled on the first costume. It was short, only going to the middle of her thigh, and puffy. "What am I supposed to be?" she asked as she struggled to pull the low neckline up a little bit.

Amber walked out of her dressing room in a short blue dress with a puffy skirt. She looked nice, but Sunday felt so uncomfortable, even though her outfit was barely any different than Amber's. "Snow White," Amber said in a 'duh' voice, as though it should have been obvious.

Sunday shook her head. "I don't like it. But yours is great."

"How perfect is Cinderella for me?" Amber said with a twirl. "I love it."

Cinderella fit Amber, but only after she turned into a princess. Amber was never overlooked, and her carriage never turned into a pumpkin at midnight. She was always the belle of the ball. Amber had found her costume. "Now we just have to find something for you," she sighed as she looked at Sunday's reject pile.

An hour later, the only thing that Sunday and Amber could agree on was a white dress that was meant to be a goddess costume. It stopped a few inches above Sunday's knees, dipped lower in the back than it did in the front, and tied with a gold cord at her waist. It was plain, but Amber decided that maybe it'd be good to have Sunday pale in comparison to her. Maybe it'd knock some sense into Alex.

Amber dropped Sunday off at her house later that night after the two girls had shared dinner. "I'll pick you up before the party tomorrow night and we'll go together," she smiled from the driver seat of her car. "Ciao, love!"

Sunday walked into her house. "I'm home," she called. "Mom?"

"Upstairs, Sun!" came the muffled reply of Mrs. Phillips.

She walked into her parents' room to find her mom in her pajamas, sitting on her bed with her glasses on. She was reading over a file. "I got my costume," Sunday said, nervousness building in her chest. She had explained in a text message the situation concerning the party and to her disappointment, her parents had heartily agreed to allow her to go.

"Let me see it!" Mrs. Phillips requested. Although she initially hadn't been too keen on Alex and she still wasn't completely sure of him, she was starting to warm up to the boy. She noticed that Sunday seemed happier if his name came up in conversation and that her daughter was always ecstatic when the boy was with her. Besides, Alex was getting Sunday out. He was taking her places and giving her experiences that she might not have gotten otherwise. Despite all of this, Mrs. Phillips was, admittedly, not yet entirely sure whether the fact that Sunday was being exposed to new things was good or bad.

Sunday pulled the white dress from the bag. "Oh, it's pretty, Sun," Mrs. Phillips said. "Why don't you try it on?"

When Sunday emerged from her mom's bathroom, Mrs. Phillips put a calculating eye on her. "Hmm, I think I have a few things that could perk it up," she said.

A few minutes later, they were sitting on Mr. and Mrs. Phillips' bed, surrounded by shoe boxes, Mrs. Phillips' jewelry box, and her sewing kit. The cheap gold cord was replaced with a beautiful strand of braided gold that wrapped around Sunday three times. "I meant to redo the drapes in the dining room, but never got around to it," her mom laughed as she cinched Sunday's dress with the cord.

"I like it!" Sunday exclaimed as she looked in the mirror. She glanced over her shoulder at her mom. "It wouldn't be bad for the dining room either," she chuckled.

"I'm not finished," her mom said as she produced a pair of gold, calf-hugging gladiator sandals from a box that had sat in the back of Sunday's closet because the brunette felt that they were too much of a "hassle" to put on and off. A separate box produced a laurel wreath, which Mrs. Phillips sat upon Sunday's pinned up brown curls.

The hairpiece caused Sunday to cock an eyebrow. "Anything you want to share, Mom?" she asked.

Mrs. Phillips laughed before she explained, "College sorority costume party. I was fiercely competitive."

After the addition of golden armband and the promise that her mom would do her makeup before the party the following night, Sunday's getup was complete. "I look pretty," she said as she smiled at herself in the mirror.

Mrs. Phillips eyes watered a little bit. "No, Sunday," she countered as she gave her daughter's shoulders a squeeze. "You look gorgeous." And for the first time, Nadia realized that Sunday was all grown up. And in a great conflict of feelings, she both blamed and thanked Alex for it.

She helped Sunday hang up the outfit and place all of the accessories near the dress. "You better go to bed," she suggested once the dress was safe in her closet. "I didn't realize it was so late." The time on the clock was already 11:09.

Sunday hugged her mom. "Thanks a lot," she smiled before she left for her own bedroom.

She would have felt on top of the world, elated, if it weren't for the nagging feeling in the back of her mind. She didn't want to go to his party; the last time she and Alex had attended one, the result had been disastrous. Parties weren't Sunday's thing; she was sure that if she asked Alex to go to an art museum with her, he would decline the invitation. And the knowledge that Alex would be allowed to get away with his refusal irritated Sunday and fixed her pretty face into a disconcerted expression as she dropped onto her fluffy pillows and tried to fall asleep.