I Found Myself Falling...Not For the Right Thing Either

The microwave binged letting us know that the food was done. Instead of pulling it out like a good person I stayed in my place and yelled out loud.

“Food’s done!” I was too lazy to get up and get the food today. The couch was so much more comfy.

“Go get it!” Jake told me, walking down the stairs along with his friends. My eyes stayed longer than necessary on a certain one, smirking in return.

I put on the bet puppy dog face I could make and said, “You’re closer.” He huffed and shook his head, walking the rest of the way down the stairs and into the living room. He walked right past me and my hopeful puppy dog pout deepened.

“Now, you’re closer.” He told me, flopping onto the chair opposite of where I was laying on the couch.

“That’s not very nice.” I told him as the guys followed and all sat down, all except for one.

“I’ll go get it for you.” My eyes widened at the kind gesture and trust me; I wasn’t the only one surprised.

Kent was too focused on his phone and whoever he was texting to look up, but knowing him, he would’ve had the same look as everyone else. The one where the jaw is dropped, mouth wide open in shock and the eyebrows furrowed in confusion, eyes clearly asking, “What the fuck?”

I just stayed quiet. I think I knew why Craig was doing, trying to show everyone slowly that we were together, but by the looks of it they all thought it was weird.

“Who possessed Craig?” Jared joked, throwing his head back as he laughed along with Ian and Robert. I laughed awkwardly, what else was I supposed to do? I hadn’t a clue! I noticed Jake’s eyes narrow slightly as he watched Craig enter with my bowl of pasta that I had put in the microwave for lunch, but he quickly forgot about us when there was a knock on the front door and Katie entered.

“Thanks.” I said to Craig, grabbing the bowl from him. He winked quickly. All I wanted to do was grab him and kiss him senseless for the kind gesture, but everyone in the room was keeping e from doing so, so I just watched him sit down on the other end of the couch I was sitting on, making my sit up rather than lay across the whole thing.

Katie’s eyes were wide and bright as she raced into the room after taking off her shoes, jumping into my lap. Luckily I was able to keep my bowl of pasta out of her way when she dove.

“What are you doing?!” I shrieked as she landed on top of me, knocking the air out of me a bit.

“Are you ready yet?” She asked, turning around and grabbing a piece of pasta from my bowl. I scowled, pulling it from her reach.

“Obviously not.” I muttered, stabbing my fork into the bowl and pulling it out to shove the delicious sauce covered pieces into my mouth.

“Well hurry up.” She muttered, rolling off of me and onto her feet. “I’m grabbing something to eat.” She mumbled, walking off. I was too busy to notice what was going on as I ate my food, but when I felt Craig sitting next to me I realized everyone must have left.

“You’ve got some food on your face.” He mumbled, leaning forward to lick the access sauce off of my chin. I let a giggle leave my lips and I pulled back from him, wiping off the saliva he left. “Delicious.” He muttered, smirking down at me.

“What? Me or the sauce?” I challenged.

“The sauce of course.” He told me, laughing. I frowned and stuck my finger into the bowl, pulling out some sauce left on the side of the dish. I brought it to my lips and smeared it across them as if it were lipgloss. I tilted my head to the side and bit my lip as I watched Craig’s eyes quickly go from playfulness to lust as he gazed down at me.

“How about now?” I breathed, just waiting for him to lean in and kiss me

Too bad our moment was interrupted as everyone started back into the living room. Craig quickly moved back to where he was sitting and acted as if nothing had happened where as I shoved another forkful of pasta into my mouth to look like I was just sitting here eating.

“Wow, we left you two in here for five minutes and nobody was yelling for help or shouting names at the other.” Katie announced. The knowing glint was in her eyes and she looked between the two of us.

“Wow, you’re right Katie. Neither of the two even moved.” Jared agreed. Ian and Robert sat back where they had before they left along with Kent who was still wrapped up in a conversation on his phone while Jake eyed me and Craig before sitting down next to Katie as if nothing was suspicious about it.

“You know there was a perfect seat next to me Katie.” I said out loud as I eyed her and Jake. Her cheeks turned the slightest shade of pink as she opened her mouth to say something back.

“Hey Rae, nice hickey.” My eyes went wide.

I had forgotten to put make-up on it!

“What are you talking about?” I mumbled, tilting my head to the side to try and get my hair to cover my neck without making it obvious, but Katie had already gotten everyone’s attention, even Kent’s.

“Who gave you that?” Ian asked, wagging his eyebrows as he walked over and moved my hair out of the way. I smacked his shoulder to try and get him to leave me alone, but the damage was already done. Everyone had already seen it.

Shit!

“Rae’s getting some!” Robert yelled, laughing obnoxiously when my cheeks flushed.

“I am not!” I yelled back at him, pulling my hair over my neck. At that moment I took the chance to sneak a peek over at Craig to see his reaction of this all. He was the one who made it after all and of course he had the expression that any guy would have.

Pride

He was happy that I was ‘marked’ by him. He liked to know that I was his. It made him seem sort of possessive.

“So, who’s the lucky guy?” Jared asked. I glanced around seeing Katie’s eyes sparkle with amusement and Kent’s twinkle with knowledge. Jake’s eyebrow rose as he waited for my answer.

“There is no one.” I muttered, looking down.

They all laughed, definitely not believing me. “Sure, so you just bought that necklace for yourself and you wear it every day?” I looked down and my fingertips grabbing onto the ruby heart that I wore just about every day. Did everyone actually notice that? I hadn’t taken it off much since Craig and I started dating, but I didn’t worry about hiding it as much either like when he had just gotten it for me and I was kind of embarrassed to wear it.

“It’s none of your business.” I told them, starting to get up to put my bowl in the sink to wash when I was pulled back down. “Hey!” I exclaimed as I was brought back down, but this time into Ian’s lap.

“Aw come on, Rae. Kent will tell you who he’s been talking to!”

Kent’s eyes shot up from his phone just as it was ripped from his fingertips by Jared, yelling, “Hey! It’s nobody!”

“This doesn’t look like anybody.” Jared mumbled, pressing a few buttons. “Damn! This girl is hot! Kind of looks familiar…” He stared down at the phone for a few seconds and his eyebrows scrunched together as he thought. Then he suddenly yelled, “Holy crap!”

“What?!” We all exclaimed at once.

There was a silence as Jared examined the picture, probably to make sure he was seeing it right. I noticed I was leaning forward a bit, the suspense was killing me! Who was this girl Kent was talking to? I mean I saw Cassie. I didn’t know a Cassie… Cassie, Cassie, Cassie…

Cassie!

“Laser Tag!” I shouted and Jared snapped his fingers, pointing towards me and he nodded his head vigorously.

“Yeah! That girl we played with!”

“I remember her!” Ian joined the conversation, getting up from the couch, causing me to fall onto the floor with a ‘thump’, but I didn’t care. I was too caught up in the fact that Kent was talking to that girl.

“Can I have my phone back?” Kent asked, reaching for Jared. His cheeks were slightly redder than normal.

That’s when Jake questioned, “When did you get her number?”

“When James got her friend’s number.” All of the guys cringed.

“Gross!” They yelled in unison.

“Stop being homophobes!” Katie yelled, grabbing her phone and typing on it.

“That’s so cute!” I cooed. “James and that guy and then you and Cassie. You could like double date!”

Kent groaned, his hand covering his face and rubbing his temples as we continued to yell things out. My hickey was totally forgotten about and I didn’t mind at all. Katie and I constantly asked if they were dating or when he asked for her number, what they’ve got in common, etc. Then you had the guys asking if he’d slept with her yet since they knew we never ‘hooked up’ or did anything.

“You know, I always thought you two would lose your virginity’s with one another, but it looks like Rae will be the only one left out of us after Kent and Cassie do it.”

“We’re not like that!” Kent objected it.

“Wow, thanks guys.” I grumbled, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Well, that hickey looks like Rae’s getting some action, how do we know if she hasn’t lost her V-card already?” Damn it. The topic comes back…

“She’s still innocent.” Katie commented, getting up from where she was on the carpet to head towards the door. “But not for too much longer.” She added at the end making me bury my head in my hands.

“Can we stop talking about my little sister having sex?” Jake asked, obviously as uncomfortable with this topic as I was.

“We all just have to face the fact that our little Rae is growing up.” Robert said, holding his hands over his heart and pretending like he was about to cry.

I tore my hands away from my face to look over at Craig. He hadn’t said a single thing during the entire conversations since it started back towards me. He looked deep in thought, his jaw rigid as his lips pressed into a straight line. His usual bright blue eyes were sort of a dull color as he stared at nothing in particular.

I felt a tug on my arm and I looked up at Katie who had her shoes on.

“Let’s get out of here. The mall won’t stay open forever.” I nodded to her, agreeing to get out of here. That may have been what she wanted the guys to think, that we were just leaving because it was getting later and later, but I could really tell that she was saving me from this embarrassment.

Hurriedly, I followed her out of the living room, rushing to the kitchen to put my bowl in the sink and then throwing on a pair of sandals before going out the door without any of the guys even noticing.

♥

“That’s so cute!” Katie awed as we pushed back the racks of prom dresses. “I wish Jake would’ve asked me like that.” She leant against the rack and dreamt of it while I made a face.

“It was in a hallway and it’s still weird you and my brother. I mean are you two even dating or just ‘messing around’?” I wondered out loud, examining a green dress in front of me.

“That’s still cute! It was just you two and he did it in such a way… and I have no clue what we are, but he asked me to go to prom with him so I’ve got to think that we’re more than just a fling.” She mumbled, pulling out a bright pink dress and holding it up for me to see. “What about this?”

I shook my head. “It wouldn’t look right with your hair, it’s too vibrant.”

She took a look at it before nodding her head and agreeing. “True. I guess a red on wouldn’t look as good either, huh?”

“Depends, I guess you’ll have to try them on. How about this one?” I held up the green I had been eyeing and she smiled.

“I like it; it matches the color of your eyes.” I smiled in return and slung the dress over my arm and onto the pile of dresses I had already decided that I would try on. My pile wasn’t nearly as large as Katie’s, but it was quite big. I think I had six or seven dresses stacked up.

“So, should we try the ones we have on?” Katie asked, grabbing onto her pile with both hands. “I think I’ve got enough.”

“Yes you do.” I laughed, looking around for the dressing room and as soon as I saw it in the back of the store we headed towards it. “Two rooms please.” I asked the woman standing in front of the room. She smiled kindly and counted our dresses before opening two stalls next to one another.

My first try was a white colored dress that faded in darker as the dress went down, finishing with a crème coloring. It was pretty, but the gown was a halter top. I wasn’t such a big fan of those, they made me look awkward, but I liked the coloring and the design of glitters so I tried it on.

I made sure my hair was down because that how I would most likely have it for prom.

“Is it weird that your brother and I are kind of, well…” Katie trailed off.

I nodded my head, then remembering she couldn’t see me I answered, “Yeah, kind of, but you know what, if you guys really like each other than who am I to stop you? I just wish my brother would be able to see that when Craig and I tell him that we’re dating.”

“So you are going to tell him?”

“We’ve got to. We can’t just keep sneaking around like this. Someone’s going to find out. I mean you and Kent already know. Plus, how would we go to prom together if nobody knew. They still think we’re enemies!” I sighed and then slipped the halter top over my head and rested it against my neck.

“Do you have one on?!” Katie asked, knocking on my door. I opened it up and stepped out, careful not to trip since I had no heels on and the dress was really long.

“Can you zip me up?” I asked.

“Only if you do the same for me!” With that we both zipped each other up and then turned to look in the big mirrors that they had in the dressing room.

“I don’t like it.” That was the best thing about having a best friend to go shopping with. They always gave you the answer straight and down to the point. They wouldn’t say that it ‘looked good’ unless it really did look good.

“Me neither.” I agreed, spinning around in my dress. It just wasn’t me. It was pretty, but it almost looked more like a wedding dress. Then you had Katie’s which just wasn’t the best on her. It was too poufy for her figure.

“Back to the dressing room!” She declared. “Oh and I know what you mean. I definitely was shocked when you told me, but then again you’re my best friend, not my sister and you weren’t dating my best friend who’s a guy.”

“Exactly.” I grumbled, pulling the dress off of me and moved over to the next one.

“So, do you love him?” The question stopped me in my tracks. The dress lay in my fingers as I thought over Katie’s question.

Did I love Craig?

I mean we hadn’t said it to one another, yet. I didn’t want to be the first one to say it either. Knowing me, I’d make a fool of myself and he wouldn’t say it back making me look and feel stupid. Then it hit me.

Did he love me?

This wasn’t a topic that came up. I mean I liked him, a lot and he liked me a lot… I had never been in love with someone before so how was I supposed to know if I was in love or not?

Katie was the one to snap me out of my thoughts, hoping to get an answer from me, “Rae?”

I stood in my stop, staring down at the dress in front of me as I replied “I don’t know.” It was the best I could come up with. “Do you love my brother?” I asked her and her reply was the same as mine.

“I don’t know either.”

The conversation stopped there, but our journey of trying on dresses continued on for a bit, I tried on a blue one, but it didn’t look right. It was too short for a senior prom, or at least I wanted a longer one. So, I moved on to a yellow one. It wasn’t the greatest and when I put it on I agreed with what Katie told me.

“You look like a giant lemon!”

The dress was definitely too yellow.

Katie had her fair share of dresses too. She tried on a black one which clung to her body, but seemed like more of a dress girls would go clubbing in. Then she tried on the pink one she had showed me and like I had expected, it didn’t look right with her vibrant red curls. The last one she tried on was nice, but it was out of her budget as was the one I pulled out for me.

“I’ve got a red one here, but I think it’ll be like the pink one and not look good with my hair.”

“Don’t you have more?” I asked, stepping into the green one we had both liked when I held it up. It was a strapless gown with a detailed gold beading across the hem of the top and then it proceeded to do a crisscross pattern along the waistline. It was simple, yet really pretty.

“Yeah, but I’m having second thoughts on them. Try on your last one and if you don’t like it we can go back out and look or you can just help me if it looks good which I’m thinking it will.”

“Let’s hope.” I replied, slipping into the gown. I loved how it looked and how it felt, but for some reason it wasn’t right.

“I don’t know about this one…” I trailed off as I opened the dressing room door to find Katie sitting on a chair outside and in front of the mirror.

“I like it!” She chirped, jumping up to do up the zipper in the back. We had to wait for a girl to walk away before I could look in the full length mirrors, but when she did we rushed over. “It matches your eyes like we said!” She exclaimed, admiring the dress.

I bit my lip and did a few twists. There was something about the way it looked. I just didn’t feel right in it.

“It’s not for me.” I muttered, heading back towards the dressing room, but I didn’t catch the glint of excitement that appeared in Katie’s eyes. “You want to try it on?”

“Really?!”

I laughed and walked into the dressing room, stepping out of the dress and handing it over to her. I got ready to put on my other clothes when a dress was thrown over the door.

“Try this one on! It’ll look great with that necklace that Craig gave you.”

“He didn’t-” I didn’t bother to finish. What was the point of hiding it from her anymore? He did give it to me and I wasn’t ashamed of it, I loved it! “Fine, but only because you’re trying on mine.”

I didn’t bother looking at the front of the dress until I walked out and zipped Katie up.

“The green one looks great on you.” I told her and you know what? It actually looked amazing! Her red curls looked great with it. They popped where with the pink and red they just blended in. Her lips were pulled back into the biggest smile as she twirled around and she was literally glowing in the gown!

“I love it!” She shrieked, turning around and hugging me. “Isn’t it great, Rae?!” I nodded. Her smile didn’t fade as she went from looking at herself to me in the mirror. “Oh my god!” My eyebrows furrowed.

“What?” I questioned, turning around to look behind me, but nothing was there.

“No Rae, it’s you in that dress! You look gorgeous!” I laughed.

“I don’t know about that…” I mean it felt nice, but I didn’t get a really great look at it or anything. Well, that was until Katie shoved me in front of the mirrors.

I couldn’t say a word.

It was amazing! It was a blood red color with a sweetheart bust that was had gems across it, but they gathered at the middle and made a path that led from the middle down my stomach and to the side of my waist where the material bunched along the seam. This created ripples of fabric down from my waist to the bottom Some clusters of gems continued down, but eventually stopped making it just the plain red fabric.

“Look and it matches your necklace like I thought!” Katie said, pointing to my neck.

I looked down and sure enough, the ruby red heart went with the dress perfectly.

And that was all I could describe the dress as…

“Prefect.”