Let Love In

The afternoon before prom was spent at Riley’s house getting all dolled up. Noah decided she would let it be a surprise, allowing herself to be in an excited mood for the evening’s events. As five o’clock creeped closer and closer, Noah felt a ball of anxious excited energy form in her stomach.

“I’m still waiting to hear back about later tonight, but yeah, as far as I know, we’re still on.” Riley hung up the phone as she walked into the bathroom, putting the finishing touches on her hair. The doorbell rang and Riley’s eyes lit up.

“You ready? You look beautiful.” Noah couldn’t help but smile as they walked down the hallway to the front room.

“Well aren’tcha gonna answer the door and see who it is?” Riley gestured towards the door, waiting for her.

Noah opened the door to see a handful of beautiful flowers being thrust towards her.

“Wow, Noah, you are so beautiful.” Her date lowered the flowers to get a better look at her. He was in all black with a teal tie that matched Noah’s dress perfectly. As the two boys stepped through the door, confusion spread across Noah’s face, prompting Riley to explain further.

“Colin and Shaun offered to be our dates under the agreement of “just as friends”, seeing as all four of us are taken. They didn’t want us to miss out because our boys are so far away.”
Noah was stunned as Colin slipped a corsage around her wrist, smiling lightly as she tried to push away the butterflies.

“I’m with Garrett, Garrett is my boyfriend.” Noah repeated this to herself silently in her mind a few times as Colin put his arm around her shoulder, escorting them out the door and to the rented town car parked on the street. Her heart beat out of her chest as her nose absorbed the sweet smell of his cologne, not believing this was real.

It was all a dream: dinner at a fancy restaurant before sitting well within the confines of Colin’s “personal space” in the town car, his arm wrapped around her just like she always imagined it. They headed straight for the photo room as soon as they arrived, ordering a whole spread of professional pictures for the occasion.
As they danced away, Riley’s camera was passed between friends, capturing all of the candid moments, smiles, and friends.

When the music switched to a slow song, Colin looked into Noah’s eyes, a soft smile playing on his lips.

“How did you get Sarah to agree to this?” Noah whispered, looking back at him in the eye.

Colin exhaled with a subtle eye roll. “Your sister…”

“Who happens to be your girlfriend...”

“She’s… we’re… I don’t feel like I need to ask permission from her for everything I do.”

“Why are you back together? Are you happy?” Noah chewed on her lip, beating herself up for asking such a blunt question when his response was delayed.

“Why are you with Garrett?” His tone was quiet as he stared straight at Noah, a more serious expression replacing the smile on his lips.

“What? Why am I with Garrett?” Noah desperately wanted to respond with “because unlike YOU, he actually likes me back as more than a friend.” but knew that statement would only get her into trouble.

“Well, I’m—“ Her sentence was cut short by Colin’s lips on hers. As soon as their lips touched, Colin pulled away again, his eyes darting across her face in silence.

Noah barely had time to process the kiss before the song ended and Colin took off, disappearing quickly into the crowd around them.

As she stood in the middle of the dance floor alone, her heart felt as though it would explode out of her chest, her pulse still racing as she tried to wrap her brain around what just happened.

“Noah.” His voice, barely heard over the music, broke through her thoughts, creating even more confusion. She spun around towards the sound of her name, her breath catching in her throat at she stared at him in disbelief. “Wow.” He exhaled quietly, staring back at her.

“Garrett?”

“I missed you.” He gave her a quick kiss on the lips as he pulled her into a hug before leaning in for another kiss, letting their lips linger before pulling away again. John and Riley appeared beside them, Riley beaming as her head rested against John’s chest.

“What the hell... How… Huh?”

“Riley snuck us in, so, shh…” Garrett smiled, putting a finger to his lips.

“Yeah, sorry we’re late. Some prom dates we are...” John squeezed his arms around Riley, swaying along to the music.

Garrett pulled Noah into an embrace, holding her close to him as she mumbled an “I can’t believe this is happening.”