Temporary Bliss

“Well now Charlotte, don’t keep the handsome man waiting!” My mother’s words woke me from my trance. I rolled my eyes and smiled and began walking down the stairs, one hand on the railing, and one hand lifting the front of my dress. After plenty of slow and steady steps I finally reached the bottom where Cameron was waiting for me. He reached out and grabbed my hand, bringing it to his lips and kissing it softly.

“Hello my lady, you look beautiful.”

A blush creeped it’s way up my neck and onto the apples of my cheeks. “Thank you. You don’t look so bad yourself Mr. Quiseng.” I smiled and pressed my lips to his for a quick kiss.

He pulled a corsage out from behind his back and presented it to me, flipping the plastic lid off. I smiled and grabbed it out of the box. It was beautiful. It had a pink rose in the center, surrounded by two white roses and some greens. I brought it to my nose and inhaled, the smell of fresh flowers flowed through my nostrils.

“It’s beautiful.” I noted as Cameron slipped it around my wrist.

I grabbed Cameron’s boutonniere off of the end table beside the stairs and tried to pin it on his suit jacket. I chucked as I fumbled with it, listening to Cameron tease me.

“Come on grandma hands, it’s not that hard, just stick the pin through.”

I rolled my eyes and looked up at him, “It’s not that easy, the flower is in the way!” I tried a bit longer then finally gave up, pouting at Cameron.

He laughed and cupped my face in his hands and kissed the tip of my nose. “I’ll do it.” He grabbed the boutonniere from me and had it pinned on himself in no time.

“Over here you two love birds! Picture time!!!” We followed my mom’s instructions and posed in front of the fireplace for pictures. Cameron wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me close to him; I rested my right hand on his chest and turned into him a little.

“Okay, three, two, one!” My mom counted down before the flash went off. I flashed a smile, knowing that I was going to be tired of smiling because of all the pictures.

We stayed in the same pose for a few more pictures, and then changed poses a few more times. I swear my mother went crazy when she had a camera in her hand.

“Last one.”

I rolled my eyes, “You said that the last five times!”

“Oh Charlotte, you’ll thank me one day. I swear this is the last one.” My dad was now standing behind her, rolling his eyes and laughing at every directing instruction she made. He knew I hated pictures so he was enjoying this torment I was receiving. I gave him the eyes a few times throughout, silently begging him to take the stupid camera out of her hands.

“Eyes here, Charlotte. Oh, Cameron, honey, push back your hair a bit. Ready, last one, and three, two, one.”

Those last few words replayed over and over in my head. “Last one. Last one. Last one.” Those words haunted me, this was it; the last picture. This meant something completely different to me than what my mom had meant. This was probably the last picture I would have with Cameron.

That thought scared me to no end. I had been dating Cameron for almost a year, he was always there for me, and I was about to give him up. He was a safe bet, I could count on him, I couldn’t count on Michael. Cameron was a for sure thing, and I was throwing it away. He had been my life for the past year; I had to brace myself for a big change. If Michael screws up, I can’t go running back to Cameron.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket as I got out of my car. I dialed Michael’s number as I walked up to his front door. We had plans to go over to his friends’ house and listen to him play some of his music, hip-hop. I wasn’t a big fan, but Michael was, plus Cameron had a family dinner tonight, so I didn’t have anything else to do.

His phone rang and rang and ran and then went to his voicemail, I frowned, usually his phone was glued to his hand. I shrugged it off and headed up the porch steps. I always loved the creak his wooden porch made underneath my steps. There was one board in particular that made the perfect creaking noise when stepped on. I used to have to look down and count the boards as I went making sure I would step on it, but now I didn’t have to. I always walked slow, making sure to get the best creak out of every board. I looked at the various neutral paint swatches that were on the wooden railing; his dad was planning on painting it as soon as his mom picked out a color.

My eyes shifted to the window where light leaked through a gap between the white mesh curtains. Something caught my eye and I stopped dead in my tracks, my stomach felt like it was about to reject my dinner. There was Michael, making out with a girl on his couch. I didn’t want to see that, but I couldn’t look away no matter how hard I tried. Tears stung my eyes but I blinked them back, begging them not to make an appearance. I quickly turned around and ran back to my car.

I don’t know why I was upset, he wasn’t just mine, I still had to share him. But I had begun to like him so much that I didn’t want to share him at all, or at least see him with other girls. I got in my car and drove off, going to the one person that could make me feel better. I finally got to their house and ran up the steps, ringing the doorbell twice, thinking it would make them come to the door quicker. The front door opened and I looked up into my favorite green eyes. When he noticed I had been crying the confused look washed away and was replaced with a loving and concerned look. He quickly opened his arms and pulled me into his chest. He pulled me inside while we were still hugging and yelled to his parents that he wasn’t going to go out to dinner anymore. We walked up to his room where we laid on his bed with his arms wrapped around me, not saying anything. He didn’t ask questions, he just held me and gave me soft kisses on the top of my head.


A loud laugh brought me back to reality, Caroline was trying to hold Zach in a bridal style, and it wasn’t working out too well, both of them were laughing too much.

My dad mentioned that we would be late for dinner if we didn’t leave soon, so we all quickly grabbed everything we needed then walked out the door and piled into Zach’s car; Cameron and I both in the back.

We headed off to another friends house for a group picture with the seven other couples we were going with and then all eighteen of us headed off t o Denny’s to eat; it wasn’t the most fancy place, but the food was awesome.

After we ate we headed off to the hotel where the dance was being held at in the ballroom. The school was going to pay for the valet, thinking it would keep kids from drinking on the walk to the hotel from the parking garage, so we got off right at the door and hurried into the lobby. Cameron pulled our tickets out of his wallet and handed one to me while we got in the short line; they were requiring everyone to take a breathalyzer.

Once we got in I saw tons of various Hawaiian decorations. The student council had picked out a beach theme…how original…not. There was a photographer in the corner and a DJ in the opposite corner, there were beverages, mostly just punch, pop and water next to the pictures and the rest was the dance floor crowded with hundreds of high school students. Zach and Caroline made a run for the dance floor after Caroline took off her heels and set them in a small cubby. I did the same before Cameron and I looked at each other and ran after them.

We made fun of Zach’s terribly awkward dancing throughout the night, but he didn’t care, unlike Caroline who urged him to stop shaking his butt all over the place during 3Oh3!’s ‘Don’t Trust Me’ . I was silently glad that Cameron didn’t dance like that.

The DJ had slowed the music down to Christina Perri’s ‘A Thousand Years’ and Cameron’s arms quickly pulled me close to him, enabling him to wrap his arms around my waist, and mine around his neck.

I smiled up at him, “So where did you learn to dance so well?”

“Oh, it just comes natural, baby. I’m like Danny Zuko!” He laughed, his cheeks bunching up making his eyes squint.

I laughed with him before shaking my head and lightly hit his chest, “No, seriously, where’d you learn?”

“My dad made me take lessons a few years back before my cousin’s wedding.” He shrugged it off like it was no big deal, “he didn’t want me to look like an idiot dancing at the wedding.”

We both looked over at Zach before locking eyes again, both of us busting out laughing.

“Remind me to thank your dad.”

The slow song ended and another fast paced pop song blared through the speakers as couples broke apart and formed a giant blob again.

I tried to keep the nagging though of breaking up with Cameron out of my mind so I could enjoy myself. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be, but then again I had plenty of distractions, like teachers trying to be cool and dance as they kept their place by the wall, and Zach’s dancing, and Cameron’s cute compliments about how beautiful I looked. I honestly felt like Cameron and I were a real couple again. Like I had never cheated on him, and I wasn’t about to break up with him within the next few days. It was nice to finally feel this way again, even if it wouldn’t last long.

The dance ended at 11:30pm and from there we headed to after prom, which was being held back at our school gym. We stopped at Zach’s house momentarily so we could change out of our prom clothes into casual clothes. Cameron and I headed over to his house right next door, I had taken my clothes there yesterday so I wouldn’t have to worry about forgetting them, and Zach and Caroline went to Zach’s to change.

Cameron’s parents were out of town, his younger sister had a dance competition up in San Francisco, so we wouldn’t have to try and escape a long conversation with them and then be late for after prom. We headed upstairs and once I grabbed my bag of clothes and had Cameron unzip my dress I headed to his sister’s room to change. I changed into sweatpants and a school football shirt. I felt like I was in heaven. I could breathe comfortably and move freely. I put my dress on a hanger and slipped the long plastic bag over it then headed back to Cameron’s room. I knocked twice then walked in not hearing him protest, he was just pulling his shirt over his head. He turned around and smiled as I walked to his closet.

I opened the doors and had to shove clothes aside to make room for my dress. “Cam, I think you need to organize your closet…or at least sort through it.”

He chuckled and came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist. “Have I told you how much I love it when you wear sweatpants?” he walked backwards, pulling me with him onto his bed. I plopped down and snuggled into his chest. His hand pushed my hair back and he pecked my lips. “Mmm, I love those lips.”

I smiled and softly rubbed the tip of my nose against his, “We’re going to be late for after prom and Zach and Caroline are probably ready and waiting on us.” He groaned and stood up, pulling me up with him and we headed back over to Zach’s house and left for the school.

We stayed at after prom for about an hour, playing around in various inflatable toys, Cameron and Zach drew quite a crowd at their sumo wrestling. There was also a hypnotist, DDR’s and a few arcade games.

I was staying the night at Cameron’s house, though I told my parents I was staying at Caroline’s; sneaky, sneaky. I fell asleep on the car ride home which gave hyper Caroline a chance to yell in my ear that we were at Cameron’s house. I said a quick goodbye to her and Zach then followed Cameron into his house.

Once we reached his room I plopped down on his unmade bed and pulled the covers up to my shoulder. I looked over at Cameron, “I’m so tired.”

He smiled and shut his light off, “You look like a zombie.”

I chuckled, “You’re so sweet, Cameron.” He gave me a wink before taking off his shirt and letting it drop to the floor and then climbed into his bed. He grabbed the TV remote off of his nightstand and turned on the TV. I cuddled up to him, fighting off the sleep, as we were both quietly watching reruns of Friends, occasionally laughing at something funny Joey did, and sometimes we’d just say something completely irrelevant to the show.

I looked over at Cameron once I noticed his breathing had gotten slower and saw his eyes were closed, “Are you asleep?”

His green eyes flickered open, looking at me, “No, not yet.”

I bit my lip, “I love you.”

He smiled and put his hand behind my head, bringing my lips to his in a sweet kiss, “I love you too.”

We both stared at each other for a bit longer before I said a soft goodnight and turned around and fell asleep with his arm wrapped around my waist.