Our Wasted Youth

I pulled my dress out of the back of the closet and smoothed it over the bed. Gently running my fingers across the fabric, I allowed myself a quick smile. It was finally prom night. Lena would be here any second with all her stuff and we would walk together to Jamie's place. I carefully fixed the ruffles that made up the one and only shoulder of the dress. It was a warm, sunshiny yellow, with two rows of beading making up a belt at the waist before falling into a full skirt. The doorbell rang and I quickly placed the dress back into it's bag before grabbing my makeup case and heels. I headed downstairs, brushing past my mom in the process, and opened the front door to find a smiling Lena.

"Hey Lena! How's...woah.."

"Do you like it? I was a little nervous about it…" She reached up a hand and ran it through her hair. Gone were the bright waves of electric blue. Her hair was now a steady stream of pure black. Her pale face stood out even more now, as did the dark blue of her eyes. Lena looked around me and waved. "Hey Mrs. Cooper!"

"Hello Lena, it's so nice to see you. Willow, you better head out now or you'll be late getting to Jamie's. We'll be there soon to take pictures."

I turned around and offered my mom a smile before stepping out onto the front porch. "I really do like it Lena. It just caught me by surprise is all." I explained, closing the door behind me. We walked down the sidewalk with our arms full of various bags full of our prom outfits. I had a panicked moment thinking I had forgotten the necklace I wanted to wear until I remembered I had strung it around my neck before we left. The silver pendant rested at the base of my throat, displaying the moon and star carefully inscribed on it.

"Thank you. I just hope Jack feels the same way." Lena said, fingering the edges of her hair.

"You really like him, don't you?"

"Would it be cliché to say I've liked him since I saw him? It's just something about him that just sunk its claws into me and pulled me close."

"Yikes."

"Not like that." She laughed. "He's just so laid back and has this almost childlike view of the world. I love it." She murmured.

We walked up the stairs leading to Jamie's front door. I knocked and we waited for someone to answer. "Love it, or him?" I asked Lena.

"It's too soon for it to be love, isn't it? I mean, we’ve only been on a few dates."

In the two months since we had met Lena, her and Jack had started going out. A date here and there, hanging out if the band didn't have rehearsals. Lena insisted they weren't serious, while Jack said they were just testing the waters. But it was obvious to see they liked each other, I mean they were flirting from the moment they met. Jamie and I were taking bets out on how long it would take him to grow a pair and ask Lena to prom. (I won by the way)

I waved my hand at her. "What defines love?"

She glanced at me and raised an eyebrow.

"No, I'm being serious here. What the hell defines love?"

She laughed and shook her head. "I guess you've just got to feel it."

Jamie finally opened the door, making a face at the two of us. Her hair was wrapped high in a towel, sitting neatly on her head. "Ew, gross. Who invited you people?"

I pushed past her into the hallway, Lena bringing up the rear. "Your mom."

"Always one for the "your mom" comeback." Jamie said, leading the way to her room. Have I ever mentioned how big her room was? It was freaking huge, not to mention beautiful. The entire thing was done in cool hues of greens and blues. Lush, green carpeting with teal walls, it reminded me of the ocean. She had a huge window overlooking the backyard, with a light blue cushioned window seat. Looking out her window, you caught a glimpse of the side of Jack's house as well as the line of trees at the edge of the lawn. The window was currently offering most of the light to the room, the vanity mirror in the corner's lights giving the rest. Her bed was huge enough for the three of us to fit comfortably in it, cover by a quilt her grandmother had made her.

The ceiling fan circled overhead and a cool breeze blew in from the open window. We were hot, overexcited, and insanely nervous. The dress bags were laid with care across the bed, the shoes lined up by the door. Random makeup cover the vanity's desktop, while a straightener and curling iron sat plugged in on the nightstand. We looked at each other and offered smiles- it was the night we had been waiting for.

Jamie pulled Lena over into the vanity's chair and instructed me to do her makeup while she worked on the hair. Squatting down to face Lena, I tugged her bag over and began to root through it a bit. I pulled out a few makeup palettes from Lena's bag and got to work, brushing this here and powdering that there. She had really nice skin, so foundation wasn't a biggie for her, but I really wanted to play up her eyes. I messed around a bit with some black and white eyeshadow, adding just a dash of glitter here and there. Lena told me to use a lot of eyeliner, she wanted enough to put Pete Wentz to shame.
Jamie loomed over the two of us, brushing Lena's newly dark locks around, trying to figure out what she wanted to do. Inspiration must have struck her because she pulled the curling iron over. She began to wrap sections around the hot metal, letting them fall gracefully against Lena's shoulder after a few seconds. Once we were done, Jamie and I sat back to admire our work. Lena had long waves cascading down one shoulder, while her extra dark smokey eye showed off the navy shade of her eyes.

"Boom." Jamie whispered, a smile blossoming on her face.

"We did a good job partner." I said, giving her a high five.

Next, it was Jamie's turn to get the royal treatment. She timidly reached up to unwind her towel crown. "Listen, I don't want you guys to freak or anything. It's not very permanent and is probably going to be out by next week."

"Wait, what?" Lena asked, her brows furrowing in confusion.

Jamie let the towel fall, revealing a wall of candy apple red hair. I had to take a step back, and blink a few times. Don't get me wrong, she looked great, it's just the color was a little shocking. The bright of the red was such a contrast to her pale face and the light grey of her eyes. The tin color of the orbs popped against the curtain of red now framing them. I heard Lena take a breath beside me before squealing, "Oh my gosh! You look like Ariel!"

Jamie grinned, "That's what I was going for! Just wait until you see my dress! It brings it all together."

Jamie sat down in her chair and smiled up at the two of us, batting her eyelashes. She reached over and grabbed the handheld mirror I had left sitting on the edge of the vanity table. "Look at this stuff." She cradled it in her arms, making faces into the surface of the mirror. "Isn't it neat? Wouldn't you think my collection's complete…" Jamie proceeded to break into the entire song, leaving a dumbfounded Lena and I to watch. She was about halfway through, and trying to seduce the chair when a voice shouted, "Do you mind killing whatever dying cat is making that noise? It's so unfair to let the poor thing go on suffering."

I walked over to the window and threw the curtains open. Across the way, grinning at me from out Jack's bedroom window, was Alex. I moved closer to the window and glared at him, knowing damn right well he could see it. "That's your prom date, you dick." I heard a chorus of oh shits, before slamming the window shut with a satisfied grin. I turned back to my girls and nodded towards the chair, finally getting to do Jamie's makeup. Lena grabbed hold of a brush and smoothed out Jamie's hair before French braiding the one side of it, allowing the little white flower earrings she was wearing to show. While she did that, I went to work, playing up Jamie's features with soft hues of pink. Her makeup was very natural compared to Lena's, but Jamie's hair color would trump any makeup job I could do.

"Guys? Can I ask you something?"

Lena and I both paused our work at the sound of Jamie's voice. Lena come out from behind her and joined me in front.

"Yeah, of course." I said.

"How do you guys think tonight is going to go down?"

"Well, the guys are getting us in like...an hour." Lena said, checking her phone. "And then we're going to the dance and that should be fun, right? And while we're there…"

"No, no, no. I meant after prom." Jamie interrupted.

"What do you mean?" I asked, trying to figure out what she was asking.

"Well, as I'm sure you guys know, sometimes...or I should say a lot of times, something happens after prom. Something between the couples." Jamie explained, giving the two of us a pointed look.

"What do you….oh." Lena said, realization dawning on her.

"That's what you meant." I murmured. "Isn't it a little cliché though? Losing your virginity on prom night?"

Jamie shrugged and pull a wayward strand of hair from her face. "I mean, I don't know. If it's someone you really like, I think it's kind of romantic. It's obvious your first time is going to be awkward, there's no doubt about it. But if it's with your first love after something as exciting as prom, maybe it won't be so bad."

"First love?" Lena and I asked at the same time. I think it startled the two of us, as we glanced at each other with bewildered looks.

Jamie had a far away look in her eyes. "Yeah, I've never told anyone this, but I've loved Alex almost as long as I've known him. When he first started coming around, we would tease each other ruthlessly, always at each other with some sly comment. He drove me nuts, at first I wanted his head on a platter, but then I started wanting his heart."

I had to suppress the groan at the sappiness of that comment, I didn't want to interrupt the story.
"I didn't realize it though until this one day. Jack wasn't home from doing whatever yet, and I was sitting on the front porch sketching. Alex had come calling on Jack, something about wanting to try out a new video game. He saw he wasn't there and wandered over to me, taking a seat next to me on the porch steps. He looked over my shoulder and saw I was sketching the kids who were playing across the street. Pulling the sketchbook out of my hands, he complimented my drawing skills.
There wasn't even a hint of sarcasm in his voice, a genuine compliment from Alexander Gaskarth. I slid the book back from him and called him a jackass, shaking my head. He grabbed my hand, which at the time scared the shit out of me it was such an unexpected gesture. I looked up and met his eyes, and he repeated the compliment and let go of my hand. We talked until Jack got home, and all the while I sketched him. I ached to catch the features of his face in detail, the lines and contours of his face. The random mixture of skin, bone, and muscle that made up Alex. And for whatever reason, that was the moment I knew I loved him."

She paused, glancing down at her hands with a small smile. "I still have that sketch." She walked across her room to the nightstand beside her bed and slid open the drawer. Rooting through it, she found what she was looking for. The redhead crossed back over to us and held out a folded piece of paper. I took it out of her hand and carefully unfolded it, smoothing it out across my thigh. It was Alex alright, his hair spiked every which way and that smirk of his playing across his features. I'm not going to tell you it looked just like a picture, because it didn't. You could tell it was a drawing, but the details were there in black and white. He faced the page head on, but his eyes seemed to be looking at something over your shoulder, not right at you. My fingers skimmed over the drawing, feeling where the pencil had dug deep and were it had let up.

"Did you ever show this to him?" Lena whispered.

Jamie just shook her head and returned to her seat in front of us. I reached up and rested my hand on her knee and then took Lena's hand with the other. We looked at each other, the two of them looking like princess, putting my face to shame.

"Whatever we do tonight, whoever we do tonight..." That earned a few chuckles. "Let's just have fun, okay? What happens, happens. We are young, this is our time to be a little wild. We are three creative, funny, unique girls going out with some of our best friends. Tonight is going to be a night of laughs, tears, and just pure unexpectedness. Just whatever you do, be safe about it, agreed?"

"Agreed." They both said.

We shared one more smiled before finishing getting ready. Jamie got my hair done in record time, pulling it back into a loose chignon and adding a few white flower tipped bobby pins here and there. My makeup was simple like Jamie's, but featured a little cat eye eyeliner action courtesy of Lena. We scurried off to put on our dress in separate locations, and then ran back to surprise each other. We stood in a circle and took in each others selection. Jamie's dress truly pulled the whole thing together, it was lite teal with an even length- shorter in the front and longer in the back. The sweetheart neck line featured a little beading at the top, drawing attention to her collarbone were a small silver sparrow hung.
Lena's dress was a stark contrast to her makeup and hair- a pure white, knee length eye catcher with intricate beading along the top. She had a simple string of pearls wrapped around her neck with two more hanging on her earlobes. My dress was just as bright and airy as it was when I had put it in the bag before making my way to Jamie's house earlier in the evening. We stared at each other in silence just trying to take everything in.

"We look like fucking Disney princess." Jamie broke through the quiet.

"Yeah, I was sort of feeling a little princessy vibe." Lena said, waving her hands in front of her.

We broke into a chorus of "oh my Gods," and wild giggles. We were totally and completely giddy. What ? Did you think looking like a princess was a bad thing? Nope, it was just what we were going for. We squealed and jumped around until the sound of the door bell resounded through the house.

Jamie ran to the window and glanced out before turning back to us with a grin.

"The knights in shining armor have decided to make an appearance."

***

Ah parents, not only do they raise you into the person you are, they also have to take a millions freaking pictures along the way. I swear to God, I never want to pose again in my entire life. There goes my Jamies of being a model in vogue. Of course I always have my Victoria's Secret modeling gig to fall back on (it's such a secret not even Victoria knows about it.) We had to capture the every last moment, like it was life or death. Us coming down the stairs, the boys showing up on the front porch, Lena's face when she saw what Jack was wearing- of course that last one there was something we all are going to want to remember.
While all the other boys had gone with just a plain tuxedo, Jack had decided to take a different approach. His is white as snow, featuring a teal cummerbund and matching tie. I seriously thought my dad was going to pee himself with laughter when he walked in the house and saw him. After what felt like an eternity of awkward photographic memory making, the parents flocked to Jamie's dining room. Almost everyone had show up except for Lena's dad and Rian's date.

"We agreed to meet each other at the dance." He said, quickly hiding a blush.

Jamie and Alex took to the couch, staring dreamily into each others eyes. Jack and Lena took up the bottom of the staircase, lacing their fingers together and talking. So, I grabbed Zack and Rian and pulled them out unto the front porch, closing the door behind us.

"I must say Mr. Merrick, it's a nice change of pace to be able to see that pretty face of yours." I said, shooting him a smirk.

Zack had gotten a haircut somewhere between dropping me off yesterday and showing up on the porch this evening. It was still a longer style, but not long enough that he could hide behind. He smiled at me, my chest fluttering a bit at the sight of it. I ducked my head, hoping he wouldn't catch the blush sneaking it's way into my cheeks. Luckily, I was saved by this huge ass RV rolling up in front of the house, or at least I think it was an RV. The horn blew, scaring the hell out of some birds in the trees around us. The door opened, revealing a smiling Mr. Young. The parents and the other two prom couples walked out of the house, Lena was grinning like a cheshire cat.

"Surprise." She said.

"Your chariot has arrived!" He bellowed, leaning against the door. "And by chariot, I mean tour bus. Ya'll have until midnight before it turns into a pumpkin."

The parents must have been let in on the surprise before hand, because they were all completely fine with us taking a tour bus to prom. Lena walked on first, giving us a full rundown of everything- from the rules of the tour bus to where everything was. Everything was done up in black and silver for whatever reason, giving the thing a space age vibe. There was twelve bunks set into the corridor leading to the back lounge, which had a couch and tv. There was a small kitchen and little drawers and cabinets hidden all over the place. There was even a bathroom with a shower.

"Biggest rule is no number two in the bathroom, ladies and gentlemen." Mr. Young called from his spot in the drivers seat. "I don't care what you do to night, but I swear if one of you desecrates my bathroom I will personally kick your ass." Mr. Young would be our chauffeur for the night, carting us to and from the prom.

"I've even got a hat!" He declared, pulling a black cap from the glove compartment.

We all settled in and picked a seat, beginning our journey to the school gymnasium. Of course the whole experience was short lived because school was only fifteen minutes away, but it was still cool rolling up to the curb in the monstrous bus. Several people were milling around, limos sitting in various spaces across the parking lot, waiting to deposit their couples off. The limo in front of us was taking forever, and low and behold who steps out of it. None other than Juliana and Blythe.

"Oh this bitch." Jamie said, looking out the window of the bus.

"Hung on! I got this covered!" Alex stood up and walked to the front of the bus. He gave Mr. Young a wink before throwing up the front door of the bus and looking out at the shocked faces of those around the tour bus. He turned his head towards Blythe and Juliana- their faces were priceless by the way.

"Excuse me?!" He shouted. "Could you please move your limo? We need to park our tour bus!"