You & I

Prom.

It was like a teenage girl’s wedding. Being asked to prom was like getting engaged. The dress had to match the tux, and the corsage had to match the dress. Hair must be curled to perfection and makeup must be impeccably applied. Heels are strapped on and fathers are cleaning their guns. Nervous boys shift anxiously as they wait for their dates to descend. Breath is always lost when she stands at the top of the stairs and mothers begin to weep as they take pictures.

I, personally, never understood the hype. It is just a lame school event where people sway awkwardly to music, put up shitty decorations, and worship the prom king and queen. The thought attending this event made me want to vomit, but I promised Riley I would go with him.

Damn puppy eyes.

Riley was my friend-turned-lover. His dark brown eyes would always be my weakness, and since he wanted the prom experience we are now going.

‘I don’t want to look back in twenty years and regret not going!’

Ugh.

Now, it was two weeks before this dreaded school event and I still didn’t have a dress. I would be required to pick one out today if its alterations were going to be finished in time, and now I was driving to the shop with a scowl, thinking how much Riley owes me for this. Being the difficult person I am, making friends is a bit harder than it seems to be for others. I’ve never noticed how many friendships I was actually lacking until dress shopping came and my only friend was my date. Most girls would take their mother, but mine was too busy.

She wouldn’t make the experience enjoyable either.

I pulled into the parking lot of the dress shop and thought about begging Riley to join me, but decided against it. Armed with my father’s credit card, I slid out of my car and entered the large store. Dresses of assorted colors were everywhere and I immediately became overwhelmed. There were all different lengths, patterns, colors, and materials so choose from. I ran my hand over the dresses and took a shaky breath.

Wow.

A girl around my age stood next to me and stared at the rack, shifting through the clothing. Her blonde hair was in long waves and her outfit was similar to mine. I began to browse through the dresses and the girl turned to look at me.

“Are you here alone too?”

I turned my head towards her and nodded.

“Glad I’m not the only one,” she said, “I’m Micah.”

“Eden.”

“Do you go to Queenhills?” She asked, “I go to Grayson’s Academy.”

I nodded, recognizing the private school she mentioned. She pulled out a long peach colored dress. It looked very delicate and was gorgeous.

“This would look great on you,” she offered as she handed me the dress, “you have to try it on!”

I laughed and threw it over my arm. We searched a few more minutes, conversing about our schools and how glad we were to not have to shop alone. I found a blue dress that resembled a disco ball. It had a corset-like middle and it was a sheath style. I added it to my list of possibilities and helped Micah search. Soon, we each had four dresses and we began to try them on in the dressing rooms.

After forty-five minutes of pulling dresses on and off, we had decided on our items. Micah ended up with a pink ombré gown that stood out against her tan, and I decided on the blue dress. We exchanged numbers and promised each other to hang out over the weekend. I climbed into my car and dialled Riley before pulling away.

“You need to buy blue,” I spoke after he greeted me.

“I honestly thought you’d never pick a dress,” he teased.

I rolled my eyes, “douchebag. I’m doing this for you!”

“I know,” Riley responded, “what are you doing tonight?”

“Dunno. Why?”

“Liam is in San Francisco with Bethany. He won’t be back until Sunday,” he answered.

Riley has lived with his uncle since he was ten. His parents died in a car accident and Liam- who was a twenty-nine year old bachelor at the time, had to take care of a hyperactive child. He did a good job, in my opinion. Riley could have turned out much worse.

“Alright. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

I drove the short distance to Riley’s house and quickly parked my car. Climbing out, I walked up his porch steps and he opened the door before I could even knock. He towered over my 5’2 frame and his dark brown hair was messy, as usual.

He grinned as I pushed past him and entered his house.

We both knew what was about to happen.

∆∆∆∆

It was finally prom night and Micah came over so we could fix each other’s hair, before quickly leaving so she could finish getting ready. We’ve become best friends in the two weeks we have known each other. I zipped up my dress and ran my hands over it. My parents were out for the night, so Riley was just going to walk in and call up to me. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, I was nervous. My brown and blonde ombré hair was in a sleek bun and my blue eyes were decorated with natural eyeshadow colors and black eyeliner.

“Eden!” Riley called as he entered my house.

I slipped on my black heels and picked up my clutch before standing in front of the door. Taking a deep breath, I left the comfort of my room and rounded the corner to walk down the stairs.

It was probably the second time I’ve ever seen Riley in a suit and he looked great. I swallowed roughly and silently prayed that my shaking legs would be able to sustain my weight.

Sometimes Riley did that to me with his presence.

He took my hand when I got to the bottom of the stairs and kissed my cheek.

“You look beautiful.”

I smiled and gave him a light push, “you don’t look so bad yourself.”

Riley gave me his normal grin and led me to his car. It may have been an older car, but I absolutely loved it.

He scratched his head sheepishly, “I know it isn’t a limo…”

“Please,” I scoffed and climbed into the passenger seat, “I hate people that show up in limos.”

We joked around on our way to the school and when we finally arrived, I was overcome with nervousness. I’ve never been to a school dance. This was going to be my first and last. Soon we would both be graduating and living lives that were no longer intertwined.

We climbed out of the car and I held onto Riley’s arm. He seemed to sense my nerves and let me take comfort in his company. Entering the gym, we began checking everything out.

After spending about an hour there, a slow song finally began. Riley pulled my to the dancefloor we've both been avoiding and I wrapped my arms around his neck. The swaying was nice, but Riley had to ruin the moment.

“Megan looks like unicorn turds.”

I turned my head to get a look at the female he was talking about. Beginning to giggle, I buried my face in his neck to keep from being too loud. Riley began to shake from holding his own laughter in and I shook my head.

“We were having a moment and you ruined it,” I told him with a laugh.

“Eden,” he began with a laugh, “these are our moments.”

I furrowed my eyebrows. I guess he was right. Our moments didn’t consist of romantic gestures, sweet kisses, or intimate slow dances. They were inappropriate comments, playful pushes, and obnoxious trips to Walmart. I looked around and noticed that we weren’t like everyone else.

But I was okay with that.

“We should go,” I whispered.

Riley nodded and we slipped away from the crowded dancefloor. I looked around the room, taking everything in. The lights glittered like fairies, there were rose petals scattered around, and everyone seemed happy. I ended up liking this much more than I expected. Riley tugged on my hand and I snapped out of my trance. Following him out of the gymnasium, we walked to his car in silence. He made ridiculous comments while he drove to his house. I laughed loudly and joined him on making fun of our classmates. When he finally pulled into the driveway, we climbed out of the car and I lightly elbowed him. Riley looked down at me and lightly elbowed me back with a smile. He unlocked the door and I followed him into the familiar entryway.

Pulling off my heels, I dropped them by the door before grabbing the bottom of my dress and slinking up the stairs. Riley followed and pushed me lightly into his room as he began to kiss me. My eyes fluttered shut and I wrapped my arms around his neck as he shut his door. He pulled pins out of my hair, making it fall around my shoulders and I made quick work of the buttons on his shirt. Riley pulled the zipper of my dress down and it pooled around my feet. I pushed him towards the bed as I stepped out of my dress. He pulled his shirt off and turned us so I was the one falling onto the bed. Riley moved his lips away from my mouth and down my neck making me moan. He reached behind my back and attempted to unhook my strapless bra and let out a sound of annoyance when he couldn’t get it undone. I smirked and reached back to undo it myself before unbuckling his belt.

“I hate bras,” he murmured.