Seventeen

 

 

he day of the Summer Formal was upon us. We were officially no longer required at school unless we had an exam. In four weeks, we would be done, it would all be over. The thought was as exhilarating as it was foreboding.

The Summer Formal was, thankfully, only for our year, so it would be small and there would be actual food served. I just hoped the food was better than the rumoured catastrophe of the year before.

We were at Cassidy’s again. I’d like to suggest it was because we liked her house, which was true, but the reality was it had the most room for us to get ready and… Well, Cassidy had insisted. This time around, she had a hairdresser and makeup artist come to the house.

“Jesus, you’d think one of us was getting married,” Beat laughed as we sipped mimosas.

“Not just yet.” Rachel looked pointedly at Cassidy and me.

“God, at least wait to see if we get back together!” I laughed despite the uncomfortable twinge in my stomach that told me I’d never be with him again.

I kept the girls on a steady regime of ‘drink lots of non-alcohol between your mimosas’ to make sure none of them threw up before we even got to the limo. Since Declan and Patrick had to be there early to get band things warmed up, we girls had decided to go on our own and meet our dates there. Well, Beat and I would be going with our date. Cassidy would meet Declan and Rachel would meet Patrick, of all people – she wouldn’t talk about it much, but we got the distinct impression she asked him and everyone was thrilled.

The hairdresser took turns making us up. Cassidy went first, opting for a fully classical up do with little diamante things strewn not-haphazardly at all through it. Rachel was second, choosing something similar, but with small roses in her hair. Beat went next, professing not to care at all what was done with her hair, but protesting when Cassidy suggested something like hers. Instead, she had her red hair tamed into luscious waves that cascaded down her back.

Finally, it was my turn.

“Okay, what are we doing for you?” the hairdresser smiled.

“Just something simple. Half up, half down.”

“What’s the dress look like?”

I showed her a picture and she seemed to think for a moment.

“Maybe some braids?” she finally asked and I nodded.

Why the hell not?

I came out of the chair both wanting to pull it all out and feeling very cool. I looked a little like that Lagertha chick from Vikings, only like I also had access to a shower and hair gel. The front section of my hair was pulled back into a coif and braids. The rest tumbled down my back in a remarkable caramel coloured waterfall, only slightly less sticky.

“Very rocker chic.” Cassidy smiled, coming up behind me after finishing her makeup.

“You actually approve?” I smiled into the mirror at her. “Of something you didn’t choose?”

She stuck her tongue out at me. “All right, you don’t have terrible taste in some things. Blue, though?” she shivered and I laughed.

Once makeup was finished and it was getting close to leaving time, we had one more mimosa each and got dressed.

I was pretty impressed with what I saw in the mirror, even if I did say so myself. The dress was tea-length with a full satin skirt, a sweetheart neckline, cap sleeves, and a key-hole back. Once she’d seen my hair, Cassidy had leant me a black cuff for my wrist, a black choker necklace, and a silver bracelet to go with my low-heeled black shoes – they were quite similar to my school shoes, only with a higher chunkier heel.

“Well, he won’t know what hit him,” Cassidy purred, standing behind me in the mirror.

“I didn’t do this for him,” I replied, suddenly wondering if I had changed my look to get his attention. “God, did I? That is such a Sandy move.”

Beat laughed, fixing her earrings. “Well, it worked for her.”

“Yes, and look at what all the feminists say about her these days!” I replied.

Beat shrugged. “Feminism is overrated; I think it’s a sweet idea. But, in answer to your question, no, you didn’t do this for him. You did this for you.”

I smiled at her, trying to convey all my thanks. Her return nod made me think she understood.

We had our picture taken by Cassidy’s maid – yeah; she has a maid – before we bundled into the limo. My dress, luxuriously, again had pockets so I’d stuck my phone, a small purse of money, and my lipstick – shock red this time – in them.

We cranked the music in the limo and drank all the cola they had on offer. It wasn’t a long trip to the hotel, but I sorely needed to pee by the time we arrived. Still, I was in the best mood I’d been in for a long while. I felt gorgeous, bold, and ready to tackle anything. Maybe if I’d felt this good on Thursday, I’d have actually given Cole the damn letter, rather than slip it away like a coward?

We walked into the ballroom and struck a pose, totally ready for the photographer this time. He laughed along with us and wished us a good night.

We walked in and surveyed the scene. The place was decked out in blues and silvers to – sort of – match the school colours. There were balloons, streamers, and flowers everywhere.

“Let’s go find our table.”

“Oh, I so need to pee!” I said, “I’ll have to meet you down there.”

“You and your bladder.” Beat rolled her eyes at me and nodded.

I rushed to the bathroom and managed to make it back to them just as they were putting down their bags.

“Right, where am I?” I smiled.

“Antarctica?” Beat laughed.

“Har-di-har. Chair, woman.”

Her face fell a little and she pointed. “Sorry, Rory, we must have forgotten to change the seats.”

I looked where she was pointing and saw I was seated next to Cole. But, I smiled at her; I wasn’t going to have a chance of winning my man back if I just moped about it all day.

“It’s fine. Perfect really. But, I will have to decide whether or not I want to flirtatiously ignore him or actually talk to him.”

Beat laughed. “You’ll have to wait, looks like they’re coming on stage.”

I turned to see. The dance floor was in front of the stage with tables surrounding it on three sides. Our table was the second from the front, so we had quite a good view of the boys. They all wore impeccable tuxedos, and I had a feeling I knew where they’d got them

“Trudy Jones strikes again, I see.” I smiled.

“Hey guy, welcome to your Summer Formal for twenty-sixteen!” Declan called and everyone in the room cheered. “We’re Saint Kitts and we’ll be starting off your entertainment for tonight.” Everyone cheered again as they started playing their first song.

“Come on, come on!” Cassidy grabbed my hand and pulled me onto the dance floor. Not wanting to leave anyone behind, I grabbed Beat and she grabbed Rachel.

The boys played for about half an hour until dinner was served – turns out we’d missed the canapé entrée with all the dancing – and the DJ took over from the band.

I was still standing next to Beat when the boys found us, heralded by Cassidy’s squeal of greeting. I turned slowly, still laughing at something Beat had said, and said hi to them all.

“You look like you should be in the band!” Chris crowed, smiling.

“I’m afraid my lack of musical talent would get you booed out of town,” I replied.

“You do look nice, Rory.” Patrick smiled as he pulled Rachel’s chair out for her. “So…so do you, Rach.”

Rachel smiled at me, supressing a laugh as she patted his hand.

“That is definitely not a you look,” Declan commented and Cassidy smacked him. “What? I didn’t say she didn’t look good, she just opted for something very out of the box. I like it.” He finished, sitting down. Cassidy rolled her eyes at him like he was a complete cretin and sat down next to him.

I slid into my chair next to Chris. “Well, Dec, sometimes you’ve just got to let go a little, see where life takes you,” I said, shifting my gaze to Cole who still hadn’t moved. I smiled at him flirtatiously – right, going with flirtatious ignoring…?

He looked too stunned to smile back. He just nodded.

“Dude, sit down,” Declan said. Cassidy grabbed his arm and shoved him towards his chair between hers and mine.

Cole moved jerkily, never taking his eyes from me. As he sat down, I turned my head to join Beat’s conversation. Even without looking at him, I could feel him like a burning beacon – she said, sounding like a trashy romance book.

Eventually dinner was served. It was nice, but nothing spectacular. At least it was filling. We talked about nothing in particular, laughing and joking across the table at one another. I tried to do my best smiles, make sure my best features were on display, and not look directly at Cole. I failed a couple of times when he said something funny or I was caught out on hearing his voice. We’d exchange awkward smiles, his eyes flashing bright as he looked at me.

Dessert came out pretty quickly, chocolate and lemon cakes – yum! These took a little less time to devour and the boys had to make a hasty retreat back to the stage; they’d be playing for another hour and a half or so, then the DJ would take over until the end.

After we’d all reapplied our lipstick, Cassidy dragged us back to the dance floor, telling us we could wait for photos until the boys were done.

“Plus, the lines will be shorter by then,” she added.

I conceded she was right. Just looking over now, the lines were ridiculously long. I would much rather be dancing than standing in a line.

The boys were about halfway through their set when Declan and Cole seemed to switch places. Until then – not that I’d paid attention – Declan had stuck as lead singer and Cole and the others were back up. Now, it seemed, Cole was taking over.

After one song ended, Declan made an announcement, “this next one’s for you, Rory.”

Stunned, I stopped and turned, not missing the look that passed over Cole’s face. I thought maybe it was annoyance, but then I wondered if it embarrassment. Maybe he was embarrassed by me? Maybe it was just the fact that Declan had announced it was for me, presumably from Cole. Cole wasn’t big into public displays of affection… That could be it. Or, maybe he just didn’t want a song dedicated to me?

I realised then that I recognised the song as one I liked, but couldn’t place it for a moment.

Despite my recent journey to Maybe Land, before the lyrics started, Cole laughed and looked to Declan. “I was kinda hoping she’d just know, man.”

When he started singing – damn he had a great voice – I realised why I hadn’t recognised it right away. It was a Eurovision song, of all things, from the previous year. I could never remember which country it was – I looked it up later, it was Anti Social Media for Denmark– but I knew it was called The Way You Are.

The girls jostled me as he sung, giving me huge grins. The crowd around us kept dancing, sometimes throwing looks my way. Me, I just stupidly stood and watched him as he played and sang. He wore an adorable smile on his face as he sang. His eyes never left mine and, if it weren’t for Cassidy’s elbow in my side now and then, I could have pretended it was just the two of us in the room.

Maybe he had read the letter after all?

As the song finished, he winked at me and turned to Declan during the intro to the next song.

“So, you think she noticed, man?” he asked.

“I dunno, dude. Might need to try again.” Declan shrugged, coming to join him at the microphone.

I laughed as Declan sought me out, pointed to me, and smiled. The crowd around us cheered as the band started on the next song, OneRepublic’s Something I Need.

“The least you could do is dance to it, Rory!” Beat called over the music.

I laughed, giving Cole one last sincere smile before going back to dancing with my friends.

“All right, one for my lady, then enough of this lovey dovey nonsense,” Declan declared between songs.

I saw Cassidy’s face light up and wondered when on earth she’d become a one-man woman. Not that I didn’t approve, I was glad she’d found someone she liked enough to make a real go of it; it was just different.

The boys stuck to their promise of no more lovey dovey nonsense and just played for the rest of their set. They played a mix of covers, mostly upbeat, sort of rock-y stuff, but a few slower ones for the couples to dance to. We all sat those ones out, taking a chance to get a drink or sit down for a bit. I wasn’t used to wearing heels, even if they weren’t all that tall and were plenty stable, and my feet hadn’t reached that pleasantly numb stage yet.

“All right, guys, you’ve been great, but we’ve only got one more song left,” Cole called. There was a huge boo from the crowd and he laughed. “Hey, we only learnt so many songs!”

“Let’s wrap this up,” Declan laughed.

They played their last song and the four of us felt obliged to get off our arses and dance. When they were done, the DJ took over for them seamlessly – I wondered if he only charged for the time he played, or also for the time he had to sit around and do nothing? – and, moments later, Declan was hugging Cassidy around the waist.

She squealed and laughed. “You guys were amazing!”

“Not bad for a few months of practice.” Declan nodded.

Patrick, quiet, awkward Patrick met an equally shy Rachel in a weird but very warm hug and we turned away to leave them to whatever they might need to say to each other…awkwardly.

Speaking of awkward, Cole stood a little way off from us, looking like he wasn’t sure whether he should come and speak to me. I could understand the feeling. Part of me wanted to go running to him and throw my arms around him, part of me didn’t know what he was expecting, and another part of me didn’t really want our reunion – if that’s where this was going – to be in front of everyone.

However, I didn’t have much of a choice, as someone behind me – Beat, it turned out – pushed me towards him and he had to catch me so I didn’t send us both sprawling on the floor.

There was some awkward laughter on both sides.

“Well, I fell for you,” I said, wincing before the sentence was even completely out of my mouth.

He did me the courtesy of not laughing outright. “I see that.”

“Cocky much?”

He nodded. “Oh, yeah, famous rock star now, you know.”

I smiled. “Well, you did appear to have hundreds… Well, a hundred screaming… At least appreciative fans.”

“Way to knock a guy while he’s down.”

I shrugged. “I fight dirty, what can I say.”

He scoffed, and then looked a little awkward as silence resumed between us.

“So, you sang me a song,” I said.

He nodded. “Yup, I did do that.”

“It was a lovely song.”

“I’m glad you liked it.”

“You knew I’d like it. It’s a Eurovision song.”

“You don’t like all the Eurovision songs, just because it’s a Eurovision song, doesn’t mean you like it. What about Poland?”

I nodded. “True.”

“And power ballads.”

I wrinkled my nose. “Also, true. Thank God there was less this year.” We’d had a long discussion about my love of Eurovision.

He laughed, watching me intently.

“What?”

“Nothing,” he said, brushing a piece of hair from my face. “I’ve missed you, Hannibal.”

“You didn’t have to.”

He nodded. “I know. I messed up.”

My heart pounded and emotions crashed through me. But, now wasn’t the time to finish this. Maybe we could fret over the future tomorrow?

I took his hand. “Let’s not do this now. Later tonight? Tomorrow even?”

“Okay, sounds good.”

“Guys! Guys! Photos!” Cassidy bounced up to us.

“Cass! Cass! Okay!” I bounced back, laughing, pleased for the momentary distraction.

“All right, let’s do this!” Declan high-fived me and I exchanged a laugh with Beat.

We waited in the line for what felt like a thousand years between photos – because you only got one set-up per line-up of course. We’d taken a big group shot, smaller group shots, ones where the girls surrounded one of the boys and vice versa, stupid shots, serious shots, and we were waiting in line for yet another one.

Cole had his arms around me as we shuffled along the line.

“You look amazing, you know,” he whispered in my ear.

“Why thank you,” I replied as though it was totally obvious.

He chuckled and kissed my cheek.

I didn’t know what had got into me, but I felt very happy and confident. Maybe it was nervous energy because I wasn’t sure how the talk with Cole was going to go later. Maybe I was expecting it to all work out, and that was to blame for the excitement churning in my stomach. Whatever was going on, all signs pointed to ‘yay’ and I think I just really wanted to make it a good night, no matter what happened between us later.

Our final lot of pictures were couple pictures where we had one with every combination possible between the eight of us. For one of our silly photos, Cole and I took rockstar poses, complete with his guitar.

We were heading back to the dance floor when Declan pulled back to walk with Cole and I. “So, this is a thing now, yes?” he asked, indicating between our joined hands and us.

Cole and I looked at each other before looking back at Declan. I was about to reply I didn’t know, but we were going to talk about it when Cole answered for me.

“If she’ll take me back,” he said as he squeezed my hand.

“About bloody time too!” Declan said, shaking his head. “The lot of us have been dropping hints for weeks.”

“What?” I asked.

Declan nodded. “Do you know how difficult it’s been to get you two to just own up to how you feel? Jesus, if the letter and the songs didn’t work, we didn’t know what we were going to do.”

“What letter?” Cole asked and I felt panic well inside me.

If he hadn’t read the letter, what had prompted the songs? Did he think any better of himself? Could this go anywhere without that? Maybe Declan had convinced him he was a good person after all? It sounded like they were all playing matchmaker behind our backs, so maybe everyone else did my job for me?

I realised Declan was looking between us, a quizzical look on his face. “Cass said you told them you gave it to him?”

“I said he had it, I didn’t say I’d given it to him…” I replied, hoping he’d drop it.

At least I knew now whether Cole had seen it or not!

“What letter? Should I know about the letter?” Cole asked.

Declan ignored him. “How does he have it if you didn’t give it to him?”

I sighed. “I slipped it between his books before he put them in his bag. Unsurprisingly, he hasn’t done any study since Thursday and hasn’t seen it.”

“Ah.” Declan nodded. “Well, this got awkward fast-”

“Seems to be the theme of the night,” I muttered.

Declan started backing away. “Awesome, well, I’m going to drop that bombshell and then leave you to deal with the fallout.” He grinned apologetically and went to find Cassidy.

“We’ll discuss this later, Dec!” I yelled after him.

“Want to tell me about the letter?” Cole asked me very coaxingly.

“No, I don’t,” I replied in the same voice.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. At least, not now. Can we just enjoy the rest of our night and then we can talk tomorrow?”

He smiled at me and the butterflies were again released from their cage.

“Yeah, okay. We can do that, Hannibal.” He leant in and kissed me gently before, much to my surprise, he led me to the dance floor.