by Laura Ann
Wren had been at her locker and had heard the two girls giggling like mad. It was easy to realize they were making fun of someone, since that’s what they always did.
“Oh my gosh, did you see what he was wearing?” Nicole had mock whispered.
“Yes,” Camille snickered. “Where does he shop? We don’t even have a thrift store here!”
Wren rolled her eyes. Those girls need to get a life. Why do they care what other people are wearing?
“I feel sorry for any girl he asks out,” Nicole continued. “She’d have to be beyond desperate to spend time with that loser.”
“Hi, Wren,” a soft male voice squeaked from behind Wren’s locker door. She stiffened when Nicole and Camille began to laugh hysterically.
“Guess we found someone that desperate,” Camille said as she walked past Wren with a smirk.
Wren bit her lip and kept her gaze on the floor for a moment before shutting her locker door. “Uh... hi, Silas.” She wanted to cry. She had been so excited to be noticed, but Camille and Nicole had just ruined everything. Wren knew she was already considered an outcast. She was a small and plain, she was into theatre and she tended to be loud and outspoken. Nothing put a girl out of being popular like having short legs and a loud mouth.
“You headed to class?” Silas asked, pushing his glasses up his nose. A crooked smile had sat on his lips and Wren thought it was adorable, along with the way his hair stuck up on only one side.
What do I do? If I encourage him, it will only make me a worse loser than I already am. Is he worth it? Wren’s eyes had drifted over Silas’s shoulder and happened to stop on Nicole, who was still in the hall. The popular girl was leaning against her boyfriend and laughing. When she realized Wren was watching her, she leaned into her boyfriend’s ear and whispered something, causing him to look at Wren and laugh as well.
Wren’s heart plummeted, and she knew she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t risk becoming an even bigger target than she already was.
She turned her eyes back to Silas, who had been waiting patiently for her answer. “Yep. Gotta run.” Spinning on her heel, she took off before he could offer to walk her to class. Wren didn’t want to be cruel, afterall, Silas was as sweet as sugar, but she hoped that if she just nipped this in the bud, everything would go back to normal and Camille and her crew wouldn’t be given any extra ammunition.
The bell rang, pulling Wren from her high school memories. She blinked rapidly as she looked down at the notepad she had in front of her and was startled to realize she had circled Silas’s name over and over again.
I don’t have a choice at this point. With a sigh, she made a mental note to email Silas later, when school was over. She stood and began to welcome the middle schoolers as they came into her classroom. Hopefully, I’m not opening a crazy can of worms after all these years. I mean... he has to have moved on, right?
“GIVE ME A BREAK!” SILAS threw his head back with a groan. “I just cleaned you out! Three hours getting rid of emails and you already have another one? Really?”
He ignored the looks and snickers that people were giving him as he talked to this screen.
“Such is the life of a stud, Man!” Tanner called out from his cubicle down the hall.
“Whatever!” Silas yelled back with a grin. He had left his office door open, as he usually did, in order to be more accessible to his crew, but sometimes it meant things like this. Where his workers were laughing at him because of his dramatics.
“How many emails did you have?” Madeline asked, leaning her shoulder against his doorframe.
Silas felt his cheeks heat, and he tugged on his t-shirt as she smiled coyly at him. “Uh... like two-thousand, give or take.”
Madeline laughed lightly. “How in the world did you get so many?” She stepped up to his desk. “Maybe you need to hire a personal assistant to help you keep up.”
Madeline was cute, Silas had to give her that. She was petite with small curves and an adorable grin. She had a light dusting of freckles across her nose that only enhanced her sweet face. Silas had often thought that taking her out wouldn’t be so bad, except for one thing. She reminded him of someone else. Someone who had broken his young, teenage heart many years ago. Someone who had made such an impression that every time Silas saw a petite brunette, he looked to see if it was her.
He sighed and ran his hand through his hair, already knowing it was probably standing on end. “Uh, yeah... that would probably be helpful. Thanks, Madeline. I’ll think about it.”
She grinned and shrugged her shoulders before stepping back out into the hallway, her flip-flops clacking on the floor.
Cameron walked up to his door, stopped, looked at Madeline’s retreating figure, then grinned back at Silas.
Silas put up his hands and shook his head. “Don’t be getting any ideas, Buddy.”
Cameron laughed and stepped in, closing the door behind him. “I won’t, but I think she already has some.”
“Yeah.” Silas tugged at his t-shirt again. “So...” He looked at his partner. “What can I do for ya?”
Cameron dropped a pile of mail on Silas’s desk, then threw himself into one of the chairs. “I just went and got the mail and thought you might want yours.”
Silas chuckled. “Getting your steps in for the day?”
Cameron narrowed his eyes. “Go ahead and laugh. Someday you’ll be married too and your wife will worry about how much time you sit in front of a computer screen.”
Silas shrugged. “We’re programmers. Of course we spend time in front of a computer. But she’s right, we should definitely be careful we don’t sit too long. You know, my invitation still stands... you could always get up-”
Cameron held up a hand. “Stop right there! I still stand by my statement that I refuse to get up at dark-o-thirty in the morning just to lift a bunch of stupid weights, only to put them back in the same place.”
Silas tilted his head and smirked. “You stay up till dark-o-thirty all the time, Genius. At least with my schedule, you’d be doing something productive.”
“Picking up a barbell for no good reason is not productive. Keeping up on the thumb of the competition is.”
Silas grinned. “Just don’t say I didn’t offer.” He grabbed the pile of mail and thumbed through it. Frowning, he grabbed a bright red envelope.
“Anything interesting?” Cameron asked in a bored tone.
“Maybe...” Silas murmured, setting the other stuff down and tearing opening the letter. “Whoa.” His eyes scanned the contents and he scrunched up his nose as he realized what it was.
“What? Is that a good whoa or bad whoa?”
“Bad I think.” Silas tossed the invitation into the garbage.
“Come on, Man. Don’t keep me in suspense.” Cameron made to grab the garbage and Silas made a face.
“It’s just an invitation to my hometown’s Christmas Ball. Apparently, they’re doing things a little different this year and you have to be a couple to come.”
“Really?” Cameron shook his head. “Who does that?”
Silas shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. I’m not going anyway, whether I was part of a couple or not.”
“Why not?” Cameron stood and grabbed the invite. “It looks fancy.”
Silas raised a single eyebrow. “Do I look like the fancy type to you?” He glanced down at his t-shirt with the periodic table of elements on it and his worn jeans. Even his converse sneakers were old enough to be comfortable.
“Doesn’t mean you couldn’t put on a suit and pretend to be.” Cameron dropped the letter and walked to the door. “I’m about ready to head out. Need anything else before I go?”
Silas shook his head. “Nah. I’m just gonna get rid of this last email that dared arrive before I left and go home with a clear conscience tonight.”
Cameron laughed. “Good luck with that. You’ll be back to a thousand in the morning.”
“Don’t scare me or I won’t come into work tomorrow.”
Silas grinned. “Then be nice to me!”
Cameron rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Night!”
Silas waved him off and put his finger on the touch screen, ready to drop that stupid little email in the trash, before he gasped and paused. “What the— It can’t really be from Wren... can it? Why the heck would she be writing me after all these years?”
After a moment, curiosity got the better of him and he opened it. After reading, he sat back in his seat, choking on his own breath. “She... wants to go... to the Ball with me,” he rasped. “What alternate universe am I sitting in right now?”
He looked around his office, recognizing everything that was there, everything that had been there for the last three years. “Nope. I’m actually here.” His eyes went back to the screen. “But why? Why is she asking me now?”
Before he could stop it, Silas felt that little bubble of hope from his nerdy, teenage self begin to rise. His fingers slowly moved toward the keyboard, hovering over the letters. “No.” He clenched his hands into fists and pulled them back. “I’m not going to set myself up to be humiliated,” he muttered. With a deep breath, he clicked reply. “If there’s anything I’ve learned over the years, it’s that if you don’t ask, you probably won’t ever know.”
CHAPTER 2
Dear Wren,
I have to admit I’m flattered at your invitation, but also curious. I’ve never been home for the Christmas Ball, so I don’t know if you go every year or not, but I would venture to say you don’t. So why now? Why are you suddenly emailing me out of the blue and asking me to go with you? I thought you made yourself clear all those years ago how you felt about me.
Silas
Wren blinked hard, her eyes stinging a little. She couldn’t blame Silas for his bluntness. She had spent an entire school year letting him know she wasn’t interested and it would be normal to wonder what was going on.
She chewed her lip as she debated what to answer. Do I just tell the truth? Do I admit I can’t get anyone else to go with me, but we’re trying to put Camille in her place? Wren rolled her eyes. “Like me going with Silas will put Camille in her place.” She looked at her computer screen again. “It might not, but maybe it will right a wrong. I shouldn’t have let her or Nicole intimidate me all those years ago.” She chewed her already sore lip again. “Maybe we can try again. If he was with someone else, wouldn’t he have already said so? Maybe the sweet, geeky boy I turned away is still out there waiting for me to finally grow up enough to say ‘yes’.”
She took a couple of deep breaths and nodded in decision. “Okay. The truth it is. He at least deserves that. If that will get him to the dance, then hopefully I can do the rest.”
DEAR SILAS,
Your question is a valid one and I’m sorry I wasn’t just upfront with you from the beginning. You’re right. I haven’t ever bothered to go back. But Camille is in charge this year and me and my friends, (you remember the girls?) we all feel like she needs a little humbling. She wrote a nasty little note to Lane about how it was so sad Lane wouldn’t be able to make it since she’s single and Camille made the dance for couples only.
We girls agreed we couldn’t let the rude, little jerk get away with it, so we’ve all decided to find dates and burst into the dance in grand style. As you can probably guess, since I’m writing you, that I don’t have anyone to go with and they won’t let me in without a date! Like seriously, who the heck came up with that rule?
Anyway, I digress. I thought you might enjoy going back anyway and might even like to be in on the little bit of revenge we are hoping this brings.
Let me know what you think,
Wren
Silas was at a loss for words. He wasn’t sure whether to be ecstatic or offended. “She’s only asking me because she has no one else,” he grumbled. “But...” the other half of his brain inserted, “she did ask you.”
He tapped his fingers against his desk for several moments, debating his choices. “Maybe I agree to help her out, but maybe the revenge doesn’t only have to be on Camille.” A slow grin pulled at his lips. “For ten years I’ve pined over this girl. This might be my one chance to show her what she’s been missing and finally move on.” He cracked his knuckles and put them on the keyboard. “I’m no Steve Jobs, but I’ve done pretty well for myself. I can act all sleek and sophisticated for one night.” He chuckled. “I can be the high school geek turned successful entrepreneur. Doesn’t every school have one?” He began to type his reply. “Maybe Camille won’t be the only one humbled.”
CHAPTER 3
Wren tapped her fingers on the steering wheel as she and Lane drove to the ball. A restless energy had been building inside her for days and she was anxious to get rid of it.
“I still can’t believe you’re going with Silas,” Lane said, breaking the silence.
Wren chewed the inside of her cheek. “I told you I was afraid of what you would say. That’s why I kept it to myself for so long.”
“It’s fine,” Lane assured her. “I’m just surprised. I mean... you really pushed hard against him in high school, so I’m just wondering what’s brought about your change of heart.”
Wren sighed and Lane pushed forward.
“I mean... it’s not a big deal or anything, I’m just curious. He’s the last person I would have expected you to contact.”
Wren was quiet for a few moments, debating what to tell her best friend. She had never told anyone about what happened in high school, and after they all graduated she was too embarrassed to admit she had let Camille and Nicole drive her away from a boy she liked.
“If I tell you something... do you promise not to tell anyone else?” Wren could see Lane narrow her eyes.
“Yes. I would have thought that was a given between us.”
“I know, it’s just...” Wren scrunched her nose. “I’ve never told anyone this, not even my brother.”
“Well, now I’m curious,” Lane remarked. “What’s said in this car stays in this car, so spill it, Girl.”
Wren gripped the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white. “I’ve had a crush on Silas since high school,” she blurted out.
Lane’s jaw gaped, then snapped shut. “What do you mean? I thought he drove you crazy?”
“No... but I wanted everyone to think he did.” Wren squished her lips to the side, then proceeded to tell Lane the whole story.
“I... I’m speechless,” Lane said in awe. “I would have never guessed how you really felt and now I feel like a really, really terrible friend.”
“What? Why?” Wren frowned. “I’m the one who kept it all a secret.”
“Because I should have noticed something was up.” Lane blew out a harsh breath. “Just goes to show how much I paid attention, I guess.”
“No way, Girlie. You do not get to put this in on you,” Wren snapped. “This was totally on me. I was so embarrassed by Nicole and then I was embarrassed that I was embarrassed.” She growled. “It’s all so dumb. And now, I have my hopes up that I’ll have a second chance with that cute geek from high school and I can’t seem to put it out of my mind.”
Lane reached over and put her hand on Wren’s arm. “It’s not dumb at all. I think anyone would feel the same way. I mean, you were a kid. We were all kids. So you made a stupid mistake; Silas will understand. He was a really nice guy even though we all thought he was weird. But if you don’t mind that kind of weird, then what does it matter? You’ve grown up and he’s grown up and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with seeing what might happen.”
Relief flooded through Wren at her best friend’s words and a bit of the tension in her muscles relaxed. “This is why we’re best gals,” Wren said with a dramatic sigh.
“Well, we would be if we ever actually told each other what was going on,” Lane snarked.
Wren grinned. “Watch it now, you sound like
me.”
“Maybe that’s a sign that we’ve spent too much time together.”
Wren laughed. “Maybe it is.”
Both girls quieted down as they pulled into the hotel parking lot. All the peace that Lane had helped Wren find was quickly disappearing and her shoulders felt as if they would snap if her muscles tightened any more.
Wren parked the car and turned off the engine. Taking a deep breath, she glanced in the mirror one last time. “Okay. Here we go. You to your mystery date I set you up with and me to mine.”
“You promise I’ll like who you picked?” Lane asked in a soft voice.
“I promise,” Wren replied. “It’ll totally be a night to remember.”
“Alright,” Lane gulped. “Let’s do this.”
Wren’s knees were shaking as she stood from the car. She could see two men standing near the entrance, one of them easily recognizable as her brother, Pierce. Great! Lane’s date is here. Now where’s mine?
Wren glanced around but didn’t see another man standing around. “Come on,” she said to Lane. “Let’s go this way.” She led Lane up to the front, where Pierce was waiting. As they drew closer, Wren’s eyes focused on the second man. He looks familiar... she mused. Who do I know that has dark hair, stubble and shoulders broad enough to play linebacker?
Wren nearly jerked to a halt when the stranger’s eyes met her. Oh... my... heavens. It can’t be.
Lane and Pierce were greeting each other, but Wren paid no attention. Her eyes couldn’t seem to leave the handsome visage of the man in front of her. For a moment, her mouth simply gaped open before she caught herself drooling like a schoolgirl. “Silas?” she choked out.
YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING me, Silas thought as an angel from heaven drew closer to him. Where the heck is the quirky Wren who still wore pigtails in high school? And stage jewelry with her t-shirts? Tonight is going to be a lot harder than I thought.
