by Jack Parker
Finishing her smoothie, Morgan just kept smiling. "It's not irregular. But…usually you argue with a little more love in the mix. Just don't ask me to explain that." Vibrations came from her nearby purse, and Morgan fished her phone out to read a text message. "Are you about done?"
Hannah finished her own smoothie with one more slurp and nodded, and then both girls went to join Tisha and Libby, who were lingering near the trashcans. As they walked, Morgan replied to a text message, so both girls were silent. When they caught up with Tisha and Libby, Libby looked away, but Tisha smiled happily.
"So where to next, girlies?" Tisha asked brightly.
Morgan glanced at Hannah. "We've dragged you around all day. It's your turn to pick."
Thoughtful, Hannah glanced at the bags in her hands. She'd bought some random video game that was 'constantly' out of stock, according to the man who'd sold it to her, in hopes that Isaac didn't already have it. She'd also thrown in a best-selling book that she'd heard him talk about, just in case. Hannah's friends had told her that they always dumped scraps of paper with their names on them into a cup, so that they could each draw out the name of a girl to buy a present for; apparently, Hannah had drawn out Tisha's name, and Libby promised Hannah that the gift had already been bought and had been stashed at Libby's house. While Hannah wasn't sure if she believed that, she chose to for the time being. For her dad, Hannah had bought an Ohio State University sweatshirt, which Tisha swore was her dad's favorite team, so she only had her mom left to shop for. Well, her mom and Jake, but Hannah wasn't sure where she could find a muzzle yet.
"I still have Mom's present to buy," Hannah finally answered, taking a glance around. "I'm drawing a blank. Did I happen to say what I wanted to get her?"
"Yeah, actually," Tisha replied, linking her arm through Hannah's and starting off in a direction only she knew. Libby and Morgan, as expected, fell in behind them. "You told me that you were buying her perfume."
As they walked, Tisha launched into the big story of how Patricia's favorite perfume was Elizabeth Arden's Mediterranean and how she'd been running out since Thanksgiving, but, apparently, the perfume had been out of stock when they went shopping on Black Friday. So, according to what Hannah had told Tisha, Patricia hadn't had time to check back since then, and that had made pre-accident Hannah want to buy her mom perfume for Christmas. It was a likely story, and Hannah liked it and decided that it was a good gift idea regardless.
As soon as the girls entered Macy's department store, Morgan blurted, "Tish, you and Hannah go do that perfume thing. There's something I need to check, and I'm taking Lib with me."
Libby's mouth twisted unhappily. "What?"
Ignoring Libby, Tisha nodded her head eagerly, earning her a skeptical look from Hannah, who had no choice but to follow as Tisha took off to the fragrance department. In less than five minutes, Tisha had located the Mediterranean perfume, and Hannah had purchased it. Since Morgan and Libby hadn't returned yet, Tisha and Hannah roamed around, sniffing different fragrances.
"Oh my God, smell this one." Tisha extended her arm and held a sample of perfume to Hannah's nose. "It's incredible."
Hannah smiled politely, unable to ignore the sickening feeling in her stomach. Something seemed off, although it wasn't due to the scent. "Mm…" Then she smiled and held up a rectangular bottle. "This one's my favorite."
A slow smile lit up Tisha's pretty face. "No way!" she squealed, snatching the bottle of Dolce and Gabbana Light Blue from Hannah's hands. "You've always been in love with this one!"
Laughing a little, Hannah shook her head, not knowing what to say, and leaned back against the glass casing. Tisha was still beaming as she placed the bottle back on the counter and then removed her vibrating cell phone from her purse. Hannah watched as Tisha responded to a text message, personally believing that cell phones were of the devil. They were constantly going off.
"So, um, not to bring up a touchy subject or anything, but are you and Ethan going to Formal together?" Tisha asked suddenly, nervously fidgeting with a perfume bottle that read Burberry Weekend, as though she expected Hannah to bite off her head. "Have you decided?"
Hannah shrugged and haphazardly sniffed the perfumes. "I don't know. Probably not. It's too short notice, and…Greg and I broke up because I didn't want to go. It wouldn't really be fair to him if I went with Ethan."
Tisha didn't answer, so Hannah risked a glance at her, only to see Tisha's mouth gaping open. But then, only a nanosecond later, she was scowling. "What the hell are you talking about?"
Taken aback by Tisha's anger, Hannah tried to think of what she said that could have upset her. Nothing came to mind. "What do you mean?"
"You didn't want to go to Formal?" Tisha demanded, her voice dangerously angry. She crossed her slender arms over her chest, and her blue-green eyes narrowed. "That's crazy! We had gushed about going since Homecoming, Hannah! You even bought these gorgeous heels to wear, even though they were a half-size too small because they were so freaking pretty!"
Hannah blinked in surprise. What? The Formal had been Greg's excuse for their breakup, but if that wasn't the truth, why had they broken up? Had they even broken up? Maybe Greg just didn't want to date an invalid. After all, he hadn't called her after the accident—that she knew of anyway. The questions whirled through Hannah's mind, making her feel confused and hurt and furious at once. How was she supposed to get her life back if nobody told her the truth?
Tisha opened her mouth to respond, but Morgan and Libby appeared, both of them grinning broadly. "Hannah, here it is!" Libby exclaimed excitedly. Apparently Morgan had known what she was talking about, as it seemed like the previous argument was forgotten. "Come on!"
Without delay, Hannah felt her arm being tugged on, and she was taking fast steps to keep up with her dark haired friend. Beside her, Morgan was grinning. "You're going to love it. It's even better than I remembered!"
Thoroughly confused, Hannah didn't answer while Libby pushed her way to the fitting rooms and shoved Hannah into the first stall, closing the door from the outside. "Put that baby on, and let us see it, Han!"
Hannah glanced over and saw a gray dress coverer, and, on a tag, her name was clearly printed. Interested, Hannah unzipped the coverer to reveal an evening gown, and there was no doubt in her mind what it had been purchased for. She removed the dress carefully and held it up to herself.
"Hurry, Hannah!" Libby's voice sang out bossily. "Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting to see you in that? I had totally forgotten that the alterations were done until Tisha mentioned it."
"There's no way I could have forgotten," Tisha responded. "Hannah was counting down the days for it to be ready."
There was a definite edge to Tisha's voice that Hannah couldn't miss, and she knew it was added to prove that Hannah had wanted to go to Formal. She thought about that as she undressed and tried the dress on, but Hannah still was not sure what to think about Greg's obvious lie. Maybe she'd changed her mind at the last minute, and Greg hadn't lied. Or maybe not. Either way, Hannah was glad that Tisha hadn't broadcasted the news to the other girls, since Hannah wanted to think about it for herself before they started advising her.
"Are you done yet?" Morgan asked impatiently.
Hannah opened the door, and Libby tugged her out of the stall and to the bigger mirror that offered a peek at multiple angles. It was the most beautiful dress that Hannah could even imagine. She glanced into the huge mirror and fell in love with the way that the deep blue dress fell off her shoulders and hugged her slender body, flowing out at the waist and eventually hitting near her ankles in pretty, sparkly waves. As she circled to get a better view, Hannah's mouth moved into a slow smile.
"Oh my God, it's gorgeous!" Tisha gushed, bouncing on the balls of her feet excitedly. "You look beautiful!"
Morgan grinned. "Simply irresistible."
"Ethan is going to be all over you," Libby declared triumphantly. She looked genuinely happy, with no sign of her argumentati
ve nature. "That boy will be even more in love with you than before when he sees you in that dress, Han."
"I'm so jealous!" Tisha moved behind Hannah, swept up her hair, and began fashioning it into an intricate up-do. "I so can't wait till Formal. It's going to be such a blast!"
Still smiling, Hannah used the mirror to see her friends' faces. She was very impressed with Libby's happiness, and it almost made her want to apologize about snapping at her. But then she recalled Morgan's warning and viewed her grin; the girl knew what she was talking about. And Tisha's excitement was so infectious that Hannah began to giggle and couldn't stop.
She supposed that she was indeed going to Formal. How could she not with a dress like that? Plus, Hannah had a date, and she'd show up with Ethan in that beautiful dress no matter what. She hoped that Greg would be there—preferably with some bimbo girl—just so that she could confront him about his breakup excuse. And…she hoped Jake would be there to see her too.
Chapter 8
Winter Wonderland
"The band is awesome!" Mercedes Jensen declared, taking a sip of the fruit punch Jake had supplied her with. Miraculously, Winter Formal had been underway for nearly an hour, and the punch was not yet spiked. That had to be a new record. "I had forgotten how great Eric's group is."
Jake smiled. "And you wanted Natalia and Stacia to play instead," he scoffed good-naturedly. "It's a good thing you have me around to prevent bad decisions like that."
"You're the one who wanted to see them wear short skirts," Mercedes reminded him, wrinkling her nose. "I had no problem with hearing Eric's band."
"Wait, what did you just say?" Jake asked, cupping his hand around his ear playfully. "Did I just hear you bring up me talking about other girls? And did I just hear you sounding—no way—jealous about it?"
Mercedes laughed a sparking laugh and smiled with her glossy, full lips. "You just wish I was jealous." She brushed her fingertips against Jake's forearm teasingly. "You're forgetting that I broke up with you."
"And you're forgetting how broken my heart was, or else you wouldn't have mentioned that." Jake held up his hand before Mercedes could answer and corrected himself. "Actually, you never even acknowledged my broken heart."
"That's not fair!" Mercedes cried, laughing again. "You avoided me! How was I supposed to know?"
"Bitch."
Laughing more, Mercedes shrugged freely and glanced around the gym, which had been converted into a winter wonderland. At the same time, Eric Jefferson's band decided to take a break, and one of the latest hits by some chick Jake didn't remember the name of flowed through the sound system. All of the movement held Mercedes's attention, and it gave Jake the perfect opportunity to admire his ex-girlfriend's appearance—from the gentle, shoulder blade-length waves of her bouncy light brown hair, to the silky, glittery white dress that fell just above her knees, to the crystal heels that covered her small feet with toenails painted a sparkly white.
She was certainly a beautiful girl, but there was no lack of beauty at the Winter Formal. In fact, Jake had had the opportunity to dance with four girls that he'd thought were pretty ordinary on a regular day, but the formalwear had transformed them magically into being stunning; it was like a miracle from a fairytale. All of the girls were dressed in elegant dresses, while all of the guys admired them and fidgeted awkwardly with their own classy clothes. Like the majority of the males, Jake had rolled up the binding sleeves of his white shirt in an attempt to achieve some form of comfort.
"Awww, look!" Mercedes gushed suddenly. "Don't Brent and Rachael look adorable together?"
Jake followed Mercedes's gaze to one of his best friends, who was slow dancing with a pretty brunette. 'Adorable' wasn't the word that Jake would use to describe it, particularly since Brent was scowling, but he didn't mention how boring it looked to him. "Uh-huh. Want to dance?"
Surprise flickered into Mercedes's blue eyes, and Jake wondered if he'd stepped out of bounds by asking. "Um, okay." She glanced around briefly and then decided to toss her punch into the trashcan, which was probably a good idea since it wasn't exactly safe to leave a drink sitting around for future use.
Jake reached out and took Mercedes's hand in his before leading her to the dance floor. She was so tiny in comparison to him that Jake's body overshadowed hers easily. Mercedes's arms wrapped around his neck, and he slipped his arms around her waist, pulling her close but not too close. He wanted to avoid any opinions of being one of the guys who only liked to dance so that he could grope his partner. Jake just wanted to dance because he'd thought Mercedes wanted to. That's what he was telling himself anyway. Even if he didn't want Mercedes back—anymore, at least—she was still a nice girl to hang out with, especially since they'd both come to the dance stag. And what better sense did it make than for the class president and vice president to dance together at a dance that they'd put together?
"—you know what I mean?"
Jake blinked and realized that while he'd been trying to rationalize his reasons for asking Mercedes to dance, she'd been talking about…something. He offered her a sheepish smile. "Not exactly. Care to explain it again?"
Grinning, Mercedes shook her head gently. "I was just saying that it's cool to see Formal come together. Starting from scratch and seeing the final product. Don't you think that's a satisfying feeling?"
"Oh, yeah. Yeah." Jake smiled politely, secretly wondering what in the world she was talking about. He didn't care at all about some stupid dance that he wouldn't have come to if it had been socially acceptable to skip it. "It's pretty amazing."
Mercedes smiled brightly. "It really is." Her eyes were jumping around curiously, taking things in, but Jake was growing bored. Apparently, she hadn't been hinting to dance with him after all, or else she wouldn't have been paying attention to anything but him. "Oh my God! Samantha Albright came, can you believe it?"
Vaguely recalling that the junior girl was a few months pregnant, Jake nodded. "Mm, no. Never would have guessed that."
"Hmmm…" Mercedes glanced up and studied Jake with a knowing smile. "You're totally miserable, aren't you? Sick, tired, bored…and here I am talking about girly stuff." She giggled. "Sorry, Jake."
Jake had to laugh. She knew him well. "You caught me," he admitted, not even bothering to fake sheepishness. He was too busy returning an eye-roll with one of his basketball buddies.
"Hannah's here," Mercedes murmured softly, tipping her head back so that she could see Jake's face even better. His eyes snapped to Mercedes's face and scanned over all of her delicate features while she spoke softer. "She looks really pretty. How's she doing now?"
"Okay, I guess," Jake replied just as quietly, shrugging his shoulders gently.
The song changed, and Jake experienced mixed emotions that it was another slow ballad. On one hand, they wouldn't be expected to move around energetically, which was something he didn't feel like doing, but, on the other hand, the slowness of the song fed the somber feeling that surrounded him and Mercedes. While it was somewhat comforting to sway back and forth, it was also bland.
Swaying slower and slower, or at least it seemed like it, Jake's tiny attention span urged him to go get more punch. The more he tried to tell his mind that he wasn't thirsty, the drier his throat became, but it wasn't as if he could dump Mercedes all of a sudden. Even if she'd done it to him, it didn't make it right, so Jake continued swaying, feeling as though he was being lulled into sleep.
Mercedes inhaled loudly. "Jake!"
He positively jumped. "What?"
Suddenly, her eyes brightened excitedly, and an enormous smile broke out on her face. 'Beautiful' didn't even begin to describe how she looked. "I just saw Kirk Godfrey come in, and I think he's alone. You didn't tell me that he didn't have a date!"
Jake blinked, dumbfounded. "I was supposed to tell you that Kirk's dateless?"
"Jake!" Mercedes hissed impatiently, though her smile hadn't faded. "Duh! Make him come over here. Please? Talk to him or something. Hurry!"
/> It took a few seconds for realization to dawn on Jake, and his slowness made him wonder if the punch had been spiked after all. "Oh." Then he smirked. "Asking the ex to hook you up with a friend, Cedes? Oh, that's not a bit awkward for me. Not at all."
"Like you care," Mercedes giggled. "Stop being a sarcastic jerk. Come on, Jake, I'd do it for you. Get him over here, and that's it. I'll never ask you for anything else."
"Can I get a written statement on that real quick?"
"Jake!" Mercedes pushed her lips into a glossy pout and widened her eyes pleadingly. "Unless it's a life or death situation, I'll never bother you again. Okay? Deal? Just get Kirk over here!"
Amused, Jake rolled his eyes and did as he was asked. He got Kirk's attention, waved him over, and left his basketball captain with his ex-girlfriend to head for the dessert table. Wasn't high school love beautiful?
"Hey, hook me up with one of those brownies," Jake commanded lightly to a petite senior girl that was operating the snack table. He pointed to the pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, one of his absolute favorite desserts, although he tended to prefer eating it with a fork instead of his hands. "And one of those too please."
Content with his cupcake and brownie, Jake made his way to a corner where some of his friends were socializing. He greeted people as he walked, trying to conjure up some holiday spirit from somewhere deep within, and even managed to smile at a group of football players that he couldn't stand to be around. If he kept this up, pretty soon Jake would lose his Ebenezer image.
"Hey, dude, that was a great game last night." Jake entered the familiarity of maleness as some of his friends, who'd evidently managed to sneak away from their dancing dates for awhile, engaged in some actually interesting conversation. "We're definitely going to the playoffs!"
Another friend commented on the basketball team's upcoming opposition, and a heated debate ensued between some of the guys about which team was more of a threat. Jake didn't make any comments, preferring only to listen in this case. There was something about these kinds of arguments that always entertained him, probably because he usually disagreed with both sides and mentally mocked both.
