by Len Webster
“I feel bad,” AJ said as she glanced over at her mother.
Her mother’s brown eyes flashed with concern. “Why?”
“Lori and Reese wanted to come.”
“I know. But your uncle was right. We wouldn’t be able to find a dress in a day if we brought the girls along. They’d make you try on everything.”
AJ laughed. It was true. Her cousins would make her try on every dress they liked for fun. “That’s true. Hey, Mum?”
“Yeah, Alexandra.”
“Back in Melbourne, did you go to prom?”
Her mother pressed her lips into a fine line and shook her head. “No. They don’t have prom in Australia. We had a year twelve formal, but I didn’t go.”
AJ’s brows met. “Why not?”
“I wasn’t popular in high school. Your dad and my brother made it impossible for me to have any real friends. Everyone wanted to use me to get to know them, so I didn’t really make my own friends until I left high school and met Stevie, Josie, and Ally.”
For the first time in a long time, she felt as if she and her mother had something in common. She loved her mother, but with her being a successful chef, they didn’t have much in common. AJ loved science, and her mother loved the culinary arts.
“Are you living vicariously through me with prom?”
Her mother laughed. “No. Because I don’t think any prom could come close to the best dance I ever had on my wedding day.”
That made AJ’s heart swell.
As much as she wouldn’t admit it out loud, she loved hearing just how in love her parents were. Even after almost twenty years together, their love was so clear.
Her aunt’s return had AJ standing from bench to find a woman with the most beautiful auburn hair and blue eyes entering the room. “Sophia, this is my beautiful niece, Alexandra. Alexandra, this is Sophia of Imperial and Company designs.”
Sophia stepped forward. She was tall, and AJ could have easily assumed she had once been a model before becoming a designer. “Hello, Alexandra. Wow, your aunt was not kidding. You are very beautiful. Before I dress you in some of these samples, I have to ask. What kind of feel or look would you like to go for?”
AJ pursed her lips as she thought of herself dressed up for prom. She wasn’t sure what dress she’d wear, but she knew what kind of look she wanted.
“I’d like to look beautiful … if that’s something a dress can do.”
Her mother set her hand on her shoulder. “Alexandra, you, my darling daughter, don’t need a dress to do that.”
Sophia smiled. “Your mother’s right. But a dress can make you realize that you are. And you truly are. I’ve never seen anyone with green eyes like yours. Your date is going to be speechless when he sees you.”
AJ’s heart clenched at the thought of Evan seeing her dressed up for the first time.
She was excited but nervous all at the same time.
So AJ smiled and nodded, ready to try on the dresses Sophia pulled for her.
“Seriously, I’d kill for eyes like yours,” AJ’s twenty-three-year-old makeup artist, Sloane, said. Sloane was beautiful with that classic pin-up girl look. Her jet black hair was done up in a vintage headband roll style, she wore bright red lipstick, and her cat-eye eyeliner made her blue eyes pop.
AJ smiled. “Thank you. I got my dad’s eyes.”
“Oh, babe, I know. I saw that fine man the minute I walked into this house. Your mother is a really lucky woman.”
AJ cringed. “Sloane, that’s my dad!”
The makeup artist her mother hired laughed. Sloane’s mother was one of AJ’s mother’s newest bakery employees. “Hey, your mum is pretty hot. How young was she when she had you? Because your parents are way too hot to have a kid as beautiful as you.”
“My mum was twenty-two.”
Sloane’s jaw dropped. Her blue eyes widened. “Yeah, totally young. How long were your parents together?” Sloane picked up a brush, dipped it into the pink powder, and shook off the excess makeup.
As Sloane softly applied the blush, AJ pursed her lips as she counted in her head. “My parents were married two years before they had me.”
“Wow,” Sloane said as she moved the brush to AJ’s other cheek. “So tell me, besides being stunning—P.S. I am so glad I’ve chosen a light shade of blush. We’ll get to your lashes last—what do you like to do, Alex?”
“What do I like to do?”
“Yup. What do you like to do?”
AJ’s brow arched. “Couldn’t you have asked me what my hairstylist asked? Like what college I’m going to? Who designed my dress? That kind of stuff.”
Sloane pouted and brushed her black curl behind her ear. “Fine, Alex. What college are you going to?”
“Stanford,” AJ answered with a smile.
“Stanford?”
“Uhh, yeah. Why is that shocking?”
Her makeup artist shook her head. “It’s not. I just don’t get the California vibe from you.” Then Sloane turned on her chair and pointed at AJ’s desk. “I kinda got the feeling someone like you would have gone to Harvard or one of those technology colleges.”
“Like MIT?”
Sloane set the brush down on her portable makeup table. “Yeah.”
“I got into Harvard, but it’s just too close to home. I’m ready to leave Boston for a while and experience college and what life is like out there—” AJ’s phone beeped, getting her attention. “I better get that.”
“No problem,” Sloane said, pulling away from AJ and allowing her to stand.
AJ walked over to her bed, picked up her phone, and returned to the chair where she had spent the past few hours having her hair fixed, and her makeup applied. A few more touches and she was almost ready for prom. AJ glanced down at her screen and unlocked her phone, opening Evan’s message.
“Is that your date?”
AJ smiled, loving the fact that Evan Gilmore was her date.
“Yeah.”
“Is it that cute boy in the frame on your desk?”
She nodded with a wider smile. “How long have you been in Boston?”
“Not long, Alex. So what did your date say?”
AJ peeked back down at her screen and read his message.
Evan: We need to talk.
She blinked rapidly as she looked up at Sloane’s concerned face. She read the message, too.
“Don’t worry. I’m sure it’s nothing,” Sloane said as she reached over and picked up a packet of fake lashes. “With the way you look, Alex, there’s no way tonight isn’t going to be the best night of your life.”
“Alexandra, you look … there are no words,” her mother said as AJ stared at her reflection.
The purple almost gray off-the-shoulder floor-length dress had been her mother’s pick out of all the ones Sophia had pulled from her sample collection. Fortunately for AJ, the store was able to make the alterations since prom was less than a week away. AJ was stunned that she actually looked beautiful. Her hair was twisted into a beautiful and intricate side braid with some curls resting on each side of her face. Her makeup was perfect. Sloane did a stunning job ensuring that the dark, shimmery eyeshadow she wore didn’t outshine her eyes, and the light pink lipstick was the perfect touch. Sloane had enhanced and allowed her green eyes to pop.
“You are going to be the most beautiful girl there,” her mother assured.
AJ laughed as she spun around. “You have to say that; you’re my mother.”
Her mother set her hands on AJ’s bare shoulders. “I am, and that’s why I feel like we should have the talk.”
AJ felt her cheeks heat as she stepped back. “Mum, we don’t have to have the talk. I went to health class. Trust me, I don’t need the talk.”
“Then … I … wow. This is uncomfortable. My mother never gave me the sex talk
. In fact, your uncle gave me a different kind of sex talk. It was if I ever had sex, he would beat the living crap out of whoever I slept with …” her mother said.
“And did he?”
Her mother nodded. “Yup. Your uncle punched your father when he found out—”
“Oh, my God, stop!” AJ shrieked. “Mum, I love you and everything, but please don’t finish that sentence.”
“Right,” her mother said uncomfortably. “Of course. I’m just saying that if you decide tonight with it being prom and … I’m just gonna say it. Alexandra, don’t feel pressured to have sex, okay? You don’t have to if you don’t want to. And if you feel like you’re ready, please use protection.”
Awkward.
It was just awkward and uncomfortable.
But AJ could tell it was more awkward for her mother.
To reassure her, AJ reached up and covered her mother’s hand on her shoulder with her fingertips. “Mum.”
“Yes, Alexandra?”
“I promise that tonight I will not be a cliché and lose my virginity after prom. And I promise not to break this promise because as much as I love Evan, I’m not ready to have sex with him … or anyone right now.”
“You’re not ready?” her mother asked, sounding relieved.
AJ shook her head. “No. Is that weird that I’m almost eighteen, and I don’t want to have sex?”
“No, it’s not weird at all.”
“Clara!” her father yelled from downstairs. “We need to a hurry if we’re going to avoid all that traffic and be on time to have drinks with my boss!”
Her mother rolled her eyes and then smiled at AJ. “I waited until I was nineteen,” her mother informed. “And I’m glad I waited. I ended up marrying him. So you take all the time in the world. The person you decide to be with will respect your desire to wait, and he’ll respect you for it.”
“Thanks, Mum. This was weird but thank you.”
“Clara!”
“I heard you!” her mother yelled back as she stepped away from AJ.
“No! Evan is here.”
Her heart stopped as anxiety filled her chest.
“Hey, breathe. He’s the one who will be breathless at the sight of you.”
She nodded, not quite confident that she looked beautiful enough to take Evan’s breath away. “Can you go down first? I just need a second.”
“Sure. Don’t forget that you left your clutch on the coffee table.” With that, her mother was out of the room, and AJ heard her go downstairs. Then she heard voices as she walked over to her bed and picked up her phone.
Grasping her phone tightly, AJ took a deep breath and made her way out of her bedroom and to the stairs. She wasn’t confident in the high heels she wore, so she held onto the banister for balance. AJ lifted her focus from her feet to find Evan at the bottom of the stairs; his lips parted and his eyes wide. Next to him, her father wore that same expression of awe on his face.
“Alexandra,” Evan breathed out as she made it down the last step. “You look …”
She turned and took him in. Evan wore a tailored black suit with a button-down white shirt and a gray tie. She hadn’t told him what color dress she was wearing, but it looked like they had intentionally matched. His brown hair was combed back, and he had shaved.
“You look beautiful, Alexandra,” Evan finally said, causing her heart to miss a beat. His eyes gleamed as if she had stunned him, but she could see a hint of another emotion. One she couldn’t quite place.
If anyone looked beautiful tonight, it was Evan Gilmore.
“Thank you,” she said. “You look amazing, Evan.”
His smile was soft as her mother stepped next to them and said, “We might not be able to see you both off to prom, but I’d like to take some pictures of you two together. Is that okay?”
Evan raised his brow at her, and she laughed. “All right, Mum. Just a couple since you’re both cutting it close to have drinks with Dad’s boss.”
“I just have to mention my beautiful daughter, and Mercer melts. He’s putty in Alexandra’s hand. He adores her,” her father said as he stepped away from Evan.
AJ’s mother stepped forward, took AJ’s phone from her, and held it up, ready to take their picture. “All right, you two. Get in close.”
“Not too close,” her father warned.
AJ rolled her eyes as Evan wrapped an arm around her. She glanced over to see his smile, and she heard several different shutter sounds. Then she turned to look at her parents and found them both taking photos.
Even though prom would end tonight, she knew she’d always have the pictures to prove that she, at one point in their lives, wowed Evan Gilmore in a gray dress.
What felt like hours later—but was only about twenty minutes—AJ had taken a countless number of pictures with Evan and her parents.
“I love you, and I am sorry I can’t see you off to prom,” her father said at the front door.
AJ let out a soft laugh. “Dad, it’s fine. Tell Mr. Mercer I said hi, and if you’re late, blame it on me.”
He bent down, kissed her cheek, and then winked at her. “You got it.” Then he glanced at Evan next to her. “And Evan …”
“Yes, Mr. P?”
“She’s my daughter,” he reminded him, and AJ shook her head.
“Yes, sir.”
Her mother was next to hug her and kiss her cheek. “You two have fun at prom. We’ll be home when you get back.”
“Okay, bye,” AJ said as her father opened the door and let her mother out of the house first. When the door closed behind them, AJ spun around and smiled at Evan.
The nerves had vanished.
Now she was excited to experience and have fun at prom.
She could finally unwind and celebrate the fact that the pressure was now off.
She had done it and gotten accepted into eight of the top schools in the country.
After she had heard her father’s car back out of the driveway and drive down the street, she noticed Evan dig his hands into his pockets.
“Alexandra,” he said in a careful voice that she did not like at all.
“Everything okay?”
He shook his head as his eyes flashed with an emotion she knew all too well. It was guilt, and that had her setting her phone on the hallway table they stood next to.
“No,” he confirmed in a whisper.
AJ winced. “What’s wrong?”
And then Evan Gilmore delivered the six words that destroyed her in a nanosecond. “I can’t take you to prom.”
Her chest caved in on itself.
Her lungs squeezed so tight that breathing was torture.
“What?” she managed.
He pulled his hands out of his pockets. “I’m sorry. I can’t take you to prom.”
He repeated himself as though she hadn’t heard him.
AJ heard him clearly.
Just as clearly as she felt her heart break.
“That’s it?” she asked unbelievably. “You take photos with me to please my parents, and then you tell me you can’t take me to prom? I don’t understand.”
Evan reached for her, but AJ stumbled back. “Alexandra, it’s complicated.”
“Complicated? You asked me to prom. Or did I imagine that?”
“No, I did ask you, but I can’t now.”
She felt hot all over.
The inferno of her heart’s pain seeped into her bloodstream, traveling to every part of her.
Pain demanded to be felt in every bone and joint she had.
He was breaking her heart.
And it was a suffering she had never thought she’d experience.
“Why? Why can’t you?”
His chin dipped in shame as he whispered, “I have to take Addison.”
Addison.<
br />
The same Addison he’d taken to homecoming.
“You asked me to prom, Evan. Not Addison,” she said in a tight voice.
She was so close to breaking.
So close to crying.
So close to her heart giving up on him.
“My coach—” It was enough for AJ to reach for the door handle, twist it, and pull the door open. “Alexandra, wait. I just have to walk into prom with Addison. Then I can leave her, and we can dance together. We can do all the things we said we would. This won’t change our plans for prom.”
She blinked unbelievably at him. She had been so foolish. She had gone all the way to New York to find the perfect dress. She had sat for hours to have her hair and makeup done. She had gone above and beyond for Evan, and he let her down. AJ released the door handle and stepped outside, Evan following her.
Suddenly, a black limo pulled up at his house, and she watched as Addison, Jordan, Carter, Hunter, Willow, and few other members of the baseball team get out.
“Yo, Evan!” Hunter yelled at Evan’s house, unaware that he was standing on AJ’s porch breaking her heart.
“Look,” Evan said, getting her attention. “We can still go to prom together, Alexandra. I just have to take that stupid picture with her, and then we can spend all night together. I’ll just meet you at school, and then I’ll let Addison hang out with her friends.”
“Meet you at school?”
He nodded. “There’s not enough room in the limo. It’s a …”
AJ glanced over to find the cheerleaders pointing at her house. She now understood. “It’s a jock thing, isn’t it? I’m not good enough to be your date to prom because I’m not a cheerleader?”
She felt like she was suffocating.
Like she was being drowned by her heart’s pain.
“Alexandra, that’s not it.”
She shook her head, begging herself not to let him see her tears.
“I don’t fit into your life,” she murmured as she blinked her tears away. “I never thought being your best friend would hurt, Evan. Not once in our lives has me not being popular hurt us. You’re telling me that it’s not it, but it is. You asked me to prom, and now, you’re taking Addison because she’s beautiful and popular and she’s a cheerleader. I’m a nobody. I’m the science freak—”
